Chapter 14
Phoebe sat alone in the house finishing her work for the lessons she needed for the following day.
Humming cheerfully to herself while writing, Phoebe was unaware of the lurking that was happening outside the Braxton house; until she heard a creaking near the back door.
Phoebe stopped humming and placed down her pen, glancing around as a nervous flutter produced in her stomach.
"Hello, is anyone there? Kyle? Casey? Ricky?" Phoebe called out, but not a sound was heard in response.
Phoebe turned back to her work, thinking her mind was just getting the better of her, but somehow she could not shake off the eeriness that seemed to surround the quiet and lonely house.
Phoebe heard the click of the back door again and this time she was certain it was real, and so she got back up to investigate.
Nearing the back door Phoebe could not hear or see anything.
"If someone is out there, I'm going to call the police!" Phoebe called out.
As Phoebe turned around to rush towards the phone she was met with the strong and burly image of Dave standing in the living room of the house.
Whilst being preoccupied by the noises near the back door, Phoebe had not realised that Dave had broken in through the front, whilst having been away in the adjoining room.
Phoebe attempted to back away and make a grab for the phone.
"Who the hell are you? You stay away from me!" Phoebe defended.
Dave snickered.
"I believe we've only met through our connections with Kyle," he sneered.
"I'm not afraid to call the cops!" Phoebe threatened.
Dave shook his head, "I wouldn't do that. You see me and my friend here have come to get a little something we want," Dave explained in a low growl.
Phoebe spun around only to capture a glimpse of another scruffy man before feeling a hand over her mouth that had a cloth attached, and felt her arms be restrained to her sides.
Moments after attempting to struggle and breathe through the cloth covering her mouth, Phoebe became drowsy in Gunno's arms, as the Chloroform soaked cloth knocked her unconscious.
The two criminals dragged Phoebe out the back and into the back seat of their car, making a quick move to tape her mouth and bind her hands with rope.
"Let's see what our Kyle has to say about this," Dave sneered and slammed the back door shut.
Gunno snickered, and both criminals got into the front of the car and within moments the car had sped off.
The car pulled up outside a large three story warehouse.
The night was dark with barely any light; a perfect scene for the crooks to carry out their plan without being seen.
Dave and Gunno hauled Phoebe into the warehouse and tied her hands behind her back; anchoring her arms behind the chair and tying her feet to the chair legs: preventing any chance of escape.
It was then just a waiting game for the criminals until the Chloroform wore off and Phoebe came about.
After around twenty minutes, with Dave pacing in the warehouse, and Gunno seated staring at Phoebe's unresponsive body, Phoebe finally started to become alert to her surroundings.
Phoebe hazily lifted her head, feeling her head spin in the process. Her body went into a state of panic, feeling the restraints over her feet and her arms.
"Never thought you'd come around," Gunno snickered; leaning in towards Phoebe.
Phoebe adjusted her eyes that were still showing blurry visions from the effects of the Chloroform.
The tape over her mouth had since been removed, but even if Phoebe wanted to scream, the remote location of the warehouse made it impossible for sound to be echoed to the outside.
"Where am I?" Phoebe drowsily questioned.
"In a little place we call home, that is: until we get want we came for," Dave answered.
Phoebe scowled at the two men and tried to shift free with great difficulty.
The two criminals laughed.
"It's no use, so you better get used to it now; you're bound in tight," Gunno said, as he brushed Phoebe's hair back.
"Now this is the plan: you are going to cooperate and give us Kyle's number so we can inform him that we have his precious girl and cut a deal with our old mate," Dave informed.
"Go to hell! I'm not helping either of you, so let me out!" Phoebe cursed out in a loud yell.
The two criminals snickered.
"Such a fiery one," Dave commented.
Gunno caressed Phoebe's hair again and rubbed her cheek.
"It's no use screaming you pretty one; no-one but us will hear you and I should warn you: your screams only excite us more," Gunno informed seductively.
"Get your grubby, filthy hands off of me!" Phoebe shouted.
