The Black Tangled Heart

The Choice

"What time is it?" Asked Travis as he pushed his hand through his tangled hair and then rolled over to where he expected a small, warm body to lie but he found sheets empty and cold. His eyes shot open as he gazed around the room in confusion before the events of the previous evening all came rushing at him

The walk on the beach...

His awkward attempt at making Taylor his girlfriend...

Her literally running away from him and then the long walk home... alone

Pushing the covers back, Travis swang his long, toned legs over the side of the bed and then sat up straight and sighed

Today was the day...

The day he fought Varga in the biggest, most uneven fight of of his life and he had wanted to go into it with both Jason and Taylor at his side, as his strength but she wasn't there with him when he woke up, instead she was most likely tucked up next to Jason

A small knock at the door ignited hope in his chest that she had changed her mind, that last night she had panicked but after giving it some thought she had realised she wanted him the way he wanted her...

Walking towards the door he tried to settle his pulse before pulling it open and then struggled to hide the disappointment as he stood face to face with his older brother

"It's 5am Trav, time to get moving bro"

"Sure"

"Are you 100% sure you want to go through with this?"

"No, but I'm 100% sure I don't have any other choice" Travis lifted an arm and leant against the white doorframe, his hair flopping into his face as his white t-Shirt stretched tight over his lean, muscular torso

"Is Taylor coming now or meeting us later?" Asked Jason as he attempted to look over his brothers arm towards the unmade bed cringing at the thought of the activities that had probably taken place in it

"Why don't you ask her since she seems to have spent the night in your room again" Travis tried not to sound jealous but the thought of Taylor lying next to any man that wasn't him, even his brother who he trusted more than he trusted anyone or anything, had his skin prickling and his temper fraying

"She's not with me" Said Jason, his forehead crumpling

"What do you mean?" Demanded Travis as he pushed his brother aside and walked quickly to Jasons room, moving inside and dragging the covers from the bed only to find it empty "Well then where the hell is she then?"

"Last time I saw her you two were headed out"

"But she came back, her car was parked outside" Travis rushed from the room, unlocking the front door of their apartment and sprinting down the cold concrete steps to the apartment block parking lot

"Travis?" Called Jason as he appeared into the early morning air and found his brother inside Taylor's car

"I told you her car was here" he called though the open window

"Well where is she then?" Asked Jason as he jogged over to the white vehicle

"That's what we're about to find out" Replied Travis as he held up the car keys to his brother, his heart and mind both beginning to race

"Uh Trav... shouldn't we put on some shoes before we go running around town?"

"Fuck shoes! I want my girl and I want her right fuckin now!"

"And what about the fight Travis?!" Said Jason as he ran bare foot to the passenger side and climbed inside

"My girl first. The fight... later"

********

For five minutes Travis has been stood at the front door of the Swift house kicking, slapping and yelling at it but still no one had found the guts to answer

"There's someone in there" he told Jason "I KNOW YOU FUCKERS ARE IN THERE!" He yelled once more, bringing his foot down at just the same moment Jason did and cheering in victory as the wood finally gave way

"I'll call the cops if you come in here" Called a male voice with more than a slight tremor to it

"I'll have you sliced into pieces and buried in the garden before you can even say help" said Travis as he ran barefoot across the entrance way and grabbed Taylors father by the front of his T-shirt, slamming him hard into the wall "I'm only asking you this once and then I start hurting you. Where. Is. Taylor?!"

"I-I don't know" the man stuttered

"I'll search the place" said Jason as he ran from the room

"Don't leave me with this psychopath!" Screeched Mr. Swift but it was too late because Jason was gone and Travis was smiling down at him, his face cold and his eyes dead "Look I don't know where she is, I swear..."

Quick as a whip Travis' hand moved from the mans T-shirt to his throat, squeezing tightly as his face moved so close he could almost smell the fear on the older man's breath "Where's your wife?"

"Out"

"Your daughter?"

"With her mother!"

"And where exactly is that?"

"I don't know, my wife took a phone call last night and then they both left" that statement had Travis' attention immediately as he tightened his grip

"What time?"

"About 9? I don't remember"

"Who was the phone call from?"

"I don't know"

"Male? Female?"

"I'm telling you I don't know!!"

"And I'm telling you that you're about to find out or you're about to be in a whole world of pain"

"There's no one here Trav, the entire house is empty" said an out of breath Jason as he finally reappeared

"Mr. Swift here is just about to pick up his phone, call his wife and get us some answers, aren't you?"

"She won't tell me anything, she never tells me anything!"

"What about Taylor? Did she tell you anything about Taylor?"

The man's eyes widened as Travis' fingers tightened around his Adam's apple "What about Taylor?"

"About her and her uncle" Travis spat the word into the man's face and watched as it dripped over his quickly darkening cheeks "Don't pretend you don't know, don't pretend your innocent in this!"

Travis' face was turning a darker red as images and sounds, begs and demands filled his mind to the point he almost felt as though his head would combust

"We just want to find Taylor" Said Jason as he reached for his brothers shoulder "She didn't come home last night but her car is at our place"

"Maybe she's just changed her mind about you"  the man managed to choke out and suddenly Taylors rejection from the night before rushed Travis' memory like a tidal wave

"She didn't change her mind about Travus" asserted Jason, his face tensing as soon as he noticed the insecurity etched across his brothers features "Now either you're involved in what's going on between Taylor and her uncle and if you are Travis is about to smash you to pieces like you deserve or you aren't in which case you're about to help us find her and then Travis will smash every person involved into pieces, now what is it? Are you with them or are you with us, Mr. Swift?"