The Damned and the Dead

Chapter Thirty~Eight

"You see, Dredd? Our kind is a ruthless, greedy, blood-thirsting breed that f.ucks up everything we touch. I hurt what I swore to protect, I permanently scarred my baby girl. I'd rather slit my own god damned throat than hurt her again. I won't hesitate to mutilate anyone he even thinks about laying a hand on her." I slowly explained so that each word would be absorbed.
"I would never hurt her intentionally," Dredd finally speaks. I drew in another cloud of smoke.
"Good, because I'd hate to cut you apart," I replied and dropped my cigarette to the ground, smothering it into the dirt. "Now, let's get out of here."

✞Anna✞

The door opened almost two hours ago revealing Pickles with a plate of food, he said a greeting and tried to crack a joke, but left when he saw I wasn't in the mood for jokes. I didn't want to see anyone except Dredd right now. He had been gone for most of the day now and hadn't even stopped by to check on me.
Maybe I was clingy already, but my stomach twisted up into knots thinking that he used me and was most likely downstairs right now f.ucking one of those biker groupies. The thought of him down there with one of them all over him was almost enough make me storm over to the door and kick it off its hinges. Call me over dramatic, but after hours of a sitting here listening to my own thoughts because of boredom I was desperate.
"F.uck it." I growled and hopped off the bed to stand in front of the door. I was just about to throw a hard kick at the doorknob when the door suddenly opened.
"Dre--dad? I-I mean James?" I quickly corrected myself when I saw that my father was standing in the doorway eyeing my boot that was still hiked to kick the door open. With the door now opened, it looked as if I was about to kick him in his unmentionables. He was the person I least expected and wanted to see at the moment.
"Anna." James spoke my name slowly while eying my boot-clad foot that I slowly lowered to the ground. "Were you planning on kicking me?" I gave a shrug of my shoulders and crossed my shoulders feeling the dull ache in my arm that I had grown accustomed to return.
"You can't say you wouldn't deserve it." I pointed out in a dry tone. "What do you want?" I asked sharply.
"To talk. Just to talk." James replied with what looked like longing in his eyes.
"We've done that already." I sighed and sat down heavily on the corner of the bed. He took a step closer.
"This--this is different, Anna." He scratched at the stubble on his cheek. "This is about Dredd." My lips set themselves into a hard frown. Shit.
"What about him?" I asked casually and crossed my arms across my chest then my legs at the ankles.
"We had a little talk together and he told me about you two." James started off slowly. "He told me he--that he cared for you." I arched one of my brows.
"He did, did he?" I dryly stated.
"Do you care for him too?" James asked slowly.
"This really isn't any of your business." I pointed out.
"I'm your father." He quickly replied causing me to scoff.
"Are we really going to go there again?" I asked feeling agitation tug at my mind.
"Does whatever is going on between you and Dredd mean that you're going to stay?" James spoke up with a tinge of hope in his voice.
"I don't know what anything means." I answered truthfully.
"He told me he loved you, Anna, and if I know Dredd he's not going to just let you walk away." James explained.
"It's not like I can just up and leave anyway. You kind of have me held as your prisoner." I retorted.
"You're not a prisoner, Anna." James sighed. "I'm doing this for your own good. William almost killed you once and if I let you go I know you're going to go after him. You don't understand how powerful he is, Anna." I rolled my eyes at his words.
"I've got men trying to hunt him down right now. You don't need to worry about William because I'll get him." James explained.
"I want to f.ucking kill him. I want my face to be the last thing he sees before I blow his head open." I stated.
"That's not going to happen." James bluntly remarked.
"No one, no one f.ucks me over and leaves me for dead." I gritted out.
"What your mouth, Anna. I'm gonna make sure William pays for what he did to you; you don't have to worry about him anymore." He didn't get it. He didn't understand. I needed to get my revenge on that f.ucking gringo myself. If I didn't I wouldn't be able to move on. It was something I felt I had to do.
"You don't understand." My voice dropped and I averted my eyes from his.
"Then, help me understand." He pleaded. "Let me fix what I've done to you."
"It not something you can just fix!" I snapped. "I'm--I'm f.ucked up in the head and I'll never change. I've accepted who I am and you should too. I'm not the twelve year old kid you left behind;I've changed and you can either accept that or f.uck off." The room fell quiet and I felt my heart pounding against my chest from having vented a little of the pent up fire inside of me.
"You're so much like your mama," his voice was quiet and tender in a way that sounded like he missed her.
"Don't talk about her." I quickly snapped and kept my eyes off of his.
"I'm glad you took after her looks instead of mine." James chuckled at his lame attempt of a joke.
"Shut up." I muttered.
"Sometimes when I'm looking into your eyes I feel like I'm looking into hers." His voice had grown gentle as if he were reminiscing the past.
"But, your not," I raised my eyes to meet his,"because she's dead."Something flashed in his eyes and his face visibly dropped, his body growing stiff. "She's dead and she's not coming back and I would kindly appreciate it if you stopped f.ucking bringing her up." A solid lump formed in my throat and I tore my eyes away from his once again, this time with tears threatening to pool at my eyes.
"I'll--uh--I'll see you in the morning, Anna. Goodnight." I didn't look up until I heard him leave the room and the door clicked closed behind him leaving me alone once again.
✞ ✞ ✞

