Shattered (Koa #5)

24. Asher

Chapter 24

Asher

T urner stuffed tissues in his ears so he wouldn’t crash the car. It was for the best since every single one of her screams was like a rusty knife twisting in my gut, and I couldn’t imagine trying to drive through it. He pulled over at some point so I could move into the back with Bane and keep the video away from him. I continued to watch, and Bane called every time they demanded it, sometimes two or three times, just to be safe.

Not that it fucking mattered.

They’re telling her I abandoned her, that I’m not coming to save her. That she’s just another disposable whore. The worst part is she doesn’t fight them about it.

She believes it .

When I first met Lila, I thought she was just another bitch. Some inappropriate fun. Now, everything’s changed. You can’t be this afraid for someone you don’t care about. She’s infuriating. She pushes every one of my buttons, and she doesn’t fold when I lash out at her. She’s not afraid of me. And the way she kissed me…

I have to save her. If she dies… The thought makes tears spill down my cheeks. They’ve been a near constant, and I don’t even give a fuck that I’m crying in front of Bane and Turner. From what I can see of Turner in the rearview mirror, he looks on the verge. He cares about Lila. But I’m not sure what he feels is even a fraction of what I am right now.

The drive feels endless. Every moment we’re stuck in the damn car while I watch Lila being brutally tortured is torture in itself. It’s impossible to watch, but I can’t tear my eyes away. As long as I can see her struggle and hear her screams, I know she’s still alive. But as time goes on, her screams, which are already hoarse from her shredded throat, weaken, along with her struggles. She’s tired.

I know I’m going to have nightmares about this because it’s the most fucked up shit I’ve ever seen. They started by shoving toothpicks under her fingernails and toenails, and by the panic in her eyes, I knew she was already in agony. From there, they started cutting her with a serrated fucking knife as if they couldn’t find anything crueler. They’d let her bleed until I feared she wouldn’t have any left, and then they’d use a torch to cauterize the wound, burning her alive. And then, after each one, they take turns raping her, covering their clothes in her blood. From what I can see, she can handle Rocco, but Rooney is too big for her. The violent thrusts he hits her with make her howl worse than her damaged flesh .

After an eternity, Turner takes the tissues out of his ears and speaks.

“We’re here, where am I going?”

I turn to see a highway sign for Kingston, and though we’re almost there, I can’t help the sickening feeling in my gut that we’re almost out of time.

“Get off the ramp and turn left at the stop. Keep driving til you reach the end.”

The end of the fucking world.

Some part of me hopes we’ll find them here at home, but it’s not the case. When we swerve into the driveway, the only car there is Raven’s. The blinds of the modern two-story house are all closed, and everything is black. I’m out of the car before it’s fully stopped, abandoning my phone with the video while Lila is cut open again.

I can’t feel my leg as I run. In fact, I haven’t felt anything but panic since waking up.

I’m already pounding on it when Bane and Turner reach the door. Just as I expected, I don’t hear a thing. I just hope she’s hiding and not dead.

“RAVEN, OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR!”

Turner thinks fast and grabs a large rock from the grass, pitching it through the window, and he sticks his hand in and unlocks the door.

“I’ve got upstairs, you two check down here,” Bane says, taking the lead .

Turner finds the basement quickly and heads down there, leaving me with the main floor. I rip open every door I find until I hear a loud bang from up the stairs. By the time I reach the bottom, with Turner hot on my heels, I find Bane dragging Raven down the stairs by her hair, screaming bloody murder. When she reaches the bottom, Bane shoves her to her knees, and I grab her by the throat, cutting off her air and slamming her head against the wall.

“Where is the cabin?” I demand.

When I release her neck, she coughs, her eyes wide with panic. “What cabin?”

I shake my head, my fury growing. “Raven, I’m not fucking around. Rocco and Rooney took my friend, they’re gonna kill her!”

When she doesn’t speak, Turner disappears behind me, returning a moment later with a knife. He points the tip of the knife at her eye, making her struggle in fear.

“You have two minutes to tell us where the cabin is,” he says firmly.

She shakes her head, growing angry. “You’re bluffing.”

“I’m not,” I say, snatching the knife from Turner’s hand. Raven squirms but can’t get away. “Tell us where the fucking cabin is!”

