Excalibur ~ World from Ashes

The hummer grinded to a halt in front of the manor as Zak pulled it around the large circular driveway. Other cars were parked there as well, lining the huge driveway as they sat in front of the manor. They were the cars that belonged to the other groups of the gang. I wasn’t paying attention to that though as the hummer skidded a bit across the gravel. Jace’s door flung opened and before I knew it he had come around to my side of the car. He wrenched the door open so hard that I thought it might come off the hinges though I knew that was impossible.

Reaching in, he snatched my upper arm and dragged me from the backseat. I was so stunned that I didn’t register what was going on until I was on the ground, feeling sharp rock underneath my hands and arms. I grunted as I hit the ground and then rolled over to stare up at Jace who looked utterly livid. He reached down and ripped the gun from my thigh and tore the sheathed knife free, tossing both away from me. Jace stood again and his gun was shaking as he pointed it at me. My heart lumped in my throat thickly.

“You little shit,” Jace cursed.

“N-no…”

“What the fuck was that!?”

“I don’t know!” I shouted back, lifting myself up as I faced him. Footsteps crunched along the gravel and I caught sight of Zak and Tristan standing behind Jace who stood over me.

“Don’t lie to me! He said ‘good work’, what the hell does that mean!? Were you sent here by him? Hu? Are you here to try to get at Tristan?”

“No! I would never-”

Jace moved so quickly that I didn’t have time to react. His knuckles slammed into the side of my face as he backhanded me, throwing me down upon the gravel. I let out a shocked gasp. Panting, I stared at the dirt absolutely stunned at what he’d just done. My horror and shock was slowly turning to anger. I turned around to face Jace only to find the end of his silver gun in my face.

“What, thought you would get all cozy with us? Get all the information that you could from us and then send it along to Alik? Thought you would get all comfortable next to Tristan? Worm your way into his bed, fuck him and then tear him apart?!”

My mouth opened as I gaped at him. My heart shattering as I lay there. It felt like I couldn’t breathe properly, my eyes burned as I felt rage rushing through my body. My teeth ground together as I lay there. Tristan hadn’t come forward to stop Jace, or say anything. Zak leaned against the hummer, his arms crossed over his chest. Tristan must have been shocked, disappointed, hateful.

He hates me now… I’m sure of it. All three of them. Slowly I shook my head. I couldn’t figure out what to say to make this better, to fix this. Alik, with those simple words had driven a perfect stake of distrust in each of them. Alik… I’m going to fucking kill you. I took in breath after gasping breath as I stared at Jace.

“No… No I wouldn’t,” I said softly, shaking my head as my voice shook uncontrollably.

That seemed to only piss him off even more, “I should put a God damned bullet through you right now! How long were you planning to go about deceiving us? How long were you going to weave your little lies, Valkyrie!?”

“I’m not lying! I haven’t done anything!” I screamed, my anger starting to take over, getting the best of me.

He pulled back to strike me again, this time Tristan did say something, “Jace,” his commanding tone made Jace stop before he could hit me. He put the gun in front of me again instead. I was hopeful that Tristan would say something else, but he didn’t and my heart sunk to the pits of my stomach. I thought I was going to be sick. This awful feeling pulsed through me. It was a battle that I had already lost.

“And what about the other half of what he said,” Jace hissed, “‘Hey babe’? Are you fucking kidding me!? And when were you planning to tell us that you were Alik’s boyfriend!?” he screamed at me.

Now that… that I couldn’t deny. I shuddered as I lay there, propped up on one arm. My fingers dug into the dirt. Slowly I shook my head. Turning, I looked at Tristan who watched me. His face was hard to read, those stony features, his hard hazel eyes. I couldn’t keep from crying then. I strained to reign in my tears, to keep myself from losing it in the wash of guilt that was tearing me apart.

“I’m… sorry,” I said slowly.

Tristan’s eyes grew wide, shock clear on his face. My stomach twisted tightly as he turned away from me. A strangled gasp fell from my lips, a sobbing cry as he started to walk away.

“Tristan! I’m sorry! I didn’t say anything because I was afraid! Tristan!” I screamed for him, but he just walked away toward the house. It felt like I was bleeding out right there on the ground. Every step he took away from me tore through my body like a burning iron rod. I shuddered on the gravel, shaking my head as I cried.

“Tristan! Please! Let me explain! Please!” My screaming voice was hoarse.

Jace slowly stepped away from me, his green eyes narrowed in disgust, “Get out. Don’t come back,” he spat and turned on his heel to follow after Tristan.

Zak stayed for a moment, watching me with a frown on his lips. I turned to him as he pushed off from the hummer. I pulled myself up, crying pitifully and tried to reach for him.

“Zak, please, listen. I’m not with Titan, I promise, please.”

He sighed heavily as he stood there and glanced at me briefly before shaking his head. He too turned away and followed Jace into the manor. I watched him walk away as well and it felt like the entire world had just been dragged out from under my feet. I was falling into a dark void. The only thing left to me was my pain.

