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I do not own Glee or the characters, neither do I own Reaper's Legacy.
Warning: Edited by a tired, sleepy woman who didn't read over :)
MERCEDES
I don't know how long we rode in the back of the van. It felt like forever. Then I heard the sound of a garage door opening...
We pulled in and it closed behind us. Then Seeker and the driver stepped out of the van, coming around to open the back doors.
Hard hands...not Seeker's...grabbed my ankles, pulling me out roughly...
My cheek scraped, and if the kidnapping hadn't fully sobered me, the pain finished the trick.
My stomach twisted and I thought about Bray. Would I ever see him again?
The guy half carried, half dragged me into the house. Then he dropped me down on the couch and I struggled to sit up.
Seeker set Mel down next to me, far more gently. Then he stepped back and joined his friend...who turned out to be Crash...the other Black Devil I'd met in Seattle.
Both stood over us, their faces grim. And I knew we were well and truly screwed.
"Here's the situation," Seeker said, his cold gray eyes flicking back and forth between us.
Could he actually be Mel's Internet guy?
She hadn't been lying. He really was hot...even better-looking than I remembered.
Too bad he was a goddamned sociopath.
Or maybe he'd done something to Brad...
For all I knew, Mel's online boyfriend was lying dead in the alley. Shit!
"You're here as leverage. One of the Collectors down in Portland...Torque...made a real bad call tonight. He went to our house and started shooting... No warning, no provocation. He took a hostage when he left. One of our brothers is down and a second is probably getting tortured to death right now, so you'll have to excuse us for being a little abrupt about this whole thing. Your daddy," he nodded towards Mel. "Is gonna do what it takes to get our guy back for us. When that happens, you get to go home."
She glared at him, eyes full of betrayal. But he leaned forward and pulled off her gag, whispering something in her ear.
She jerked away from him.
"You're dead, Brad," she said, her voice utterly serious.
So that was one mystery solved...
Poor Mel. My heart hurt for her.
"My dad is going to kill you," she continued. "Let us go now and I'll try to talk him out of it. Otherwise it'll be too late. I'm serious. He. Will. Kill. You."
Seeker shook his head.
"Sorry, babe," he replied. "I get that you're scared and pissed, but I'm not going to let a brother die just because some Collector had a tantrum."
"Fuck you!"
Seeker glanced at Crash, who shrugged. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, looking tired.
"Okay, let's go upstairs," he said. He glanced at me. "We'll take your gag off, but either of you starts screaming we'll just have to put them back on. We're in the middle of nowhere, so it's not like you're gonna get anywhere if you do. You two control how ugly this gets. Got me?"
With that, he pulled out a Leatherman multi-tool and cut the rope on Mel's feet. Then he started on mine...
I heard a clicking noise and looked up to find Crash pointing a small, square pistol at us.
"You cause trouble, I'll shoot you," he said. "Seeker's nice. I'm not."
I swallowed.
Message received.
Seeker pulled me to my feet and I rocked nervously, trying to get circulation back. But it was hard to balance with my hands cuffed behind my back.
He then helped Mel up and the two of them marched us up the flight of stairs off to one side of the living room.
The house's second story was pretty typical, with a small landing at the top. It looked as though there were three bedrooms, along with the bathroom, reminding me that I needed to pee in a big way.
Seeker took Mel's arm and pulled her into a room on the right, kicking the door closed behind them.
"Over there," Crash ordered me, pointing to the door next to it.
I walked in to find a queen-sized bed with a very plain wrought-iron frame, a battered dresser and an old desk.
There was a small window, which looked like it'd been painted shut... And I wondered how hard it would be to get it open.
If I did though, could I manage a drop back down to the ground?
"Stand next to the bed, facing away from me," Crash said.
Oh, shit!
The bed took on a whole new meaning...
But I did what he said, my body bracing for the worst...
Was he about to rape me?
Would Seeker rape Mel?
He'd obviously been cultivating some sort of relationship with her. Was it all about the club, or was there something more?
Mel was a very pretty girl... A girl who deserved better.
I trembled as Crash came up behind me, feeling the heat of his body and hoping to hell I wasn't his type.
