LYDIA

 

My thoughts were clouded. It was like being stuck halfway between a dream and waking.

I blinked my eyes but couldn’t tell if they were opening.

“Ugh…”

It took too much effort just to groan. But it was the effort I needed to realize that I wasn’t awake or in a dream.

I was in a nightmare.

My head tilted up, I looked around and saw the darkness surrounding me. I tried to get up but couldn’t.

My arms were tied around my back. My wrists and ankles were bound. I was stuck to the chair.

Unable to move. Unable to make out my surroundings. Barely able to think straight, I called out into the darkness as if I would get the answer I was looking for.

“Hello? Help!”

My face was wet with sweat. A couple of tears had made their way down from the corners of my eyes.

“Help! Anybody!”

I yelled helpless into the abyss that surrounded me. Like flailing in bed when you were in a nightmare and trying to wake yourself up, there was no way out for me.

A sudden light shined down on top of me. Blinding white that made me grimace. I closed my eyes as the light illuminated the lone spot where I was bound.

Then I heard footsteps approaching me. Slow, measured steps. My heart sank knowing that it wasn’t someone here to save me.

As he stepped into the light, he revealed himself.

Poison.

The man who had a vendetta against Sean.

The shining light made his pale skin even more dramatic. Tattoos on his shaved head, Poison was the picture of a man who clearly didn’t give a shit what others thought about him.

More unnerving than anything else was the look in his eyes. The sinister smile on his lips hid the dangerous intentions I saw deep inside of him.

He reached forward and put a hand on my chin. I jerked my head away and glared at him, my jaw clenched.

“What a feisty little bitch,” he said. “Don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon.”

“What do you want?” I yelled at him.

“Calm down… Calm down… There’s no need to get so emotional. I only need you to take care of some business. Once Brash gets here, it’ll all be over very quickly.”

“What do you want? Killing me or Sean isn’t going to bring your brother back.”

That wiped the smile off of his face. His brow furrowed in anger.

“Do you know what that man did to me?”

“I know. I know exactly what happened.”

“Do you?”

He started to pace back and forth in front of me.

“Razor was a good man. He never did anything wrong. He was just a biker trying to enjoy his life.”

“He hit an innocent woman.”

“It was a mistake. Did he deserve to die for it?”

“He fired his gun at Sean!”

“That makes it all right? Do you know what happened to him?”

I looked away but he put his hand on my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“Brash caught him. He started hitting him. But he didn’t stop. He kept pummeling him. He pummeled him so bad that you wouldn’t have been able to recognize my brother after. They had to use dental records to identify his body.”

Poison put his face to mine and looked me right in the eye.

“Is that the kind of man you associate with?” he said. “A cold-blooded killer?”

“He did his time,” I said. “They sentenced him and he did his time.”

“Not good enough! Brash took justice into his own hands. He thought he was above the law. Now I’m gonna take justice into my hands. I’m gonna give my brother the justice he deserves.”

“What are you planning on doing?”

He pulled his hand away from me and stood up straight. That unnerving grin reappeared on his lips as he started to pace back and forth.

“I’ve been watching you,” he said. “I’ve been following you. I know where you live. I know where you work. I know where you spend your free time. I even drugged that poor girl who works with you. All just to get Brash’s attention.”

“You… It was you who did that to Gina.”

“It was Brash’s fault.”

“You’re crazy…”

He laughed as if confirming what I said.

“I thought you were just another whore that Brash was sleeping with. But it’s more than that. You two are spending an awful lot of time together. You would think spending so much time with him, you’d realize what he truly is.”

“I know who he is!” I said. “He made a mistake. He paid the price.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “He didn’t pay the price. The price of my brother’s justice is much higher than that.”

He reached into his back pocket and pulled a knife out. The switchblade was sharp, glistening underneath the spotlight that shined down on both of us.

“Brash will come looking for us,” he said. “He’ll find us. Do you know why?”

I shook my head.

“This is the spot,” he continued. “This is the spot where he caught my brother and took the law into his own hands. This is where he executed my brother. It’s only fitting I do it here.”

“You’ll never get away with this.”

“Oh, but I will. You see, Brash is gonna come here. He’s gonna see you tied-up in his chair. I know how close you two are. He’ll do anything to save you. Anything. So I’ll give him the choice to do what’s right.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m gonna give him this knife. And I’m gonna let him end himself. Once Brash is dead, justice will have been truly served.”

He reared his head back and cackled like a madman.

But it wasn’t a man standing there in front of me. His sanity… His obsession… Any rational thoughts were gone. The only thing he was focused on was ending his feud with Sean.

“It’ll only be a matter of time now,” he said.

“The cops are coming. Did you see that guy at the bakery? He was a cop. He’ll be here.”

“That stupid punk doesn’t know where I am. He couldn’t find me if he searched for months. No… The only man who knows where I am is Brash…”

Poison disappeared back into the darkness. The spotlight started to dim.

“Hey!” I shouted. “Where are you going? You can’t do this—”

The loud sound of gears grinding interrupted me. I looked around and saw something moving to the side of me. It looked like a massive storage door slowly rising. I must have been in some type of warehouse.

When the door raised up, I could see outside. It was nighttime in Ivory.

I closed my eyes, thinking about how much I wished I was out there.

All of the townspeople. All of the places. All of the relationships. I’d only just gotten here. There was so much more for me to explore.

My heart sank in my chest, realizing that I would never get the chance to see it for myself.

As I started to sob, I heard the sound of laughter coming from the darkness.

“Don’t cry,” Poison said. “This is a celebration. You get to be a part of true Ivory justice…”

My eyes closed, I heard loud exhaust in the distance. The sound started to grow louder. It got so loud that it was right next to me.

I raised my head up and saw a figure just outside of the small warehouse Poison was keeping me captive. A lone man sitting on his chopper. Even though I couldn’t see him, I knew who it was.

“I’m glad you could join us,” Poison said.

Poison reappeared from the darkness next to me, moving right behind me. A hand on my shoulder made me shudder.

The man in the distance moved off his bike and slowly started to walk toward us. As he got closer to the dim light surrounding me, I got a better look at his face.

I hadn’t seen Sean’s face in only a few days but it felt like so long ago. I’d never been happier than at this moment.

Sean only glanced at me for a second before turning his attention to the man standing right behind me.

“Let her go, Poison. I’m the one you want.”

“You are the one I want. It’s time to finish our business once and for all.”

“Fine. Let’s end this.”