I was disgusting.

Hated.

And it was all Alik’s doing.

Slowly, I stood up in the driveway. I stumbled slightly as I regained my footing. Soft, crying sobs ached through my chest as I gazed at the manor that I would never be able to set foot into again. It was a struggle to breathe. I tore my hands through my hair as I slowly backed away from the house. I couldn’t take this. It was too much to bear through. It was killing me, literally. I was dying as the awful burning pain tore apart my heart, wrenching at my gut.

Finally, I had backed away so far down the driveway that I couldn’t make out the designs of the dragons carved along the front doors. Turning, I walked through the wrought iron gates and started down the street with no particular direction in mind. I had turned right, slowly stumbling down the sidewalk as I fought to control my raging emotions. I thought I was going to be sick as every step was like lead.

I was like an empty husk of a body as I stumbled along the street. My anguish slowly turned to anger as I replayed the events in my mind. Alik’s wicked smile as he said those few words. The way he watched us drive off. There was someone in Fukkatsu that was giving him information, it wasn’t me, but he’d used that against us. We were already in disarray, suspicious of just about everyone around us. Alik knew that. He had to have known. Saying those few words… he knew it would drive me away from the group.

I took a deep breath, my fingers running through my hair again as storm clouds began to gather. The crack of thunder didn’t bring me from my deep thoughts. Hell, I wasn’t even paying attention to where I was going or how far I had walked. All I knew was that when I looked up from the ground beneath my feet, I was somewhere in the city streets. My sorrow had dragged me with no real direction and I really didn’t care. I half wished that something would happen. An old building would collapse on me, I would trip up somehow and break my neck on something, or I would end up in the crossfire of a gang fight and take a few bullets.

Whatever happened, I wanted it to kill me. I wanted it to end my existence because I couldn’t live with the burning pain of guilt for not telling Tristan that I had been close to Alik like that. For not saying so and clearing up this damned mess at the beginning. I was such a damned idiot for not saying anything when they first picked me up. This whole fucking mess could have been avoided.

Or was that even possible?

It probably would have happened the same way anyway. I sighed as I came around a corner and then gasped in shock. My hand dropped to my thigh, but didn’t hit the handle of the gun I usually carried. Jace had stripped me of both my weapons. My eyes grew wide as bile filled the back of my throat.

“Hey babe.”

“Alik…” my voice was raspy.

Behind him were four cars, his Mazda included which he was leaning against. He grinned at me and I did the first thing that came to mind. Turning on my heel I bolted. A metal bar collided with my stomach and I coughed hard, doubling over as I tumbled to the ground, sliding a bit across the concrete. Footsteps followed after my fall and surrounded me.

Hands latched onto my shirt at either shoulder and hauled me up to my feet. I twisted in their hold, trying to get free, but two of the other gang members took hold of each arm and pulled them open to hold me there, unable to get free. I ground my teeth as I narrowed my eyes at Alik who paced from behind me to stand before me. Rage boiled through my body as I stared at him. He smiled at me as he reached out and ran his hand along my face. I turned away from him, flinching away from his disgusting touch.

“So, tell me babe, how does it feel to be betrayed?”

“Fuck you. I’m going to fucking kill you!” I snapped back.

His hand dropped from my cheek to my throat and gripped me tight as he got up close to me. I winced, trying to breath past the crushing hold. He growled at me, his voice sharp and filled with malice as he shouted in my face.

“You fucking ran out on me, Valkyrie! Do you even know how that makes me feel? When I came back to the hotel, all I found was an empty room. My little lover had decided to run away. So when I found you again, gallivanting around with Fukkatsu, I decided to utilize my little spy.

“Let me guess. They believed me hu? They threw you out because they thought you were the cockroach in their midst? I figured they would. After all, why would they trust a little slut like you?” He released my throat, tossing me backward a bit only to be brought to stand before him again by the two hulky gang members that held me tightly between them. I strained, pulling and cursing as I tried to get free. Of all the things that I had been hoping for, this was not one of them.

“You bastard! I swear to God I’m going to put a knife through you fucking eye!”

“Ooh, babe,” he laughed a bit as he leaned down, his face inches from mine, “So terrifying. But I have plans for you, you fucking cunt. I know you slept with that bastard Tristan, so I’m going to remind you who it is that you belong to. You’re going to be so strung out on ecstasy that you’re not going to think straight and I’m going to fuck you so hard, you’re going to beg me to kill you!”

Alik flicked his hand to the cars behind us. The men dragged me back to the cars as I kicked and thrashed, shouting and screaming at the top of my lungs. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t get free. Twisting around I slammed my knee into the guy on my right. He gave a grunt and both men turned on me. I felt the wind knocked out of me as they both smashed me into the concrete wall. I coughed on my cry of pain, a wash of dizziness struck me and I finally collapsed. This is it. I’m done for. I’m going to end up as a sex slave, and Tristan… Tristan will never know how much I care for him.