A Deadly Affair

Twenty-Nine

When I imagined the gang's hideout, I was picturing an abandoned warehouse, old and falling apart. I was not anticipating what it truly is.

"Welcome to the hideout," Chris says, a hint of pride in his voice, and while I want to gape, I refrain from showing any awe. It's a farm; and not just a bunch of overgrown land, with animals wondering everywhere. No, it's a whole lot of land, with a large barn near the back, a beautiful cabin and another big building off to the side. I watch as we drive by a group of rough looking middle aged men, mischievous grins on their faces, like their Christmas present has just arrived. I swallow harshly, feeling my heart begin to beat faster; that poor thing, it's had a lot of irregular beating lately. We park in front of the cabin, and by door flies open, followed by rough hands grabbing my arms; I pride myself that I only let out a surprised yelp and not the ear splitting scream I want to release. Chuckles fill the chilly night air, and I swing my arm out, trying to hit anyone I can: but someone grabs my hair, causing me to wince. I clasp his other wrist, shoving him forward, and everything goes quiet as the burly man hits his knees. While he's down, I kick him in his side, causing him to growl, and look up at me with a glare.

"Enough!" Chris shouts, sounding amused as he rounds the van. He looks me over, before grinning. "I would expect Ben to teach you his self defense moves."

"Don't you dare say his name." I all but shout, making to charge at him, until someone pulls me back roughly by my arm. I look up to find Skull, looking annoyed, and glare at him, ready to tell him off until Chris laughs.

"I loved Benji and Ry as sons, Julie. I never wanted to hurt them, but sometimes lessons must be learned." Chris says solemnly, as though he actually believes his words; he turns to his friends. "No one hurts her. It was the only deal Ryan made. If he shows up and finds her hurt, I'll let him run loose for a bit." He warns, causing everyone to straighten up. I watch as they all nod, and If I wasn't mistaken, I think they're actually scared of him. All of these men could kill me with one punch, and they're scared of Ryan? I know he's a good fighter, but he got stabbed with only five guys, and who knows how many there are here. Chris must notice my confusion, because he smiles. "Come, walk with me." He motions me forward with his hand, and when I hesitate Skull shoves me forward. No choice. Everyone else stays behind as Chris leads me inside his cabin, which I'm expecting to be filled with more intimidating men, but only find a home. I take in my surroundings, wondering if I can get my hands on a weapon- a bat to swing with, or an umbrella to poke out his glinting eyes- the thought of the umbrella causes memories of Ben to flood me, and I shove my emotion away. I hope Ryan kills every last one of them.

"Welcome to my home. I'm quite proud of what we've accomplished in two years time." Chris muses, leaning against his kitchen table, as my eyes roam over the room. Something else I didn't expect? Chris has a ton of pictures; and none are of the gang. He has pictures of him with Ryan and Skye as kids, pictures of just them, pictures of ben and Ryan, a few of the three of them: but something I note is there are far more pictures of Skye in this room. Her at every age, at a piano recital, at a kindergarten graduation, with some of her friends, with Chris. Ben's words about Skye being Chris's biggest weakness and this is evidence of that statement.

"You obviously care about them. Why can't you accept their choice and leave them alone? Let them be happy?" I ask, turning around to face him. He furrows his brows, before standing to his full height- he's as tall as Ryan and I feel small.

"I took Ryan in, I raised him as my own son, and he snubbed my generosity." Anger crosses Chris's face, and he looks me straight in the eyes. "He deserves to be reminded of who, and what he is." His words cause a chill to race over me, and I cross my arms, trying not to show how terrified I am. I want to go home, hide under Ryan's blankets, and never come out again.

"How did you know so much about me?" I ask, trying to buy time for Ryan to show up. I know I can't run, can't get away. I need him: but he can't take them alone either. No matter how scared they are of him, he's only one man, and he'll be alone because they made sure of it.

Chris smiles, but there's no kindness to it, only malice. "Ryan isn't the only one with enemies. Your ex boyfriend realized just what Ryan is, and knew he couldn't handle it alone; so I sent one of my guys to approach him with an offer. Information about you, and we'd make your life hell for him." I swallow, anger coursing through my veins. All of this because I broke up with Miles? He's just as insane as the man standing a few feet from me. "I want to show you the rest of the place." He motions for me to follow, as he walks out the back door. I force my resistant feet to move, tightening the fabric from my tee that I ripped to wrap around the gash on my arm, and following Chris out into the backyard where I see the barn. It's big, beautiful and looks like it's new; my mother would love to use it for weddings. Chris halts, pointing toward the large building on the other side of the property. "That's our clubhouse. We hold meetings there, and also a few parties." He grins over his shoulder at me, and it's met with a solid glare. I want nothing more than to claw that smile off his smug face.

"What kind of meetings do you hold? Whose life to ruin next?" I look over at the building over the hill, wondering if that's where they decided to ruin my life from.

Chris chuckles, "I'm afraid you have to be a member to know that: also, don't worry sweetheart, there are plenty of my men who like you. I bet it wouldn't take long for you to figure out what those men who grabbed you from the van wanted with you." He smiles pleasantly, all while I feel bile creep up my throat. He throws open the barn door, strolling into the building with no worries; of course not, he's on a winning streak. He's taken out Ryan's best friend and one strong ally, and kidnapped his girlfriend- he's winning , and I hate it. I step in hesitantly, as shouts descend from the balcony, and the ground floor, as everyone sees me trailing Chris. "Gentlemen!" Chris calls, earning lots of victorious shouts. I feel as if I've entered a viper's pit. Chris smiles over at me, as everyone returns to watching something in the center of the room; that's when I hear it. There's two men, fighting roughly In a caged in area in the center of the room; they aren't stopping, even though one's breathing heavily, and blood is covering his entire face.

"Why-" I start, horror overtaking me as the guy covered in blood falls on his face, unmoving. "Help him!" I shout at Chris as cheers erupt around us. Chris stares blankly before turning to me; a grin spreading over his face, showing just how insane he really is.

"Welcome to the death pit, Julie." I take in the barbaric scene before me, horror flooding me. "Ryan was the best." He sighs, as if thinking of a fond memory. His words shift me but I shove them down, trying to run to the man surrounded around a pool of his own blood, my nursing instincts kicking in: but Chris stops me by grabbing my arm, clucking his tongue as if disappointed.

"I have something you want." He tells me, throwing his head toward a corner of the room, where skull stands, his hand attached to a girl's arm, as he keeps her from falling froward. My heart stops beating as I take in the red hair, the bracelet her grandma gave her for her sixteenth birthday hanging from her wrist, and the way her head lulls forward. 

They have Maya.