Then I felt his hands touch mine, only he popped open one of the cuffs.
"Lie down," he said, his voice unreadable.
Should I fight him, or just close my eyes and take it?
I wanted to live a lot more than I wanted to fight, I decided. So I'd let him do it and just hope it ended fast.
I laid down on my back, focusing on the ceiling, blinking rapidly.
"Put your hands up over your head."
I raised my arms as he leaned over me...
He paused, looking me over, and I saw his eyes catch on the swell of my breasts.
I bit the side of my cheek, trying not to break down and start begging. I didn't want to give him that power over me.
But he reached down, catching my hands, and I felt a tug on the cuffs as he threaded the chain through the wrought iron.
Then he snapped the second cuff back on me.
After that, he stood back up and walked over to the window, looking outside, crossing his arms.
My breath caught.
Was that it?
Was I safe for now?
But even as I thought that, he glanced back towards me, thoughtful.
"The guy Torque took is my brother," he said. "Not just my club brother...my half brother. He's the only family I have. Believe me when I tell you I'll do anything to get him back. Don't think being a woman protects you. Nothing will protect you. Got me?"
I nodded.
"Good girl," he said. "Keep it up and maybe you'll live."
With that, he turned and walked out.
I laid there forever, needing to pee so bad it hurt. I supposed I should've asked Crash to take me to the bathroom before he locked me down...
Because sooner or later I'd wet the bed. But I didn't care. I'd rather piss myself than call for him to come back and help me.
Just then, I heard a scream and the sound of something shattering against the wall my room shared with Mel's.
And just like that, I forgot all about my bathroom situation.
"You cocksucking bastard!" Mel shrieked.
I held my breath as I heard another thump...
Oh, God! Was she fighting with him?
Was he raping her?
Her voice was full of pain and I felt sick to my stomach, because whatever was going on over there wasn't good.
Then noise died down... And I laid in the dark, counting the seconds.
How had something this crazy happened to someone as normal and boring as me?
Goddamn Collectors!
Sam's stupid fucking club!
First Mel got stabbed and now we've been kidnapped. It was like some horrible virus, creeping in and destroying everything it touched without warning.
If I got out of this alive, I was never touching Sam again.
I couldn't be with a Collector, no matter how much I wanted him.
I couldn't allow this to be a part of my life. It couldn't be part of Bray's life, either.
If Sam wanted to see my son, he'd damned well leave the club out of it.
As for me? I was done with him. Well and truly done.
I knew it in my gut and in my bones... Any man whose reality included women getting kidnapped wasn't good enough for me.
He wasn't right, no matter how he made me feel.
Period.
I closed my eyes tight as Mel screamed again...
Then I woke with a start as the bed dipped.
Where was I?
I heard Mel's voice and it all came back.
"You okay?" she asked. And I opened my eyes to find her sitting next to me.
I studied her, looking for signs of abuse or crying...
She didn't look like a rape victim, though. She looked pissed as hell. If anything, she was prettier than usual, her cheeks full of color and her hair wild and free.
Early morning light filtered in through the window. Seeker stood in the door, eyeing both of us, his face unreadable.
I couldn't believe I'd actually fallen asleep.
"I need the bathroom," I said, my voice hoarse. God, I felt hungover.
"Can she go to the fucking bathroom?" Mel asked him, her voice cold.
"Yeah," he said, walking towards me.
She stood and moved out of his way, putting as much distance between them as possible. And I tried not to flinch as he unlocked me, rolling away as quickly as I could despite my aching muscles.
"C'mon," Seeker said. "Both of you."
Mel took my hand and we walked out of the room together, her fingers squeezing mine. I wanted to ask if she was all right, to find out what had happened.
But there was no way I was going to talk in front of him.
We turned into the small bathroom, which didn't have a window. And Mel closed the door behind us, pausing long enough in the doorway to glare at Seeker in some kind of silent battle.
Then the door finally shut...
I rushed over to the toilet, incredibly relieved.
"Oh my God," I whispered, looking over at her. She ran her hands through her hair, then crossed her arms and rubbed up and down. "How are you? Did he hurt you?"
