Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
“Ding! Ding! Ding!” he spits, practically foaming at the mouth. “For months I was tortured and fucked in the most depraved acts, all while being filmed for entertainment purposes for some sick bastards who made Hobbs look like a fucking saint!”
“Jesus christ,” Pierce mutters behind us, his shock evident.
My brother’s chest heaves in my arms, each breath he takes clearly painful.
“We didn’t know,” Justice grinds out. “How the fuck were we to know?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he rages, his crazed gaze drowning with the hatred that fuels him. “It still happened and it’s because of what you three did.”
“Get ready,” I murmur to Knox. “We’re going to make our move.”
His rigid body stills, bringing the calm before the storm.
“I swore the day I escaped that place I would seek revenge on you all.”
“Don’t do this, Andon,” Alice cries. “Please, don’t hurt them.”
My jaw hardens, her plea wounding the organ in my chest.
“Oh, I’m going to hurt them, little sister, but they’re going to watch you die first.”
I don’t give him the chance to make his move. Dropping behind Knox, I reach for the thin dagger hiding inside my boot and send it sailing through the air with the same precision I use through the scope of my gun, piercing into the wrist of his hand that holds the remote.
His howl of pain erupts through the barn as the small, black device flies out of his hand. Knox throws his knife next, sending it into the center of his chest, the impact knocking him to his back.
Justice takes care of Pierce, kicking the gun out of his hand. It sends him running like the coward he is, knocking over a gas can as he does.
Embers from the fire ignite, sending flames to spread through the barn like wildfire.
“Shit!” The curse flees from Justice as we all back up, shielding our faces from the flash of heat.
Alice’s scream pulses through me, sending my gaze upward. I watch as flames crawl up the walls around her, drastically cutting our time in half.
“Hang on, I’m coming up!” My gaze shifts to Justice. “You go after Pierce! Knox and I have this.”
He heads out after him, dodging the blaze that threatens to engulf him.
My attention moves to Knox next. “She’s attached to that pulley,” I tell him, pointing to the wheel that the rope is connected to. The same place Denton still lays, unmoving. “I need you to find a way up there and wait for my call to release it.”
He wastes no time racing for the other side of the barn.
Fiery heat crowds me at all angles as I back up enough to make a run for the platform that was lifted from my grasp. I manage to grab onto the ledge enough to swing myself up. It teeters wildly beneath my weight, the rotted boards threatening to give way.
It has me jumping even quicker to the next platform, but this one is rigged to fall, the suspension snapping.
“Braxten!” My name leaves Alice on a cry.
I push off the crumbling platform, reaching the ledge above that brings me more inline with her.
“Thank god,” she sobs in relief. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good.” Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about her, not with the amount of blood dripping down her arms. It ramps up the urgency of this already dire situation.
I search for Knox through the billowing smoke and find he is still one level away from where he needs to be, the flames on his side threatening to close in on him.
With time depreciating and Alice still out of my reach, I break off one of the rotted boards beneath my feet and use the rusty nail sticking out to hook the knotted rope at her wrists.
The moment I start to pull her closer, she cries out in pain, quickly ceasing my efforts.
“It’s wrapped in barbwire,” she weeps, revealing where all the blood is coming from.
It sends the rage inside of me detonating like a catastrophic bomb. “That motherfucker!” Every muscle strains beneath my skin as I try to restrain myself from succumbing to the spiraling fury.
“Just go.” She coughs as smoke begins to consume her. “Before it’s too late for you.”
Ignoring that statement, I decide to try a different tactic. “I’m going to go above your wrists, but I need you to guide me. I need the nail to hook through one of the links in the barbwire.”
“There’s no time, Braxten. You have to leave now or—”
“Listen to me, goddamn it!” I snap. “Either we both leave this place alive or I die here with you. What’s it going to be?”
Her emotional eyes lock with mine, guilt and fear flooding their depth.
“I’m not leaving here without you, Alice.”
At my stern resolve, she pulls herself together and nods. “Okay.”
Reaching across the space between us, I blindly search for a snag within the wire, my eyes burning like a motherfucker as black smoke coats my throat and lungs.
“A little higher,” she chokes out.
I do as she instructs, persistence taking over at the raging heat closing in on my back.
It isn’t long before I feel the nail hook.
“You got it!” she cries.
I begin pulling her in closer, moving her only a few inches at a time, the resistance of the pulley fighting against me.
