4. ~Brianna~

4

~Brianna~

Six Years Ago

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

"Brianna? Wake up. Brianna?"

I opened my eyes slowly to darkness.

Seeing as though that was how hours on end had been spent, my eyes adjusted quickly.

And that was when I saw Levi crouched over me.

Crouched? He wasn't in the chair anymore.

I shifted on the ground and realized there was no restriction for me either.

My hands weren't cuffed in front of me as I remembered them being after Malcolm Lynch had finished torturing me for the day earlier.

"What's… what's going on?" I asked, my voice rough and scratchy from screaming and a lack of water.

They only allowed us the bare minimum to eat and drink, wanting to keep us weak.

As if the sedatives they'd started shooting me up with to calm me down since they'd taken my mom from me weren't already fucking doing that as it was.

I went to sit up, feeling pain all over my body as I attempted just that slight move.

Levi was there then, helping me to my knees.

His gaze strayed to my legs and he grimaced, stark concern filling his eyes. "You need a doctor right away."

I followed his gaze to see blood seeping from beneath my ratty dress and dripping all down my legs.

"It's okay. I'll be fine. Just a little sore."

A little didn't even begin to cover it.

It hurt so bad that I had to use every ounce of the limited energy I had left to stagger to my feet, even with Levi grasping my arm and assisting.

I cursed and shoved my hand through my hair, trying to get my bearings and make sense of what was going on.

"How… how are we free of those cuffs?"

"I did it."

"You what?"

"I got a hold of your pick set and I managed to figure it out. You were unconscious on the floor and bleeding, I couldn't fail."

Oh my God. "Thank you."

"No worries. Now, we've gotta get out of here. Malcolm and Royce aren't here right now. I overheard them saying they had to get to a meeting. That other one, Kyle, is here, and their muscle, but with Malcolm not here their guard will be down. I even heard them saying something about drinking. This is our best chance."

I took his words in. "Very good intel gathering. All right, with being dragged around this hellhole a lot, I've been able to map it out pretty well. I can lead us out."

"Good. Let's go."

We made our way toward the door at the far end of the space.

"I'll need a few moments to pick the lock," I told him as we reached it.

I reached out my hand for my picks and grabbed the door handle with my other.

And it gave way.

"It's not locked," Levi spoke.

"It could be a trap."

"Whatever they do to us can't be worse than what they've already done," he pointed out.

"You're right. Let's do this."

I took the pick set from him and pulled out the torsion wrench and the rake, handing them to him, and pulling out the ball pick and snake for myself, then shoving the rest into my dress. "Not the best weapons, but it's all we have."

He nodded and readied them as I did the same.

Then I opened the door carefully, peering outside into the corridor.

When I'd determined it was all clear, we stepped outside. One path led straight ahead, the other to the right.

"Right," I told him. "It leads to the east exit. We only have to dart from the building a few feet before we'll be camouflaged by the surrounding forest."

"Okay," he said, looking all around and trying so hard to hide his fear, his hands shaking with adrenaline.

"We're here together. You're not alone," I told him.

He smiled out at me. "Couldn't have asked for anybody better to be in this nightmare with."

"Right back at you."

As we were making our way down the corridor, one of the doors to the left opened, and a guard wearing one of those awful ski masks stepped out.

"What the fuck are you doing free?"

He came at us in the next second.

The hell I was going to let him stop us from finally making our escape from this nightmare.

Despite the fact that every step was causing me significant pain, focusing on the adrenaline of it all was managing to mute it enough where I could function.

And this asshole coming at us added a whole other powerful element.

Rage.

Levi was obviously right there with me on that, because he roared, then slammed the guy back into the wall with a brutal shove—especially for somebody so young and unaccustomed to this down and dirty life. For the most part, anyway.

Until this.

Until these monsters had taken that innocence and shattered it to pieces.

As soon as the guard jarred against the wall, I was there, driving my snake into his throat and twisting it for good measure.

He let out an awful gurgled scream that went right through me in a way that I knew would haunt me for a long time to come.

As well as the sight of blood spurting from his throat because I'd hit his carotid artery dead-on.

I couldn't take the chance of just injuring him and him being able to fight on, or get back up later just as we were on the verge of escaping this place.

Blood splattered over my fingers and Levi's neck and face.

I wrenched the snake out and wiped it on my pants.

"Let's keep going," I told Levi as he stared at the guy sinking down the wall to his ass and dying right before us. "Look away," I said, grasping Levi's arm and steering him away.

Fortunately, he managed to focus and we hurried down the corridor.

We shoved open the heavy emergency exit door together.

We'd just stepped outside when a guard lunged at us from the left.

There was no time to react as he was suddenly wrenched back.

What the hell?

The two of us watched in shock as the roided-out guy with slicked back hair, Kyle Trass, one of the main three here, laid into the ski mask and then smashed his head into the exterior wall, knocking him out cold.

In the next second, Kyle was stepping up to us and holding out a gun.

"The safety's off, so just point and shoot. There's three guards over by the east side exit, the way you're headed. I can't be seen helping you, all right?"

"I… yes," I said, taking the gun from him. "Why do this? Why go against your boss?"

He looked between us, grimacing. "Because what he's doing is demented. Now I sent them off to a fake meeting, this is your chance."

"Fake meeting?" Levi asked. "You set all that up?"

"Yeah, now go. And hurry."

Levi and I took off, running around the side of the building, prepared to make the sharp turn that would lead us toward the cover of the trees.

"There!" I called out, panting from the exertion on my injured body, as I located our path through and away from all of this.

Levi's eyes sparked with hope.

We bolted toward the trees, almost home free.

And then we heard shouting.

I looked over my shoulder to see Malcolm Lynch and Royce Humphrey hurrying out of their vehicles along with four ski mask assholes.

A shudder rolled through me.

No!

They were already back.

I fired off several shots in my panic.

While running and because I'd only fired a gun once in my life prior to this, I only managed to hit one of the ski masks. He clutched his gut and dropped to his knees.

I looked away and followed after Levi.

We were just seconds out from disappearing into the trees when a shot rang out.

A white-hot pain tore through my upper back and I screamed, tripping and landing painfully on my hands and knees.

Levi cried out and stopped running, coming back to me.

"No," I gasped. "Go. Get out… of here."

"I'm not leaving you behind," he said, resolutely.

The shouting grew louder, footsteps closer.

And then Levi did the unthinkable.

He stepped in front of me, forming a human shield.

A fifteen-year-old kid facing off with a group of deranged, grown men.

It was several levels beyond brave.

But I couldn't allow it.

I couldn't allow him to suffer because of me, in the name of protecting me.

"Levi, no," I croaked.

He was tackled to the ground in the next second by Royce and one of the guards.

And then they wailed on him.

My choked screams for them to stop landed on deaf ears.

And then automatic fire ripped through the area.

Screams from the masks filled my ears.

Royce pushed off Levi and spun, his eyes wide.

"Get your motherfucking hands off my son!" a voice of furor thundered.

An older version of Levi flitted across my vision just before all chaos broke loose.

"No mercy, Roman."

My dad's voice?

"No worries there."

I tried to turn to see, but I couldn't.

I was so done.

A shadow fell over me, sending an additional jolt of adrenaline through me.

And then Tommy Dixon was there like an angel of vengeance snarling at the enemy, then smiling kindly down at me. He was my dad's right hand, SAA for Steel Dawn MC.

"You're gonna be okay," he told me. "It's over. You're safe now."

As much as I wanted to sink into his words and let myself believe them, I couldn't.

I had an awful feeling that I'd never be safe.

That I'd never be able to feel that again.