Dawn of the Others

Chapter 10

The drive was cold and the sharp metal of the toolbox I was sitting on had begun to dig into the back of my legs by the time we stopped moving. It hadn't been a very long drive, just enough for me to calm my racing nerves and shaky hands. I tried my best to hold onto that feeling of my even breaths as I sat, debating if this was going to be my only chance to escape. I waited a beat before quickly attempting to stand, but I was easily forced back down by a strong hand on my shoulder. Damn, I thought as I gave in and remained in my spot. Escaping was going to be difficult if I still couldn't see anything, but it was just as risky to wait until they took me any farther.
I was pulled up from my spot before I could think much more and shoved down into another set of hands on the ground. I stumbled as I struggled to make sense of what they wanted, my feet barely catching on as they began roughly pulling me along yet again.
"Is that her?" I heard a woman's stern voice call from ahead of us. My ears perked up as I listened intently, hoping to hear something that would make some sense to me. I wanted answers if nothing else.
The man beside me replied quickly, it sounded like the same man that had been calling the shots in the woods. "No, she made it inside." He said calmly, "But this one seems like she might be just as valuable." The dark curiosity that laced his tone brought a chill to the back of my neck and I didn't want to think about what I was starting to find myself in the middle of.
We stopped walking and there was silence for a moment before the woman spoke again. "Fine." She almost growled, clearly unhappy. I was a little glad that my view of her was obscured, by the sound of her voice I was willing to bet that she was staring daggers at whoever met her eyes in that moment. "Take her in." She stated firmly, her voice emotionless.
In an instant we were moving again and I tripped as my feet connected with the stairs that had been a few steps in front of me. A little warning next time, I thought to myself sarcastically, my feet catching on the first few steps as he continued walking before I could fully recover my balance.
He stopped at the top of the small staircase and I could hear the creak of a rusty door being opened. "And Marcus..." The woman called out once again, "If you take it upon yourself to change my orders again, you better not come back." She informed him coldly.
I felt his grip tightened on my arm as he responded. "Understood." He forced out.
He didn't wait for her to say more as he pushed through the door and inside the building, our feet echoed off the smooth floor as we headed farther inside. It began darker and darker inside the hood as we walked and I could faintly smell the stench of rubber and cigarettes through the material causing me to scrunch my nose up in distaste. We took a few turns as we walked and eventually headed down a steep flight of stairs into a much damper area. I desperately tried to remember the twists and turns we had taken, but lost my thoughts as I struggled not to roll down the solid steps. I swayed until I could steady myself and ended up connecting with the wall beside me, my jacket scraping against the rough surface as I followed it with my shoulder. I shivered involuntarily as the chill of the air penetrated my clothes and made me almost immediately uncomfortable. I dreaded being cold, I hated the way it sunk in and made itself at home deep within my body.
We turned once more before my hands were suddenly freed and I received a harsh shove forward. I could barely brace myself as I landed stiffly on my shoulder, a heavy door latching shut behind me as I groaned and reached to pull the hood off. I took a moment to catch my breath and bring the feeling back into my arms before I could attempt to get up. The tiny room was lit up by the smallest of windows, no taller than a stack of paper and only a few feet wide. My eyes easily took in the rest of the room in seconds, from the simple cot to the large prison like door that kept me from freedom. I absentmindedly rubbed at the rope burns on my wrists as I looked around the closet sized room, if I had laid down I could easily have reached both walls at once. I felt more trapped than I ever had and a pit of dread had begun to build in the bottom of my stomach. The lack of escape opportunities so far was worrisome and now that they had me locked inside I feared how low the odds of me making it back out in one piece were.
I could hear the echo of dripping nearby and the faint sounds of people milling around above me, but I couldn't make out much more than that. I sat down on the bed in frustration, feeling the hard metal through the thin mattress that had been thrown on top. I leaned back against the damp wall as I thought to myself quietly, but as the minutes turned to hours I still had no idea what I was going to do. I had paced back and forth, yanked on anything I could, fiddled with the door and even pulled on the bars of the window that I would never be able to fit out, but none of it got me anywhere. An exasperated sigh left my lips as I rubbed a hand over my face in frustration. I couldn't believe that I had been stupid enough to get wrapped up in all this, I had no idea what I was doing or what these people wanted from me and I had absolutely no way out. Obviously there had been dangers in taking Riley back myself, but all of this had been way beyond what I thought could have happened. I didn't blame her, but I cursed myself for my need to help and for how I had pushed to take her back despite her warnings. As nice as my time with her had been I shouldn't have given into my feelings so easily, I had no regrets but at some point I should have started to see this coming.
