The Prison (Book 1)

Taken

"Cain." Schneizel said the mysterious man's name as if it were the foulest, vilest of curses. Abruptly, he made a move to shield me from the gun's barrel, but Cain tsked. His cat-like green eyes flashed a warning and a threat.

Move and I'll pull the trigger, they said.

Having no choice but to heed the warning, Schneizel remained behind me.

Cain chastised, "I don't much like what you did to my little brother. I'm afraid you're going to have to pay for that."

His little brother had to be Jimmy, whom the sight of his older brother seemed to rejuvenate. Jimmy stirred and rose onto his wobbling feet.

"Shoot the bastards, Cain! Shoot 'em!"

"Shut up. The car is waiting outside. Go."

Jimmy obeyed his older brother, wobbling away, leaving behind a trail of blood leaking down his broken nose.

At the furious rate that my heart was beating, I was afraid Cain wouldn't even have to pull the trigger; I was in danger of dropping dead from a heart attack.

Was this the 'he' Schneizel had mentioned? He had to be.

"My allies are here in the building." Schneizel warned with barely-restrained anger. Even without looking, I could sense his rage coursing through his limbs. He shook with it, like a volcano about to explode.

"Oh, I know. I barely missed them! I'm afraid I'm going to have to change my plans, thanks to my incompetent brother. And you, of course."

Schneizel's growl ricocheted off the walls as he said, "If you touch him-"

The gun went off. I jumped, my ears ringing I swallowed and waited for the staggering pain that I knew would follow. When a few seconds passed and I felt just as I'd felt before Cain pulled the trigger, I looked down to inspect my body. There wasn't a visible entry wound in sight.

From behind me, I felt a soft groan.

Slowly, very slowly, I turned around and immediately wished that I had been the one who was shot. Schneizel's right shoulder bled a dark liquid from where the bullet had burrowed itself, staining his white shirt beyond repair. Schneizel staggered backward a few steps before collapsing onto the ground.

"NO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and lunged for him. I covered the wound with my hand and began to put pressure on it when a hand buried itself in my hair and tugged me backward.

"You're coming with me."

"No, let me go, you fucker! Let me-" I started to resist him when something -probably the butt of the gun- struck the back of my head with merciless force. That was when everything went dark.

****

Cade's P.O.V

"What happened?!" I was shocked to see Schneizel limping out of the room at the back of the warehouse. Blood from a bullet wound in his shoulder stained the front of his shirt, while even more blood dripped onto the floor and formed a trail behind him. He ignored me completely and attempted to go past me, but ended up slamming into my side in his clumsiness. I grabbed him before he went down and hurt himself some more. Carefully, I put one of his arms over my shoulders and snaked an arm around his torso, steadying him.

The wound looked serious. I feared the bullet hit something important like an artery; there was so much fucking blood! My eyes flew to Schneizel's face to gauge the seriousness of the injury, only to confirm my worst suspicions when I saw that his face was as pale as a ghost.

"Schneizel, what the heck is going on?" I tried again, sick to my stomach with worry. "Who did this to you? Where's Aiden? Didn't you find-"

"Cain took Aiden."

"Fuck." The word flew out of my mouth on its own accord. "Fuck." I said again, because I felt I hadn't quite meant it before.

This was bad. Real bad.

Cain was a veritable ghost and Schneizel's arch nemesis. As his rival in business, Cain made it his concern to fuck up Schneizel's affairs and dealings as often and as much as possible. Granted, Schneizel gave as much as he got. So, naturally, they both wanted the other dead.

It had taken them much to find out where Aiden was being kept; Cain had his own allies who would never dare squeal on him in fear of deadly repercussions. Schneizel had to pull a lot of strings in order to get the information that it was even Cain who'd taken the boy. The only silver lining was that it was Jimmy, Cain's younger brother, who'd orchestrated Aiden's kidnapping, which had hopefully meant that Cain had yet to lay his hands on Aiden. Cain was notorious for having a taste for young, fiery boys -basically Aiden- as well as being extraordinarily violent with them. He liked to break them.

"We need to get you to a doctor," I insisted. God knew I wasn't someone unused to the sight of blood, but there was just so much blood that I felt myself getting a little queasy.

"No. Take me outside." Schneizel commanded, daring me to naysay him.

"I'm sorry, boss, but I didn't see Cain on my way here, which means Aiden's long gone. Besides, in your condition-"

What sound like the turning wings of a chopper drifted to their ears. It was coming from outside the warehouse near the pier. It had to be Cain's helicopter. 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

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