Chapter 6
24690
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
My eyes flew open at the deep sounding alarm. Red lights were bathing me, leaving my adrenaline soaring. I sprang from the bed, fumbling on the floor for the knife I could barely see. My eyes weren’t adjusting right. I was so tired and yet panicked as I bolted on shaky legs to the opened door. Screams were already echoing along the walls and I managed to jerk myself back just in time for a man to sprint in front of my entrance. Had I been two seconds faster, he would have run me over.
“Move it, Mistress!”
My head shot over and Eleven was already sweeping down to pick up a hammer. Chaos was erupting four cells down as a man wildly swung a spiked club. Blood sprayed out from a woman’s face and chunks of skin and meat ripped free as he pulled it free. His head turned and for the briefest moment, his eyes locked on mine. The double take and loud roar that burst from his mouth had my feet snapping into action.
I threw myself forward, dropping the knife and barely reaching the handle of a hatchet before the woman in the cell directly across from mine grasped ahold of it and reared back. I didn’t have time to scream or even react before she let out a piercing sound. She swung upward and to the left of where she stood. A gush of warmth gushed over my arm and my breath hitched as I saw the man halt to a stop at the force of the buried blade.
“You’re going to have to be faster than that. You hear those alarms, you run in your fucking sleep if you have to.” Eleven’s angry voice was yelling in my ear over the alarms as he pulled me up all the way. Frantically, I scanned both sides of us. It was a massacre. Slaves were covered in blood, stabbing, slicing, beating, raping … eating.
Fingers gripped to my arm, pulling me out of the middle of the hall. Eleven edged us closer to the woman’s cell across from mine and I had no use but to follow. Guards were pounding slaves back with the batons, coming right for us. For me. Again.
With a hard jerk, I broke from him, ripping the hatchet from his grasp as I put all my weight behind the surprise grab. I didn’t think. I couldn’t afford to. If I didn’t do something, anything to show these guards that they needed to fear me, they won. I couldn’t allow that. Besides, what else did I have left to lose? I knew they weren’t supposed to kill me. I was Everleigh Harper, married to the present Main Master that ruled them. I’d go down in a mass of blood and carnage if it meant they didn’t get the satisfaction of winning. They would see I was no one to mess with. I’d take their faces, too.
A deep yell broke from my throat and I ran with everything I had. Movement blurred on both sides of me and I swung with everything I had to anyone who got close.
“Kneel! Kneel!”
The yells from the mad man increased as I raced by, but I didn’t care for his orders. No one told me what to do. No one.
“Everleigh!”
Eleven’s call was so far away, yet right behind me. I knew he was following, but I saw nothing but the four men whose stares narrowed as I approached. One slowed considerably and I zeroed in on his fear. I clung to the power it gave me, letting it drive me faster.
Before I could get to him, weight crashed into my side nearly knocking me over. I wasn’t sure how I managed to catch myself enough to spin, but both of my hands were already clasped around the handle and I was swinging, hacking away into some young slave whose long blonde hair was soaked in blood. The dagger she held fell to the ground and I didn’t let my heart ache for her. It couldn’t. That beating thing in my chest only continued for the person it kept alive.
“Left, Mistress! Left!”
Eleven’s warning had instinct kicking in. His fingers gripped into my gown and where I swung left, he let go, diving to tackle a tall man to the right. Wetness splashed across my face as my hatchet ripped down a balding man’s cheek. The explosion of cries and screams all around faded with a crack that seemed to split the air in two. An agonizing burn tore down my back, igniting a rage so intense that my body locked in the clash of overwhelming sensations. The slave in me knew what it was. The woman who longed for true freedom was already turning around and racing for the man who held the whip. The guards no longer existed in my world. Just the man who seared his orders into my skin like a Master.
“Kneel!”
His arm wielded in a circle above his head and I didn’t slow as I zigzagged his way.
“Kneel!”
Crack!
Fire lit a path along my stomach, stealing my air, but I didn’t let it stop me. I lunged forward, swinging my hatchet right at him. He was quick for an older man, tucking in his body and jumping back. I went mad, swinging, determined to spill his guts at my feet.
Still, he outmaneuvered me.
My pants increased while I projected every ounce of my energy into putting this man into his place. Laughter bellowed out from him and it only increased my need. I reared back, connecting with something hard. Before I could turn, my weapon was pulled from my grasp and hands were gripping around my waist. My legs flew out as the guard turned me to dangle at his side like I was nothing. I kicked, twisting my body and flailing. With his hold, I didn’t so much as budge from where he held me at his waist.
“Hey! Hey!”
Eleven’s yells carried over the alarm and screams, but the guards didn’t seem to notice as they led me back to my room. The man holding me moved to the middle while the others beat back the prisoners. Survival kicked in and all I could think to do was escape their clutches. My fists drew together and I beat into the man’s shin, mercilessly. When he didn’t slow, my hands grasped onto his opposite thigh and I pulled myself into him, turning my body to sink my teeth into his leg. The guttural sound that left his body vibrated me as I bit down. Even through the uniformed pants, I could taste the tinge of blood.
“Bitch!”
His hands dropped and I hit the ground, immediately clawing at the tile floor as I scrambled away.
“Mistress!”
One of the guards was already sprinting for me as I tried to push to stand. My eyes widened as I saw Eleven throw the knife. I could barely gasp before the man’s legs buckled and he was falling right toward me. I dropped back to my knees, sliding in the blood coating the floor from a previous attack. Guards were yelling and one was coming right for me while another raced after Eleven. Panic left me desperate. I stood, sprinting toward the back of the long hallway. Slaves were just as thick, swinging their weapons as I raced by.