"My pride? Definitely," she said, eyes snapping. "Not physically. I can't believe this. Seriously... I can't believe how stupid I was. I actually invited him to come and meet me. I made it so easy. I'm an idiot."
I didn't reply, washing my hands as we swapped places, then cupping them to take a drink. My mouth was all cottony.
"Do you have any idea what's going to happen to us?" I asked. "Crash scares the crap out of me."
"Did he hurt you?" she asked, her voice sharp.
"No."
"That's good. This is a pretty fucked-up situation," she said. "Torque...he's the one who cut me at the party...he's gone off his rocker. This shooting thing makes no sense to me at all, but if it really happened, we're screwed. Nobody knows where he is, not even Deck. And he's Torque's president. They've all been looking for him since the party. Cutting me was an accident. But it was not okay. And Dad wants to make sure he pays for it."
"Shit!" I muttered. "So your dad couldn't give them this Torque guy, even if he wanted to?"
"I don't think so," she said slowly. "I mean, he's really protective of me. When Torque hurt me like that, Dad lost it. If Dad could find him, he'd be found already. We're pretty screwed here, Mercedes."
"Do you think they'll hurt us?"
She considered the question.
"Brad won't," she replied. "I mean, he won't hurt me. But I don't think he'll hurt you, either."
I cocked my head at her.
"You do realize he was lying to you all along, right? Just because you liked him doesn't mean you can trust him, Mel."
"Oh, I know that," she said quickly, then shook her head ruefully. "Believe me, I'm well aware that I'm the fuckwit who got us into this."
"You're not a fuckwit," I said forcefully. "He's a liar and he's good at it. Not your fault that he targeted you."
It was the Collectors' fault, but I figured rubbing it in wouldn't be particularly helpful.
"Doesn't matter," she said. "But I'm serious... I really don't think he'll hurt me. I'm more worried about Crash."
"It's his brother they've got," I told her. "His real brother. I think he wanted to hurt me."
"You guys okay in there?" Seeker called through the door.
"We're fine," Mel snapped, startling me. "Give us a fucking minute, asshole!"
My eyes went wide.
"That was pretty bitchy," I hissed. "Do you think that's smart? Maybe I'm reading the situation wrong here, but don't we want him in a good mood?"
Mel snorted sarcastically.
"Fuck that!" she replied. "I'm a Collector and I'll be damned if I suck up to some Black Devil dickwad."
"Well I'm not a Collector," I said quietly. "And I'd just as soon not die here and leave Bray an orphan, so don't piss him off."
Mel looked chastened.
"Sorry. I guess I have my dad's temper."
"Too bad you don't have your dad's gun."
"No shit, right? And I'm the good girl in the family. You should see my sister."
"You have one minute," Seeker called through the door. "Then I'm coming in."
Mel washed her hands and we left the bathroom. I avoided making eye contact with Seeker, who stood back and jerked his head towards 'my' bedroom.
"Go in and lie down on the bed," he said. "Both of you."
We did what he said...although I could see it killed Mel to obey. And two minutes later, he had us both cuffed to the bedstead.
Thankfully, he only did one wrist each, which was way more comfortable than Crash's method.
"I'll bring you some food," he said, tracing a finger across Mel's cheek.
She glared at him. Then said,
"I'm gonna buy a bright red dress to wear to your funeral, Brad."
"Yeah?" he replied, eyes narrowing. "Make sure it's short and shows off your tits."
"I hate you!" she hissed.
"Keep telling yourself that."
He walked out, slamming the door behind him. And I bit my tongue, wondering what the hell that was all about.
"Don't worry," Mel said after an awkward pause. "We'll find our way out of this. We'll escape somehow. Either that or the guys will find us."
"Do you have any ideas?" I asked, wondering what the hell was going on between them. "Did he tell you anything, give you any hints or clues about where we are?"
"No."
I waited for her to say more. But she didn't, and that worried me even more.
"So what did you do all night?" I asked slowly. But Mel ignored the question.
"I wonder if one of them will leave at some point," she murmured. "If we wait until there's just one in the house, I'll bet the two of us could take him. Or even if we distracted him, at least one of us could get away and go for help."
"Do you think we're really out in the middle of nowhere?" I asked. "Have you seen outside?"
