Chapter 14 Phoenyxx
Phoenyxx
Adrenaline has me pissed.
This motherfucker. What the hell does he want with me? What about Trikk? What did he do to him?
“Hey, Dickface. What did you do to my boyfriend?” I yell as the car comes to a stop. My anger is running the show. I'm aware I should be terrified, but right now, I just want to pummel Demon into the ground.
I crane my neck to see where we are. It's a two-story farmhouse of some sort. I don’t see any neighbors or anything else around except for the house. It looks old. It's in decent shape, with white trim, a front porch, and even a swing on the porch.
Demon yanks open his door, stalking over to mine.
He pulls it open and grabs my arm hard. He grabs me from the car with force.
I drag my feet, but he pulls me up to the door of the house, holding me tight as I try to kick and fight.
He takes out a key, opening the door. Shoving me through, he comes in on my heels, locking the door from the inside with the key he puts back into his pocket.
He spins on his heel, pushing me in the chest and forcing me back several steps.
“He is not your boyfriend, you dumb bitch,” Demon says. “I am your husband. You'd better get used to that fact now. I will never let you go.”
Okay, well, he’s crazy just as I fucking suspected. “What did you do to him?”
“He’s dead. No longer an issue for us. And the others will be dying also. You belong to me, and only me.”
I sputter, my face going pale. He must be lying. My Trikk can’t be dead. I would feel it in my soul.
Besides, he said he just knocked him out. A lie to get me to go with him?
Spit flies from my mouth as I scream in rage. “You’re a dead man, you hear me? My guys will find me, and when they do, you’re cooked! And that’s only if I don’t kill you first!”
Demon slaps me hard, bending slightly to get right in my face. “You have two choices. Cooperate, and you get to stay here with me. Misbehave, and you go to the basement.”
I stare hard at him. It's shocking that this is one of my tormentors from The Morgue—the main one, at that. He's tall, over six feet at least. He's about Purge’s height but appears younger. Closer to my age, maybe. He has long, black hair, and hard, black eyes.
Valley would say he’s hot. I snort out loud with that thought.
“You don’t scare me, fucker. That ship sailed a long time ago.”
Demon stomps away for a moment, and I whirl towards the door, yanking on the handle. It doesn't budge. He comes back after a moment, and I turn back around. He’s holding something white in his hand. He shoves it at me, and I recoil, not wanting to touch it. He shoves it into my chest.
“Put that on, bride. My wife-to-be needs to be wearing white before the wedding.”
Oh my God, he’s a total lunatic.
I hold up the scrap of fabric seeing it’s a sheer, white nightgown. It's long, with a slit in the side. It plunges low, practically see-through.
“Fuck you psycho.” I toss the offending garment to the floor in defiance.
“Wrong decision, Little Bird.”
Demon grabs me, hoisting me over his shoulder. I scream and yell, beating on his back with my fists. He ignores me, marching through the living area and into the kitchen. I see wood cabinets, and an older white refrigerator and stove. I don’t see anything else, though.
Where is he taking me?
I freeze when he goes to the wall at the back of the kitchen.
The fuck?
Demon squats while holding me against him with one arm; feeling around the white tiling until he finds a loose one, prying it up with his fingertips. He puts his hand inside, rooting around. The wall moves, opening to a metal door with a lock.
Holy shit.
He stands back up, replacing the tile and yanks the same key out again, putting it in the old-fashioned lock. It's a large key; I think I’ve heard it referred to as a skeleton key in one of the movies I've seen at the Solomons.
The door opens with a swishing sound, as I continue to struggle to get away. He holds me too tight, though. Stairs appear, stone steps spiraling down farther than I can see. Demon starts down, and I do my best to look at my surroundings carefully. The walls and floors are also metal. What the hell?
Once we get to the bottom, I see hooks coming from the ceiling, tables full of torture instruments, chains, and shackles dangling from the wall.
There's a drain in the middle of the room, like the one in a shower. It sits directly under the hooks in the ceiling. Looking to my right, there’s a small, dirty mattress tossed onto the floor, chains leading to it.
I swallow hard. This is way too much like the setup Synn's father had me in for those two years he had me. The only thing missing is the cage.
Bile fills my throat. My heart starts hammering, and I feel a panic attack coming on. I choke it back somehow, waiting him out.
