Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Annabell

VAULT'S BEEN PASSED out for a long time now. My eyes have been glued to his chest so I can make sure he's still breathing. It rises and falls slow and steady and I can see the vein pulsing in his neck from the angle his head is at with his heartbeat. Loud voices sound from above us and I hear feet stomping across the floors. A while ago there was a loud crash and shouting, but the words were too muffled for me to understand what they were yelling at one another. There was definitely a fight taking place upstairs and I used that to continue working on the ropes so I could break free. The blood on my wrists is honestly helping because it makes my skin slick and I can use that to slide my wrists free from the ropes.

The entire time I'm working on trying to free myself, I have to force the panic down. It's threatening to overwhelm me and take over completely. Taking deep breaths, I focus on slowing my heartbeat down so I can pay attention to what I'm doing and not blacking out like I have in the past. Vault's the only one who knows besides my therapist that I've had panic attacks so bad I pass out from them. I could never bring myself to tell Slim and Shy how bad it used to get. Especially when I was first brought to the clubhouse after losing my parents and almost being raped by the same men who killed my parents. They put up with so much from me and I didn't want to worry or hurt them by letting them know about the panic attacks. Vault got really good at helping me work through them along with my therapist.

Suddenly all of the chaos from upstairs stops and there's nothing but silence. It's not like I'm making any noise as I try to free myself, but I still stop moving and hold as still as possible. There's a slamming door once again. Again, nothing but silence. I take slow, deep breaths as I wait to see what's going to happen next. It doesn't take long for me to hear the sound of steps coming this way across the floor above us. I try to continue breathing as I wait to see if they're going to make another appearance down here. The door opens and steps thud down the stairs as two men grumble. When they get close, I close my eyes and pretend that I'm still passed out from their last trip down here.

I sense them stop by the bed and stare down at me. Keeping my breathing as even as I possibly can, I don't move a muscle as I try to figure out what they're doing next to me since neither man is talking. But, I can hear two different people breathing as their gaze rakes over me and I want to shudder under the feel of their eyes on my body. In minutes they move on and make their way toward Vault where he's still passed out in the chair at the end of the bed I'm tied to. Opening my eyes just enough to see but not allow the men down here to realize I'm awake and watch as they circle my man. I want to yell and scream at them to leave him alone, but if I draw attention to myself I know it won't end good for me. Vault doesn't have to tell me what was said after I passed out for me to get the gist of what he's leaving out.

"This stupid fucker is the reason Dominic just went off on us and tried to beat us," the same man who spoke to me before states as he spits at Vault's feet with a sneer on his face. "I say we just fucking kill him now and then do whatever the fuck we want with the girl. Dominic is gonna learn he's not as powerful as he believes he is. If it weren't for us, he wouldn't have a business here in Pine View."

"We're not doing that shit. Use your fucking head for the first time in your life, asshole. We'll keep them both alive and untouched for now. When Dominic least expects it, we can call in the club this fucker belongs to and act as if we just found them by chance. They'll let us go, kill Dominic, and then we can take over the business and be set with money and all the drugs we could want. The women will come to us and you'll soon forget this slut. She's not worth it. I've heard some shit about her and you don't wanna fuck around with that one. This guy might be her man, but her dad, brother, and brother-in-law are fucking savage. They'll gut you with a smile on their face for even looking in her direction. I'm not gonna fuck with them for any reason," the second man says, using what little brain he has left to be the voice of reason.

"Fuck! Are you sure you heard that about her family? I bet she tastes real fucking good. And that she'd scream so fucking loud as I fucked her until she can't walk," the first man says, making me gag as he brings his hand out of his pocket and I watch something fall to the floor at his feet.

"Yeah, it's her family I heard that shit about. They don't fuck around when it comes to women and children. That's why we gotta play this shit smart. We can get all this to ourselves and eliminate Dominic without having to do a fucking thing," the second man says as he turns to leave Vault and drags the first man with him.

This time they don't stop by my side and I slowly release the breath I've been holding. They don't waste time walking back upstairs and I listen as the door thuds to a close behind them and their steps walk away from the door. Opening my eyes, I get back to work on the ropes and freeing myself so we can get the fuck outta here. The sooner we can put some distance between the two of us and this place, the better we'll be. These men are fucking delusional if they believe for a second that my family will believe a single word that comes out of their mouths. They're too smart to play that kind of game and if they believed every asshole they've dealt with over the years, the club wouldn't be where it is today.

I've been working on freeing myself from these ropes forever. Finally, I feel my hand slip through and I've freed one of them. Reaching across my body as it protests the movement, I get my other hand free and take a minute to lay back against the mattress. My wrists are throbbing in time with my head and I can feel the blood still sliding from the wounds I've created. There's definitely going to be some damage done there, but I'll get them fixed when we get out of here. Hopefully I don't need stitches in them, but I don't really give a shit at this point.

After resting for a few minutes and listening for any sounds from upstairs, I sit up carefully as my head spins and black dots fill my vision. Taking slow breaths, I wait until they start to fade away before moving to release my ankles from the ropes. I make quick work of them and take another few minutes before I move any further. Looking over the edge of the bed, my heart starts racing with excitement. Laying on the floor where the first asshole dropped something when they were down here is a single key. It's not a key that would work in a door or anything, but one for locks. The kind you'd use on chains to hold someone in place. Yes, I've been taught all about keys and what they work in. So, I know for a fact this is the key that's going to free Vault from his restraints.

