Angel
I couldn’t begin to say how much time had passed. The only thing I was aware of was the slow, even sound of Chuckie’s breathing. Poor kid was terrified out of his wits but somehow he was still asleep. I hadn’t moved a muscle — we were still cuddled up on the floor and I was absentmindedly stroking his hair with one hand. I was afraid that if I moved at all, he’d wake up and then we’d have that to deal with. Chuckie had no idea how much trouble we were really in, but I didn’t want him to be scared.
I hated myself for letting this happen. I hated myself for falling for Trey. If we’d never met, this wouldn’t have gone down. It seemed ridiculous now. And furthermore, how did Damien’s guys know how to start stalking me at the library if Trey hadn’t even been aware of my existence?
Maybe he knew you were here the whole time, a nasty voice chimed in the back of my head. Maybe he knew and he just didn’t want you. Maybe he never wanted to see you again. You’re lucky he saved you twice. It probably won’t happen again. You don’t deserve that, Angel.
“Stop it,” I mumbled, unaware that I was talking to myself. “Shut the fuck up.”
Chuckie stirred in my arms and my heart fluttered. “Mommy?” His voice in the darkness was scared and small, like that of a very young child.
“Shhh, baby, it’s okay,” I told him as I pulled him closer and kept stroking his hair. “Go back to sleep. Do you think you can do that?”
Chuckie wriggled on the concrete floor and I winced, knowing how uncomfortable he must be. Chuckie was practically all skin and bones — he’d finally hit his growth spurt — and the floor was hard on me, a mature woman with an ass. Poor kid. He didn’t deserve any of this. I wished I could take him away from Centerville and never return, but now I wasn’t even sure if we’d make it out of the basement alive.
It had seemed like hours, and no one had come down for us. Occasionally, I’d heard footsteps and mumbling upstairs but no one had even put their hand on the knob of the door. Every time I heard someone walking, my pulse quickened out of anxiety. I began to dread the door opening, seeing a manly silhouette stomp down the stairs. But then when the footsteps would pass, I’d feel a stronger pulse of anxiety than before. Don’t leave me alone! I wanted to scream. Come back! Being ignored was infinitely worse than being in the company of those horrid men. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, but I didn’t like the thought of being alone here for the rest of the night.
Where the hell was Trey? Surely he had to know something had happened by now. I didn’t know who had taken me, but it didn’t seem too far a stretch to imagine these guys were probably linked to Randy and Nick. But Randy and Nick were a couple of buffoons — what would they want with me? They didn’t have beef with Trey. Hell, I didn’t even think they knew Trey.
But Centerville was only so big. And Trey rode with a big MC of at least ten guys. I’d never met most of those guys. I’d never even seen some of them before. So maybe Randy and Nick had a bigger network than I’d imagined. And maybe they’d had some of their stronger guys take me down and keep me waiting.
I shuddered as I remembered the force with which Randy had grabbed my breasts that once. He was a savage, a brute, someone who could barely be called a man. And now I was at his mercy.
“Mommy, what’s going to happen to us?” Chuckie looked up at me.
In the darkness, I could see the angles and planes of his face reflected from the moonlight. There wasn’t a big window in the basement but I could see snatches of moon and dark from the outside world. I calculated it had to be after midnight by now. And here we were, alone, starving, and cold. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had something to eat. I’d been so broken up with the thought of leaving Trey’s that my appetite had completely vanished. But now even the bowl of stale bread was starting to look appetizing.
“Baby, are you hungry?”
Chuckie nodded. He wiped the back of his mouth with his hand and I saw he’d been drooling. I felt like the world’s worst mother as I climbed to my feet and walked over to the bowl of bread.
“Let’s just eat a little bit of this right now,” I told Chuckie. “So we don’t get sick. Can you manage that?”
Chuckie nodded. He picked up a piece of bread and crammed it into his mouth, trying to swallow whole. He grinned at me and for a moment, I had the sense he thought we were on this great adventure. Oh, kid, I wanted to say. You have no idea just what kind of adventure this really is.