"Haven't seen outside, but we barely drove long enough to get out of the city," she said. "There may not be any houses next door, but there has to be something within walking distance. We just need to find a way out of these handcuffs. If we can find a paperclip or a pin or something, I can pick the lock."
"Really?" I asked, impressed. "Where did you learn that?"
"You'd be surprised at all the things I know," she said, her voice dry. "Dad believes in being prepared."
The door opened and Seeker came in balancing two paper plates...
He had a couple bottles of water clutched under his arm and I suddenly realized how hungry and thirsty I was.
My stomach growled, even as he set everything on top of the little dresser in the corner. Then he walked over and unlocked the handcuffs.
"You've got ten minutes," he said.
We both got up and grabbed the food... It was just plain peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, along with some chips, but it tasted as good as any meal I've ever had.
"In a minute, we're going to call your dad," Seeker said to Mel. "To let him know you're alive, and find out if he's made any progress."
Mel glared at him darkly, chewing her food. But he just sighed as he grabbed the chair from the desk and pulled it out.
"You want to sit?" he asked. She shook her head. So he spun the chair around and straddled it himself, his face blank.
His eyes never strayed from her face. And once we had finished eating, he nodded towards the bed.
"Lie down again," he said. And we did.
Seeker started with me, locking down my right wrist. Then he walked around the bed to do the same to Mel's left.
As he leaned over her, I saw her free hand snake quickly around to his back jeans pocket, lifting something. And in an instant she had it tucked under her body.
Seeker froze.
Shit, did he feel that?
We needed a distraction...
Now...
So I bit down on my tongue viciously, then shrieked and started spitting blood at him as hard as I could.
"Jesus Christ!" he yelled, jumping away from the bed like it was on fire. And Mel dove right in.
"Oh my God, are you all right?" she yelled. "Seeker, you need to get her to a doctor!"
I stopped spitting and choking on the blood. Ugh...
"I'm tho thorry," I mumbled, trying to look embarrassed and shocked. "I bith my tongue and ith thcared me."
Seeker looked at the gobs of blood and spit on his arm with disgust, then glared at me.
"You're fucking kidding me," he said. "What the fuck's wrong with you? Shit, you got any diseases?"
"No, I don't hath any ditheatheth," I snapped. Or rather, I tried to snap, which backfired on me, because my tongue was swelling so rapidly that I bit it again. "Owth!"
Seeker shook his head, and Mel looked at me with wide, concerned eyes. But behind them, I saw laughter dancing.
"Drive me fuckin' crazy," Seeker muttered. "I'll get you a piece of ice to suck on. Jesus, that's fucking disgusting."
He left the room, slamming the door and Mel almost lost it.
"That was brilliant!" she whispered. "Seriously brilliant! I got his Leatherman. I should be able to get us out of the cuffs with it."
"We're thucky he didn'th do both handth. Scrash."
"Oh, that sucks," she said, wrinkling her nose at me. "Let me guess, did you have an itch on your butt or something all night?"
"No, thank fukth," I replied. Shit! My tongue really hurt. "When will you thry to pick the lockth?"
"When I think he'll be gone for a while," she said. She grabbed the Leatherman, then rolled over and crawled up the bed on her elbows, reaching down between the iron bars to tuck it in somewhere.
"It's between the mattress and the box spring," she said. "In case you need it."
I frowned...if I needed it, she'd be gone...and the implications of that weren't good.
Seeker returned, holding a paper napkin. And I sat up awkwardly as he handed it to me, scooting back against the headboard.
It held an ice cube, which I popped into my mouth as Mel joined me.
My throbbing tongue started feeling better immediately, thank God.
"We're going to call your dad again," Seeker told Mel. "I'll let you talk to him for a minute, then I'll see where the situation's headed."
"What about Mercedes?" she asked. "Wringer will want to talk to her."
"Wringer can fuck himself," Seeker replied.
Mel glanced at me, and I realized she wanted more distraction. I wasn't sure why, but I'd follow her lead. So I spat out the bloody ice into my hand awkwardly.
"Pleathe?" I whined, drooling. "My boy...he'th got a prethcription he needth, Wringer doethn't know where it ith. Let me talk to him for two minuteth. Pleathe."
