Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Kendell

WAKING UP, MY entire body hurts and I know this isn't gonna fucking be good at all. I try to move my arms, and they don't go anywhere. Looking up, I find myself handcuffed around one of those old radiators. I've got a set of handcuffs on each wrist and a chain linking them together so I can't get away. I look around the room and see my sister lying prone on the floor not too far from me. She's not moving and her hair is covering her face. I watch her chest and see it barely rising and falling. I'd like to be relieved that she's breathing, but I can't be. Not when she's already been beaten more than once. I can make out even more bruising and cuts on her body and my heart once again shatters as I take in all the damage done to her. This isn't a fucking good thing at all. She's gonna be so broken and there's nothing I'll be able to do to take the pain from her. She'll have to work through this on her own the way she's been doing.

"Kels," I call out, not wanting to let Martin know that I'm awake, but needing to see her move or hear her speak more than anything else. "Kels, I need you to wake up. Please, baby sister. I need you to move closer to me so I can protect you."

"Kendell?" she asks, her voice muffled and barely above a whisper as I hear the damage that's been done to her throat at Martin's hands. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to save you, Kels. I was doing good until Martin got his hands on me," I tell her as she slowly and carefully moves closer to me. "I let him get too close to me and he knocked me out. I hurt so fucking bad. But, I wouldn't change it for the world because I'm here with you now. Zoey and Hawk will take care of baby G until we can get back to him."

"We're not gonna get back to him," she tells me, her voice so damn weak. "Martin's got us now and he'll kill us before he lets us go. Kendell, why the hell did you come for me? You should've stayed at the clubhouse and kept your promise to me."

"I'm still gonna keep my promise to you, Kelsey. But, instead of me taking care of Gideon because something has happened to you, I'm gonna make sure you're there to take care of your son yourself. That's an even better promise than me raising him for you. I want you to watch him grow up into the man you want him to become while you guide him. Gideon will know all the love you have for him and not because I'm telling him. We're gonna go home, Kelsey. The club will come for us. I've made sure they know where we are. It"s just a matter of time before they show up," I promise my sister as she continues to make her way over to my side.

When Kelsey gets close enough to me, I reach out and place my hand on her naked body. She's so fucking cold to my touch and dread fills me. Her entire body is trembling and her lips are already turning blue as she tries to open her eyes and look at me. Her eyes barely open because of how swollen they are. What I can see from her right eye, there's extensive damage that's been done. The whole white section of her eyeball is filled with blood and it's fucking ridiculous to think that Martin has the power to do this much damage to her.

"I'm not getting out of here, Kenny. You've taken care of me for our entire lives. When you should've been a teenager and going out to have fun, date, and everything else teenage girls do. Instead you were working multiple jobs, doing my laundry and cleaning the house, cooking me dinner, making sure my homework was done, and everything else a parent is supposed to do. You were my only parent, Kendell and I'll never be able to thank you enough for everything you gave up for me. Now, you're gonna be that for Gideon. He loves you so much Kendell. And I know you're gonna take the best care of him. Hawk will be a good male role model for him and the cycle will break right now with me," my sister says, her voice breaking as she coughs and blood comes out of her mouth and drips to the floor.

"Kelsey, you have to come home with me. You're gonna be an auntie and there's no one I'd rather have as an aunt to my son or daughter than you. When I have to be the hardass and keep my child from running out of control, you're gonna be the aunt who steps in and helps create more chaos and devastation," I tell her, watching as a small smile spreads out across her face.

"You're pregnant?" she asks me, her voice fading even more as her eyes flutter closed.

"I am. We just found out and weren't gonna tell anyone. But, I need you to fight, Kelsey. You have to fight to get home to Gideon and your niece or nephew. They need you more than you can even begin to understand. Please, Kelsey. I need you. Remember, it's supposed to be us against the world. Don't let Martin take your future from you," I beg of her, knowing there's nothing I can do to truly save my sister if she's too far gone and Martin has finally taken things too far.

"Begging won't help you save her. I made sure she wasn't gonna make it out of shit alive. Just to prove my point," Martin says, walking in the room he's holding us in. "Now, for the finale."