I was torn from my thoughts as the echo of steps got louder and what sounded like a few people descended down the staircase into the basement, stopping outside the door. I barely breathed as I stood and waited for the door to open, ready to take any chance that I could to get away. The frustration I had only seemed to fuel me and made we want to swing at everything I could. My hands balled themselves into fists and the lock clicked and the door began to move. As soon as I could see his face I swung, connecting strongly with his jaw and sending him stumbling back against the doorway. My hands reached out to slam the door but he had already caught it and used it to pull himself back into the tiny room, cornering me with his hulking body.
"Ooh, we got a live one!" Someone called with a chuckle from behind him as he righted himself and stepped in. The look of rage in his eyes made him seem more like a charging bull than a man, I hadn't realized I was going to be so outmatched when I had come up with my bright idea. He gave me a hefty shove that showed me just how angry he was and sent me bouncing off the wall and onto the floor at his feet. I gasped as my head slammed off the wall and the air was knocked out of my lungs, but he took another step forward and hovered over me, ready to kill until someone called him off.
"That's enough." A voice commanded from the doorway. The bull of a man huffed and I worried he wouldn't comply for a moment but he clenched his large fists and followed directions, pulling me up and dragging me out of the room despite his displeasure. I was still struggling to bring air back into my deflated lungs as a younger man moved to help him, taking me to a nearby chair and strapping me down without much resistance on my part.
"She got you good." The voice teased causing me to look up despite my short breaths. Blood ran smoothly from his lower lip and a slight swell had already begun to take over the lower side of his face. The man seemed to become angrier than ever at her comment and looked as though he wanted to tear my head off, but he took a step back and bit his tongue instead.
I turned my head to finally look at her, matching her voice to that of the woman from outside. When I saw her I understood why everyone around me followed her lead, she was beautiful but the deadly look in her eyes immediately made me want to cower. An air of authority surrounded her and I worried she would kill me just for meeting her gaze. She continued into the room, removing her loose jacket and handing it to the younger man as she passed him. The torn jeans, combat boots and whiteish tank top did nothing to soften the stone cold look that seemed like it never left her face. Her toned arms shone in the dim light as she made her way toward me, stopping at the foot of my chair.
"I've been told that you might know some things that I'd very much like to hear about." She drawled slowly. Her dark eyes bore into my own as she watched me, waiting for me to give her what she wanted.
"You'll have to be more specific." I choked out as I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat. I didn't want to antagonize her but I also had no idea what she wanted me to say, I had no answers and I didn't want to know what would happen when she realized that. I knew I needed to keep my mouth shut if I could help it, I was only valuable because she thought I knew something.
She narrowed her eyes at me dangerously, almost as if to warn me to watch my words. "You're ballsy." She told me lowly, the hint of a smile growing on her face. "I can't decide yet if that's a good thing or not." I had a feeling I didn't want to be around when she did decide.
"I'll humour you this once though." She finally said. "Tell me about your relationship with Riley and the club." She demanded, her voice more serious than it had been a moment ago. "Then, tell me how to ruin them."
My mind spun as I tried to connect the dots and figure out where I fit in, obviously she knew I had been with Riley, but she seemed to think that I had more information than I did. Panic began to set in as I realized that I would be useless to this woman soon and I had no desire to find out what that would mean for me.
"Uhh," I stalled, trying to think. "We're friends, I don't know anyone else." I ended up saying simply, it wasn't much but it was the truth.
She raised an eyebrow at me, "Friends?" She repeated, unconvinced.
"Yes." I confirmed with a slight nod.
"Hmm." She acknowledged my words, letting a silence fall over the room. "I find that hard to believe." Her eyes stared into mine until I felt like they would burn a hole through me. I didn't even see her swing as my head whipped to the side and my face instantly began to burn, her fist suddenly slamming into my cheek with a surprising amount of force. I held in a groan as I lifted my head to look back up at her, the taste of blood spreading through my mouth and into my throat. "Shall we try that again?" She whispered, amusement dancing in her eyes.
I held my ground the best I could and repeated myself, "I only know Riley, there's nothing else I can say." I said through gritted teeth. I could feel the tickle of blood dripping down the side of my throbbing cheek as I held my head up.
She pursed her lips and shook her head at me slowly, "You would save yourself a lot of trouble if you just talked to me." She said, her voice sickly sweet. "I don't understand why you try to deny it when you're wearing the clubs jacket."
Confusion coloured my mind as I failed to comprehend what she meant, I wasn't part of any club. "I don't know what you're talking about." I uttered through clenched teeth, my head swam in thoughts as I desperately tried to put the pieces together.
I could have sworn her eyes turned a shade darker as she took in my words, giving the impression that she was about to enjoy herself. She didn't believe me and even though I had been telling the truth, I hadn't logically expected her to believe me.
"That's the wrong answer, darling." She scolded with a wicked grin.