I barely have her in reach when Knox yells from across the way. “Braxten, grab her!”
The panic in his voice has me looking over to see he has made it to the highest platform. Denton stands at the other end of it, using the knife I threw to cut the cable of the pulley.
Fear and desperation collide in a flurry.
Knox runs for him, but doesn’t make it before the cable is cut.
Dropping the board, I reach for Alice’s arm, my grip slipping from all the blood. “Son of a bitch.”
Blue eyes peer up at me from the roaring flames, piercing me with regret as she slips further and further from my grasp.
Just as I fully prepare to follow her down the fiery path, Knox makes a snap decision. He leaps off the platform, grabbing onto the other end of the cable in midair, his weight bringing Alice high enough for me to grab her around the waist.
“Fuck!” My brother’s painful bellow is deafening as he realizes the rope is wrapped in barbwire.
With a sobbing Alice in my arms, I pull her onto the platform, my hand grabbing hold of the cable above her wrists to keep my brother from crashing to the ground. Adrenaline dulls the pain of the sharp barbs slicing into my hand.
Denton’s roar of defeat blasts through the fiery barn, the madness of his rage exploding. I look over to see him jump from platform to platform, heading straight for us, the extent of his injuries never slowing him down.
“Shit!” I hurry to untie Alice’s wrists with my free hand, my fingers ripping open from the effort.
“Cut me loose,” Knox orders.
“Not yet!” I focus on the knotted rope through smoke burned eyes.
Alice helps me by shimmying her already cut up wrists out of the loosening bind, fighting through the agony.
“That’s it, baby. Almost there.”
“Goddamn it, Braxten!” Knox bellows again. “I’m jumping.”
“No, don’t! I have a plan.”
Just as Alice’s hands become free, our platform bounces on impact, Denton landing on the other end of it. I push her out of the way just as he lunges, my grip on the rope slipping as I fight to keep Knox suspended.
Alice moves quickly, grabbing onto the rope with both hands to help me, her cries of pain merging with the hot flames.
Denton and I grapple, my free hand throwing a few punches before wrapping around his throat while both of his move to mine.
“You are not getting out of this alive,” he snarls, his pupils blown wide as blood coats his teeth. “Even if it means dying in here with you.”
“You’re dying, motherfucker, but you’re doing it alone.”
The moment the choked words leave my mouth, a knife penetrates his shoulder, Knox managing to throw the last one he had.
The shock causes Denton to slacken his grip, giving me the opportunity I need.
A smile of victory slips over my face. “Say hi to Hobbs for me, you son of bitch.” Grabbing the slack of barbwire, I wrap it around the fucker’s neck and send him up.
The razor sharp barbs pierce his throat, his weight light enough to lower Knox toward the ground.
My brother keeps hold until the very last second then jumps loose, dropping the bastard into the fire below, his screams burning into eternity with him.
Alice throws herself at me, her frail frame shuttering with relief.
I hold her close, offering only a second of comfort. “Come on, baby. We’re getting the fuck out of here.” Shifting her in my arms, I climb to my feet and search for a way out, finding the entrance fully engulfed like most of the decrepit barn.
A crash below sounds over the roaring flames, drawing my attention. One of the side walls is smashed open from the outside, forming a space big enough to get through.
Justice and Craig shove their way inside, waving us over. “This way, hurry!”
Running to the other end of the platform, I find Knox waiting at the one below us, his arms outstretched as fire rages behind him. “I got her, I promise.”
I pass Alice down to him without hesitation, watching as he cradles her like fragile glass before handing her off to Justice on the ground.
Just as I make the jump down to Knox, the platform breaks, sending us crashing to the black covered floor. It dazes us for a only a moment, both of us rolling apart as we dodge the falling debris.
“Come on, we’re out of time!” Craig orders.
Pushing to our feet, we hurtle through the open ring of fire, escaping into the dark night.
Clean air infiltrates my lungs, making them heave like a motherfucker. I ignore the fiery sensation and grab Alice from Justice, dropping to my knees in relief.
She wraps her arms around my neck, her guttural coughs exacerbated by her shuddering sobs.
“You’re okay,” I murmur, reassuring myself more than her. “I got you.”
Sirens wail in the distance as I watch Justice grab Knox in a bear hug, the blood of his wounds soaking through both of their shirts.
Craig stands over Pierce’s lifeless corpse, assessing his insides that are now on the outside of his body. A price he had to pay.
A price anyone will pay if they hurt the ones we love.