When the feeling is back in my feet, I slowly move to the edge of the bed and press them against the floor. The cement pulls against my skin and sends a chill through me from how cold it is. Looking around the room once more, I try to find my clothes and they're nowhere to be found. Whoever stripped me down must have taken my things with them. Shrugging my shoulders I make my way over to Vault where he's still passed out in the chair. I want to release him now, but I have fear filling me that he'll fall from the chair and get hurt even more. So, for now, I simply pick the key up and hold onto it while walking around Vault to see what he has on him for weapons. I'm not sure if they searched him or not, but he's still wearing his cut so I'm thinking they didn't do too much searching.

With how many drugs they're on, I'm sure it didn't even occur to them to search either one of us. I mean, it's definite that I don't have weapons on me considering I'm in nothing more than my bra and panties. Kind of hard to hide anything there without them seeing it. About the only thing I could get away with is wearing a tracker in my bra somewhere. No, I'm not wearing one.

Reaching out, I slide my hands under Vault's cut and reach in the pockets I know he has there. I find his phone and pull it out so I can call Valor or someone. When I try to get the screen to light up, there's nothing. Looking closer I see the screen is completely shattered and even if I managed to get the phone to turn on, I wouldn't be able to see or do anything. He doesn't have a burner phone on him as I continue to search his pockets. When I don't find anything else, I reach in the pockets of his jeans the best I can with how his body is slumped over. The first thing I find is his pocket knife. It's one Hound gave him the day he started Prospecting for the club. Sliding the knife back in his pocket, I won't ever touch this because it's special to him and something from his dad.

Looking in the second pocket of his jeans, I pull out a different knife and hold that tight in my hand. Moving around to his back, I lift his cut and shirt to find his gun. He always has one holstered on his back and has since I met him. Releasing my breath, I know we have a way to get out of here if I can get Vault to wake up. Moving back in front of him, I reach into his boot and find a bigger knife than the one I have in my hand. Keeping both knives on me, I make my way back to the bed and slide them all under the mattress along the railings holding it in place. Nothing will fall here and no one will find what I've found.

Getting back on the mattress, I lay back and wait for Vault to wake up. The last thing I need is to be up and moving around if the guys come back down again. My body is stiff and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get back here quick enough to make them see what I want them to see. So, I work on loosening the ropes enough that I can slide my hands back inside them and make it appear as if I'm still being held in place by them. Once the ropes for my hands are taken care of, I repeat the process with the ones for my ankles. That's going to be the hardest part because my left ankle does hurt. It's not broken or sprained, but I can tell there's something going on there. It's more than likely bruised from the thrashing I've done. Maybe I hit it on my car when I was being dragged out and didn't feel it at the time. I don't know. Laying back, I try to keep my eyes open and on Vault even as exhaustion tries to claim me. I fight it as hard as I can, but I'm exhausted and there's only so much fight I have left in my body since we haven't eaten or had anything to drink.

"Angel, are you okay?" Vault's voice penetrates the sleep trying to keep me under its spell.

"Alex?" I ask, opening my eyes and seeing the room in nothing but blurry lines and images.

"I'm here, Angel. Are you okay?" he repeats his question as my vision finally clears and I look at Alex sitting in the chair still slumped over.

"I'm okay. Just so damn tired," I tell him honestly as I sit up and let him realize I'm no longer held by the ropes that were restraining me.

"You're free?" he questions, hope filling his eyes as I look at him and slowly get out of the bed.

"I am. Um, I might have checked your pockets and stuff when you were still passed out. Your phone is toast. The screen is so cracked it won't turn on at all. I took two of your knives and left your gun for you," I tell him, not sure how he'll react to that information.

"Okay. Good. I know you've trained with knives before. Has it been long since you worked with them?" he asks, watching as I lift the mattress and pull out the key before removing the knives.

With everything in my hands, I make my way over to him and kneel down in front of where his ankles are chained to the chair. He doesn't make any moves as I stand up and walk behind him to unlock his hands so he can carefully move his arms in front of his body. I have no clue where his sling vanished to, but he's gonna need it for his arm. Though, I have a feeling that's the least of his concerns right now.

Vault stands and carefully works out the aches and pains filling his body. I watch as he winces and groans when his injuries pull and cause him more pain and discomfort. My heart hurts for him and I want to take all of his pain away and leave him safe and whole. But, that's not the reality we're being faced with right now. We're in this hellhole and now we have to find a way out of here before the club can come save us. The longer we're here, the more we're bound to fuck up and let someone know we're free to escape.

"Can you walk good enough to get out of here, Alex?" I ask him, needing to know what we're both working with so we can come up with some kind of plan.

We truly have no clue what we're gonna find upstairs. I've only seen the two men in here with us and I heard Dominic. There was no way in hell I was going to open my eyes to look at him after learning he's the one behind this shit.

"I can walk good enough. Did you find extra ammo in my cut?" he questions me, pulling out his gun and checking the chamber and magazine before putting it back together again.

"No. I didn't check all the pockets you have, but they're hidden and I didn't want to spend too long searching you because I wasn't sure if they'd come back down before I could get back in bed," I tell him, looking around the room for anything to cover my body up with.

"There's nothin' here, Angel," Vault says, catching on to what I'm looking for as he scours the room with me. "I'll give you my shirt."

"No. We don't need you moving your arm like that until we can get you checked out again. I'll be fine until we can get somewhere and I find something. Or we can get far enough away I can help get your shirt off without doing more damage. Are you ready?" I ask him, listening for the sounds coming from upstairs.

Just as we start to move toward the stairs, someone walks across the floor. Vault and I hold our breath as we wait to see what they're gonna do. When the door opens, I look up at Vault to see what he wants to do. We don't have time to fuck around and make tough decisions with a ton of planning. There's mere seconds before we either make it look as if we're still restrained or we let them know we're free and ready to get the fuck away from everyone here.