Suddenly, the door opened. Chuckie and I leapt apart. A masculine figure strode down the stairs. Like the guys who had caught me yesterday, he was a menacing figure. There was something vaguely familiar about him, but it was too dark in the basement to really look at his face.
At that exact instant, the man flipped a switch and harsh light flooded the basement. I squinted, getting an instant headache from the bright white lights that had been mounted on the rafters. In light, the basement was even dingier than it had been in darkness. With unease, I saw there were various stains of shapes and sizes on the floor. I shuddered. They were all a darkish red-brown…blood?
“I see you’re enjoying the refreshments,” the man cackled.
I shivered as he stepped closer. Focusing on his features, I felt like someone had punched me hard in the gut. This man was someone I’d seen before. I struggled, racking my brain for his name. He was someone who used to pal around with Trey, someone I’d never really liked.
“The name is Damien,” the man said, as if reading my mind. He stuck his hand out for a shake.
I kept my fists balled into defiant clumps at my sides. There was no way I was going to touch this monster. The name brought back all kinds of memories. When Trey and I had started dating, they’d been best friends. They’d grown up together, on the wrong side of the tracks. Unlike the rest of Trey’s friends, Damien had always tried to charm me. But it hadn’t ever worked; I’d seen right through his slimy bullshit. We hadn’t been together for all that long before Trey and Damien stopped talking. I’d asked Trey for the truth so many times that he’d gotten irritated with me, but he’d never told me why they weren’t friends anymore. I had to suspect it was because Damien was pushing Trey to get into illegal activity and Trey had refused. Deep down, I always knew it was because of me. If Trey hadn’t been with me, he would have done anything in a heartbeat. But I was the center of his life then, and he’d been trying to get right just so we could be happy together. I’d always warned him that if he went to jail, I wouldn’t be there when he got back. And I thought he’d taken that pretty seriously.
“I remember you,” I said. My voice sounded shaky and high-pitched, like a little girl’s. “You used to be friends with Trey.”
“Oh, you do have a good memory,” Damien said. He smiled at me and stepped closer with a leering grin on his face. He made no secret at all of staring straight at my breasts and I shuddered at his intense gaze. “It’s been years since we laid eyes on each other. You remember the last time?”
I swallowed hard. I did remember. It was one of the last times Trey and I had seen each other before…well, before my parents orchestrated the breakup. Trey had taken me dancing. We’d stayed until well after midnight, and afterwards, stumbled to his car. I was tipsy, tired, and all but falling down. Trey was laughing and supporting me with an arm around my waist. I remembered the way he smelled when I laid my head on his shoulder. Even now, in a grimy basement with a man who wanted to hurt me, remembering that night brought back a spark of pleasure.
But it hadn’t ended on a good note. As Trey had walked me closer to the car, a man had stepped out of the shadows. Damien. They’d gotten into some kind of argument and Trey pulled a knife. He told Damien to stay away. At the time, seventeen years old and naïve as a schoolgirl, I’d been horrified. I’d had no idea Trey was protecting me; I’d only been shocked that my date had been packing a switchblade in his pocket the whole time. Trey had tried to soothe me but nothing had worked. When he’d taken me home, I’d cried for hours at the fact that he could be so cruel. I’d never even thought Damien would have wanted to hurt me. Now, I wanted to go back in time and shake that silly little girl to her senses. Trey wouldn’t have hurt a hair on my head. I understood that now, but I couldn’t help feeling like it was too late.
“I remember,” I said sharply. Chuckie scrambled up and hid behind me. I could feel his small fingers digging into my thigh and I knew he had to be more scared than ever.
“Mommy, who’s that man?” Chuckie’s voice was high and nearing hysterical.
I pulled him into my arms so his back was to Damien. “Don’t worry, sweetie,” I told Chuckie, keeping my eyes on Damien, daring him to say anything to the contrary. “We’re going to be just fine.”
Damien chuckled, a low, creepy sound. “So who am I?” He fixed his yellowish eyes right on me and I felt a bolt of fear strike my heart.
“You’re Damien,” I said softly. “You were a friend of Trey’s.”
Damien cackled, throwing his head back and exposing a veiny, corded neck. “You’re right,” he said. “Goddammit, you remembered me?” He almost grinned. “That’s a compliment, Angel, dear.”
