Taste of Vengeance ✔

Chapter 14

There was an echoing, rattling sound. Without knowing why, the hairs on his arms stood upright. Jax sat up a little straighter and stared in the direction of the noise. A shadow slowly walked back and forth. Something made of metal hit bar after bar. Although he had been in many difficult situations, his current condition was so unbelievably strange that he didn't know how to handle it. 

He didn't know how long he was held captive here, nor could he remember how he had ended up here in the first place. His memories seemed to blur; it was impossible to decide which were created by nightmares and what had really happened. 

He had murdered a brother.

He had been on his way to tell his brothers that he had done the unforgivable and that he would face the consequences. 

The Mayhem vote. He hadn't wanted to burden any of his friends with that shit, so he had decided that he would end his life himself and go out in the same way his father had done. 

Thereafter, there was a hole in his memory. He had waken up here. And fallen asleep. And awakened. Only God knew how many times. It was dark around him, the stones underneath him were hard and cold, the ones behind his back even humid. 

There was a pervasive coldness, feeling unnatural and giving him hope that he was tripping; that someone had injected some stuff to fuck with his mind – or maybe he had done it himself. So many horrible things had happened the past weeks that he wouldn't be surprised if something had snapped inside his head. Or maybe he was already dead. Maybe he had already crashed into a truck and was in hell now. 

"You're finally awake."

Jax raised his head. It was a familiar voice – and at the same time it killed all his theories. 

The door opened, squeaking. The figure entered the cell, lit a torch and placed it in a holder attached to the wall, the smoldering flames casting shadows on a pale face. 

It was indeed Juice. 

The man crouched in front of him and looked at him. 

No – it wasn't Juice. The last time he had seen the man, regret had been written all over his face; a tear had glided down his cheek. Now his glance was ice cold, his smirk sinister. And still it was unmistakably Juice. Someone who he had considered as a friend once, as family. Until he had covered up the murder of his wife. 

Seeing the man who had betrayed him in such a gruesome way, who had caused so much misery which had even led to Bobby's death, gave him new strength. Wherever he was, why he was here; he wouldn't let himself being pushed into a corner by that coward. 

"What are you doing here?" Provokingly, he lifted his chin. "Heard you were dead."

"I am dead."

Jax would never admit it out loud, but his tone made him shiver. "So what's this then? Hell?"

Juice lifted the corners of his mouth, so high it looked scary. "This is absolutely gonna be hell for you."

Jax could barely ignore the ice cube that was growing inside his stomach. He felt how the man had changed – and not in a positive way. There was a darkness inside him which was almost physical, leaving pinpricks on his skin. Still he managed to keep his face straight as he glared at the man. "I'm in hell for a while now."

Juice laughed softly. "Nah, you're not." The man grabbed his hand and attached the chain around his wrist to the shackle hanging down the wall, so his hand was on the same height as his head. 

"What the fuck are you gonna do with me man?" Jax grumbled. When Juice grasped his other arm, Jax tried to struggle but he had lost his strength the past hours. 

The man showed him a dark smile. "It's not me you should worry about. I will just watch."

With a click, his other wrist was attached to the wall as well. 

Jax swallowed. Goose bumps spread across his body. How could he get out of this? Could he get through to him by talking? "Why you doin' this man? Thought you regretted everything you did?"

"If you're fucked in the ass long enough there's nothing you're not regretting. But that's something you're gonna learn soon."

A shiver crept down his spine. Juice rolled up Jax's sleeve, his fingers felt ice cold on his skin, even when he was already frozen to the bone. 

"What happened to you man?" he muttered a little defeated. "And what happened to me? I..." He gritted his teeth as he felt the blade of a knife against his forearm. 

"Always talking huh? Well, that golden tongue of yours won't be of much help now, brother."

Jax clenched his jaw as the edge of the blade sank into his flesh. Blood bubbled up, gliding down his arm. 

Juice took a deep breath, his eyes were fixed on the dark fluid. 

What was he going to do? Letting him bleed to death? Leaving behind a network of cuts on his body? His eyes widened as the man's face suddenly came closer. He started to suck the wound; the injury stung. Jax tried to pull away his arm, but there wasn't enough room to move. 

"What the fuck man?!" he snarled when he realized that Juice was drinking his blood. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

Slowly, Juice turned his face to the right. Blood dripped from his grinning lips, leaving bloody streaks on his chin. 

That however wasn't what made Jax cramp up completely. 

That were his eyes which were spreading a red glow, telling Jax that there was more going on than that the guy had just lost his mind.