Her screams fill my ears, the ring of them stuck in there for a lifetime. Even after the call replays in my mind and in my ears. What did they do to her to get that reaction? How badly is she hurt?
It’s time to play.
I pace around him. He’s strung to my roof. His feet on a box, a rope tied around his neck. He’s waking up, he goes to move, realizing what a mistake that is and stays still. If he moves that box under his feet, he’ll hang by his throat.
“I’m not a patient man, Evan, you won’t get many chances.” He looks down to see that he’s missing most of his clothes. The only thing that remains is his underwear.
“What were your instructions for the night?”
“He’s going to bleed her dry.” He laughs, which just makes me angrier, and I’m fucking angry as it is. I have a nail gun, a very good nail gun, it’s brand new and very fast. So when I shoot one off into his foot, it takes him but a second to scream.
“What did you say again?” He starts to whimper and he doesn’t answer, so I do it again, eliciting more screams from his mouth. He still doesn’t answer, just looks at me with determination. His will is breaking, he may not see it, but I sure do.
“Last chance before one goes in your ass.” His head shakes, so the nail goes right into his ass cheek. Making him scream bloody murder. I walk around, taking him in. He has a very long nail sticking out from both his feet and one in his hand which he now has positioned near his neck. Then the ass. I walk back around to it, placing the head of the gun on his other cheek. His body moves forward, and he speaks.
“I was to knock you out… not kill. Bring you to him.”
“Where were you meant to bring me?” He shakes his head no. I shoot him again, this time in his abdominal.
“To the Hill,” he finally speaks. The Hill is a place where I’ve killed before, killed for Gray. It’s secluded and quiet.
“What time?”
“At nine.” I look at my clock, it’s almost nine now. The Hill isn’t far away, I know all the tracks to get there, it’s where I’ve done multiple killings.
The man on the box looks at me, realizing I’m about to leave. My nail gun is placed on the floor and my gloves are taken off my hands. My gun’s back in my pants. He looks relieved, but he shouldn’t be.
“I’ll see you there,” I say, just as a puzzled look lands on his face. I kick the box, hanging him from him neck, cutting off the circulation. He tries hard to free himself. It’s a lame attempt and I don’t have time to watch as he dies. I go, knowing exactly where I’m meant to be.
The whole hike up the Hill is quiet, nothing but insects on the way. I try to get as close as possible to the place where he will be. It overlooks the water, nothing but black water.
I reach nearly the top and I hear voices the closer I get. Gray is talking, talking and yelling fast into his phone. I look for Rose and spot her in the arms of Ru. She’s hardly clothed, blood drips down her arm and she’s not awake. Ru places her on the ground, not gently, making her head bounce on the ground. Ru walks away, leaving Gray and Rose by themselves. I walk from the bushes. Gray spots me and doesn’t look surprised at all.
“I figured you’d get the information.” He laughs, the sinister bastard. He looks to me and sees a card in my hand. A smile forms on his lips. “You worked it out, did you?”
“You did it, you purposely turned me into the person I am today.” He nods his head, looking to the card.
“I thought you’d join me, that you’d become one of us. You never wanted that, and I ended up accepting it. You ended up being a great investment, Black, even if I had to kill your mother to do it.”
“You did it to have me?” I ask in disbelief.
“Yes, and I’m about to do it again. I don’t waste money, Black. She will be loose change. You… well, you are my gold mine. I can’t replace you.”
“You won’t have to replace me.” I smirk at him, and he starts to smirk too. Then realizes I’m not talking about what he is.
“I wish you would reconsider.” He shakes his head, and I grab my gun. He looks behind me, and I’m knocked so hard on the back of the head I fall to the ground.
I wake to Ru tying my hands behind my back, my legs are already tied in front of me. Rose sits on the ground, watching me. Gray is standing in the same spot, looking at his phone, then back to me.
“You found my boy,” he says, and I know he’s referring to Jake.
“He’s your son,” I say trying to break free. Ru pulls me back down, having the advantage over me.
“Did he tell you… did he tell you what else I did?” He laughs like it’s all a game. “I let my boys play with him. The boys from prison. Can you guess what they did, Black? Can you?” He taunts me, an evil smile playing on his lips.
“I’ll kill you for that!”
“I knew it would hit a cord with you. He’s the only reason you stayed, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“He’s lucky I didn’t kill him. He disobeyed me. Betrayed me. He shouldn’t have told you. Shouldn’t have said we knew. This whole thing would have been a lot smoother if you didn’t know.” His hands wave around. He’s angry that I knew, that Jake told me.
As I fight my restraints, Ru stands and Gray nods for him to leave. I watch as he walks away then stops, looks back to Rose and smirks.