Hollow Woods ✔

Tortured

~Ex~

I looked down at Grey, his eyes scanning my own. His eyes glanced over to the glass wall in front of me. Grey is the leader of the gang Sophia was in.

"They can hear us, so make sure you scream extra loud for them." I gritted my teeth and spit in his face. "That was a mistake." He struck me again with his whip.

I winced in pain but refused to make a sound. He can't get satisfaction from me, all the pain he likes to inflict on people won't work on me.

You can't break what's already broken.

We stared at each other, no one saying a word, from the other side of the glass I could hear my friends crying. Dean struggled against his ropes and Rhydian was out cold. Please be alive! I could feel Grey's eyes on me so I turned back to glare at him. Our eyes dared the other to stand down, so neither of us looked away. A staring contest is what it turned into. I could hear as his gang members got closer to me, but I never looked away.

I bit down on my tongue as scalding water was dumped over my head. "Sophia talked a lot about you. I know how your mind works. You think that you can't be broken." He nodded his head and another bucket of hot water was dumped over me. I shut my eyes and let the burning feeling go away.

One of the men pulled out a pair of pliers and handed them over to Grey. They were old, rusty, and smelled like the plague. Next thing I know he's using them to pinch my bloody legs. The loose rust fell into my cuts making them burn more. He tightened his grip making the metal bite down harder on my cut skin. The three other men in the room began to unpack throwing knives, and of course, they were rusty. The Burning Stone Gang wasn't known for being clean in their kills.

"I'm a bit rusty, so this is a good time to practice. Don't you agree?" A smug look covered his features. He threw one and it landed right next to my neck. "Oops, it slipped."

"Seems like you're well on practice," I growled out.

He threw another knife, "I'm rusty, keep quiet."

"You have some nerve to attack my family."

"But I knew they were your weakness. To capture an animal you need bait." His hand threw one of the sharper knives.

It pierced the palm of my hand that was hung above my head. I kept my eyes on him but I silently winced in pain. His lips quirked up into a smirk and he quickly threw another to my thigh. I cleared my throat trying to get whatever was in my throat out. Grey and his gang began to laugh, I don't know why because nothing is humorous.

He threw two at once, one cutting my side and hitting the wall behind me, the other hit my stomach and went far in. I coughed up blood as it started to gather up.

"Tell me Ram, where is my package? You remember right, that day you ran off with your little friend. That was a lot of money and you also decided to take my package. Where is it? You made me waste a lot of money on nothing."

When I didn't respond, Grey stiffly nodded to his men. One of them pulled the knife out of my stomach while the other pushed the knife in my thigh deeper into my leg. I let out a painful breath.

"Where is it!" He yelled. "You see that boy?" He pointed to Rhydian, "I did that because I couldn't find you. Give me what I want or that will happen to all of them."

I heard all their sudden gasps. Sophia and Nora began to pull against the ropes in an attempt to get away. Dean looked sadly at me, pain and guilt clear in his eyes. His pained eyes gave me the answer.

"Let them all go, you have my word, but I have to watch them leave this place. Give them a car and send them on their way." He rubbed his chin in thought. "You know I don't lie about this shit." Grey closed his eyes and sighed in frustration.

"Fine, if that's going to get me my product." He snapped his fingers.

Some of the guys in the other room untied everyone while someone untied me. I didn't fight and I pleaded with Dean to keep his cool. Once we were outside, Grey handed Sophia some keys and pointed to a car. They quickly got inside and drove off. I don't blame them for just leaving, I mean, I left them once already.

"Now tell me, how are you going to get all that weed back?"

"You forget that I grew up in the week kingdom and I'm the Ram, I'll fight and pay for it myself. I'll fight for you and make your gang extra money."

They took me back to the room and hung my arms again.

"You do realize I don't have time. I already spent years waiting." He stood up and walked to the door. "Do what you want with her and dispose of her. Leave no trace." He slammed the door behind him.

The guys instantly smirked and they all nodded their heads. As expected, they all took turns doing what they wanted with my body. After they had their fun, they used me as target practice for both knives and guns. Bullets and knives flew through the air hitting any part of my body. When I was unable to move my limbs, they undid the ropes and I fell to the floor in a puddle of blood and bones. They kicked my body, my face, everything. I didn't even have the strength to cough out blood so I just lay on the floor and allowed my eyes to close.

A bright light welcomed me.

~Dean~

I yelled at Sophia as she sped off towards the main road. "We can't leave her! Turn this shit around!"

"You don't get it! Gangs don't play fair! If you were paying attention then you would see that two cars have been after us. Ex will be fine. She has to be." Sophia cried out her last sentence.

Nora was in the back seat trying to get any reaction out of Rhydian. "He's breathing but his pulse is weak. We need a hospital and fast!"

Sophia floored it and a few minutes later we were on the main road. Once we got to a hospital the two cars backed away and left.

Nora and I hauled Rhydian to the emergency room while Sophia ran ahead and called for help. When we got to the door a nurse helped us get him onto a stretcher. He was hauled away, the nurse asking him questions that he couldn't answer. A nurse came up to me and handed me one clipboard with two papers.

"I need the patients' information along with yours." I stiffly nodded my head as she walked away.

Nora pulled Sophia into a tight hug as I pulled at my hair while filling out the papers. In two minutes I was done and I shot out of my chair to speak with a nurse.

~Nurse Mary~

"Can you hear me?... What is your name?... Can you tell me how old you are?... Who did this to you?... Do you know what day it is?" We were losing them and fast.