Chapter 38 - Porter
Phantom Liberty - Dawid Podsiadlo, P.T. Adamczyk ?
T he thumping of my blood rouses me. Each beat of my heart is like a fresh nail being hammered into my body, slowly tearing it apart second by second. I don't know how long it's been. Hours, minutes, days, that I've been passed out for, chunks of time lost to the ether. I no longer know if the sun has set or risen because when I open my eyes it's either light or dark, that is my only method of time.
I wish I had a photo of Charlie to stare at.
Charlie.
Thank the gods she's not shown up at the bar, or Mel, or any of the other staff really.
How come no one has come?
Surely it's raised suspicion with someone. A regular maybe, hell, I'll even take one of those preppy tourist wankers at this stage. Just someone to walk in and raise the alarm.
Am I so awful that no one has come for me?
I'm tied to a chair in the middle of the room, my head hanging low against my chest. The dance floor has never had this much blood on it before, or for this long so I know it will stain.
I guess that's someone else's problem now.
Cracking one eye open as best as I'm able, the crusted blood caked over my face cracking with the strain of it. I can no longer feel sensation in my left leg. I'm not sure if the shotgun pellets through my femur killed it off or if it's just too damaged my body no longer registers it’s there. I only remember snippets of what's happened.
A baseball bat.
A golf club.
A knife.
Some pliers, and more gunshots.
Each time he attacks my body we both say nothing. He grunts from exertion and I grunt from the pain. It echoes around the room intermittently until I pass out and we arrive back at the same place again.
Consciousness.
He tends to my wounds once he's inflicted them and I have to give him credit where it's due. Although his method is different to mine, I can appreciate the effort he's going to in keeping me alive. Stretching my existence as long as possible to get the maximum amount of pain from my torture.
It's daytime now, the light filtering in through the half a dozen windows scattering around the bar.
Dust floats in the air as I try to lift my head. I can't hear from one ear, but the other seems to be working alright.
Silence surrounds me.
A rare moment between beatings where I am truly alone.
Charlie.
Her face is all I see when I close my eyes. The way it lights up when she laughs. The pure ecstasy that flows through her when I make her come. The tender way she holds my heart in her hands and I never told her I love her. Never said those three little words that let her know she was my everything. I would wish for one more taste of her if I could but I'm not a stupid man. I won't tempt fate with the possibility of that happening, not after Tristan and I struck a deal.
Her life for mine.
She's safe.
I will die so she can live and I've never felt so at peace with my decision.
Each time I feel the ache of my blood pumping around my body, it reminds me that I'm doing the right thing. That this is my redemption.
A large smile is plastered on my face as I think of her. Well, as best a smile as I can manage with a few missing teeth and a half swollen face but it's worth it.
The staff only door swings open and Tristan walks out of the shadows. Heavy footsteps leisurely stride toward me until he's standing just out of reach, sipping on an amber liquid as he takes me in.
“You know, I’m not sure yet if I want to set you on fire when she gets here or if I should do something else?” He says with a crazed look in his eyes as he spits the liquor on my chest, the sweet smell of whiskey infiltrating my nose. “I told her you were tied up. Get it. Because you’re tied to the chair.”
He laughs so hard and I don’t understand why. Who did he tell? I can feel my body is almost done. My head is foggy and my body numb.
“Maybe I should just kill you the same way my brother killed that other bitch of yours. I heard she begged toward the end,” he spits out, bringing his face so close to mine that my vision blurs.
Wait.
What is he saying?
When who gets here?
“Ahhh there is it. I can see your brain is finally starting to put the pieces together.”
Confusion reigns me. He can't mean … Charlie.
The sharp ding of a phone going off shatters the moment and we both look to his hand as he pulls a phone from his pocket.
My phone.
“No wait. We had an agreement. She's not part of this,” I snarl. “SHE IS NOT PART OF THIS.”
“Your first mistake was not making sure everyone was dead. Your second was believing I would honour any covenant we came up with. I thought you were smart but you're just like every other person out there. Weak.”
His words spit out at me as my world spins.
What have I done?
“You know I tried getting to her sooner. Tried a few times but she was always with someone. I thought about taking her friend but that stupid meathead was always with her so I gave up on that plan. The pregnant lady was too secure with that fucking dog never leaving her side, and your bitch never trusted me enough to actually exchange phone numbers. I couldn’t believe my luck when they thought I was a scientist, but then she had to keep asking me questions, keep picking away at why I was in this stupid fucking town. I thought I would have to start planning from scratch again, revert into hiding to try and get you another way, but then I saw you at the supermarket. I was prepared to kill you on the spot, but once again she stuck her nose in my business and started talking to me. I was fuming, especially as I had changed my hair to be less noticeable—”
“No … Please,” I beg, cutting him off. It's all I can do at this point. My body is broken, my mind is fading and my chest is so tight … I can't breathe.
Charlie .
He smiles lazily at me, a twitch appearing in his eye.
“She will be here soon enough, and then you will feel the pain I did WHEN I LOST MY ENTIRE FAMILY. The things I have planned for your cum dumpster of a woman are so much more than what happened with the last one.”
My body is shaking uncontrollably. I don't know if I'm going into shock from all the damage or if it's from what's about to happen, but he will have to kill me before I let him hurt her. Tristan crouches before me with a knife dangling from his fingers, a crazed look in his eyes. The look of a man who has nothing to lose.
“I'll wake you up when she gets here,” he says calmly, cutting the knife through the air and stabbing it into my thigh until it lodges into the chair beneath me. The pain is like lightning, shooting through my body, consuming me as I'm enveloped into darkness.