Demon puts me down, gabbing my chin so I’m forced to look him in his soulless eyes.
“This room is completely soundproofed, and impossible to break into, or out of. You can scream all you want. You won’t be heard. There's no one around for miles. This place isn’t searchable by GPS. Those assholes won’t find you here.” He lets my chin go. “Put on the nightgown. Now.”
I learned the hard way to choose my battles while I was with the Solomons.
I bite my tongue, grabbing it from him. “Are you going to turn around, or...?”
“No. Last time I tell you to put it on.” Demon glares hard at me. “Take everything off.”
Fucking pervert.
I steel my jaw, whipping my shirt off over my head.
I don’t look away as I shuck off my pants, either.
I reach behind me to unclasp my bra and shimmy my underwear down my legs and kick them off.
Standing naked, I hold my head up. I slip the ridiculous excuse for nightwear over my head, snorting in disgust. The stupid thing clings to my curves, and my boobs are practically bursting out of it.
Demon’s eyes light up with desire, and I take a couple of steps back. He better not rape me, again.
He pushes me down onto the mattress, yanking my legs out to attach to the chains, which are attached to the floor. They have some slack, but I’ll only be able to go a couple of steps at the most.
I'm shaking so badly, I can barely contain my fear. I don’t want him to see how scared I am.
“You will stay here and think about the consequences of disrespecting me. When I return, you better be apologetic and fall in line,” Demon demands.
My mouth falls open, but he’s already turned his back and goes back up the long set of stairs. He at least leaves the light on, though it’s dim. It's a single bulb with a pull cord.
My anxiety hits me square in the chest. There's no ignoring it this time. I can’t handle this. Those fucking shackles Synn’s father put me in... Oh God.
My mind whirls as I get sucker-punched by another memory.
Phoenyxx
Age 6
The bad man took me down, down into the basement. This place is so scary.
My eyes dart everywhere, looking at everything. Why is there a cage in here?
Before I can ask, I get dragged to a wall. It has weird chains and something that looks like thick bracelets attached to them.
The bad man shoves me against the wall and grabs my arms, holding them in the air. He puts one wrist in the bracelet, and my other one in the other bracelet. I scream and kick, so scared now I can’t stop myself.
He slaps me hard in the face, and I whimper in fear. “Bad girl, Bella. You behave or else you will be punished with the shackles—or the cage.”
“No. I want to go home. Mommy, Daddy, help!” I yell as loud as I can.
“I am your daddy now, Bella. I'd better not hear you call for them ever again, understand?” the bad man says.
He hits me again in the mouth, making my lip bleed.
He doesn’t stop there. He hits my face more, my eye hurting and swelling so I can’t see out of it.
He hits me in the stomach, and I can’t breathe.
Another hit to my stomach, and I throw up everywhere.
He just keeps hitting me, everywhere. His eyes are wrong; they look crazy.
One last hit, and my head spins, and spots flash in my eyes. Everything fades around me, and it all goes dark.
Oh my God, that’s the first time I was beaten. So badly, I passed out.
I can’t do this again. Not being chained up, or beaten, or raped. I'm not scared of Demon, but I am petrified about being in this basement.
I look around, taking in the things I didn’t see before.
No food, no water, nowhere to use the bathroom. Really fucking nice.
I sit there violently shaking, forcing my mind to overcome the panic.
My stomach is roiling; my heart is hammering in my chest; a sour taste in my mouth.
I can’t take this again.
I tell myself to stay strong, but my body and mind betray the command.
My guys will save me.
I know they will.
Patient 3
I don’t know who took my girl, but I will eviscerate them with my bare hands when I find them.
I've never had anyone in my corner. A lifetime inside The Morgue didn’t give me many options for allies.
I've spent my whole life inside those decrepit walls. Honestly, the first set of masks weren’t that bad. At least, that's how my young mind perceived it. There have been multiple sets of masks through the years.
Patient 3
Age 6
I can’t stop laughing at the tickle bomb Skull is teasing me with. We had fun running through the halls playing chase.
He's one of four masked men that have raised me. There is the skull, a demon, something scary with horns, and a jester. They're not my dads, but I still call them all ‘Sir’ out of respect.
Demon comes into my room. It's one of the only rooms in here without bars. I still get locked in, but it’s not as bad as the other ones.
