Ninety
Ayden
Wide awake, I sat outside on the deck holding my gun across my lap. I took a long drag on a cigarette as I watched the sun begin to rise. Birds began chirping as the crickets quieted down with the daylight. I’d been awake for over twenty four hours. I just couldn’t get the expression on Ash’s face as he announced he wanted to kill Mark.
I couldn’t let him do it. I’d been to prison. I knew what happened behind bars and truthfully, I didn’t think an upper class man like Ash could handle it. He was well muscled and I was certain he could fight with the best of them, but prison was an entirely different matter. Prison was humanity in its’ rawest form. It was survival of the fittest. I’d grown up on the streets I knew how to handle myself and even I had had trouble adjusting to the dog eat dog world of prison. A guy like Ash, who’d grown up with the finest things in the world available to him, wouldn’t last a day.
Finishing my cigarette, I tossed it over the railing. No, I couldn’t let Ash kill someone. For all his bravado, he was a sensitive man deep down. He had too much compassion inside him. On the other hand, I’d done a lot of terrible things in my life. I knew what I was capable of and it wasn’t good. When I’d been let out of prison, I’d been hell bent on revenge. If Ash hadn’t stopped me, I might’ve killed Amber. I’d been filled with such rage and hatred.
But I’d been redeemed. Loving Sasha had opened up the place inside me that held so much rage and anger and filled it with something wonderful. I no longer felt that my dark past predicted my future.
Except where Ash and Amber were concerned. I owed them so much for what I’d put them through. Without Sasha by my side, I had nothing to fill me.
But I could have Sasha back if I quit using which is what I had been planning to do.
Lighting another cigarette, I glanced back at the magnificent house. It was beautiful here and both Ash and Amber deserved a chance at happiness. They couldn’t have that with Mark around.
I just had to do something. I was prepared to do whatever it took to ensure they were safe. It would be my final act of redemption. Pulling my phone out of my back pocket, I knew just how to find Mark. I recalled a conversation I had had with Amber after the attack. I’d been studying a photograph of Mark, I had noticed the track marks on his arms.
“Your brother was a heroin addict?”
Amber nodded. “Heroin and meth. Landed him in prison a few times over the years.”
That was all the information I needed.
After all, once a junkie always a junkie.
A few nights later, I sat in my car a few feet away from the door to an abandoned building. A local junkie had given me a tip that a guy was inside selling. He was the only dealer around for miles, he’d said.
Perfect.
For hours, I sat outside shivering cold as I’d turned the engine off. Finally, I was rewarded for my patience when a beat up red Escort came rambling around the corner. The car parked across the street. I watched as a man wearing a dark blue cap emerged from the car. He stood outside the door a minute huddled in his jacket. He took a small package from the guy and got back into his car.
Quickly, I started my car pulling out behind him. Following him several miles, I was careful to not alert him to my presence. Just as I’d predicted, he drove to the wooded area near Ash’s house. I parked a few hundred yards away jerking my car a bit in case he was watching acting like I was having car trouble. He seemed to be paying no attention as he sat in the car a minute preparing a fix. I saw the lighter flickering inside the car as he heated up the heroin.
I yanked a black skull cap over my head before emerging from the car. I’d tucked my gun inside the back of my pants. He turned off the car engine as I approached.
I tapped on his window. “Hey, buddy, I’m having some car trouble. Do you have a phone I could use?”
The man appeared startled as he looked up at me with reddened eyes. “No, I don’t.”
“You don’t have a phone?”
The man narrowed his eyes. “I said I didn’t. What’s the trouble?”
I cleared my throat. The night air was extremely cold as I could see my breath. “My engine just died on me. It might be the battery. Do you have any jumper cables?”
Mark squinted up at me. He nodded his head. “Matter of fact, I do. How far away is your car?”
“Just a few hundred yards back.” I moved back watching Mark as he motioned for me to follow him to his trunk. He disappeared from sight for a moment as he raised the trunk up. My hand reached for my gun as I waited for him to resurface.
“Can you give me a hand? Seems like they’re stuck underneath my spare.”
Hesitantly, I walked back to him about to pull my gun out. It was now or never. Every fiber of my being stood on end. As I crept forward, I held my gun in front of me.
Out of nowhere, I was hit in the face with a burning liquid. Immediately, I fired the gun blindly, but I dropped it as the liquid seeped into my eyes. Searing pain exploded in them as I rubbed frantically. Was it acid? I quickly realized what it was as the strong odor of gasoline hit me. I heard a scuffling sound as Mark stood over me. Had I shot him?
“So, you came to play hero, did you, Ayden? I know who you are. I saw you following me a few miles back. Are you here to save your precious brother and Amber?”
His laughter sickened me as I fought to clear my eyes. Finally, I blinked several times getting the tears to wash the toxic liquid from them. I squinted looking up at him. I didn’t see any visible wounds, but there was a blood stain on his shirt. I laid still as he stood over me.
Immediately, I raised my foot kicking him squarely in the groin. He doubled over groaning as I scrambled to my feet. I raced around searching for my gun. Then, I heard a click behind me.
“Looking for this?”
