Unworthy Of Love (BXB)

26. Greenroad

I park on the sidewalk in front of the two-story grey building, the large gleaming "Greenroad" sign its only exterior decoration. Its first floor is occupied by a nightclub or something, judging by the muffled booming music, and the few people smoking outside who are clearly dressed for a party.

I slam the car door shut and head for the entrance, fully expecting an unpleasant interaction with a bouncer or a manager. Yet there's nobody looking like security personnel, even though there is a stand outside clearly meant for one. In the meanwhile, the smokers begin to trickle back inside, and I enter with them without encountering as much as a single curious look.

The corridor inside is almost completely dark save for the two rows of spotlights running along the floor. The music comes from behind the black drapes at the far end of it, louder now. I pause, looking around, and my eyes fall on the door with a stairs sign upon it.

I go up two flights of stairs, push another heavy metallic door, and enter a long, empty corridor. It's surprisingly quiet here, given the party that's going on downstairs. I can feel the vibrations with my feet. The corridor looks menacing in the dim light of the wall lamps, their light mixing with the shadows and the stains on the washed-out green carpet.

I walk along the two rows of closed doors, their numbers gleaming dully. They all look the same to me. I pause by one of them and listen. Nothing. Perhaps I should return downstairs and find some manager or whoever runs this place and tell them there's trouble.

Then I hear some noise, coming from the door across the hall. I turn and walk over to it.

More muffled, unclear sounds. I grab the handle and press slightly. Unsurprisingly, it's locked. I pause, sweating, my heart hammering. There's clearly someone inside but they may have nothing to do with Raven. It could be just some random couple enjoying their privacy.

Then, comes a moan, and then some laughter and talking. Not a couple. Male voices. More than one. Could one of them be Raven?

I knock on the door. If I'm wrong, I'll get yelled at and kicked out. The real question is what's going to happen if I'm right?

The voices go quiet, and then comes a muffled noise that sounds, unmistakably, like someone trying to shout with their mouth gagged. The sounds are desperate, clearly aimed at drawing attention.

My blood goes cold.

"Open the door!" I shout, and then I step back and slam the heel of my foot next to the keyhole. The old wood caves in a bit, and a few splinters stick out. I step back and repeat the procedure. After the third strike the door gives way, and I stumble inside.

The first things I notice in the small dark room are the bed, the broken door to the bathroom, the wide open window, and the four men standing by it, perhaps intending to climb out. There's someone on the bed, naked, their pale skin almost the same color as the messed-up sheets, wrists fastened with handcuffs to the bed's metal headboard, feet secured to the footboard in the same fashion.

I only have a moment to take it all in before one of the men charges at me. He grabs me and slams me against the wall so hard I see stars.

"Who the fuck are you?"

He shakes me by the shoulders. I try to free myself but he's bigger and stronger, and so are the two others who are approaching us. I don't think I have ever seen them before. The fourth one, though, looks familiar. As he comes over and shuts the door I have left open, light falls on his face, and I recognize the blond hair and the sharp chin.

"Alvin?" I mutter, and then the man slams his fist into the left side of my face and my vision goes black for a moment. Muffled, panicked groans come from the bed.

"Who the fuck are you?" the man shouts again.

"His brother," says Alvin, his voice panicky. "His fucking brother. What do we do?"

The man lets go of me and then smashes his right fist into the side of my head again, and then his left one into my abdomen. The desperate, protesting noises from the bed grow louder as I slide down the wall, grasping at my slipping consciousness. I have been in a few fights in my life, but I have never been so repeatedly and deliberately hit on the head, and I'm surprised at how easily my body shuts down, refusing to obey my orders.

From the outside, comes the sound of a siren, accompanied by flashing lights. The four guys turn to the window.

"What the fuck?" One of them kicks me in the side. "Have you?..."

"Sure I have," I manage, surprised I can still talk.

"Let's go," another one growls, and they move away.

From the corner of my eye, I can see the door thrown open again. I shake my head, trying to concentrate. There's no way I'll just let them go like this.

As the last pair of feet moves past me, I grab them and pull, and the man goes down with a crash.

"You stay here," I mutter through my teeth, trying to avoid his kicking feet; still one of his heavy boots takes me in the shoulder and I growl in pain. I grab him by the waist and pull myself higher, getting hold of his jacket, catching his arms, knowing that I only need to keep him down for a minute or less, until the police make it upstairs, until they –

Then he twists in my grip and something sharp stabs me in the shoulder. I gasp, more in surprise than pain. Another stab follows, in my thigh this time, and I finally let him go. I push myself away with my feet, then stop, staring uncomprehendingly at the handle of a knife sticking out of my left thigh, baffled by the fact that something has penetrated my flesh and still there's no blood.

The man struggles up to his feet and then bends over me, grabs the knife and pulls it out, and then comes the blood, lots of it, a whole freaking fountain of it bursting out of my leg. The man stares at it wildly; then, he turns away and runs out of the room.

I try to get up, but that curious sensation of my body refusing to obey my orders is there again. I feel like a broken toy. It's almost funny. I feel light headed, as if none of this is really happening, as if I'm just watching a movie, and a silly one at that.

Sobbing noises from the bed draw my attention.

I crawl towards it, dragging my wounded leg after me; when I look back, I see a wide bloody trail on the carpet, and I think they will have to finally change the carpet, and the thought makes me chuckle.

"Hi there," I say, rising high enough on my hands to prop my chin on the bed.

Raven's huge panicked eyes stare at me, a cloth gag in his mouth. I frown and reach out and start untangling the gag's knot at the back of his head. It's not an easy job to do with one hand, but I need the other one to keep myself up.

"You should see, it's funny," I say to him as he stares at me, his eyes overflowed with tears, his face wet. "I mean, there's so much blood already, and it just keeps coming, you know?"

I finally manage to untie the knot, then leave it to him to finish the job, and reach for the nearby blanket, the blood from my wounded shoulder staining the sheets. The room sways a little.

"We need to cover you up, Raven. You're naked."

The realization of what has been going on here before I arrived, and what has just happened to me, is pushing at the edges of my consciousness, but I don't let it in. I prefer the light-headedness, the numbness.

Raven finally manages to spit the gag out.

"I'm sorry," he wails, his mouth quivering. "Oh James, I'm so sorry! You're bleeding!"

"Just a scratch." I look down in confusion at the puddle of blood I'm sitting in. "Maybe...two scratches..." My tongue is thick in my mouth, and it seems like it's about to betray me the way my feet did. I want to tell Raven how strange it feels, but then the floor suddenly hits me on the side of my head and all I can see is the darkness under the bed. It grows, swallowing the room with everything in it, and in that darkness, I can hear Raven's voice, sobbing:

"Don't die, James! Please! I'm so sorry! Please don't die!"

And then I can't hear even that anymore.