Chapter 19 Deja Vu
Deja Vu
Hunter
We moved quietly and swiftly through the basement, carrying the scumbag who had hurt Scarlett. I was filled with an overwhelming desire to fucking kill him, but I didn’t want to rob her of that satisfaction. Kidnapping him so she could have her moment of vengeance felt like the wiser choice.
We arrived at the room Kellin and I had prepared just for this bastard.
We had soundproofed the walls and installed one-way glass that tinted the windows.
Hooks dangled from the ceiling, with chains waiting to bind him.
A small table beneath the window showcased an array of tools and weapons we thought Scarlett might find fitting.
We even stocked a cabinet with clean rags and towels for when things inevitably got messy.
Kellin and Michael hoisted the man up while I fastened the metal cuffs around his wrists, using the chain to keep them above his head.
He hung there, blood dripping from Reaper's vicious bite marks, though still very much alive with a cum-soaked sock shoved in his mouth to keep him quiet.
The four of us stood back to watch him, each imagining our own scenarios if we had the chance to kill him.
At last, it was time to bring Scarlett in, but I couldn't shake the nagging worry that things might not unfold as planned.
Scarlett lay on her stomach on the bed, kicking her feet behind her as she absorbed a true crime show, likely gathering more ideas.
She didn’t hear me enter, so I knocked lightly on her open door.
She spun around so quickly it briefly made me dizzy.
A smile spread across her face; the bruises had begun to fade, yet they remained but she looked even more beautiful to me.
She was a fighter through and through, radiating resilience and strength, with not a shred of weakness in her.
“I remember his name,” she said, her smile brightening as she sat up. “Jack something. He had a grudge against my father and knew about the hit he put out on him.”
“So he thought sending your father a message by hurting you would be a good idea?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
She nodded, gathering her long, dark hair into a ponytail, which only served to highlight more marks he had left on her neck and shoulders, and ignited a fierce rage within me.
I stepped closer to the bed, reaching for her hand.
Interlacing my fingers with hers, I pulled her to her feet and into my chest with a solid thud, tightening my hold to ensure she couldn’t slip away.
“I want you to see something,” I said, a grin forming as my thumb brushed against her bottom lip, my breath quickening with anticipation.
“What is it?” she asked, her nose scrunching cutely and her brows drawing together in curiosity.
“I have a surprise for you—just follow me,” I growled, lifting her into my arms and carrying her out of the bedroom.
The descent to the basement was silent, yet as we ventured deeper into the shadows, Scarlett’s grip around me tightened, her small body trembling against me. My heart ached for her, but I believed that delivering Jack to her would help heal the wounds he had caused—at least, that was my hope.
As we reached the basement door, I could feel the tension in the air thicken.
I pushed it open, revealing the stark room bathed in black with very dim lighting.
Jack hung from the ceiling, his body swaying gently.
He opened his eyes, confusion rapidly turning to terror as he recognized me, then widened in shock as they fell upon Scarlett.
“Scarlett,” he croaked through the gag, his eyes flickering with the desperate hope that she’d turn away, that somehow this was all a cruel dream.
The sound of her name left his lips like a curse, and I could feel the anger radiating from her, hot and fierce. I set her down, and she took a shaky step forward, all fierce determination now.
“Jack,” she said slowly, almost savoring the sound of his name. I could see the way her resolve hardened as she faced him. This was it—this was her moment. “You thought you could break me? That you could hurt my family and walk away unscathed?”
He stammered against the makeshift gag, finally spitting it out, his eyes darting from me to her in panic. “You don’t have to do this! I wasn’t myself! It was just a job!”
“Just a job?” Scarlett repeated, her voice a low growl, fury bubbling beneath the surface. “You sick bastard, you think this was just business? You ruined my life!” She stepped closer, the array of tools behind him glinting ominously.
I moved back, giving her space, wanting to witness the moment unfold, but ready to intervene if necessary. I could feel Kellin, Jax, and Michael's presence behind me—a solid wall of support, but the focus was solely on Scarlett.
"You need to understand," Jack stammered, trying to catch her gaze but faltering. "I didn’t mean anything by it. It… it was never supposed to go this far."
But Scarlett shook her head, incredulous.
