Chapter 19
brOOKE
“We are going to play a little game,” Jared says, running his hand over the baseball bat.
I wince when I think about everything that he could do with that. The number of bones he could break with a single swing.
“I am going to ask you some questions, and if you don’t answer, then I will hit you with this bat or cut you with this knife,” he says, holding a knife.
When I woke up, he started torturing me again. He didn’t even want any answers; he just wanted to have his fun and beat me. He has cut me and bruised me so many times that I have lost count.
“Since you are hanging around the Hell’s Reapers Club, I want some information about them,” he says. “You want to know why?”
I stay silent, with my head hung. He keeps taunting me with the bat. He swings it at me, but never hits me. My body is bracing for impact, but it never comes.
“I just want to know why you decided to work for them?” He places the baseball bat against his shoulder.
I make no attempt to reply.
“Answer me!” he yells.
I still don’t speak. It was the only available job I thought I wouldn’t have to talk in. Without warning, pain erupts across my thigh. I shriek at the unexpected pain.
“I told you to talk to me, and you decided not to. You pay the consequences when you don’t follow the rules.” He softly hits the bat against his palm.
I whimper as my thigh throbs in time with my pulse. It hurts so bad, like he keeps hitting me in the same spot over and over.
“Now, are you going to tell me why you decided to work with them?” he asks sweetly.
I shake my head slightly and brace for impact. This time, he punches me in the face. My whole body swings from the impact, and I let out a groan.
“Okay, we’ll move on to another question and come back to this one later,” he says.
He grabs my body and steadies me. My toes barely touch the ground. All this pressure on my wrists is killing me. Bruises are forming from the chains holding me up.
“How can I take them down? What are their weak spots?” he asks, squeezing my face.
I don’t even know the club that well. I stayed to myself and wanted no part of the club. They had tried to get me into some things and understand part of their way, but I would just ignore them.
“I want information on them, now!” Jared yells, punching me in the face.
I groan in pain as I swing back and forth.
My eyes are almost swollen shut. I am caked in blood and grime from being in this dirty room.
I don’t know how long I have been here, but even when I am unconscious, I know he still beats me.
He did that while we were dating, and I felt it when I woke up, my body aching all over with more cuts than I had before.
He loses his temper very quickly. He can be caring one second and, without warning, it’s like a switch is flipped, and he can become abusive.
He has let me down a couple of times to get some blood back in my arms, so I don’t lose them. I honestly think it’s worse when he lets the blood come back to my hands. I go through the process of losing that feeling all over again.
“Pay attention!” Jared says.
He runs the blade of the knife against my stomach, leaving a trail of blood. He drags the blade down my stomach and to my leg.
I shake my head and bite the inside of my cheeks, trying not to let a scream out. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of getting a scream out of me.
“I love it when you fight and scream.” He touches my thigh with his hand.
I try to move my leg out of his reach, but he holds on tighter.
“Ah. Ah. Ah. You don’t want to do that. Remember the last time you did that. It didn’t end well for you.” He taps the blade against my stomach.
I shiver and close my eyes. The last time I tried to get away from him, he cut my leg really deep, letting me bleed for a while before stitching me up. I try to think of my happy place, trying to forget that I am here with him.
“Oh, Brooke. This could be all over if you just tell me the information I want about them,” he taunts me.
I let out a dissatisfying grunt and roll my eyes the best I can. I know that he won’t stop hurting me, even if I know the information and tell him.
“I just want to know their plans for their little town. I want to know how to take them down. I want to kill every last one of them!” he yells, stabbing the blade into my thigh.
I bite my cheeks really hard as my head hangs forward. Pain engulfs my body, and I choke out a sob. I just want all this to end, but I don’t know anything about the club. They never discussed anything around me, and I am glad. I didn’t want to get involved in the club more than I had to.
“Now, I know you can talk and are just playing dumb. So, tell me how I can take down the Hell’s Reapers Club, and I’ll stop,” he says calmly, tapping the handle of the knife that is still in my leg.
I wince every time he touches the knife. It’s constant pain and pressure in my thigh. Tears are streaming down my face at this point, and I can’t even stop them.
“Speak to me,” he demands.
I shake my head. I know I spoke to Bear, but I don’t think I will be able to again. My throat is dry, and I am so scared right now. Scared that I will die here, no one to mourn me, no one to come after me, all my lifelong dreams unfulfilled.
“It breaks my heart to torture and hurt you, but I will do it to get the information I want,” he states.
I know it’s a lie. He doesn’t have a heart to feel anything. He has always enjoyed beating me and even said it when we were dating.
“I’ll give you a break from me asking you about the club.” He takes a step away from me. “Let me tell you why I set you on fire. I never got the chance to. I thought you would have died from that. I wanted you to die from that.”
I keep my head hung, trying not to remember that awful day.
“Oh, I enjoyed watching you burn and relished your screams. I could get off from that memory. That’s what got me through my year in prison. Such a sweet memory.” He steps closer to me.
I shut my eyes tightly and try to block out his words, but it’s hard when I am so tired and can barely think about anything.
“I was so angry at you!” he yells, punching me in the stomach.
I gasp for breath as the wind is knocked out of me. My stomach aches with every punch he throws.
“You were never perfect! You fought back and didn’t do what I told you.” He hits me in the face this time.
I did everything he asked me to do. He would tell me to make dinner, and I would do it. I had breakfast ready when he woke up. I put everything in my life on hold to please him. I didn’t want to get on his bad side, but even when I did everything right, he still abused me.
“If you were perfect, I wouldn’t have had to punish you, but you always managed to do something wrong.” He moves the knife slightly out of my leg and jams it back in.
I let out a tiny scream, but quickly bite my tongue to stop.
“Ah, there is that little scream I wanted. I should have done that a while ago,” he chuckles.
I can barely see through the tears and almost swollen shut eyes.
“Kill me,” I whisper my first words to him.
I just want to die, so I don’t have to go through this pain. It’s too much for me to bear, and I just want it all to end.
“Kill you?” He full-on laughs. “And why would I kill you? I want to keep you forever. Take you away where no one can find you.”
I hang my head. He has already done so much to me since taking me, I can’t imagine what he will do to me if I am with him for the rest of my life.
“Now, I want to hear you scream again,” he says.
I take a deep breath in as he comes closer to me. I bite my lip in anticipation for the pain. He reaches for the knife in my leg, but before he can touch it, there’s a loud noise from outside the room.
“Ooo, let’s see what that is. I bet it’s those bikers in the wrong location,” he says, walking away from me.
He walks over to the table and picks up an electronic device. He taps on his screen several times as he walks over to me.
“I sent them photos of you with the wrong IP address. They are currently walking into a building full of my men. They will all be gunned down soon enough,” he says, showing me the screen.
I can barely make out the people in the video. There are muffled voices from the device, but it’s so quiet out.
“Oh, this is going to be my favorite part. They are about to open the door and get killed,” he says excitedly.
Tears form in my eyes at the news. They have been nothing but nice to me. Taken me in and helped me out when I was too ashamed to ask for help. I couldn’t live with myself if they all died because of me.
“Watch or I’ll stab you again!” Jared screams as he turns up the volume on the device.
I force my eyes open a little more, but I still can’t see anything. Everything is blurry, so I rely on the sound. I can hear everything clear as day. One of the bikers has his hands on the doorknob and twists it, opening the door. Right as the door opens, a gunshot goes off, and I cringe in fear.