Jaiden tried to shake off the hands, but he was disoriented. His efforts were unsuccessful, so he had to watch as Toni became increasingly distant while he was being dragged away.
He couldn't help but give Toni a reassuring smile. He could handle what was coming next, and it wasn't going to be self-sacrificing just like he promised. He was going to get away from Christopher and Sierra.
Jaiden felt his weakened body get jostled around and then was blinded by the bright sun as he was pulled out of the building and into the alleyway in the back. He registered a black van right before he was tossed inside of it. He groaned as he landed heavily on his injured arm.
"Fucking van." He muttered. He was sure it was the piece of shit van that hit him the week before.
He felt drowsiness start to take over but bit his lip, hoping that the pain would help focus his mind a little.
Unfortunately, it didn't.
His glazed eyes turned towards the front of the van and noticed Christopher and Sierra arguing about something. They weren't looking at him. This also meant that they did not hear the cell phone buzzing in his pocket.
He fumbled with his good arm to take the phone out of his pocket, but it was clumsy. He wanted to curse but kept silent in hopes that they wouldn't notice him.
His eyes couldn't focus on the caller ID, but he didn't have to guess. He knew Toni was calling him so that he could get some trace on him. Toni would know what to do. Toni wouldn't stop until he found him.
His fingers hit the answer button, but the van turned sharply before confirming that it connected, and the phone slipped from his weak hand. He watched it slide in a crevice between the wall and floor of the van.
"Fuck." Jaiden spit out.
"He's awake?" He heard Christopher ask, but his voice seemed far away. "Not even two bottles to the head can take him down. Impressive."
"You drive like shit." Jaiden said with a slight slur.
"Shut the fuck up!" Sierra yelled.
Jaiden laughed a little. "Assholes."
"I don't want to, but I will kill you right now if you choose to annoy me." He warned.
Perhaps it was the blow to the head or the relief he felt knowing that Toni was looking for him, but Christopher's comment made Jaiden laugh harder. "And ruin your precious plans again?"
The van screeched to a halt, and Sierra was yelling at Christopher. The door of the van ripped open, and Christopher looked in.
"You need to learn how to stay silent." Christopher said darkly.
Jaiden just chuckled. "You're the only one to have accused me of being too talkative."
He saw Christopher wrench his fist back and felt the pain as it collided with his face. He usually had a strong chin, but he had already been through hell, so it only took a couple of hits to make the world go black.
Jaiden groaned as he felt a horrible piercing pain rip through his head. This was the mother of all migraines. It was like being hungover after drinking a bowl of shitty mai tais after being hit by a van.
"JayJay?" A timid voice cut through the pain, and he groaned again.
He didn't want to open his eyes. The pain was too much to acknowledge who he heard. "Fuck me." He muttered.
"JayJay!"
"Fuck! Tell me I'm in the middle of a nightmare." He mumbled.
"You're going to be ok, JayJay!" The voice was a high-pitched squeal that made Jaiden wince.
"Stop with the fucking yelling." Jaiden said wearily. He slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he noticed was that he was tied to a wooden chair. His sling was removed, as was his bulletproof vest. He hated that he felt so vulnerable. He turned his eyes upwards and found that he was in the middle of an abandoned tire shop with low flickering lights. There were some debris lying around, primarily old tires, but it was pretty bare.
His eyes adjusted a little more to the flickering lights, and he saw Billy standing off to the side.
Jaiden sighed. "Oh, thank god."
Billy's face lit up, thinking that Jaiden was happy to see him. "That's right, baby; you're with me."
Jaiden laughed bitterly at his reaction, but his laugh turned to another groan when the migraine decided to rip through him again.
He closed his eyes, trying to stop the room from spinning. "You're misinterpreting something, Billy."
"But... you were happy to see me." Billy asked with a quivering lip.
Jaiden sneered at him. "My head fucking hurts, and I'm disoriented. The first thing I hear is your voice, and I thought I got blackout drunk and slept with you again. I was grateful that wasn't the situation."
Billy's face distorted as he seethed with anger. "And you were relieved to be tied up and kidnapped instead? Is that seriously better than waking up next to me?"
Jaiden looked back at Billy; his eyes were steely. "Do you really want me to answer that question?"
"You're an asshole!" Billy cried out.
"I have never denied that." Jaiden rolled his eyes. "So, you decided to hook up with Christopher and Sierra. How did that happen?"
Billy looked away and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why do you care?"
"Because I want to know what you have to do with all this bullshit." Jaiden explained nonchalantly. He continued to look around, mentally noting the locations of the windows and exits.
