61
Laid to Rest
Amanda
Grabbing my shoe is somehow a victory for me. So is snatching up the money and my sock to stuff in my pocket. They took these things from me, simple though they are, and thought they could get away with it. Score one for the home team. Escape partially complete.
Then I take in the horror around me and feel bile rising.
I think I killed them. No one is moving, and there’s a lot of blood everywhere. For a second, instinct takes over, my hand reaching for my phone to call an ambulance. Reality rushes back in a sickening tide when I realize Brass still has it. Before my internal meltdown can begin, my own voice circles around in my head.
“Don’t back down no matter how it feels. You can regroup when you’re safe.”
Taking my own advice has never been less welcome.
I want to go home. I want that kiss from Ace. My yelling at Gabriel has turned into a need to be in his arms. I need Jake to pout over the fact he hasn’t put a tracker on me. Tell Cade I told you so with a smug expression. Mikael can pamper me while I do it.
I take a long breath in and start moving.
From the doorway, I can see how well-lit the hallway is. The air isn’t damp or chilly, stuck at a warm, comfortable temperature. I bet that bill sucks.
The golf course wasn’t ready. This one looks like it’s up and running.
My stomach rolls.
I can see several doors, similar to this room’s. The hallway on either side of me dead-ends into a turn.
“Left or right,” I glance either way.
“I always turn left and follow the walls in dungeons.”
Jake’s absent voice attacks my brain, and my feet start moving again.
I turn the corner to see more doors and a wider area past them with stairs leading up. At least they aren’t going down.
This place is different. I’m not going to know this layout.
I can’t hear anything. I’m not sure if it’s soundproofing or if no one is around. Four guys grabbed me. Three are back in that room. One is running like I’m a slasher walking to catch up with him.
“Stop fucking around,” I growl to myself in frustration and march to the stairs. The sound of my footsteps echoes around me. I start moving more gingerly after that. No sense in announcing my ass is coming.
The steps end at the stage area. Everything is different. The seating is more movie theater instead of flat flooring. They got more creative. There are definite signs that this bunker is in use. There are a few pieces of trash and an ashtray with cigarette butts. The way this is set up it seems more like an auction house instead of a strip club. The implication makes me gag.
There might be innocent people here.
I instinctively turn to go back and pause.
What good am I going to do anyone if they’re here? I don’t have a magic key to release them. The worst thing I could do is find them. It would only amp them up for a rescue. If I don’t make it out of here to get help, how bad will that crush them?
That cold rage takes over as I march forward.
It doesn’t matter if I give them hope. They need it. We all do.
And I’m a fucking Jefferson.
I hurry back to the room they had me in and search the pockets of dead men. I don’t find anything but my gag reflex as I search.
Damn it.
Doesn’t matter. Keep moving.
This time, I take the path to the right. One left turn later, I see a long, well-lit hallway to the metal door at the end.
My teeth clench, my chin tucking down as I stomp forward. Each step resonates inside me, that cold overtaking everything until I’m focused on what lies behind that door and nothing else.
It’s cracked open as if someone is waiting for me inside.
I hear the soft sounds of sobbing. A man’s voice begging in a choked tone. A muffled scream.
My grip tightens on Jakob as I slip through the opening, trying to be quiet.
The crack isn’t wide enough, and my arm bumps the door, making it swing open wider.
My brain takes in what I’m seeing in flashes that barely make sense. People in cages. Men and women. Naked and filthy. Some are healthy, and others are sprawled on the floor unconscious. No one notices my entry. They’re all focused on something going on ahead of me.
This concrete room is set up differently. The cages are in the same lineup, but there’s a wide open space past them that looks like a torture room. Including a drain in the center of a tiled floor and instruments of torture lining the walls. A metal table and a chair, just like the one I was taped to, are in the center.
My focus goes to the man dressed up in a suit bent over the table. A woman is strapped spread eagle on it, gagged, with terror written all over her face.
“You’re early,” he says, his voice echoing eerily.
A lot of attention swings my way as I steadily move toward him, my grip shifting on Jakob.
