Shadow’s Heart (Devil’s Inferno MC #3)

Chapter Eight

Wreck

T he sound of metal grinding on metal startles me from my sleep. I have absolutely no idea how I even managed to fall asleep tied up this way, but somehow I did. Or maybe I passed out; either way, I’m awake now and am once again face to face with the man claiming to be a member of The Khaos Group.

He stops in front of me, a sadistic smile on his face that I know means trouble, well, at least for me. I don’t even want to think about what he has planned for me. The look on his face right now is one I’m familiar with but have never been on the receiving end of. It’s the look Blade gets when he’s about to cause someone who deserves it a boatload of pain.

“Have you thought about why you’re here?” He asks, even though I can tell he isn’t really interested in what I have to say. He’s asking just for the sake of it, or maybe to play with me. Who the fuck knows what’s going on in his mind?

“It’s all I’ve done, but just like before, I have no fucking clue. So why don’t you tell me, What the fuck could I have done to gain the attention of The Khaos Group?” I ask, sounding just as aggravated as I feel. Probably isn’t the smartest thing I could do in my situation, but I can’t seem to help myself.

“You know, if I wasn’t absolutely disgusted by what you’ve done, I’d be impressed with your bravado.” He says, his voice hard.

I watch on as he opens a bottle of water that I didn’t even realize he had, taking a sip. Making noises to let me know just how refreshing that water is. So that’s his plan; start with the mind games. He’s got to know how desperate I am for a drink by now; it’s not like I’ve been given anything to eat or drink since I’ve been here, but fuck if I’m going to give him the satisfaction of begging for one. If he wants to keep me alive, he’s going to have to give me one eventually. He fastens the lid and smirks at me, and I wish I could get my hands free and slap that look off his face.

“I’ll help jog your memory. You fucked up when you went after someone I care about. See, while I may be a member of The Khaos Group, this isn’t official business; it’s personal. Not like that really matters though; personal or not, I’m still going to use everything in my arsenal to make you pay for what you’ve done.

“I haven’t gone after anyone.” I start to say. I’m not sure why I even bother, though. He clearly doesn’t believe me; his eyes flash with rage, and before I have a chance to speak again, he punches me, only this time when he unleashes his fists on me; he’s wearing brass knuckles and doesn’t stop at my face. He’s raining down punches wherever he can reach.

He clearly believes I’m guilty of what he’s accusing, and he isn’t going to believe my protests. No matter how true my words are. I have no clue who could have lied and told him I went after them. It’s all total bullshit, but it doesn’t matter what the truth is; whoever this guy is, he clearly believes I did something to someone he cares about and is determined to make me pay.

I fucking hate not knowing all the facts, especially when I’m on the receiving end of this man’s rage. He doesn’t fucking hold back. Every punch he’s throwing at me, he’s using his full power. Attempting to cause as much damage as he can. He pulls back after a few minutes and smiles darkly as he takes in the injuries he’s caused. Clearly he enjoys what he does, which I suppose is a good thing for his job with The Khaos Group but bad fucking news for me.

“Don’t worry. I’m just getting started with you. There’s a lot more pain to come. You’ll soon be confessing all your sins.” He says, patting my cheek condescendingly before stepping back and leaving the room. I hear the grinding of metal as he locks the door behind himself.

Everywhere fucking hurts. Taking brass knuckles to most of the body will do that. There’s no way I don’t look a total mess right now; I’ve got to be covered in bruises, cuts, and blood. This is just the start, though; by the time this man has finished with me, I’m going to be in a fucking state, if not dead. No, I need to be realistic. I will be dead because I’ll never confess to what he wants me to because I didn’t do it.

I swallow hard at that thought. I don’t want to fucking die in this place and never see my chosen family again. It’s not just Shadow; it’s everyone. When I joined Devil’s Inferno, they became my family, the family I chose. Yeah, I still had Dre, but I cut the rest of my family out for being flaming pieces of shit, more bothered about appearances and money than their children. I felt nothing when I learned they’d died in a freak accident when I was twenty-one. Honestly, I was relieved they were out of my life for good. They weren’t good people.

This isn’t the time to be thinking about them, though. All that is in the past, I made a new life for myself. I’m a successful tattoo artist who sometimes helps those who’ve been failed by the system. All things considered, the way I live my life should make all these men who’ve taken me potential friends. Ha, if only someone hadn’t told a bunch of lies.

Once again I hear the locks disengaging, only this time the door opens to reveal a different man than before. He is smaller and looks fucking young. If he’s older than eighteen, I’ll eat my left shoe. He looks like a goddamn baby. Like no joke, you know the people you see on the street and automatically think they have a baby face; that’s this guy. He’s tried to make himself look older by having his dark hair short in a standard military cut, but it really doesn’t help. Even though he looks and is clearly young, this isn’t a new experience for him; his face is totally blank, and he’s not at all affected by my state or the damage that’s been caused by who I’m guessing is his boss.

I watch as he brings in a tray with a bowl and bottle of water on and places them next to a mattress on the right side of the room. God, I hadn’t even realized that was there; clearly, I was too distracted by all the weapons on the other side to notice something as simple as a mattress. Once he’s done that, he heads towards me still showing no feelings and unlocks my chains, pulling me up from the chair and dragging me across the room towards the mattress. I don’t even try to fight him; I heard the lock on the doors engage once he entered. Even if I managed to fight this guy and win, I’d still be stuck in here; I might as well bide my time and save my strength. No doubt I’m going to need it in the future.

As soon as I’m by the mattress, he shoves me down and grabs my left wrist, attaching it to a chain on the wall, before he repeats the process with the right. He stands against the wall and watches me, glancing between me and the food, clearly telling me without words to eat and drink what’s been provided. The food in the bowl looks like oatmeal, and I’m not in a position to be picky about what I eat. I need to eat whatever they give me to keep my strength up. There’s just enough length to the chains attaching me to the wall that I can move my arms to eat and drink what’s been provided.

It doesn’t take me long to devore what’s been given to me; I’m far hungrier than I realized, which isn’t exactly that big of a surprise when I remember the last time I ate was lunchtime when Sera went out and grabbed subs for everyone. The minute I place the empty items on the tray in front of me, baby face, as I’m calling him from now on, is next to me and taking it all away. He leaves the room after knocking on the door so it can be opened from the outside without ever speaking one word to me, and fuck if it doesn’t make me feel even more isolated and alone than ever before.

Being alone isn’t something I particularly enjoy under normal circumstances; I like being surrounded by people, especially those I consider friends and family, but right now it feels even worse than it normally would, as I can’t help but let my thoughts drift to Shadow, and my worry for him seems to be overtaking everything. Despite the fact that it’s me in this horrid situation. I can’t help but wonder how he’s reacting to me being taken. Is he coping okay? Is he sleeping? Eating? Causing issues by going crazy in his search for me? Not for a moment do I believe he isn’t doing everything he possibly can to find me; that thought never passed my mind once. I know him far too well to ever believe that.

I hate that I’m never going to know the answer to any of the questions running through my mind or that I’ll never see him again. God, I wish I could just see him one more time and tell him how much he means to me and how he changed my life for the better. My life would have been so much bleaker and darker without him in it. He became my ray of sunshine in all the shit life decided to throw at me, and for some reason I never thought to tell him that. I never imagined I’d mourn not telling him that just how his purely existing in my life made everything better. He has no idea just how deeply I care for him or has any sort of understanding of the way I see him, and that might just end up being my biggest regret of all.