CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“ L et me go!”
Madison’s sobs turned to muffled screams as the stranger leaned over her, pulling the red strapless dress down to bare her chest. The truck bounced along, adding to the surreal, nightmarish quality of the situation.
“Now, hold still, sweetie. This’ll only hurt for a second.” The woman’s voice was sickeningly sweet, a stark contrast to the needle she brandished. With a quick, expert motion, she pierced Madison’s nipple, the pain shooting through her body. A cry escaped her lips, her eyes widening in shock.
“There, not so bad. They’re so perky. Gotta love the young ones.” The woman smiled, her eyes cold as she threaded a small bar through the fresh piercing. Madison’s breath quickened, her heart racing as she realized what was happening. The men holding her hands laughed, their grip tight as they enjoyed the show.
“Let’s do the other one, eh? Make ‘em match.” She didn’t wait for a response, moving swiftly to pierce the other nipple, her movements efficient and calculated like she’d done it a million times. All of a sudden it made sense; they hadn’t picked the girls because of their appearances. They picked the girls and then altered their appearances.
Madison couldn’t suppress a whimper as fresh pain blossomed, the needle leaving a trail of fire. She felt something tickle her breasts as she hissed against the pain and realized her nipples must be bleeding.
“Aaaand, we’re done.” The woman sat back, admiring her handiwork.
“Please... just let me go. Why are you doing this? You’re like me, why would you help them?” Madison’s voice was small, shaking as she tried one last time to appeal to them. Her pleas fell on deaf ears as her dress was pulled back up, the cold metal of the bars feeling foreign against her skin.
“Piercings are the easy part.” The woman leaned in close, her breath hot against Madison’s ear. She smelled like cigarettes and dog shit. The urge to vomit was strong but Madison had not eaten in days so nothing but bile rose in her throat. “Tomorrow, we will decide where the tattoo goes. You’ll get used to it; they always do.” She got out of the truck and Sadie noticed they were outside of The Serpent Pit. “And I’ve been with Montana a long time. He stopped hurting me when I started helping him. Maybe you should try doing the same. Come on, boys. I need a drink.” With that, she motioned to the men, and they roughly grabbed Madison. The girl’s silver skirt shimmered as she sauntered towards the entrance to open the door for them.
The bar was a blur of noise and movement as Madison was half-led, half-dragged through the crowd. The men’s grips on her arms tightened when she stumbled.
Mont stepped forward from the crowd and made a beeline towards them.
“Sorry, it took a minute. She’s shit to give drugs to, ya know. I had to give her three times the normal dose to knock her out.” She shook her brown hair over one shoulder and readjusted her mask. “I googled it and apparently gingers have weird tolerances or somethin’. Got her pierced up, too! I wanted to do her vag but she begged me not to and you know how much I like the beggin’.”
Mont turned, his eyes lighting up at the sight of Madison. Her curls tumbled down her back, and blended into the crimson dress that hugged her curves. The special red mask did little to hide the tears that glistened in her eyes.
Mont grinned as he slapped Kade on the back, who had just walked up when he noticed Madison. The vile man looked at her with a mix of pride and possessiveness in his voice as he murmured, “Well, this might be my favorite part of tonight. You’re just lucky I already had her or it would be me up there.”
Madison watched as the dark-haired man beside the piece of shit who made it his mission to hurt her this week visibly shuddered. He looked confident in his clothing but his body looked like it wanted to be anywhere else.
Mont’s hand squeezed Madison’s waist, roughly pulling her closer to them. She stiffened, her breath catching as she tried to control the fear coursing through her.
Breathe. Dissociate.
I am on a boat. The boat is small. The ocean is big. The breeze is cool.
She was being led somewhere, arms pulling at her, tugging on her clothing.
The boat is small. The sun is going down. The sky is pink and purple. I’m watching the sunset on a small boat.
Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed but suddenly she was laid down on one of the beds, her dress was gone. She was on the stage at The Serpent Pit. The pole was to her left, she could just make it out if she turned her face a little more. She wasn’t wearing any underwear under her dress so the only thing she could feel on her skin was the dried blood on her breasts.
Madison squeezed her eyes shut. She got through this once, she could fucking do it again.
The ocean is blue. The boat is small. The air is—
“Mind if I take my shirt off?” A deep voice asked to her left. It almost sounded familiar.
Madison refused to open her eyes, though.
Breathe.
The breeze is cool. There are seagulls. The seagulls are loud in the sky.
The bed dipped by her hip and a cry tore through her throat as she panicked. Her reaction was instantaneous and she started flailing. Instantly, two strong hands clasped her wrists and held them above her head on the bed.