Finally, she bends. “They’ll kill me!”

“Either they do or we do,” I say coldly.

I take the knife and drag it across her cheek, leaving a shallow cut that oozes blood, and she winces at the pain; as if it’s a fraction of what Lila’s going through right now.

“You’re coming with us,” I finally snap.

I hate to take a woman hostage, even a bitch like Raven. But we don’t have a choice. We find some tape and use it to secure her ankles and arms. Bane sits in the back seat, dealing with her as she struggles. Reluctantly, she directs us. When we get there, we’ll lock her in the car; she’ll be out of the way.

I missed part of the video when we stormed the house, and now something’s happening, though I’m briefly stunned when I lay eyes on Lila’s chest.

Her tiger tattoo is gone, and she’s completely depleted, her breathing heavy and her eyes shut.

“If we bleed her any more, she’s gonna die,” Rooney says. “We shouldn’t have cut her so much. We could’ve dragged this out for a few days, but she’s lost too much blood.”

“We’ll keep her corpse. She can entertain us til she rots.”

Bile rises in my throat at the thought as my head spins.

“Should we just finish her off with a bang? What do the donors want?” Rocco asks.

“The highest bid is Hans, four hundred thousand for a close-up of drowning her.”

No. No no no.

“We could take her to the bathroom, do it in the tub. Nice lighting. What a boring way to go, though.”

“Yeah, I wanted to mutilate her more for Asher, but money talks.”

“We got two hundred thousand to flay off all her skin. Maybe we’ll get fifty for doing that when she’s dead.”

“Any other takers?” Rocco asks loudly to the camera. “We’ll drown her first, but we can always do more to her corpse.”

“How fucking close are we?” I ask with terror in my voice .

I whip my head around to the back seat to see Bane clock Raven in the head when she doesn’t answer quickly enough. She groans as she straightens herself back up.

“She’ll be dead before we get there,” she says coldly.

“Asher…”

He’s looking over my shoulder at the video, and I see why. They’re moving her.

“No…”

“What’s happening?” Turner asks, his voice strained.

I can’t think. Can’t breathe. “You need to drive faster,” is all I can spit out.

“I can’t.”

I know he can’t, he’s already driving faster than he should be. We’re no good to Lila if we’re dead in a ditch. But we’re out of time.

I watch helplessly as Lila’s freed from the table. She’s pale and weak, and her movements are sluggish as Rocco and Rooney help her up. They each take an arm and have to carry her out of the room with her feet dragging on the ground.

The moment she disappears through that door, my phone battery dies, and my heart shatters as the screen goes black when I need to see it the most. This is the part where she needs to fight. But she’s too far gone. There’s two of them, and one of her, and she’s nearly dead.

“She’s gonna die, Asher,” Raven says. “There’s no way we’ll get to her in time. All you’re doing is walking into a slaughter. Rocco and Rooney will kill you all.”

“Bane, tape her fucking mouth shut. She can direct us with her head,” Turner snaps .

My jaw falls open, and I cover my mouth with my hand, trying to hold back whatever’s about to come out as terror overwhelms me.

Lila…

“There’s still a chance,” Turner says. The hollowness in his voice tells me he doesn’t really believe it, but he’s not going to give up.

And neither am I.

This is all my fault. I underestimated Rocco and Rooney, and now Lila’s paying the price. She’s so scared, in so much pain, and they’re walking her to her death. I’d do anything just to take her place. I think it’s time I admit it.

“Asher?”

They’re all waiting for me to decide.

“Look, guys, this may end up being a suicide mission. If you want to back out, I won’t hold it against you, but I’m going in there. Once she’s back in my arms, I’ll decide if she’s dead or not.”

“Asher, they’ll kill you,” Bane says.

My voice catches in my throat as I speak. “I won’t leave her.”

Turner nods, slapping me on the shoulder.

“We have to be smart about this. If we run in there without thinking, we’re gonna die.”

“You’re not backing out?”

“Never,” Turner says firmly. “We’ll either save her or avenge her.”

I nod, tears spilling down my cheeks. When I turn to Bane, I can see the conflict on his face. He may not care about Lila, but he does care about me, and he knows I’m not walking away.

“You’re my brother. You know I’ll do anything for you. I’m in.”