Warm tendrils of rough, caressing heat grazed against my cheek brushing away the hair that had fallen there as I slept. I let out a small groan and turned my head away to press it closer into the pillow wanting to drift back into a deep sleep. Somewhere distant in the night, thunder rolled across the sky signalling the coming of a storm.
An involuntary shiver swept down my spine when hot, damp air ghosted against the juncture of my neck and shoulder. Something soft, yet firm, pressed against the spot drawing the flesh there into a warmth that had pleasure shoot through my body.
The tendrils of heat I felt before came back, this time to run under and up the shirt I was wearing. The rough caress against the skin of my back drew me further and further away from my sleep causing my brain to slowly wake up and become aware that those tendrils of heat were fingers.
My eyes shot open and I prepared to unleash hell only to stop when my eyes lifted up to lock with dark chestnut ones. Dredd.
"Hello darlin'." His husky voice murmered down to me as his hand continued to caress my back up and down underneath my t-shirt.
"You've been gone almost all day." I quietly accused. His lips tugged up into a small grin that sent heat to my core.
"You almost sound like you missed me." He rasped. Puta madre. No man's voice ever had the power to make me f.ucking dampen my panties. I was such a thirsty puta. I gave a small hum as I shrugged my shoulders in a carefree manner acting as if I didn't care. I missed him. I'd be lying through my teeth if I tried to convince myself otherwise. In such a short amount of time I had somehow managed to grow dangerously attached to this man.
"My dad stopped by earlier and told me you guys had a little chat." I heard myself say and grew stiff when I realized what I had just done. Dredd, surprisingly, looked calm and collected while he continued to stare down at me and caress my back.
"We did." He replied.
"He made it sound like things were real serious between you and I. He made it sound like we were getting married or some shit." I continued.
"Then?" He prodded for me to continue. I sighed and moved to sit up causing his hand to slip free from my shirt.
"Then, we kind of got into it about him keeping me a prisoner here and about that f.ucking gringo who tried to kill me." I explained as he sat up and leaned against the headboard.
"Prisoner?" Dredd questioned and I detected the hint of a humored smile in his voice. "You're not a prisoner here darlin', the damn door isn't even locked anymore. You just choose to sit in here. You choose to see only the bad in your father." I cocked an eyebrow at his words and crossed my arms at my chest.
"You trying to say I'm overreacting?" I inquired.
"What I'm saying, Anna, is that you want him to do bad things and treat you badly so that you can keep on hating him for his past. You're scared that he's actually trying to get through to you. You're scared because it's starting to work." Dredd stated. I sat there in silence just looking into his eyes before I turned away and leaned my head back against the headboard to stare up at the dark ceiling.
"Do you have a father?" I asked thinking it a little bold to ask that question but asked it anyway. My gaze was still fixated on the ceiling despite the feeling of his eyes burning into the side of my face.
"Never got the chance to meet him. Some gang blew up his bar with him in it when I was still in my momma's womb." He sounded so...void of emotion when he said that. I brought my eyes back to look at him feeling my face soften.
"Hey now, don't go feeling sorry for me." Dredd murmered.
"One thing I learned is that's the worst thing to do for someone. I don't feel sorry for you, I just can relate to...the pain." I replied slowly to carefully pick out my words. Dredd lifted up his hand and brought it to cup the back of my neck and tangle his fingers in my hair drawing me close to him so that our forehead's lay against one another.
"You can't keep on walking around with all that hate for your daddy in you, darlin', because when you decide to forgive him it'll be too late." Dredd explained in his deep voice and pulled back to brush his lips against my forehead. My eyes drifted closed and I let out a content sigh as I lay my head underneath his chin feeling him pull me into his lap.
"It's too late for him to try and make things right just like it's too late for me to forgive him for what he's done." I quietly spoke against his chest as I breathed in the leather, sweat, and cologne that made up his unique, masculine scent.
"It's only too late for the dead, darlin', and I'm not going to let that happen anytime soon." He murmered against my hair and placed a gentle kiss there. I began to drift back into sweet unconsciousness with this giant man's arms and scent wrapped around me. Somewhere distant in the night, thunder rolled across the sky signalling the coming of a storm.

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A/N: I KNOW IT MAY NOT SEEM LIKE IT SOMETIMES, BUT I WORK REALLY HARD ON THESE CHAPTERS AND ANY FEEDBACK IS HIGHLY APPRECIATED. THANK YOU FOR READING AND I HOPE YOU CONTINUE TO DO SO.
~mia