He looked at me and narrowed his eyes...
"You're full of shit."
"You want a seven-year-old kid to die?" Mel said, her voice cold. "It's not enough to kill two women, now you're gonna take out a little boy, too? You're one hell of a man, Brad."
He sighed.
"Do you ever shut up?" he asked, even as he pulled a cell out of his pocket. it was one of those cheap little flip phones people buy at grocery stores.
He watched us as he dialed. And put it on speaker...
"Yeah?" Sam said, his voice full of restrained tension. Seeker nodded at me.
"It's Smercedethes," I said quickly. "I'm here with Seeker and Mel, they're lithening."
Seeker's eyes narrowed and he snapped the phone shut.
"No fucking games," he said. "You're done."
I nodded and stuck the ice back into my mouth. At least Sam knew I was still alive...
I'd decided I was done with him last night, but he'd gotten me into this mess, so he could damned well get me back out before I cut him off for good.
"I'm calling your dad now," Seeker said to Mel, dialing again. "Be a good girl, Melly or do you need another lesson?"
Mel flushed and looked away.
My eyebrows rose...
Then we heard the phone ringing through the speaker... And then it picked up.
"Plank," Mel's dad said, his voice cold.
"Hey, Daddy," she said. "We're okay for now."
"What the hell is wrong with Mercedes?" he asked. "Wringer says she wasn't talking right."
"She bit her tongue," Mel said quickly. "Don't worry, she's fine. But you need to get us out of here."
"We know, baby," he replied, and his voice softened ever so slightly. "We're working on it."
"That's enough, girls," Seeker said, pulling away the phone. He clicked off the speaker and put it to his ear as he walked out of the room.
Mel scooted closer to me, lifting her free arm to wrap it around my neck. I leaned against her, taking comfort from the fact that at least we weren't alone.
The swelling in my tongue had gone down, too, which was a relief.
"We need to get ourselves out of this," she told me. "Like I said...Torque's AWOL. If they could find him, they would've by now."
"How should we do it?" I muttered around the last of the ice.
"We should wait until there's just one guy here," she said. "Sooner or later, they'll have to go get groceries or something. That's when we'll move. I've thought about it a lot, and I think attacking is too dangerous, unless you've got some sort of secret ninja skills I don't know about. Great job with the whole spitting blood thing, by the way. I'm impressed."
"We all have to do our part," I said, feeling pleased with myself. "You're not half bad as a pickpocket."
"Had to pay for college somehow," she replied piously. "I don't believe in student loans."
"You're a nut-job."
"Probably," she said, mustering a grin. "But everything I have, I own free and clear."
"Yeah, me, too," I said. "I couldn't get a credit card to save my life. Apparently, unemployed single moms are a bad risk."
"Speaking of, I have Seeker's now," she said, grinning. "I lifted his wallet while you were talking on the phone with Wringer. No idea if it'll be useful, but it's better than nothing."
I sobered...
"Okay, first thing...you need to stop picking his pocket," I told her. "He's gonna figure it out. He almost did when you got the knife."
"Yeah, you're probably right about that one," she said, sighing. "So here's my thought. I want to split up. More chance that one of us will get away and bring help. We will wait until one of the guys leaves, then I'll go out the front of the house and you'll go out the back. Whoever's left can't chase us both. Hell, maybe we'll get lucky and he won't even notice us leaving."
"What if Seeker and Crash aren't the only guys here?"
"Well, then I guess they'll probably catch us again," she said seriously. "It's a risk, because they'll punish us. This isn't a game. But we can't just sit here and hope this all works out... Realistically, it's not gonna be easy for the club to find us."
"I thought you said Seeker wouldn't hurt you?" I asked.
"I don't think he will," she said. "But Crash is different. Dad will find us sooner or later, but I'd just as soon we're alive when it happens. I don't want to get dumped in a ditch somewhere just because Torque's an idiot."
My breath caught.
"I don't want to get dumped in a ditch, either."
"So we just won't get caught," she told me, offering a grin. "Should be easy, right?"
"Did I mention you're a nut-job?"
"I get it from my dad."
Stay safe!