Bones (Ruthless Heathens Book 5)
Chapter One
Bones (18)
My eyes are drawn to her mossy green ones; the dark depths void of anything, her face blank of emotion. She glances around absently at the other girls crammed into the storage crate with her.
I’ll never forget their cries and screams of terror as they echoed through the air around us, drowning out the usual nighttime sounds. In that moment, everything around us seemed to stop, frozen in shock as we lifted the lid to reveal the contents of the crate. Even the insects seemed to sense the heaviness in the air, that something was seriously fucking wrong.
“Fuckin’ shit.” Dad hisses as he drops the crowbar he was using to pry open the crate like it burned him. We’d been informed by our mole, that the Red Devil’s were smugglin’ a hefty amount of pure fuckin’ ice. Well, they were smuggling somethin’ alright. I knew Geo was a sketchy fucking dude, but I had no idea he was this level of fucked up. We may be one percenter’s but even we have fucking limits. These girls can’t be more then fuckin’ thirteen years old for Christ sake. Plus, they all look emaciated, like they haven’t had a decent meal in months.
“Jesus…” I mutter under my breath as the girls continue to scream, cowering closer together. Six of them in total. She’s the only one who doesn’t seem to be having any reaction to our presence at all, either that, or she’s two sheets to the wind and has no idea we are even here. That seems most likely. They tend to get the girls addicted so they are easier to manipulate and transport. This whole thing’s fuckin’ sick. I have to turn around and take a few deep breaths so I don’t scare the girls unintentionally with my anger.
“Get ‘em out of there. Carefully,” Cain—King’s daddy and our Pres—says as he takes a deep breath before running his hands over his hair, struggling to keep his composure at the sight before us. A few of the guys move, steppin’ closer to the crate to do as he said, but the girls’ screams get louder, immediately causing the guys to backtrack. Cain’s eyes meet mine and I already know what he’s going to ask. Before he even opens his mouth, I’m already moving forward, arms up in the universal sign for surrender. Being the youngest one here, they are more likely to feel safer around me than any of the older guys. I catch Cain’s smirk as he nods at my correct assumption.
I continue to approach slowly with my hands still raised, slouching my shoulders and making myself appear smaller. I may only be eighteen, but I’m already almost as big as the rest of the guys.
“Shh.. Shh… It’s okay. We are here to help. We won’t hurt you. I promise,” I say in the gentlest tone I can muster, prayin’ they can see my sincerity. That’s when those vacant emerald eyes finally meet mine and my world seems to shift on its axis, everything blurring around me while still somehow hyper-focused on her. I have no fuckin’ clue what it means or why it’s happening but it’s almost as if the ground is moving under my feet, like one of those walking sidewalks at the airport. Her face remains impassive, not only void of emotions but void of life altogether. Like she’s already dead and given up. And I think that’s what hurts me the most. I have no clue who this girl is, but I do know she’s way too young to be so fuckin’ hopeless.
I make shushing noises, like a mother trying to quiet her baby. Anything to try and comfort them. It seems to work for the most part. The girls quiet down but still eye me with extreme trepidation. I can’t say I blame them; they look like they’ve been through the ringer.
“Come on, let me help you outta the box, okay?” My hands are still raised, I don’t make a move to touch any of them, while the rest of the guys remain far enough away that they aren’t perceived as a threat. She stands slowly and my eyes drop down her body, finally able to take in the full extent of the damage. She’s skin and bone, her face gaunt and eyes pocketed with dark circles, her clothes are old and tattered, hanging loosely off her bruised and boney frame. She looks like if she were to fall, she’d break a handful of bones. She seems to be in worse condition than the rest of the girls.
“Fuckin’ Jesus.” I spit, trying to keep my cool but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite this bad. Even dad sucks in a breath through his teeth before turning his head away. A mixture of disgust and horror at what we are witnessing, hitting us all.
Instead of taking my offered hand, she places hers on the edge of the box to lift herself out. I can see what looks like dried blood under her nails. So, maybe she hasn’t lost her will to live after all. She keeps her eyes on mine as she lifts herself up and out, moving slowly and smoothly as she places both feet gently on the ground.
The other girls, boosted by her courage, also rise to climb out of the tiny crate. I’m not sure how they all even fit in there, the box can’t be more than four foot by four foot. And God knows how long they’ve been trapped in there.
Her eyes slowly make their way around to the rest of the guys. Taking us in and seeming to categorize us, assessing who is the biggest threat, before her eyes land back on me and I’m not sure if that means she thinks it’s me or not.
“We won’t hurt you.” I reiterate, wanting more than anything to help her realize this.
“Do you know where you were heading?” Cain asks, trying to soften his rough timber tone, enough not to frighten the girls. I watch as her green eyes flinch slightly before she shakes her head no. Cain nods, seeming to have expected that. “Come on. We’ll take you back to the compound, get you all cleaned up and fed a proper meal. Then we can find‘a safe place for yah.” His eyes meet mine again before he tosses me the keys to the van we brought thinkin’ we would be haulin’ drugs back. I catch the keys in mid-air and make a big arch, giving them a wide birth as I head toward the van.
I open the door to the bench seat in the back. “Hop in so we can get you all fixed up.” I say with a gentle smile, wanting to seem as unimposing as possible. Green eyes, tilts her head to the side, as if reading everything about me ina’ moment, before she takes a steady step forward. The other girls whimper behind her. She looks back once she reaches the door, givin’ them the silent reassurance they need.
“What do we have to lose?” she states, her voice coming out like a gentle song when no one makes to move. I find myself wanting to hear more of it, instinctively knowing it’s something she doesn’t give often. There’s a pure, innocence about it. And in that moment, I can only stand there and admire her incredible strength. My brain can’t even begin to comprehend what this girl has been through, and yet her resilience and courage is remarkable. The girls, finding truth in her words move forward as one, before climbing into the van.
It isn’t until I close the door and start the car that the bikes roar up around us. Cain gives a little wave signaling for me to follow him. I nod as we make our way back to the highway that will lead us back to our territory and clubhouse.