Gasp. Gasp. Gasp.
I can’t breathe.
Breathe.
NO.
STOP!
“Open your eyes, Mads,” a voice whispered in her ear as she was straddled by the stranger.
Madison’s eyes slitted open, tears running across her cheeks and lips under the mask. She blinked a few times to take in the masked man’s figure on top of her.
He had a muscular build with tattoos—there was barbed wire over his heart.
There was barbed wire—
Kade .
Instead of calming down, she fought harder. Why would he do this to her? She couldn’t control the sobs as the men around them laughed.
No . I trusted you! How could you be with these men? Why? Why—
The body on top of her slammed her down into the bed roughly, knocking the breath out of her for a moment before his voice was back in her ear. “I am going to get you out of this but you have to trust me.”
“Why? Who are you?” She sobbed quietly.
“I’m so sorry, Mads. I tried to get to you sooner,” he whispered as his hips rolled against hers, earning a cheer from their onlookers. “Help is coming but you need to hang on. You will not break for them.”
His one hand gripped her neck but there was no pressure to it.
“Choke, baby. I need you to sell this.”
It was like being dunked in ice water.
He wasn’t here to hurt her.
He was helping her.
Madison’s green eyes flooded with tears as she nodded, the salty wetness leaking down her cheeks under the mask.
Kade sat back on his haunches, placing both hands around her throat. He gently lifted her by the neck and slammed her down into the bed with a controlled motion so as not to hurt her. She started making strangled noises and kicked her feet under him, putting on a show of desperation. But it wasn’t enough, the crowd wanted more.
“As much as I love the way she struggles,” Mont’s voice called from the front of the stage. “You’re not proving to me that you can handle her.”
Madison’s head turned to look at Mont and Kade grabbed her by the waist and flipped her onto her stomach, turning her face to the back of the stage away from everyone. He gripped her hips and hauled her ass up so she was on her knees, face down on the bed.
There was no way to describe how her nipples burned as they pressed into the inflatable mattress below her and he gripped her hair as he leaned over her. He gave her a harsh slap to her ass and she cried out, earning some cheers from the men.
Kade brought his masked face down near hers again.
“You’re gonna behave, you hear me?” He shouted for the room to hear.
Then quickly– quietly –he spoke to her again.
“What –baby, what did they do to you?” His voice broke and Madison clutched the blanket beneath her until her knuckles felt like they would split. He must have seen how swollen and torn she was down there. The shame hit her hard and she let out another sob.
“Fuck her already, or let me do it!” Some strange man’s voice yelled out as laughter roared around them.
Taking a deep breath, Kade positioned himself behind her. He was still clothed from the waist down and made a show of taking off his belt and undoing his pants. His eyes scanned the bar to find Camille gone and Jagger in a heated argument with Sadie as she pointed to the stage. The woman who had led Madison into the building earlier was currently being choked out by Jagger behind the bar mid-argument as the light left her eyes and Kade frantically looked around to see if anyone else saw what was happening behind them. The gang and the girls were all pushed to the front of the stage, several yards away from Sadie at the bar–the new girl forgotten when Madison was on display for them.
Kade knew it had to be time. Where the fuck were the Rebels?
He wasn’t even hard in the slightest and there was no way he’d be able to fuck her. His mind was in a panic because if they saw him, they’d send someone else up there to continue their little show and he couldn’t let that happen. He palmed himself through his pants and pretended to be crazy for it. He needed to get hard or they were fucked.
“You’re going to take this cock like the obedient slut you are,” he ground out between gritted teeth. Another slap to her ass. “Tell me you want this cock or I’ll break your fucking arm!”
Madison was shaking so bad and Kade’s stomach threatened to betray him as bile rose in his throat. He couldn’t do this. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck –
“You call this a show?” Sadie’s confident voice yelled over the noise.
Kade’s head snapped to see Sadie making her way onto the stage, her body swaying suggestively to the music of Closer by Nine Inch Nails as it poured out of the speakers suddenly. All the attention of the gang was on her as she slowly started to undress by the pole beside them.
“I’m better than that trash. Anyone can just lie there,” she seethed. “Don’t ya’ll wanna see what I can do?”
Mont rushed over, pushing past a few of his men to be directly in front of Sadie as she dropped her dress down to her ankles, leaving her in just a white lace thong.
“Shit, girl!” He laughed, his surprise at this turn of events clear through his voice. “Fuck, yeah, we wanna see! Don’t we, boys?”
The men cheered and Kade took his chance, hauling Madison onto her feet, simultaneously grabbing her by the back of the neck.
