SWNOVELS Fear The Reapers: Chapter 28
The first sound I heard was the purr of an engine. I could feel the gentle vibration of the wheels beneath me and knew that wherever I was, we were in motion.
“How much did you give her?” Asked a voice that sounded light years away.
“Enough.” Said another, sounding just as muddled.
My head felt as if it were caving in on itself. Fear trickled up my spine. Something was wrong. The tiredness I felt went beyond any normal grogginess I’d ever experienced before.
When I finally mustered enough strength to peel my eyes open, darkness overtook my vision. Panicking, I violently twisted my head from side to side, terrified I had somehow gone blind. That’s when I felt blindfold tightly bound around my eyes and the restraints around my wrists and ankles. I tried to lift my hands to my face, but they fell weakly back into my lap.
“Don’t fucking move.” A man’s voice hissed into my right ear.
He felt much closer than the other two, and as I felt out my surroundings, I realized I was in the backseat of a car.
“She’s awake.” A man to my left called out.
Multiple voices started speaking up, and I had a hard time deciphering what they were saying. Every word they said seemed distorted, almost as if a thick haze was jumbling the translation.
“Whereyam I?” I stammered, the words strangely slurred together.
They had given me something. They had to have. This wasn’t normal. None of this was normal. When none of them answered, I tried again.
“Whadoyou want?” I cried out, no longer caring how pathetic I sounded.
“Nothing. Everything.” The man to my right mused. “You’re the one with a decision to make.”
“Fuck off, withee riddles.” I growled.
The words came out slower than I intended and lost a bit of their edge.
“My, my, you’ve got an awfully filthy mouth for such a good girl, Stephanie.” The man to my right retorted.
My movements faltered. Stephanie? Nobody had called me Stephanie in years. How did he know who I was?
“You have two choices.” He went on. “Tell us everything you know about The Reapers or die a very slow and very painful death.”
“I-I don’t know anything.” I mumbled, trying to yank at the bindings on my wrists but barely making a dent. Every single muscle in my body felt like it was treading through mud.
“Liar.” A different man’s cold voice interjected, turning my blood to ice. Based on the trajectory, he had to have been sitting in the driver’s seat.
“Maybe she needs more… motivation?” A different man taunted from behind me.
Who the hell were these men, and what did they want with The Reapers?
I felt the sting of a sharp tug on my scalp and my head reared back instinctually. Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I would not cry over these assholes.
“Mmm.” The man grasping my hair groaned, running his nose against my exposed throat. “I think we need to fuck the answers out of her.”
No.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” The man to my right murmured, rubbing his calloused knuckle against my jaw. “The Reapers may take pity on you if you tell them we fucked the truth out of you.”
I feverishly shook my head.
I would never agree to that. I wasn’t stupid enough to think they’d go through all this trouble of drugging me and kidnapping me to just let me go if I played nice. No matter what I did, I was going to die.
“Don’t worry.” The man behind me murmured, sinking his teeth into my earlobe. “I’ll try to be gentle.”
“Enough with the games.” The man to my left boomed across the car, causing the hand grasping my hair to retreat. “Talk or die. Those are your options.”
“I knowww nothing.” I hissed, the words flowing from my mouth like thick putty. “I’m jussa toy. Their p- property.”
“You sure about that?” The man driving asked.
“Yesss.” I spat through gritted teeth.
If I was going to die, I wanted it to be on my terms. I’d want to go out knowing that I wasn’t a coward and that I looked death square in the eyes and told him to give me his best fucking shot.
My body flung forward as the car came to a screeching halt. The only thing that stopped me from flying through the window was the two enormous arms that lashed out to keep me in my seat. My relief was short-lived. In an instant, they opened the car doors opened and yanked me out of the back seat.
“Are you sure those assholes are worth dying for?” One of the men asked, as he pressed a cool blade to my throat.
I said nothing and swallowed, feeling my throat bob against his sharp blade.
Tears stung my eyes as warm blood trickled down my neck. I wasn’t ready to die, but I also wasn’t ready to sacrifice Atlas, Ezra, Tristan, and Cyrus to live. I had no idea what information they could use against them, but I refused to give them anything.
“Enough.” One of the men said, causing the blade against my throat to disappear.
A rogue tear trickled down my cheek as a storm of relief and panic swirled within my chest. I was happy I wasn’t dying, but also terrified of finding out why he kept me alive.
Fast hands worked to untie my ankles before moving on to my wrists. Were they letting me go? I carefully stood up. What was this? Some kind of sick game?
“Canneye leave?” I asked, too scared and disoriented to rip off the blindfold myself.
“Not until you’re punished.” He mused, positioning my body to stand in front of him. “Bend over.” He growled.
Was this man out of his fucking mind?
Feeling the heat rush to my cheeks, I weighed my options. I could refuse, fight, struggle, and most likely still end up bent over his knee with an even angrier man or I could agree, deal with the embarrassment, and still be able to sit for the next few days. The best choice was obvious, albeit mortifying.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I felt for his lap and crawled over it. Holding my breath, I prayed that this was the only thing they’d make me do.
Cool air brushed against my bare flesh as he lifted my dress, exposing my ass for the others to see. I could feel their eyes boring into my skin, but I couldn’t bear to remove the blindfold and witness their reaction.
“What were you thinking?” The man hissed as the crack of his palm against my flesh echoed into the air.