“Really? I feel like I’m right on time,” I reply coldly.
He turns to face me as I swing like Jakob is a baseball bat. My arms shake from the contact as I hit him directly in the face. My eyes close on instinct, trying to shield my brain from whatever happens to him. They don’t open until his body thumps to the ground
The terrified woman meets my gaze. I see a flicker of disbelief turn into wary hope, and she starts sobbing.
I undo her gag before she starts choking. I can’t take in her nudity. My brain can only handle so much, and this? It’s way too much on top of everything else.
Voices rise all around me and begin shouting. Panic descends as they realize I’m here to help them.
“Keys,” I mutter and glance down at the gurgling man at my feet. I gag, trying not to look as I crouch to search his pockets.
When I feel metal, I yank my hand out hard enough to jostle him. His gurgling stops as I hold up a shiny key.
“Yes!” I shout without reserve and start undoing her shackles.
When she sits up and stares at me with wide eyes, I gape back.
“Plan. We need a plan,” I babble.
“Get help,” she rasps back helpfully.
She pushes me away, takes the key from me, kicks the body on the ground a few times, and starts working on unlocking the cages.
“Yeah, sounds good,” I nod and spin to run away.
Now I’m panicking.
I’m not the only one escaping now. I have several people, wounded and who knows what else, behind me. They’re expecting me to clear the way.
I’m not equipped for any of this. Physically or mentally.
I make sure to open every single door in the sex hallway, checking for people. It’s still eerily quiet, and my pulse of doom is at a low hum. As long as it stays that way, I know we’ll be good.
When I get back to the stage area, I stop to catch my breath. Cardio is not for me. Neither is getting shot, saving people, and anything that surrounds me right now. My eyes hit the steps I’m standing next to, and anger takes over again.
“I swear to God, if someone pushes me down these stairs, I’m going to set this place on fire,” I mutter grimly.
I’m out of breath again when I get to the next room. A casino with blackjack and roulette tables. No one is here. There are hallways leading out in two different directions.
A left turn and another dark hallway later, I’m in a smoking area with leather couches and a bookshelf taking up one wall. I haven’t seen another person yet. Not even Brass.
It’s way too easy, and I don’t like it. But my warning system is quiet. It’s simple dread and paranoia making me more cautious, which is probably not a bad thing.
I make it through the smoking room and the restaurant. The more familiar layout and lack of action have restored a little of my confidence. Then, the hair on the back of my neck starts to rise in the sitting room with the bar. The feeling of doom hits my chest, and calm envelopes me.
Gunfire erupts from above me, echoing in a painful stab to my ears. It sounds like more than one, but I can hardly tell with how fast the rounds are coming out. Is that an Uzi? Or five of them?
Yelling and some screams of pain follow. Shouts of confusion.
Brass comes careening around the corner, his face ashen. He tries to stop, sliding until he falls on his ass.
“They’re all dying out there,” he squeals, scrambling to get up.
“Who?” I demand, trying to pretend he didn’t just scare the hell out of me.
“ Everyone .” He finally gains his feet and tries to approach me like I’m his ticket out.
Why is Brass acting chummy with me? He fucking kidnapped me!
“We aren’t friends, fuck off,” I tell him with a scowl, lifting up Jakob. My eyes move to the doorway and back to Brass quickly.
“I’m hiding,” Brass tells me and tries to hurry past me.
No way.
My foot slides out, tripping him up. He lands flat on his face, reminding me of Sarah for a split second. Jakob spins in my hand as if it has a will of its own. I bring it up, clenching both hands around the bulb end and bring it down on him without mercy.
I don’t know how many times I hit him. My arms are rubbery, and he isn’t moving. It’s good enough for me.
Gunfire rings around my head for a minute, much closer than before, until it all stops.
The sudden silence is as startling as the rattling noise of multiple bullets.
How many people are dead out there? And who could have done it?
I have two choices. Hide like a coward and pray I make it out. Or I can walk into a dangerous situation like a scary movie victim and get killed anyway.