Martin has gotten his gun back and he points it at Kelsey's head. Before I can open my mouth to beg him not to kill her, he pulls the trigger. I watch as the bullet hits my sister and steals the life from her. With our hands clasped together, her grasp loosens and becomes slack as it drops to the floor between us. Her chest is no longer rising and falling in the shallow pants and gasps she had minutes ago. Kelsey's eyes slide closed for the final time and I can't stop the scream from erupting.

"No!" I scream, my voice echoing off the walls of the room we're in as Martin laughs hysterically. "Kelsey! Don't leave me! Please come back!"

Tears fill my eyes and spill over before rolling down my face and dropping onto my chest and the floor when I turn my head toward Kelsey even more. I look up and see Martin standing in the doorway. He looks like shit. The wound in his shoulder is extremely red and he's limping from the wound in his leg that I gave him. Martin's skin is pale as fuck and a fine layer of sweat covers his skin. Despite the tears falling from my eyes and the rage and pain filling me, I can't help but smile because this man is gonna die from the wounds I inflicted.

"What's the matter, Martin? It seems like you're not feeling the best. Does it kill you to know that I inflicted the wounds that are making you suffer and feel like shit? To know that I've once again bested you. You're a fucking pathetic piece of shit and no one will miss you when you're killed and taken out of this world like you just did to my sister. You've robbed her of a life full of love, laughter, and making memories. If we're being honest, you've been killing her for the past several years. Now you've left your son with no parents because when the club gets here, and they will show up, you're a fucking dead man. That's if the wounds I inflicted don't kill you first," I taunt him, my voice wavering as the thought of no longer having Kelsey in my life again after today.

"No one's coming for you, Kendell. They don't know where you are and if they do happen to show up, I have measures in place that will stop them from getting anywhere near the house," Martin says, grimacing when he shifts his weight and puts pressure on the leg that I shot him in.

"That's where you're wrong, Martin. See, I also put things in motion when you called me. Even though I came here alone, I'm not alone at all. Out in my car is the phone my man has put a tracker on. I've left it on and that's how they're gonna find me. The second he realized I was gone, the club would start putting plans in motion. So, I'm not worried about you hurting me because of the club and the fact that you can hardly move without pain filling your body completely. I'd tell you to go to the hospital, but personally, I'd rather you die here before my eyes so I can see the life drain from your eyes like I just watched happen with my sister," I tell him, my voice breaking as I let my eyes drift back to my sister and away from the man who has stolen everything from me.

"I'm not gonna die, Kendell. I'll get the fuck outta here after I kill you and make sure the club knows that you're dead because I'll send pieces of you back to them. There's no point in doing that with your sister since I have you. So, I'll settle on the worse sister. Then, I'll take the club down from the inside out. My brother is a Prospect of the club and none of you fucking knew it," Martin says, turning the tables on me as pure pain fills me. This all happened because he"s been one step ahead of us the entire time.

"That's how you got my number and onto the compound. You had your brother doing your dirty work for you. Did my sister even know you had a brother? Or was he one more secret you kept from her?" I return, needing to know how deep Martin's betrayal ran.

"She didn't know shit, Kendell. Both of you are two fucking stupid to know a damn thing about me. You only saw what I wanted you to see and that's it," he yells, his anger starting to overtake the pain he's in as he moves closer to where I'm handcuffed to the radiator.

"Kelsey might not have known half the shit you did, but that can't be said about me. I knew about your affairs and the abuse long before I even said anything to Kelsey. What you don't know is that I was preparing everything in a file for her so I could hand it over and give her the tangible proof she'd need to get rid of your ass. I might not have my man's skills, but I know my way around a computer enough to get the fuck kind of information I wanted on you," I tell him as he continues to make his way over closer to me.

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Martin questions me, his voice hard and cold as it usually is when he knows he's fucking lost and won't win a round against me.

"I mean, I had photographic evidence of you cheating on my sister. Of the abuse she suffered at your hands. I was looking into your father and you. He's just as fucking abusive as you are. Well, maybe not as abusive as you, but your mother still suffers at his hands. Don't you think you're fucking just repeating a fucked-up cycle and it's gonna be broken by the son you created with my sister? I'm gonna make sure Gideon doesn't turn out like you and your father at all. He'll know nothing but love and be taught how to be a real man. Not a pussy who can't fight unless he's in front of a woman. If my man were here, you'd be nothing but a pussy and cowering in a corner," I tell him, as he steps up to me and rears back before kicking me in the top of my thigh.