I turned around slowly to see him holding my gun pointed directly at my head. His eyes no longer bloodshot were clear. I could see the evil in them as he smiled cruelly at me.
“Go ahead, Mark, shoot me. You think I’m scared to die? I’m a fucking junkie like you, we face death every time we shoot up. If you shoot me now, you’ll just put an end to my misery and my only regret will be not taking you to hell with me.”
He chuckled as he pushed the gun at me. “I’m not fucking crazy like everyone says I am. I know you fucked my slut of a sister too. Interesting how Ash is taking his brother’s sloppy seconds and vice versa.”
“What?”
“Sasha Steele. She was with Ash first, wasn’t she? Look, I know everything there is to know about Ashton Blackthorne including you being his long lost brother.”
I stared disbelieving at him. I momentarily forgot he had a gun on me.
“It’s funny how they all say I’m the sicko who wants to fuck my sister when the two of you exchange girlfriends. I find that to be an odd coincidence.”
I shook my head as I racked my brain for a way to get my gun back from him. “I think we have some stuff in common, Mark.”
“What? We’re both junkies?”
“No. We both know what it’s like to be the black sheep of our families. Always the disappointment, never measuring up.”
Mark’s eyes twitched slightly. His hands shook as he aimed the gun at me. “Yeah, so what?”
“So, I get you better than you think I do. Did you know I wanted to kill Amber too at one point?”
The gun lowered just slightly. “You did? When? Why?”
I heard the sound of an animal scuffling around the woods beside us. A dog was barking in the distance. “When I was released from prison. She and Ash sent me there, didn’t you know?”
He shook his head in disbelief. “Bullshit. How did she do that?”
“She was my girlfriend for a while. When she broke up with me, I didn’t handle it well. I followed her then assaulted her, or so she says.”
He nodded his dark hair falling over his eyes. He tossed his head back to move it. “So she turned you in?”
I nodded. “Yep. She and Ash both saw to it I went to prison. I did three years in that fucking shithole because of her. After they let me out, I wanted them both dead.”
“Interesting.”
“You know what I think? She’s a succubus. A fucking seductive demonic slut.” I watched his eyes carefully to see if he agreed.
“You think? Try growing up with her. She teased and tormented me my entire life. Always flaunting her body making me want her. They even locked me for a while in a mental hospital because of her!” He spat on the ground.
I watched as the saliva absorbed into the dirt. His hands were gradually lowering the gun as he spoke. I shifted my weight to my right foot sliding it in front of me. “It wasn’t just me then. That’s a relief. I think it’s strange how we were both affected by her, got locked up and addicted to heroin, don’t you?”
He thought a moment. “It is odd. I don’t think it’s a coincidence either. Fucking slut has it out for men.”
I nodded. I felt sick saying these words, but I needed him to feel as though I was on his side. “She does. I’m trying to get Ash away from her if you want to know the truth. She’s evil.” I whispered widening my eyes for effect.
The gun dropped lower. The corners of his mouth turned up as he nearly smiled.
Placing all my weight on my right foot, I lunged towards him knocking him to the ground. Just as I’d planned, the gun flew out of his hand. Without giving him a chance to recover, I began slamming my fists into his face. Over and over again, I hit him. I felt the bones in his face crumble beneath my blows. Blood spurted from his nose. His fists flailed clocking me in the jaw. I fell forward clutching my face.
Mark scrambled to his feet. Before he could reach the gun, I fell down upon it. He raced into the woods.
Picking up the gun, I ran after him. I saw him hiding behind a tree. I fired two shots at him. One hit him in the shoulder as he ducked back behind the tree. Realizing I had no more bullets, I tossed the gun aside.
Racing after him, I found myself in the woods. It took me a second to realize what had happened. I heard footsteps a few hundred feet away. Dead leaves crunched beneath my feet as I moved towards him.
A sharp pain pierced my leg. I collapsed on the ground clutching my calf. Sick laughter erupted behind me.
Mark had sunk a long hunting knife into my leg. He ran off as I removed the knife.
As he raced through the woods, I struggled to keep pace with him. The pain in my leg was too much for me to run very fast, but then I heard him stumble over a huge tree root slowing him down.
I was right on top of him now. I plunged the knife deep into Mark’s back. He tumbled to the ground screaming. He clawed at the ground trying to crawl away from me. Blood poured from his back. The sight of all the blood sickened me, but I had to do it.
Stunned, I looked away listening to his agonized screams. I stumbled backwards. There was still time. I could save him and walk away.
But I couldn’t let him live.
Letting him live would be like killing Ash and Amber.
By this time, Mark had rolled over. He held his hands up weakly.
But I would show him no mercy as he’d given none to Amber. I shoved the knife into his chest. His eyes glanced up at me I watched weakly as the life in them faded away. His breathing stopped and I stood up.
Numbly, I walked the rest of the way back to Ash’s house. My feet seemed to move on their own. I had no recollection of how I got back to the house.
The moonlight shone down as I knocked on the door.
“Ash,” I whispered leaning against the door.
The door flew open. Ash stared at me in shock as I was covered in blood.
Amber screamed.
I dropped the bloody knife on the ground at my feet. “It’s done. I took care of it.”