"It was that night at the club... after you left with him. Sierra found me, and we connected. We were both rejected by you." Billy sighed dramatically.
Jaiden laughed a little. "That was more pathetic than I expected, but you are a creep and a stalker, so it makes sense... And now they roped you into their game, and you followed along like a good little bitch."
"Perhaps I wanted answers." Billy said with a frown.
Jaiden scoffed a little. "Answers? For what? I have always been transparent with what I wanted from you."
"Jaiden!"
"For fuck's sake, Billy, stop with the yelling."
Billy let out a sob, which irritated Jaiden even more. "Can you be honest with me?"
"I swear to Christ; they brought you along to fucking torture me," Jaiden muttered. "I have always been honest, Billy. But this isn't the time or place for a goddamn heart to heart."
"I want answers."
Jaiden threw him a cold glare which made him flinch. "Fine. I have nothing better to do, and I'm not going anywhere. Ask you goddamn questions."
"Didn't you feel anything for me?"
Jaiden didn't retract his glare. "No. I was horny, and you were willing."
Billy's eyes glistened, and his shoulders shuddered. "Did we ever stand a chance? Even if I didn't cheat?"
Jaiden didn't hesitate and answered again. "No."
"I hate you." He whispered.
"I warned you." Jaiden chuckled coldly. "I told you before we started anything that it wouldn't be anything serious. You said you were okay with that, and I believed you, especially when you had multiple partners. But I got tired of you. You were clingy, demanding, irritating. And then you became worse. Look at you; you would willingly associate with serial killers just for this bullshit."
Billy trembled a little and tried to make himself smaller. "I fell in love with you."
"No, you didn't. You just didn't like that I left you, and I never looked back." Jaiden looked away and started to look for someone else. He was done with this conversation. Billy had fallen to an all-time low and couldn't handle how pathetic he looked right now.
Jaiden groaned as he shifted a little. His shoulder and arm were killing him. "Christopher!" He yelled. "Come out, you dick! Don't you want to have a chat?"
Nothing but his echoes were heard.
"Christopher!" He called out again.
He heard the clicking of heels and saw Sierra approach from the distance.
"Hey, handsome." She said with a smile.
"Handsome? I don't know about that now. You got my face pretty good with those bottles." He turned the cut and swollen side of his face towards her. "Tell me the truth; how bad is it?"
"Don't worry; you're still good-looking." She winked.
"That's good, at least. But I'm still not interested in you." Jaiden shrugged and cursed again when he felt the pain hit him. "How about you untie my fucked up arm so I can put it back in a sling?"
"No chance, Jaiden."
He sighed. "First you hit on me, then hit me with your van, and finally a bottle. You really don't like rejection."
She laughed coldly. "Or I like hitting you, I guess. Now, stop trying to be charming."
"Oh, I'm not. I'm just confirming a couple of things. It makes it easier on my conscience when I beat the shit out of you when I get out of here."
Her smile fell, and she glared. "You're not getting out of here. Alive."
Billy yelped. "That wasn't the plan! He's supposed to be with me!" He ran over to her and grabbed her arm. "You said you would help me!"
She shrugged him off her arm. "I lied. We just needed you because you knew how to find Jaiden."
"But—" Billy's words were caught in his mouth as she pulled out a gun and pointed it at Jaiden.
"Keep talking, and he eats a bullet." She warned, making Billy fall back and sink to the ground.
Jaiden smirked, unfazed by the gun pointed at him. "I really should have filed a restraining order on him." He shook his head as he unsympathetically watched Billy fall apart. "Is it just you two, or is Christopher hiding somewhere... again?"
"Does it matter?" She asked.
"I guess not." He looked around again and decided to keep the chatter going. "When did you change your name from Sarah to Sierra?" Jaiden asked; his eyes were still scoping the place.
She flinched, and the gun lowered. "What?"
"Sarah S. Chavez... I've read your file several times. But you look different from the picture we have on file. Then again, that was 23 years ago and right after the church fire."
She grit her teeth. "What are you getting at?"
"Nothing. Just trying to pull the pieces together. Blame a curious mind."
She huffed with impatience. "I hate the name, Sarah. Don't use it."
Jaiden clicked his tongue. "That's too bad. I like it, but Sierra isn't that bad either."
"Where is your phone?" Sierra asked, ignoring his comment.
Jaiden felt his pulse quicken. They didn't find it? Perhaps there was hope—that is if the call fully connected and he wasn't in a place without reception. Unreliable cell phone coverage was the consequence of being in rural areas, which he was sure he was in now. He forced himself to smile. "I thought I already turned you down, Sarah. I'm not interested."