The red light dimmed, turning the space darker the further I got down. My lungs burned from the frigid air and I knew there was nowhere to go. All I could think to do was run and push my way through the prisoners who grabbed at me. Faster, my heart was racing, and fear was beginning to penetrate the numb wall I held to. The hall broke to the right and I turned, not caring where it took me. It seemed to stretch forever before the curve, but there was no mistaking the large outline of who was standing in the middle, still so far away.
“Bram? Bram!”
I could barely catch my breath enough to scream his name.
“Get her!”
Quicker, I pushed myself, growing closer by the second.
“Bram!”
As if I meant nothing, he turned, walking away from me. The dismissal was like a fist in my gut. Anger like I never felt before drove me faster. I could feel the guards closing in. One of their fingers scraped down my back, tearing into my skin as he tried to stop me. I was going so fast my feet almost seemed to be weightless in my pursuit.
“Don’t you leave me! Bram Whitlock!”
His body jolted to a stop at the name, but he didn’t face me. Instead, he turned, opening a door and disappearing through it. Confusion left me swimming on what to do. If I slowed, the guards would surely have me. But what if he was behind that door? Would he save me from them? Would he even really be there or was I hallucinating again?
I kept my eyes trained on the location as I neared. Indecision only made it appear even faster. Before I could decide, I was already trained on the handle and sliding to a stop. My hand gripped around the knob and weight crashed into my side. Frantically, I twisted, trying to tiptoe to peer into the glass window at the top. The glimpses showed me nothing and turning the handle got me nowhere. It was locked.
“Bram! Bram!”
Arms wrapped around my waist while the guard pulled, but I couldn’t let go. I couldn’t stop screaming at the man who I felt was betraying me. Abandoning me. Abandoning us all.
“Bram!”
The hard tug dislodged my grip and I screamed, thrashing in the guard’s hold. He wasn’t beating me like I expected. He wasn’t doing anything but trying to cradle me as I threw myself around.
“Looks like you’re losing this game, Mistress Harper.”
The tone nearly took my breath away. For the first time, I looked up at the face that held me. And for the first time, I broke down. Really broke down. I was sobbing so hard that I could barely see his features. Everything was blurring together in the red glow.
“J-Jarrett?”
“That’s, High Leader, to you.”
My arms flung around his neck while I cried even harder.
“Don’t look so quick to soften towards me. Your husband watches. He’ll be watching everything from now on. Luckily, he doesn’t have sound out here. But he does in your room. Watch what you say.”
My head lifted and I jerked in his grasp as if I were fighting. “Can you get me out of here? I have to find Bram. I—”
“Master Whitlock is dead. As for the other—”
“But, he’s not. Didn’t you see him? He was right there. He went through that door.”
I went to turn when Jarrett bounced me in his arms. “You are mistaken. That was Master Norris.”
“It was not,” I yelled. “It was Bram. He was wearing a suit. Anyone down here would be in white and you know it. Take me back. Take me to Bram.”
“Master Norris chooses to stay here, Mistress. He comes and goes as he pleases. These red lights are his life. Had you of made it to him, you would have been raped and tortured to death. Why do you think no one was in this hallway?”
My head shook as more tears blinded me. “You lie. He was walking away from me. He wasn’t trying to hurt me.”
“He wasn’t walking away from you. He was going back to his room, probably to pull you in when you got down that far.”
“But … he shut the door. Stop trying to convince me that it wasn’t Bram. We both know it was. Tell me why he doesn’t come for me. Why doesn’t he take his place?”
The sob that threatened wouldn’t come concerning our previous Main Master. The lights flickered and once again white brightened the surroundings. Jarrett walked around the corner and the amount of blood was shocking. Crimson pools and smears painted the floors. There were hand and footprints lining the space, left behind from the slaves that were rushing back to their rooms. Why they were so compliant told me there were harsh consequences if they didn’t.
“The last person you need to worry about right now is Master Whitlock. What you need to focus on is yourself. Did you learn nothing from our talks? I told you about this game. I told you everything you needed to know to survive and make it to the top. You’re not thinking. You’re smarter than this.”
I thrashed again, screaming at the aggravation I felt. Jarrett wrestled me, holding so tight he was nearly crushing me.
“You have power. More power than you know. Use your head or else you may find yourself at your husband’s mercy.”
“I have no power. Look at me. Look where I am.”
Jarrett slowed his pace, eyeing Eleven who stood in the doorway ahead. “You have Masters in high places who may wish to help you, am I right? Maybe ones who wanted you? Think.”
I nearly cringed. “Master Yahn wanted me, and I can’t help but think Master Kunken would at least listen if I called. But what could they do? They’re not Main Master. West will overrule anything they may do to try to help. Then, he’ll just punish me more.”
“You’re wrong and you know it. You know the new rules. Abbot told me what you requested to happen to your husband.” Jarrett glanced down but brought his eyes back up to Eleven. “Work your magic and you will be rewarded. At least until I can help you more. As for that one, stay away from him. Nothing good will come out of keeping his company, dearest Everleigh.”
I followed his line of vision, noticing how Eleven’s expression grew concerned as we approached.
“Why? Why is he here?”
Jarrett’s mouth opened, only to close. “He was Bram’s father’s slave. He and his twin sister. Just stay away from him. If it is true and Master Whitlock lives, you’ll be glad you did.”