“How could you think that? You raped me. You fucking beat me. You even fucked me with a broken pool stick! Your actions meant everything. They fucking shattered me, and you have no idea how hard I fought to put the pieces back together,” she screamed, shaking as rage flowed through her.
She reached out, her fingers brushing against the array of tools on the table, picking up a dull knife with a shaky hand. The blade glimmered, and for a moment, she hesitated, her strength wavering. But the look on Jack’s face, the fear bleeding through his bravado, ignited a fire in her.
“I’m not here to bargain or for you to plead for mercy,” she said, voice steady now as she stepped closer. “You made your choice, Jack. You hurt my family, and for that, you will pay.”
I held my breath as she raised the knife, a mixture of horror and admiration engulfing me. At that moment, I wanted to rush in, take it from her hand, shield her from crossing that line, but I knew this was something she had to do alone. This was her catharsis, her chance to reclaim her narrative.
Jack's eyes widened, pure fear now twisting his features. “Wait, wait!” he shouted, panic unleashing a primal instinct within him. “You don’t have to do this!”
But his words fell flat against her resolve. “No. I’m not better than this. This is who I am,” she spat, voice unfaltering. It was like watching a storm brew on the horizon: dark and tempestuous.
As she thrust the knife forward, I felt time suspend, every heartbeat echoing like a drum.
The tension was electric, confusion and anguish reaching its pinnacle—and in that moment, it wasn’t just Jack that would face the consequences of his actions; it would be Scarlett’s spirit, forever altered by the choice she was about to make.
She stabbed him over and over until the knife broke, and she laughed as she threw it to the floor and grabbed the drill off the table, a devilish grin on her face. Beckoning Kellin over, she handed it to him and went back to choose another weapon.
"I want his eyes gone. I can't stand the way he keeps looking at me," she stated, nodding to Kellin as he turned on the drill and stepped closer to Jack.
His eyes went wide and his body began to shake in fear, though he could've been going into shock from all the stab wounds he had.
Kellin still stepped closer and closer until he was inches away from him.
He grabbed the back of his neck and put the drill in front of his face, aiming the sharp bit at one of his eyes.
"Sorry, you heard the lady," Kellin said laughing, before going in and pressing the drill bit into Jack's eye until it fell from the socket mangled.
He then did the same thing with the other one, and Scarlett just watched in satisfaction with an excited smile on her face. The guys looked grossed out as they stared at the mutilated eyes on the floor, but this was nothing I hadn't seen before, so it didn't bother me one bit.
Scarlett reached for the pool stick I brought her, and when she broke it over her knee, Jack gasped and screamed as loud as he could, but outside no one could hear him.
She motioned for me to cuff his ankles to the hooks embedded into the floor, which left him hanging with his legs spread, and we all knew what was about to happen.
As I obeyed her command, securing Jack's ankles to the hooks, I could feel a palpable shift in the atmosphere. Scarlett’s fury was a living entity, a wild thing unleashed from within her.
I fastened the last cuff and then stepped back, my eyes never leaving hers.
The anticipation danced in her gaze, and for the first time since this whole nightmare began, I saw a flicker of peace—an assurance that this was right, that justice would finally be served.
Scarlett stepped closer, brandishing the broken pool stick like a scepter of vengeance. “You think you can keep hurting people without consequences?” She sneered, her voice imbued with a savage confidence. “You thought you could get away with it, didn’t you?”
Jack writhed helplessly, the remnants of bravado fading rapidly as he recognized the depth of his impending doom. “Give me one more chance, Scarlett!” he pleaded, the fear etching deeper lines on his bloodied face.
But his words were nothing more than desperate gasps, and Scarlett’s eyes hardened.
“You had your chance when you made the choice to hurt me,” she spat, the words laced with venom.
“This is for every moment I spent feeling worthless, every day I woke up feeling like a shadow of myself because of you.”
With a feral cry, she raised the splintered stick and brought it down hard against Jack’s thigh, eliciting a scream that echoed off the soundproofed walls.
The sound was almost musical to her ears, a symphony of retribution that resonated with every part of her being.
She struck again, this time smashing it against his other leg, relishing the power coursing through her veins.