She stomped towards him and roughly grabbed his hair, pulling his head back so he was looking up at her. "I'm not flirting with you."
"Why are you asking for my phone? Isn't that normally a pick up line?" Jaiden gave her a cocky smile, trying to ignore the pain shooting through his head.
She grit her teeth and slapped her hand across is face. His migraine intensified, nearly blinding him. Perhaps he shouldn't taunt them too much.
"I liked it when you were brooding before." She murmured.
Jaiden spit out the blood the filled his mouth. "I liked it better when you and Christopher were in Mexico... if you were actually ever in Mexico.
Sierra pursed her lips. "Where is your phone, Jaiden? And if you don't answer me, I will shoot you."
He groaned inwardly, hoping that he could dance his way out of this scenario. "Not on me. Made a dumb move and left it behind. I hope you only checked my pockets and didn't go feeling around in my pants."
She practically snarled at him. "I didn't!"
"That's sexual harassment, Sarah." He chuckled at her shocked expression, but that just warranted another slap. Her hits were almost as bad as the bottles.
He knew the inside of his cheek was cut to hell as he spit out some more blood. "Can I ask you some questions?"
"No."
"I'll let you ask something in return." Jaiden offered. "And I will be absolutely honest with you."
She hesitated and she bit her lip, contemplating the offer. "Fine."
"Why did you leave evidence two years ago? You guys were so clean, annoyingly so, but you left the Our Lady Church pamphlet at the scene of your last victim in Cruces."
She trembled and her eyes grew wide. Jaiden couldn't help but be intrigued by the response. She didn't know. "What?"
"I figured it was to lure us to the church, but I still can't really get a clear reason why. It's bothered me for years." He pushed.
"I... we... didn't..."
Jaiden sighed. "I thought we were being honest, Sarah."
"It's Sierra!" She screeched, making him wince in his chair, hating the migraine even more. She paced a little and nervously ran her hand through her hair.
"Did you murder Terrance?" She flicked her trembling eyes towards him.
"Weren't you there?" He asked, trying to gauge her reaction.
She shook her head. "Like I can step foot in that terrible place again."
The pieces were clicking together. He garnered that Christopher was there, puppeteering the incident, but he didn't know how deep Sierra was in this game. Sierra probably thought she was exacting revenge on those who abused her... based off her question, she most likely thought that she was trying to avenge her dead brother by targeting Jaiden.
She was being played too. Just like him and Carlos. Just like Terrance.
Jaiden let out a heavy breath. "I killed him. I pulled the trigger because it was either him or me."
A harsh laugh reverberated through the building. "See. You admit it. You killed our brother."
"When did I ever fucking denied it, Christopher." Jaiden spit out. "He pointed his gun at me first so I defended myself. Don't blame me because he was slower."
"You still killed our brother." Christopher stepped out of the shadows and wrapped his arm around Sierra. He wore a muscle shirt which revealed the burn scar that covered most of his neck and down his arm. His other arm had a bandage wrapped around where Jaiden shot him.
Jaiden laughed darkly. "And that fucker killed my dad. So I guess we both have our grudges."
Billy was terrified and looking desperately between them. "JayJay, maybe you shouldn't... argue."
Jaiden flashed a glare at Billy. "Seriously, go fuck yourself Billy. And to hell with being civil. How many people have you killed? What are your excuses? Why go this far? There are different ways you could have punished your foster parents or these bastards in Albuquerque."
"Different ways? Like what? With the law? No power can be maintained when it is only represented by hypocrites." Christopher quoted with a scoff. "The law is as corrupt as the cops who uphold it."
"It's not perfect, and there are some shitty cops out there. But you could have been better." Jaiden stopped and chuckled to himself. "Shit, now I sound just like Carlos."
However, Christopher was not pleased to hear Jaiden laughing. He kicked Jaiden's chest, making his chair tip over and he fell heavily on his back. He heard the wooden chair creak and a crack a little. The ropes tying him down loosened a little, but he made no indication that anything happened. In fact, it was impossible to let out a sound, even a painful yell, because the kick knocked the air out of his lungs.
He finally coughed heavily, but that just amplified the pain he was feeling everywhere. His vision was blurred with black spots. It was bad enough that he didn't realize that Christopher pulled him back up.
"You want to still fuck around?" Christopher challenged.
Jaiden continued to coughed and heave for a while. He finally cough his breath but it was still strained. "Absolutely, asshole."
Christopher's fist met with his face again, and he greeted the darkness again.