My eyes welled with tears, but I wouldn’t cry in front of them. I refused to.
“If anyone out there saw you leaving our home, they would not be as kind. There wouldn’t be an option. They would fucking kill you.” He spat.
Our home.
“A-Atlas?” I asked, swinging my arm to try to pull down my blindfold.
He answered me with another punishing smack to my ass. It was him. I had never been around Atlas when he was this out of control. The hits to my ass were wild and erratic, like he himself had no control over what his body was doing.
My pussy pooled with wetness and I had to stop the moans from clawing their way out. His anger. His volatile rage shouldn’t turn me on, but it did. I liked this side of Atlas. The one who didn’t treat me like I was off limits. I wanted him to break me. Wanted him to shatter me into a million fucking pieces because at least then, I’d have proof that he actually gave a fuck about me.
“Being important to us will get you killed.” He boomed, following up with another slap.
My pulse accelerated wildly. I was important to them. I thought about the other men watching. Ezra, Cyrus, and Tristan. None of them made a move to leave, but the tension in the air was palpable. They all watched Atlas smack my flesh repeatedly without so much as a word of protest. I could tell that what he was doing bothered them. I just didn’t know if it was because they wanted him to stop or because they wanted to do it themselves.
Embarrassment flamed my cheeks as I felt the evidence of my enjoyment sliding down my thigh. I was sure with their view of the action, they could see my wetness’ unmistakable gleam.
“How could you be so fucking reckless?” Atlas hissed, giving me another ruthless slap that jolted my body forward.
I whimpered, doing everything I could to stop myself from begging for more. I enjoyed the power behind each blow. Enjoyed that I had the power to make such a ruthless and stoic man turn so crazed and primal.
“That’s enough.” Cyrus said, whipping my blindfold off and tossing it to the ground.
Atlas’ smacks waned as he focused his eyes on his brother. My traitorous body writhed against him, already missing his touch.
“Oh, and I’m supposed to trust your judgement?” Atlas asked as he grabbed me by my hair and forced me to my feet.
Cyrus’ jaw clenched but said nothing in response.
“Exactly,” Atlas said, inching towards Cyrus’ face, “we wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you. You’re an idiot for letting her trick you.”
The way he emphasised the word ‘her’ had shame licking across my skin. I had done this. I had been the one to push Atlas over the edge. I had never seen him so angry before, and the man I had known the longest was unrecognizable with the murderous look in gaze.
Now, when I looked at him, I no longer saw DC, the mysterious business man that came to visit me every night. I only saw Atlas, the cold and ruthless leader of The Reapers. The man responsible for instilling fear in the heart of an entire town. DC was an illusion I had tricked myself into believing, but Atlas was the real fucking deal.
“Does Mel know about your twisted little fascination with our pet?” Cyrus spat, staring daggers at his brother.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Atlas retorted with a scowl.
“Come on, you enjoyed punishing her almost as much as she enjoyed being punished by you.” He spat, giving me a once over.
My cheeks flamed.
“Bullshit.” Atlas hissed, shaking his head in denial. “This was a punishment, nothing more.”
“Look at her.” Cyrus taunted, nodding his head towards me. “I know what she looks like when she’s turned on.” He smirked, eyeing my body up and down. “I’ve seen that shit, firsthand.”
The crunch of knuckles against flesh echoed in my ears.
I moved to stop them, but a muscular arm wrapped around me, stilling my movements. Tristan.
“This isn’t your fight.” Ezra whispered, moving to stand on my other side before pressing his lips to my ear. “They need to figure this out, otherwise we’ll always be fighting over you.”
I didn’t know what to say, but he mentioned the future and that gave me hope.
“Oh, and Angel?” Ez hissed, licking the blood from my throat with a lavish stroke of his tongue. “If you ever try to leave us again, I will kill you.”
He said it so matter-of-factly; I had no doubt in my mind that he meant every single word.
◆◆◆
After the fight was over, Ezra pulled Atlas away and they loaded up into the front seat of Ezra’s car without another word. Cyrus turned to follow them, but I reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Cyrus,” I spoke up, finally mustering the courage and gaining enough of my feeling back to do so, “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.” He said smiling, causing the split in his lip to spread even further. “You aren’t sorry for what you did. You’re sorry you got caught.”
“That’s not true. I-”
His hand struck out, closing my throat with a tight grip.
“Let me make one thing perfectly clear.” He hissed, tightening his grip. “The Cyrus you saw at the house is dead. I may be an idiot, but I’ll never make the mistake of trusting you again.” He growled, crashing his lips into mine.
The kiss was bitter, painful, and angry. It stole the last bits of oxygen I had in my lungs and had spots clouding my vision. I knew I could die if he didn’t relinquish his hold on my throat, yet I wanted the pain. I craved it. The pain distracted me from the ache hurting them all had created in my chest.
After he broke off our kiss, he released me. My chest filled with oxygen and sorrow as I crumpled to the ground. Tears stung my eyes, but I batted them away. I knew I deserved to feel every ounce of the hate he had towards me, but that didn’t stop it from hurting like hell.
It was why I never let people in to begin with. I knew that when the dust settled, the only thing I’d ever get out of letting people in was pain. And even though it wasn’t what I intended, for those few hours, I had let Cyrus in.
“Tris, tie her up and throw her in the trunk.” He ordered, not even bothering to look at me. “I don’t think any of us can stand to look at her right now.”