Hollow Woods ✔

Taken & Beaten

~Dean~

The place smelled of blood. I tried getting up but something was holding me down. I started to panic. Trying to pull my hands free from the restraints. My feet were tied as well.

"Hey, hey, calm down." I froze.

"Nora?" I felt hands on my face and the blindfold was off.

I blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the light. Someone began to pull at the ropes that held my hands behind the chair. It was Sophia. Together they got me out of the chair. My body was sore then I realized it was because of all the bruises.

"What happened, where are we?" They looked at each other then back at me, "Where's Rhydian?" Sophia began to break down.

"Some men came in and took him for questioning." Nora closed her eyes and walked over to comfort Sophia. "Here, let me wrap you up."

Nora helped me to a single bed in the corner of the room and began to tend to my wounds.

After she was done, the three of us talked for hours until a door opened. A man was pushed in, he was all bloody, his teeth and lips a dark red, his hands and arms covered in cuts and bruises. The guys' shirt no longer white. His body fell to the floor, the girls ran to help him to the bed. I studied the guy closer and realized it was Rhydian.

Sophia kept him awake while Nora cleaned and covered his wounds. Rhydian winced in pain as Nora moved around his body. She pulled his shirt off and we saw so many cuts, we couldn't even see his skin anymore. The panic in all our eyes was clear as day. None of us thought he would make it. He was beaten to an extreme level and he was losing blood fast. His eyes slowly closed as Sophia tried to make him answer questions. Rhydian's eyes closed and he was out.

A few hours later

A man walked into the room and pulled me by the arm. I tried pulling away but he just tightened his hold. The girls started to cry as they cowered in a corner. Their fear matched mine.

The man pulled me into a hallway and pulled me to a door at the end. I could smell something rotting as we got close. Scrunching my nose I pulled back trying to avoid the smell. The man turned around to face me and saw the disgust on my face. He smirked and pushed me to a wall, it was hard and it hurt like hell.

"Retaliate one more time and I'll make sure you die today." His voice laced in truth.

I quit fighting and followed the man to the room. The guy was satisfied and let go of my arm to unlock the door. Taking the chance, I kicked his shins and then kicked his crotch hard.

He won't be having kids.

The guy fell hard on the floor, holding his jewels. He yelled and I ran back to the room where the girls were. I swung the door open making Nora and Sophia scream. When they saw me they smiled looking me up and down.

"They didn't do anything to me. Help me block the door."

We began to place anything we could find in front of the door. I looked around for an escape then spotted an exit at the top of the wall. It was an old-looking window so I could easily smash it. I rushed the girls to get away from the door, I pulled my shirt over my head and wrapped it around my fist. I shattered the glass and made sure that all the glass was off as the girls would be crawling through it. Nora was first and then Sophia, I let them step on me seeing as they were too short. Once they were out, I did my best to get Rhydian through, dead or not, he's coming with us. Nora and Sophia pulled him back while I squeezed through.

Rhydian lay on my back while Sophia and Nora looked around for danger. The area was littered with wooden crates with white powder around them. Drugs. They both stopped and crouched down.

"Find them! And when you do take them to the room!" A man yelled out.

Man after man, they all moved around the lawn in search of us. I placed Rhydian down and looked at the girls.

"Stay here, I'll lead them away while you get away."

Before they could protest I was off. The men caught sight of me and chased me down. All those years of track, football, and all other sports were finally paying off.

A gun was fired, I thought it was aimed at me so I ducked down, but then I heard something behind me fall. I chanced a look and saw that the man that was chasing me now lay dead on the floor, a hole through his head. My eyes traveled up to see the back of Ex. Her gun pointed out as she shot the other men down.

"Runaway Dean! I only have one round left." I froze even more. She called me by my name!

She pulled the trigger but no bullet came out. Ex cursed and got ready to fight. Two guys came from the front but I saw a guy run fast from her side.

"Look out!" I yelled.

Ex turned to her side but it was too late. The guy tackled her to the floor. Her head hit the rocks below making her scream in pain. The guy pulled her by the hair and dragged her into the building. I couldn't focus so one of the guys punched the side of my head knocking me out.

***

I groaned in pain as my head was pounding with a headache. The cries of Nora and Sophia made me snap my eyes open. I saw that we were all tied up to chairs, all facing the same direction and our heads were tied to the chair. The wall in front of us was glass, but the room on the other side was pitch black. A dim light turned on in the other room, followed by bright lights. I closed my eyes but then adjusted to the brightness. Their cries increased as they saw what was on the other side. My eyes grew wide.

Ex was hanging off a pipe that came down from the ceiling. She gritted her teeth as she saw us. Her hands were balled into fists as she looked at one of the men. A tall man walked into her room.

"Grey," Ex said, clenching her jaw.

"Ex! How lovely of you to visit me after all these years. Heard you single-handedly took out the Frost Walkers." She didn't speak.

The man pulled out a whip and slashed her bare legs with it. She winced in pain but didn't let a sound out. He slashed her again and again until she hissed in pain. The man stepped to the side. Our eyes grew in horror as we saw how bloody her legs were. I struggled in my restraints, trying to get to her side.