“Get me a fucking drink!” He snarled for the benefit of those who were still in earshot. Kade then proceeded to push her in the direction of the stage where he wouldn’t be noticed as Sadie directed their attention to her performance. He didn’t pause for anything. His pants were still open, her naked, and he led them off the stage and moved her towards the bar where Jagger was frantically gesturing for them to come quicker.
Kade looked back over his shoulder as the men shouted obscenities while Sadie swung herself around the pole for them, gyrating to the music, careful to keep her mask in place while her hair tossed over her shoulder.
“Get her in the fucking office,” Jagger told him when he was close enough.
Madison barely registered what was happening, her mind trying to catch up as her legs began to give out.
“Where are they?” Kade asked as he slung Madison’s arm over his neck when she started to lose her footing, her strength leaving her as she threatened to collapse.
“They’re in position. Get in the fucking room and don’t come out until I come for you.”
Kade nodded and rushed Madison into the office, kicking the door closed behind him with his boot. He gently set her down on the chair behind the desk before rushing back to the door to lock it and running back to the desk to find the key hidden in the top drawer.
Rushing to the locked room in the back, he unlocked it and shoved the key in his pocket as he picked Madison up bridal-style and moved her into the small room. He knelt down, balancing her legs on his lap as she clung to him and grabbed the gun from the mop bucket that he knew was hidden there. He turned the bucket over to make a seat for her just as the gunshots rang out over the music in the bar, as the bar erupted in screams.
“Oh, my god,” Madison gasped, ripping the mask from her face as Kade placed her down gently. “The girls! Kade, we can’t leave the–”
“Gremlin and Scales have been sneaking them out since we got on stage. That was always part of the plan, to get them out one by one while they weren’t looking.”
“What?” The mask hit the floor with a soft clack .
“They’re going to be okay,” Kade soothed as he pushed her back down onto the bucket when she tried to get back up. He tossed his mask to join hers on the floor. “You almost collapsed 2 minutes ago, so you can just sit the fuck down.”
“Go! Go! ” Jagger’s voice screamed through the hysteria outside of the office. A moment later, he heard the office door knob struggle to open before it swung open and slammed shut before the lock was latched. He stood before Madison, shielding her with his body before he heard the unmistakable sound of a girl crying.
Heart-wrenching sobs met them as he opened the door into the office to find Sadie pressed against the door, the gun in her hand clutched to her naked chest while a ring of keys was dangling from the other.
Madison suddenly pushed Kade out of the way and ran to Sadie, the girls holding each other closely as they cried against one another. The girls kept asking if the other was okay and Kade gently took the gun and keys from Sadie before moving both the girls back to the other room.
“Stay here, I’m going back out to help Jag,” Kade said in a rush as he went to close the door.
Sadie shot out one of her feet to catch the door with her boot. “Hold on,” she said and reached down to pull another gun from the booted foot that wasn’t holding the door open. “Trade me, that one only has 3 more shots in it, this one is still loaded.”
Madison and Kade both blinked at her in surprise.
“Did you bring two guns with you in your fucking shoes?” Kade asked incredulously.
Sadie shrugged. “I wanted to be prepared.”
“Jesus Christ,” Kade muttered as he switched guns with her. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No,” Sadie shook her head. “I killed Mont first. I was the one who started it. There were still a couple of girls on the floor when the Rebels moved in but I think Jagger has them.”
Kade nodded as he did up his pants in a rush. Madison was looking over Sadie to see if she was hurt anywhere, running a hand over her skin wherever she could reach from her spot beside her on the ground as they knelt together. Sadie was rambling and there were only moments before the shock would set in.
“I jumped offstage into Jagger’s arms and he dragged me to the bar. That woman from the gang that brought Madison in was dead behind the bar. She was so mean, she was bragging to us about all the things that she helped them do. Jagger has never killed a girl before, did you know that? He’s not going to be okay no matter how awful she was. Oh! And then Jagger–he grabbed the keys so I could get in here and–oh, my god, your Dad, Kade–he was incredible. There’s a lot of blood on the floor now. Like, a lot. I don’t think I can clean it all in time to open tomorrow but I–”
It was Madison who cut her off by grabbing her face to meet hers. “ Hey , hey. Let’s not worry about that right now. You did so good,” Madison mumbled against her hair as she kissed it. Several areas on her body had smears of blood on them, but it seemed none of it was her own. “You’re safe now. Everything’s going to be okay.” Madison pulled her close as Sadie started crying again, her shoulders shaking as she rubbed her hand along her back.
“I’ll be back,” Kade assured them and shut the door before grabbing the keys off the desk and shoving them in his back pocket on his way out into the bar with the gun drawn.