Blood and Water

Chapter 54: Paid My Dues

Paid My Dues - NF

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Chibs sat in the darkness, trying to get some sleep. All he could hear were the voices in his head saying "Kill them all," over and over again. It wasn't any voice though; it was his voice. He was one step closer to the thing he hated most. 

The last time anyone met the Reaper, Chibs made a promise to himself that he wouldn't get angry enough to let him out. Even with everything that had happened to him and the club, the Reaper never showed. Even when he killed Jimmy O, he never showed. 

He was showing up now though.

Chibs was shaking from the cold, the pain, the monster looming inside of him. He sat alone in the darkness, letting the darkness grow, knowing Filip wouldn't come back for a long time. 

"Jax didn't answer," he heard Remington say. He didn't realize someone had come in. Chibs looked up and saw Remington's patched eye. With a small nod, his men beat Chibs until he was close to passing out.

Lou came in and cleaned him up, patching any bad wounds. She cleaned out the gully the bullet left. It wasn't deep but it brought so much pain to Chibs. She sewed it closed and put a bandage over it. Remington told her to do enough to keep him alive, but Lou did more than that. She cared about him even though she was his captor. He was the only person who was kind to her.

Neither of them spoke, just exchanged glances every few moments. She finished helping him and then left him alone in the dark, cold room again.

A few hours passed and the same thing happened. Remington told him Jax wasn't answering, they beat him, Lou helped him. Before they left, they took him out of the chair and chained him to the floor.

A few more hours went by and they did the same song and dance again. Chibs rested his head on the tile floor listening to the sounds of the blood dripping and pooling up under him. He tried thinking about Mina, but her image was blurring in his mind.

Lou gently touched his face, snapping him out of the haze he was in. For the first time in hours, he spoke.

"Lou," he whimpered, softening his voice, "Please...let me go."

She shook her head. "I...I can't."

Chibs closed his eyes, making himself start to cry. Lou felt bad for him; he was in so much pain. He opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"I have to...I have to piss," he sighed.

She held his chained hand and asked, "Can you walk?" He shook his head. "Okay, hold on." Lou stood and got one of Remington's men. They walked back in and saw Chibs on the floor with his eyes closed. He fell asleep. "Hey," she shook him. "Hey, Chibs." He jumped awake, pushing himself backward away from her. She put her hands in front of her. "Hey, it's just me. It's just me."

They helped him stand up and regained the ability to walk. Chibs was putting on a great performance. When they got to the bathroom, he said he would be okay on his own. He finished and flushed the toilet. Struggling to walk in a straight line, he grabbed the sink and looked in the mirror.

The last time he was in there, it didn't look like him. His face was even worse now. New bruises over top of old, cuts and marks scabbed over. He leaned down and drank water from the tap. It tasted disgusting but he was so thirsty. He splashed water on his face, cleaning anything Lou had missed. His face and hair were drenched and he looked back at himself.

"Stop bein' a little b*tch," he told himself. "Get it done."

Chibs gripped the sink as he threw himself down, smacking his head on it. He collapsed on the floor and heard Lou and the guy running in.