Nine
I t was terrifying, the level of violence these men were capable of, that they revelled in. I’d never seen Lowell show this side of himself, in fact I wasn’t even sure he had this in him, but now… it was like watching a stranger, his eyes lit up with pure delight, and his grin wide, as he let out his aggression, and beat the poor prospect like a savage. The club members were all cheering him on, and laughing, while it was one of their own prospects getting beaten like that.
“Stop! You’ll kill him!” I yelled out in panic, as I watched Lowell stand up and kick the poor guy in the stomach, wrenching a yell of pain from him.
“Shh Soph, it’s all okay. It’s club life, this is what Psycho gets off on. Look at him, look how he’s enjoying the brutality, how he relishes breaking bones. This is the man you’re shacking up with, this is the man who fucks you at night, who sleeps beside you. Did you know how much monster there was in him?” Reaper was speaking directly into one ear, as the chaos surged all around us. He had his arms wrapped around me from behind, like we were lovers, but there was nothing loving about him, or his intentions.
“Why don’t you stop this?” I begged desperately, struggling against his hold. Reaper chuckled, nuzzling my neck like he had the right to act so intimately with me. All it did was send a shudder of revulsion down my spine, like icy fingers warning me, reminding me, of the threat he posed.
“The prospect has to tap out, or he’ll die. But if he taps out, he won’t get patched in, see, this is the life we all chose, isn’t it?”
I shook my head vehemently, because I never chose any of this, I was forced into it by him, and he knew it.
“How well do you know your new man, babe? You think he’s a decent one? You think he gives a flying fuck about anyone except himself? You think this brutality won’t eventually get turned on you, or is he already smacking you around?”
I gasped, shaking my head again, but Reaper chuckled close to my ear, his warm breath sending another nasty shiver down my neck.
“He will, you know. You think violence like that isn’t always there? It’s always right beneath the surface with men like him. He’ll be nice at first, but then he’ll lose it over something small, and the next thing you know, you’ll be tiptoeing around him because you’re terrified of him, and trapped there with him. I could have him killed tonight, you know. He wouldn’t get the chance to hurt you. You could be mine again. My old lady.” Oh my god! I wasn’t sure which part of his little speech was more terrifying, the idea of Lowell turning nasty, or being stuck here with him as his old lady! I had no idea how to say no to him, without causing him offense, and making things worse.
“Just say the word, babe, and you’ll be mine, and free of that nutjob. He gets off on killing, you know. Look at him, look how much fun he’s having right now. He loves this. He’ll probably want to fuck you right after. It gets him hard, beating on people. You can see it, right?” Reaper’s lips trailed across my cheek, and he tried to turn me, so he could kiss me, and I had to stop him, had to make myself clear before things went too far.
“No!” I slapped at him, and he caught my wrist in a bruising grip.
“Watch it, bitch. I might not be like him, but I won’t take disrespect from my old lady either.”
I tried to free my wrist, but his grip tightened, and he tugged me closer, to hiss cruel words at me.
“A good hard assfuck should knock this sass right out of you, cunt.”
I couldn’t help myself, I spat in his face, slapping at him with my other hand.
“I’d rather die than be with you!”
His face hardened as he glared at me. “Interesting choice,” he said, almost conversationally, as he twisted my wrist, and agony bloomed instantly.
Micro
T he poor fucker was barely conscious, and they weren’t stopping me. Did they really want him dead? I grabbed his throat and hissed at him to tap out, but he just shook his head and passed out. I was just about to get up and say I was bored with this fucker, since they weren’t stopping me, and neither was he, but a high, agonised scream cut through the laughing and jeering, like I was personally attuned to that voice. Sophie!
I was up and moving in the direction of the pained gasps now filling the air, shoving assholes aside, as the rest of the noise started to lessen, and there she was, cradling her arm, with tears pouring down her cheeks.
“Soph! What the… who fucking did this?” I turned to Reaper, the obvious suspect, who was sneering at her and seeming to mock her pain, and I saw red again. I jabbed a finger in his direction.
“Didn’t know you wanted to die tonight too, but you’re about to.” I flew at him, my first punch catching the side of his head, as he tried to turn and defend himself.
Many hands dragged me away from him, while I fought every last fucking one of them. He hurt my fucking woman, fuck… Soph … I shook free of their hold instead, moving over to her, and trying to ignore the way she flinched when I reached for her.
“Babe…”
“Get me out of here,” she whispered desperately, but I knew that arm of hers needed urgent help first.
“You fuckers have a doc here to help her?”
“Like we’re the fucking brady bunch or something? Get out of here with this shit, and take that pathetic prick with you,” Crusher said, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the unconscious prospect. I wrapped an arm around Sophie, and started walking away from them, keeping my eyes active to watch for further attacks.
“He’s your problem, but she’s mine.” I didn’t just mean it the way it sounded, either, because I was starting to understand how my former brothers at Phoenix MC had felt, and my own actions from the past once again ate at me. I was no better than Reaper, was I?
D espite the risks to my own freedom, and anonymity, I took her straight to the nearest urgent care facility, cursing myself once more for the bridges I’d burned in the name of revenge. Doc, or Torch’s old lady, would have helped her, if I hadn’t been such a fucking asshole.
Soph wanted me to stay in the waiting room while she was seen, and I couldn’t exactly argue, could I? I’d shed my fake cut, and thrown a jacket over my bloody arms, but it hadn’t gone unnoticed by the urgent care staff that I had been in a fight, even though they didn’t know I’d been the aggressor. When Soph came back out, we went to x-ray, then back to wait, but at least they’d given her pain relief, and she’d calmed down a little.
“Babe, you never said what happened,” I whispered to her, as we took two seats away from everyone else in the waiting room. Soph shuddered, lowering her eyes to her wrist, which was swelling badly, and looked awful. They’d given her an ice pack for it, but it wasn’t doing much.
“Fuck this,” I said, since we’d been waiting almost two hours since the x-rays. I got up, and Soph started to try and get up, to follow me.
“S’okay, babe, wait here.” I strode to the reception desk, and leaned on it.
“Can I help you?” I glanced at the sign, warning zero tolerance of staff abuse, and sighed, calming myself as best I could.
“Any idea how much longer, love, she’s in so much pain.” I reconfirmed her details, and the reception lady checked her system.
“Any time now,” she finally said, and I sighed.
“It’s been hours since the x-ray, and it’s swelling really badly.”
The older lady nodded tiredly, pointing at her screen again.
“Like I said, any time now.” Fuck’s sake. I joined Soph again, letting out a frustrated growl.
“This is fucking ridiculous, why the fuck haven’t they called you yet?”
She sighed. “They will, we just have to be patient. What did the lady say?”
“She said ‘any fucking time now’… well, I added the f-bomb. I’m tired of being patient though. They need to fucking get you sorted.” I glanced at the nearest door, wondering if I could get her seen sooner, even if it got me thrown out.
“Lowell, please, just calm down. I’m sure it’ll be any minute now.” Luckily for them, we were called about two minutes later, and yet again, Soph made me wait outside. It was frustrating that she kept pushing me away like this, but then we weren’t really a couple, were we? It was all a pretence, and what good had it done her? Had I just made things worse for her with my fucking intrusion into her life? Wasn’t that my fucking gift to anyone who was unlucky enough to be around me?