Dave shook his head and stepped beside Phoebe so the young woman was now surrounded by the criminals.
"You are going to give us Kyle's number, otherwise things are going to shape up to be rather unpleasant on your behalf," Dave warned.
Phoebe stiffened; not sure over what their so called 'unpleasant' scenario would be, but the thought terrified her. If these thugs did what they did to Kyle, Casey, and Brax, then what would they do to her?
Phoebe was so caught up in her train of thought that she had forgotten to answer the criminals and her mind set was only broken by the sneering husky voice of Gunno.
"What's it to be my sexy lady?"
Gunno leaned in and began moving a rough hand over Phoebe's body, starting from her throat and slowly moving down to her legs; touching her breast, abdomen and thigh and finishing up with a seductive rub between her legs, snaking up towards the middle.
Phoebe tried to struggle away from the disgusting touch but felt powerless to do so.
"Alright; I'll tell you: just stop!" Phoebe shouted.
Gunno snickered and moved away from touching Phoebe.
"Good girl," Dave sneered and had his phone at the ready.
Phoebe took a deep breath and hated having to give away her boyfriend's number but she was too scared and had no other way out.
"Kyle's number is: zero-four, eight-six, one-nine, nine-five, double eight," Phoebe said.
Phoebe watched as Dave started to dial the number.
"Wait: what are you going to do to him?!" Phoebe shouted in panic.
The two criminals ignored Phoebe and Dave waited for Kyle to pick up.
"Hello?"
Dave breathed heavily into the line.
"Hello; who is this?" Kyle asked from his end, as he stood in the corridor of the hospital.
"Kyle...It's your old mate from Melbourne," Dave breathed out evilly.
"How did you find my number?" Kyle asked with worry etched in his tone.
Dave laughed.
"Well you see the thing is Kyle, we have someone here with us who told us," Dave snickered.
Kyle furrowed his brow, wrecking his mind over what Dave was talking about, but before he could think any further, Phoebe screamed out in the background.
"Kyle: help me!"
Kyle's eyes widened as he heard Phoebe's faint screams on the other end of the line.
Dave glared over at the young woman and Gunno immediately placed his hand over Phoebe's mouth.
"Shut up you!"
Phoebe tried to scream but her voice was well muffled by Gunno's large hand.
"Phoebe! You let her go!" Kyle yelled into his phone; alerting both his brothers: Heath watching with a close eye and Casey standing in the background staring with concern.
"Hahaha; not a chance Braxton; not until we get what we came for," Dave laughed into the phone.
In the warehouse Phoebe struggled hard against Gunno and after no avail she opened her mouth and bit down hard.
"Ahh, you bitch!" Gunno yelled out.
"Kyle, help me!" Phoebe screamed again.
Kyle could hear the yelling and banging around in the background over the phone and grew concerned over the danger his girlfriend was in.
Dave glanced behind him at the commotion and saw Gunno shaking his hand where Phoebe had bitten him.
"The bitch bit me!" Gunno yelled to his mate.
Enraged over Phoebe's aggression, Gunno raised his hand ready to slap Phoebe across the face but stopped when Dave gave him a look.
Instead Gunno moved in close to Phoebe and leaned over her in the chair, breathing his hot breath over her face as he gripped one of her thighs with his hand.
"Get off me you filthy thug!" Phoebe screamed and spat at Gunno, but the criminal didn't move from hovering over Phoebe.
"Don't you hurt her, you hear me!" Kyle yelled into the phone; feeling the urge to just rip them both to shreds through the phone line.
Heath by now had stepped beside his brother, trying to suss out what was going on and who he was yelling to.
"Oh, we won't hurt her; we'll just play a little game. You know the one Kyle: where we play let's explore your little girlfriend," Dave snickered evilly.
Kyle knew too well they were referring to rape and no way was he going to let them touch the woman he loved.
"You don't touch her! I'm the one you want not Phoebe!" Kyle screamed into the phone.
