Chapter 16 Creature
“ T his the place?” I asked, looking at the rundown trailer in a mobile home park that looked like it had seen better days.
The trash piled up outside in ripped bags, and something smelled fucking awful.
I saw several broken or boarded windows.
Most of the double-wide trailers needed repairs.
Animals scurried around the lot, and weeds sprouted between cracks in the pavement.
More dirt than grass covered the ground.
I snorted. “Well, it’s missing the middle number in the address, but I guess it’s correct.”
He flipped his cigarette to the asphalt and stomped the cinders with his boot. “You ready?”
“Is that a real question?”
He laughed. “Alright. You wanna talk to him? See what he knows first?”
Not really. “I guess you do.”
“We should try.”
Fuck. I just wanted him dead. “I suppose so.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that he’s dying tonight,” Maddog clarified.
Good. “Then let’s go in. I need to see this motherfucker’s face when he realizes how badly he fucked up.”
My pres and closest friend only laughed in response.
Since it was late, well after three in the morning, no one lingered outside or close to the windows to view our entrance outside Jim’s trailer.
Hell, not a soul was awake during this time that I could tell.
Drake confirmed he felt no presence from anyone other than Jim’s snoring inside the double-wide walls.
We didn’t knock or hesitate to fling open the door, stepping inside to the trash-littered floor covered in empty bottles of liquor. The guy consumed nearly as much fast food as he did booze, and the evidence lay all around us.
The loud noises we made didn’t startle him.
“I think we need to jolt his ass back into awareness,” Maddog concluded as he stomped his way into the kitchen, picked up a big bowl he found on the counter, dumped the contents, and began filling it with water.
Once he had filled it within a few inches of the top, he returned, giving me a wide grin before he dumped the icy fluid over Jim’s head.
Jim coughed and sputtered as his eyes popped open. He tried to shoot to his feet, but the gun I had aimed in his direction made him pause as he discovered the barrel pointing at his chest. “Fuck. What the fuck do you want?”
Surprisingly, he didn’t slur. Maybe he was sober. Probably slept off the effects of the liquor by the time we showed up.
“You came to my house and took from me. I’m here to return the favor.”
He scoffed. “Don’t fucking know you, man.”
“You’ll remember soon.”
He sat forward, staring me down. “You know my club? We’ll fucking slit your throat and everyone you know for this.”
“You’re not gonna live long enough to tell,” Maddog informed him.
Jim’s eyes narrowed. “Who the fuck are you?”
“My name isn’t the detail you should focus on, you piece of shit,” I snarled. “It’s what you did.”
“Or, to be more accurate, what you didn’t do,” Maddog clarified.
Jim tried to stand, but I cocked the gun. “Don’t fucking move.”
He pushed off the furniture anyway, and I pulled back on the trigger, hitting him in the kneecap. A scream tore from his lips as he staggered backward into the chair he’d been resting in.
“As I said, don’t move, asshole.”
He clutched the fabric arms of his worn chair and winced against the pain. “Enough games. Who are you?”
“You should recognize me. I resemble my father, Tinman.”
He paled as his gaze swept over me. “Shit.”
Yeah, shit.
“You came into my house, stood by while your club brother shot my mother, and then left him to do whatever he wanted to me.”
“You weren’t harmed. I know that.”
“Not harmed?” I growled, shooting his other knee.
He howled, begging for me to stop.
No fucking mercy.
“You killed my mother!”
“No,” he blubbered. “It was Spike. He killed her. I didn’t have shit to do with it!”
“Liar,” Maddog accused.
“You were there. You let it fucking happen. You didn’t fucking care that a thirteen-year-old boy watched his mother shot in cold blood.”
“Fuck. I’m sorry!”
“Not good enough!” I roared.
“It’s Ratchet! You should go after him. He set that shit up. He wanted the president’s seat and knew Tinman would never agree to it. He wanted your dad out.”
I already figured as much. “Glad you told the truth.”
“Then leave me. I’m no threat.”
Maddog’s lips curled into a sneer. “Can’t do that.”
“You’re breathing while my mother isn’t. You didn’t prevent her death.”
Jim held up his hands.
I went to pull the trigger when the shadows bled inward from the walls, filling the interior until every light in the room extinguished.
Drake’s laughter echoed in my head, and I gave him control, knowing he’d spill blood and avenge one of the two women I loved in my lifetime.
The first would never see the man I’d grown up to be, and I mourned her loss.
The second awaited me back at our clubhouse, and I planned to make my claim of her official as soon as possible.
Jim’s screams fed the monster within me, and the wicked beast I’d been gifted from Lucifer enjoyed his cries of terror and pain.
I wasn’t sure how long we remained in that trailer.
By the time we left, what was left of Jim could only be described as lumps of flesh and bloodied bone.
It looked like a wild animal had torn him apart.
Knowing what I did about Drake and the entity that shared space with him, I wasn’t surprised by the carnage. The two thrived on it.
Maddog stood beside and popped open his lighter, igniting a small flame. “Ready?”
I nodded, turning toward the door of the trailer.
He touched the flame to the chair, letting the fire take hold of the upholstery with a quickness I didn’t expect. Before we exited, the hungry flames were already devouring everything in the vicinity and covering what was left of Jim’s remains.
I stood outside for a moment, watching from a distance as I straddled my bike, relieved that two of the men responsible for my mother’s murder had faced justice.
One way or another, the third would face me, too. I’d have my revenge, and Ratchet would answer for his betrayal of my father. Before this was over, I’d avenge them both.
But now, I pushed the need for vengeance from my mind. I needed a shower to wash the blood from my body and burn these clothes. I couldn’t find any further closure tonight.
All that I wanted now was my woman. I wanted to hold her to me, sink between her soft thighs, and focus on making her mine. The rest would be handled soon.
The club had my back. Maddog and Skel wouldn’t rest until my vengeance was complete.