“How about a special shooting lesson today? I didn’t forget my promise,” Demon says.
I bounce up off the bed, excitement making me grin. “Really?”
“Of course, Little Man. You've earned it by being such a good boy.”
He takes my hand, and I practically skip out the door with him, Skull trailing behind. We head across the area we live in, over to a hidden door that leads upstairs. I've never been up there.
My eyes are wide as we walk through the hall. There’s a gym, a game area, and the last door opens to a shooting range. We walk in; no one else in there.
Demon comes up beside me with a pair of headphones, placing them over my ears.
“Listen to all my instructions, okay?”
I nod, getting serious. He points to the target, then hands me a small handgun. It's a little heavy, but I’m a big boy. I can handle it.
“Alright, the trigger is here, and the safety switch is here,” Demon explains. “That is where you load a new clip of bullets.” He points to the bottom of the gun. “All you need to do is aim and shoot.”
I smile wide, ready to go.
“Hang on now, Little Man. You need to stand like this, feet apart. Hold your shooting arm with your other hand, like this…” Demon shows me. I copy his stance. “Look down the barrel and focus on the bullseye on the target. When you’re ready, take a deep breath, click off the safety, and shoot.”
I follow his instructions, clicking off the safety. I scrunch up my face, staring at the bullseye. Breathing out, I pull the trigger.
Bang!
I fall back a few steps, the noise and impact from the gun surprising me.
Skull laughs, shaking his head. “You’ll get used to it, kid. It takes practice.”
“Thank you, Sirs, for teaching me,” I tell them both.
Those are the only pleasant memories I hold. Those masks were replaced only a year after that, when I was seven. The next set of masks were horribly cruel. They were there until I was fourteen.
Patient 3
Age 7
“You little shit. How dare you be so insolent? You are not special.” The new Horns spits in my face.
I shrink back in fear.
All I did was ask to go play games, like I did with the other masks. They pulled me out of my room and threw me in one of the cells.
“Let me play, and take me back to my room!” I yell, mad enough to talk back.
Horns slaps me in the face so hard, it spins my body around on the tiny bed. He doesn’t stop there, either. He lets his fists fly, beating me until I’m about to pass out.
I sit there and tremble, especially when the three others walk in.
“What happened?” the new Demon asks.
Horns fills him in, and he clenches his fists at his sides. Stalking towards me, he pulls me up by the front of my shirt, leaving me dangling in the air.
Speaking to the new Jester, he commands, “Open his mouth and pull out his tongue.”
I struggle, trying to escape his hold. It's useless to fight, though. I'm so small compared to them.
Jester forces my mouth open and yanks out my tongue. Horns digs around in his pocket, then pulls out a set of pliers. My eyes widen in terror. He clamps them around my tongue, making them tighter. He pulls a couple of times, and I shriek.
Jester laughs, then removes them, shoving me back onto the bed. “Let this be a lesson, boy. Know your place. Speak out of turn again, and you will lose your tongue.”
I stopped talking after that.
I didn’t dare take that chance.
The new assholes brought in when I was fourteen were even crueler. Sadistic.
They taunted me relentlessly about “having their way with me,” but they didn’t touch me like that until the morning of my eighteenth birthday.
The fuckers raped me whenever they wanted once I was legally an adult.
They also threw me into the fighting ring for their amusement.
Add almost daily beatings to the mix, of course.
They left abruptly when I was twenty. That's when the current set of masks came in; just as fucking sick and depraved as the last ones.
They had started to torment me —something about my twenty-sixth birthday— a few months ago.
People disappear when they turn twenty-six.
I have no clue why. All I’ve noticed is that some patients who are too weak get shipped off.
Then the strong ones are sent elsewhere.
Then the ones who “age out” are sent who the hell knows where.
So, the fact that Demon has my girl... not acceptable.
I am going to kill him, brutally, if I can get my hands on him first before the others do. I hate sharing with those other dicks, but it’s worth it to be with my love. My Em. I love her so much. I've been working hard on learning to talk again, for her. I have so much to tell her.
I'm pulled from my thoughts when Ghost lays a comforting hand on my shoulder. “We’ll find her, man. I promise you that.”
I nod, gritting out, “Yes, we will.” I walk in step with him.
I wrangle my thoughts to my Em.
We will get her back—no matter what.