"Kyle mate, what's going on?" Heath whispered and touched his brother's shoulder, only for Kyle to shrug him off angrily.
"Well, maybe we can, come to some agreement," Dave teased.
"Just tell me where she is damn it!" Kyle yelled.
"Kyle, what are you doing; who is that?" Heath demanded, but once again was ignored by the distressed Kyle.
"Well now, seeing as you put it that way...You can meet us at Foster's Warehouse on forty-fifth avenue; it's an old warehouse right down the end of the street and just next to an old water reservoir tank," Dave explained.
The criminal's plan to lure Kyle to the warehouse next to the water tank gave them perfect opportunity to dispose of Kyle's body in the water tank. Unbeknown to anyone that would be where Kyle would remain after a vicious beating; to die a slow and painful death.
Kyle had no idea where this so called warehouse was but wasn't planning to hesitate in finding out.
"And Kyle: don't you mention a word to no cops, and make sure you come alone; or your little girlfriend here gets it, and after we make you watch us rape her good, we'll make you watch us kill her, then we'll take great pleasure in killing you!" Dave threatened.
Kyle was stunned for words, as his head was spinning; this could not be happening.
"Alright, anything; I'll be there tonight...but if I find out either of you have touched Phoebe you are dead! Dead, you hear me!"
Kyle didn't even get to finish his reply when he had been hung up on, mid sentence.
Kyle scrunched his phone tight in his hand.
"I have to save her!" he ranted and began to storm off.
"Hey: just hold up a sec; you're not saving anybody until you tell me what all that was about and who the hell you were talking to," Heath demanded; having grabbed Kyle by the upper arm to stop him in his tracks from storming off.
Kyle breathed heavily.
"They have Phoebe!" Kyle exclaimed.
Casey by now had approached his older brothers and was listening in.
"Who; who has: the thugs?" Heath asked.
"Yes, and I have to get to her before they hurt her!" Kyle ranted.
Heath firmly shook his head.
"I am not letting you walk straight into a trap Kyle," Heath said firmly.
"I don't care what you think; I'm going!" Kyle argued.
"To hell with it Kyle, you are not going on your own; I will go with you," Heath warned.
"You can't Heath, what about what Brax said about staying out of this for Bianca and your baby?" Kyle protested.
"Shut up Kyle, I'm coming whether you like it or not!" the older brother retaliated. Kyle shook his head.
"Heath you can't okay! Just stay away! If you come then Gunno and Dave are going to rape Phoebe, who knows how many times over; then kill her, and me!" Kyle yelled, as he was unable to comprehend his surrounding with the spinning emotion in his head.
Heath shook his head not backing down; letting his protective brother genes kick in.
"So help me Kyle, I'm your older brother and you listen to me right now: I am not letting you go alone and get yourself killed, and I don't care what it takes!" Heath yelled, with as much authority as he could muster.
It was enough to shock Kyle out of his panicked trance, and startle Casey, who both had never seen Heath in this light before, as being this authoritative was Brax's job.
Kyle stared down at the ground sheepishly.
"I just don't want her getting hurt," Kyle confessed.
"And she won't mate; not if we go about this the right way," Heath affirmed.
"Is there anything I can do?" Casey asked. Heath shook his head.
"No, you just stay here and keep an eye on the big fella and the girls, and don't say a word to anyone where we are going; you hear me Case?" Heath ordered sternly, in his still authoritative voice.
"I know how they'd all react and we can't afford any more problems."
Casey nodded but still couldn't shake his worry. He had one brother recovering from being critical in hospital and now his other two brothers were going straight into danger and might get themselves killed. Suddenly he felt so lost.
"Please be careful," Casey called out.
Heath turned and nodded, understanding his little brother's worry.
"You stay here at the hospital, where it's safe for you. Tell that doctor that you can't keep away or something and maybe he'll let you stay with Brax or in the waiting room. I just don't want anyone coming after you at the house," Heath instructed.
Casey nodded.
Heath slapped Kyle on the back, "Let's go then. Let's do this thing."