Based on how hiding out has worked for me so far and the fact that there are a lot of people back there who need to go home, I know which way to go. I march towards the next set of steps with Jakob at the ready.
I’m halfway up when someone runs from the entrance and down a few steps, stopping in front of me. Jakob goes up defensively before my eyes widen.
The hand holding the gun drops as his arm falls. Gabriel’s pale face and blood-splattered white shirt stuns me. His hair has fallen out of its tail to cover half his expression. One amber eye reflects pain and remorse back at me as he falters down another step. A gunshot echoes above as soon as his foot hits. Then he stands still.
“Mana-chan.”
His voice is broken into pieces and rough over my name.
“Are you hurt?” I whisper back, eyeing all the blood on him.
He shakes his head and releases me from my paralysis.
I run up the steps to throw myself into his arms before he can finish raising them. He clamps me to him, holding my shirt in a tight fist.
“I’ll never ignore your warnings again.”
I let out a weak laugh, tears building in my eyes. “Liar.”
“You didn’t think I’d give them anything to have you back safe?” His tone turns into an angry snarl that breaks in the middle.
“You haven’t seen the house yet,” I whisper back. Maybe that joke will be funny at some point. Today isn’t that day. I start sobbing, and I can’t seem to stop.
Somehow, he manages to get me up the stairs. The overwhelming scent of blood clogs my nose. Through blurry eyes, I see a room full of dead bodies. I don’t count them, turning away as if I can unsee it. I see a man with a Covid mask nod at me and pass through the doors like a ghost with his gun in a ready position.
My eyes meet South’s, hiding in a darkened corner. She’s giving me her homicidal smile. One hand is gripping a straight razor, dripping blood. The other is rubbing along Shade’s thigh as he reclines against the wall behind her. He seems surprised that I can see him.
“There are innocent people down there. They need help to get out of the cages.”
Gabriel pauses and glances at the corner with a furrowed brow.
“We’ll take care of it, Mana. I think you’re in shock,” his careful tone is full of concern he tries to hide.
He thinks I’m talking to the wall.
South nods, and I look away to see Cade.
He’s standing still with his arms dropped to his sides. His freckles are really obvious with how pale he is.
“Amanda,” he chokes and runs to hold me as tight as he can.
This hug is just as firm and comforting as Gabriel’s, but my tit is starting to protest the abuse. I wish I could tell it to shut up. How can I explain that this is a good hurt to a body part?
I bury my face in his neck, trying to get a sniff of his cologne to wipe out the copper of blood.
“She needs a doctor,” Gabriel starts, only to get interrupted by Jake.
“On their way.”
My arm is yanked, pulling me away from Cade. Jake stares into my teary eyes with a nod.
“Have you given any thought to having a tracker?”
“Only for the last who knows how long,” I try to give him a grin, but it wobbles horribly.
“Consider it done, meine Seele ,” he assures me with a gentle kiss on my forehead.
“ Manda! ” Ace roars from another room. I can hear things breaking to follow it up.
“He’s lost it,” Cade warns Gabriel quickly. “Mik, too.”
I blink, my tears slowing as I realize they’re here somewhere.
Anger snaps in with a rush, leaving me dizzy.
“Ace!” I bark out in rage. “You didn’t kiss me goodbye this morning! You can fuck right off, you dick!”
Gabriel and Cade gape at me while Jake smiles.
“Go get them,” he taunts me, letting my arms go.
Before I have a chance, Ace barrels through the doorway and snatches me away from Jake.
“Oh God,” he keeps repeating, his arms crushing me as he kisses all over my face. His complete freak-out settles my anger like he dumped a bucket of cold water over me.
“I’m ok,” I protest weakly. “Ace, it’s ok.”
Mikael comes in behind him, panting. I’ve never seen him so out of control. His hands are bruised and swollen, no weapon in sight. He bare-knuckled his way through this place. That’s concerning.
“It’s ok,” I repeat and reach for him too.
When his arms come around me and Ace, I feel like I’m home.