Martin's so fucked-up from the gunshot wounds that he can't even aim and land a kick where he's intending to hit me. I watch as the frustration fills his face and eyes before he tries to hit me again. This time I'm able to move my body out of the way so he ends up flailing and falling on his ass. I'd laugh but with every passing second, the pain of losing my sister creeps in because I'm still defending her and she's never going to wake up. Gideon won't ever get to be held in her arms as she comforts him, hear her singing to him when he can't get to sleep, or anything else that she's done over the years of his short life. Now, Kelsey won't get to watch him grow up, fall in love, or have a family of his own. He's robbed his son and my sister of that. Martin is a piece of shit that deserves to die and I hope I get to watch it happen.

I watch on, helpless to do anything, as Martin manages to get back to his feet and then he launches an attack against me. This time, he holds on to the radiator to hold himself steady as he kicks out one after another. The entire time, Martin is laughing like a fucking maniac and there's nothing I can do to stop him or protect my body from his attack.

"I'm gonna fucking continuing taking everything from you, Kendell. You'll be left with nothing and no one will love you by the time I'm done with you. If you don't end up in a body bag, then this man you claim to have will no longer want you. He'll leave you behind like the trash you are. Kendell, you're even worse than what Kelsey was. At least she was obedient when you weren't around. I could train her to do what I wanted and then you stepped the fuck in and ruined everything as usual," he growls out, his voice full of anger as he continues to lash out at me.

I have no clue how long Martin continues to lash out and kick me before he finally exhausts himself enough to stop and leave me alone. My eyes are barely opened as I watch him limp out of the room and head for parts unknown in the house we're in. I definitely know it's a house just based on the carpeting under my body and the window of the room we're in. There might be bars over the window, but I can definitely see that it's a house we're in.

My gaze lands on Kelsey again. For the first time in years, my baby sister looks completely at peace. There's no dark shadows filling her eyes or a weight sitting on her shoulders. Looking at my sister as death continues to suck everything from her, I realize that she's finally going to be able to break completely free of Martin. He'll never be able to touch her again, to fill her with pain, and humiliate her in ways I can't even begin to understand. Kelsey kept so many secrets from me over the years when it comes to him and now I'll never know the truth of how horrible he was to her. Part of me is grateful that I won't get to know the details. The other part wants to know every single second he fucking hurt her because I want to give it back to him on a much worse level than he's ever experienced before. Martin deserves to have his ass handed to him and as long as I get to watch it happen, then I'll be perfectly happy with whatever is done to him.

I break down now that I'm fully alone. No one's here to see the pain that's filling me beyond capacity. I've tried to hold everything together for so long on my own and I can't do it anymore. I'm unable to hold myself together in this barren room with nothing more than the radiator I'm chained to and my sister's body on the floor next to me. I want to cover her up and continue taking care of her as I've done my entire life. There's just nothing left for me to do. I can't take her to the next journey she has because I have to remain in this world without her. I'm the only one Gideon has left and I will not let him down. I'll fight with everything in my heart and soul to ensure he has the life my sister always wanted to give him.

My tears don't stop coming as the sobs break free so bad that my chest hurts and it feels as if my heart is trying to rip straight out of my chest. I want to curl up in a ball, but I can't. I'm forced to stretch out as my eyes linger on my sister's body. The bruises are becoming darker and darker with every passing minute. It takes everything in me to rip my eyes from her lifeless body and look anywhere else in the room but at her. At the same time, I'm trying to fight off the pain that's threatening to pull me under into that sweet oblivion. I honestly don't know why I'm fighting it at this point. It would take away every ounce of pain I'm feeling about my sister and the pain in my body. Instead, I fight with every bit of strength I have to remain awake and semi-alert.

It takes a while, but I eventually hear the sounds of someone breaking into the house we're being held in. Booted steps sound against the floors and I try not to get my hopes up that it's Hawk and the rest of the Fallen Brethren. For all I know, it could be the men that Martin talked about as his back-up plans or whatever to keep the club away from me. I close my eyes and just listen to the sounds to determine if I'm about to be hurt even more by men I've never seen in my life or if it's the men coming to save me. To bring my sister's body out of this hell so Gideon and I can bury her and have a place to go visit. I want my nephew to know he'll always have a place to go see his mom when he needs her the most.