I shuddered. “Let us go,” I said, trying to keep my voice as stern as I could. “Let me and my son go. We don’t deserve to be here. We haven’t done anything wrong.”
Damien raised an eyebrow at me but he didn’t say anything. “Oh, you haven’t, have you? Well, then, I’ll just let you go,” he said silkily. “But there’s a price you have to pay first.” He stepped closer and I felt my heart slam against my ribs in sheer terror.
I shook my head. “I’m not giving you shit, Damien,” I said flatly. “Let us go.”
Damien cocked his head to the side and looked at me with an amused glance. “I don’t think so,” he said archly. “After all, I went to all the trouble of finding you and bringing you here. I don’t think I’m through with you yet, Angel. It’s been such a long time.” He grinned wolfishly and I felt a ripple of terror go through my body. “And I’ve missed you! Haven’t you missed me?”
I was confused. “I don’t get it,” I said softly. “We weren’t even friends. What do you want with me? If you’re trying to use me to get to Trey, it’s not going to work. He doesn’t care about me.”
Damien grinned wickedly. “Aged too much for him?” It stung but I didn’t reply. “Well, I think you look just amazing.” He licked his lips and let his eyes wander down my body, staring at my breasts.
I shuddered and tried to look away. “Damien, come on,” I pleaded. “Think back to being friends with Trey! Even though we’re not together anymore, you know he wouldn’t approve of you doing this!”
Anger flickered on Damien’s face for the first time. I sensed that I’d hit a raw nerve.
“Always gotta defend the golden boy, don’t you?” Damien sneered. He leaned closer and I smelled something rotten on his breath. “Don’t you know he and I are cut from the same cloth, you dumb bitch?”
“No, you’re not,” I said. “Trey made a life for himself. He brought himself up and he’s doing fine. And you’re…you’re kidnapping innocent women and their children! You’re fucked up, Damien!”
Damien laughed bitterly. “And don’t you think I know that, sweetcheeks?” He stared at me and I shivered. “Don’t you think I know it shoulda been me who succeeded, not your pretty boy Trey?”
I shook my head. “I don’t care,” I said firmly.
Damien shook his head. He rubbed at some of the dark stubble on his chin with a greasy thumb. “I shoulda been the one who got to leave Centerville,” Damien said. “Not him. And you shoulda been my girl. Not his.”
I blinked, feeling dumb. All this time, I’d never imagined that Damien had given Trey shit because he’d liked me. In fact, I’d actually thought he hated me.
“What, you’re surprised I want you?” Damien gave me a wicked grin. He stood up and stepped closer. I flinched as his hand reached down and stroked my cheek. “Don’t be surprised, honey. You’re hot, mama, even with a little kid.”
Before I could stop him, Chuckie turned around in my lap and faced Damien defiantly. My cheeks burned with shame knowing my son had listened in on this conversation.
“My Daddy is going to come save us,” Chuckie piped up. “You should be afraid of him! He’s tough!”
Damien threw his head back and laughed. It was a rumbling, throaty sound that echoed through the damp basement. “Your daddy is dead,” Damien said evenly. I gasped and he made no response. “And you’ll be dead soon, too.”
I was in shock as Damien got up and walked towards us with a length of rope in his hands. As he tied my wrists together behind my back, more tightly than before, I was barely paying attention. All I could think about was Trey. Was he really dead? What was going to happen to us now? I felt like crying, but in front of Damien, the tears wouldn’t come.
When he was finished binding me, he moved to Chuckie and tied up his hands and ankles. Then he twisted my ankles together with the same rope, effectively binding me to my son.
“I hope you enjoyed your snack,” Damien said just as my stomach rumbled from fierce hunger. “That was the last time you’ll be untied for a few days. I hope it was good!” He grinned at me as he turned around and climbed back up the stairs, flicking off the lights and slamming the door hard behind him.
“Mommy, what are we going to do?” Chuckie’s voice was trembling and scared but I couldn’t even respond. I was too trapped in my own head, too aware of my own shortcomings. Somehow, all of this had to be my fault.
And now I was feeling more scared than ever before.