Snowed In(manxman)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Will had lost all hope. He sat shackled to a bed once again locked in Thompson’s brothel. He wasn’t drugged--yet-- he was sitting on his backside instead of being sprawled out on his stomach and he could at least move because only his hands were shackled to the bedposts.

But damnation his body hurt. His face was swollen, his cheek gashed and his lips split. His ribs hurt whenever he drew in a breath and his side was so tender to the touch that he cried with pain whenever it was bumped.  He could hardly see through his blackened eyes and his body was freezing cold because he was wearing nothing but his trousers and tattered, blood splattered shirt and no one had thought to light a fire to warm this room. 

Death didn’t sound so bad when compared to the alternative which was once again becoming a drug-dazed bed fixture in this hell. He wondered if Turner had returned to the cabin yet and found the destruction? Had he come off the mountain to try to rescue Will and been attacked by Fred and Vince? 

Tears filled Will’s eyes. They would kill Turner and there wasn’t a thing that Will could do to stop it. He wasn’t foolish enough to think that they would actually fight him fairly or try to convince him politely to back off. Will knew Thompson’s men and knowing them told him that a bullet had probably already been placed in Turner’s back. 

Sobs wracked Will’s battered body and he cried out in pain. Poor Turner. Poor Beaux. Neither of them deserved to die and they wouldn’t have if Will would have stayed out of their lives. He closed his eyes and his stomach turned when he remembered the way that Beaux had defended him when Thompson and his men had come storming into the cabin. Beaux had done his best but one hound was no match for five men with guns… and Will? Will had gotten off a single shot with that rifle, which of course had gone wide, before he’d been taken down. The kicks and the punches that had followed had hurt but worse had been Thompson’s cold laughter and his assurance that he’d always known he’d get Will back. 

Hours ago Will had heard a commotion outside. Horses hooves thundering and people crying out. Will had dared to hope a moment but then silence had fallen outside his window and Will had known it wasn’t anyone coming to save him. 

Darkness was now falling outside the closed shutters. Will could hear the brothel coming to life. Footsteps, voices, coy female laughter and men chuckling. He knew that down below whiskey would be pouring and the fun would be beginning. 

Will trembled, the cold causing his entire body to shake and shiver. When the door to his room flew open and Thompson stood there with a cold smile on his face, Will’s blood ran cold. 

He screamed and kicked for all he was worth when Creedence and Jasper entered as well but it was no use. He body was too beaten and battered to put up much of a fight. They stripped his clothes from him, flipped him over and retied him on his stomach with his arms and legs stretched out. He was once again nothing but an offering….

“Thompson….” he gasped through the pain coursing through him. “Laudanum… please?” 

Thompson scratched at his mustache and shook his head slowly, “No, I don’t think so. You’re going to realize just how good you had it before you ran away from me.” 

“But, Thompson.. I’m covered in blood and I think my ribs might be broken…” 

Thompson waved his hand, “I’ll have the doc come look at you in the morning,” Thompson started for the door and then paused, “I think you should know that your man showed up in town…” 

Will’s head whipped around and he tried to make out Thompson’s expression but the shadows in the darkening room made it impossible, “He did?” 

“He’s dead, Will. You’re gonna be mine for a good long time.” 

Will was sobbing as Thompson closed the door. Each sob caused pain to ricochet through his battered ribs and bruised middle. His tears burned the cuts and welts on his cheeks and swollen lips. His blackened eyes screamed with pain as he squeezed them shut and the tears continued to seep through. 

Knowing Turner was going to die to actually learning of his death were two separate things entirely. Will’s first taste of true love--the man who had saved his life and stolen his heart completely--was now dead; and it was all his fault. 

Will didn’t even cry out for mercy when the bedroom door opened. He didn’t whimper for the man who entered to spare him as he heard Thompson’s voice in the hall telling the man to have fun. 

He did however scream in pain when the panting man shoved himself inside Will’s broken body and rammed into him over and over with so much force the bed shook and Will’s vision swam from the intensity of the pain coursing through him. 

Will vomited upon the bed, his vision went black and as the man shuddered against him Will fell into unconsciousness. 

***

“Thompson, sir,’it’s dark out now and there hasn’t been any sign of him,” Jasper whispered as Thompson stepped into his office. “He’s gonna come with the cover of darkness and it’s going to make it harder to defend ourselves.” 

Thompson sat down at his desk and folded his hands across his chest as he leaned back in his chair and studied Jasper and Creedence, “We need to set up extra guard for the night….” 

“There is no one extra,” Jasper countered. “The sheriff and deputies agreed to patrol and take care of him if they see him and the doctor’s son Timothy has agreed to stand guard as well but that’s all the extra bodies we have.” 

Thompson’s brow furrowed. That was only four extra men, “I hate to argue, Jasper, but we have an entire town full of people.” 

“Yes, and those people saw what that bastard did to Fred, sir. He sent a pretty loud message when he sent both those bodies riding in here.”  

Thompson rubbed his face and scratched at his thick black mustache and remembered the gristly scene. Vince’s knife had still been sticking from his forehead and Fred had been all but decapitated. He’d been shot point black with a very large gun. He growled and shook his head, “Who the hell is this man?” 

“Someone I don’t want to tangle with,” Jasper admitted. “I never thought that Turner was dangerous, he never once responded to all the goading we gave him.” 

“He’s killed two men already, Thompson,” Creedence spoke up, “Maybe we should just give him Will…” 

Thompson shoved himself to his feet and put his hand on his own gun, “No! Will is mine and I don’t allow people to bully me into submission. That son of a bitch is more dangerous than we first thought but I am not afraid of him. Post what guards we have around the brothel and when that bastard shows his face, I want him dead. I don’t care how, I don’t care who kills him but I want his lifeless body brought into this office and tossed at my feet.”  

A/N: Me thinks the proverbial shit is going to hit the fan when Turner sees what shape his man is in!