Life In the Shadows – Part Fifteen
Sam strode on heedlessly, ignoring Jack's call. She was blinking furiously, trying to stem the flow of tears that had started to fall as hurt replaced anger. She rubbed her hands over her face, and turned the corner - to run smack dab into someone.
The solid body she hit didn't budge, and she was grabbed roughly by the shoulders and shaken violently. Unheeding as to who held her, she kicked out and began to struggle.
"Let me go!" she growled, continuing to fight but not making any headway against the other person's strength. A vicious backhand slammed across her face and stunned her for a moment.
"Bitch!" snarled the guard who held her as he continued to shake her. His companions laughed loudly and made no attempt to calm their friend.
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Jack rounded the corner. His heart sank when he recognised Masa as one of the group of guards surrounding Sam. He saw Sam being slapped and shaken and he fought to contain the anger he felt rising.
Masa laughed loudly as Sam struggled, then turning, he spotted Jack.
Sam struggled more, shouting. "Let go of me."
Masa's attention was now on Jack. "Well, well, you are alive," he spat contemptuously.
The guard who held Sam turned her around to hold her against his body, one massive arm around her throat. Sam saw Jack and ceased her struggle.
"We don't want any trouble," said Jack quietly. He was desperately trying to keep his tone neutral and any emotion from showing on his face. He kept his eyes down, knowing any sign of defiance would make things worse for Sam.
Masa stepped closer to him. "No trouble, eh? I think your women here just assaulted one of my men."
"It was an accident," protested Sam, "I …" Her voice was choked off by the squeezing of the bulging arm across her throat
Jack's eyes shot to Sam. He bit down hard to try and prevent himself showing his concern. "She didn't mean any harm," he said quietly, but his eyes betrayed his feelings.
Masa laughed at Jack's attempt to stay calm. He took another couple of steps and with his fist pushed Jack backwards closer to the wall. Jack stumbled back, and Masa took another step forward. Once more he connected with Jack's chest, this time catching one of the damaged ribs and Jack hissed with pain. His back slammed painfully into the wall and he ended up with one arm cradling his ribs, the other reaching out along the hard surface to hold himself up.
"Maybe you didn't learn your lesson well enough," snarled Masa.
Sam squirmed in the guard's arms, but was unable to do anything to help.
"We've done nothing," gasped Jack.
"Maybe your woman could persuade us she is sorry," said Masa, licking his lips, all the time his eyes never leaving Jack's face.
The guard holding Sam laughed, his face leering down on her, his free hand brushing over her breasts. Masa saw the blaze of anger light Jack's eyes and hit out with a hard blow to the man's stomach.
Jack doubled over retching slightly and coughing. "I'm sorry, …" he gasped, "Just let her go … she didn't …" Masa hit him again before he had chance to recover his breath, then yanked him upright and smashed him back against the wall again and again, laughing cruelly as Jack cried out in pain.
Sam began to struggle again. She kicked and bit. The guard found he held a wildcat and flung her hard down to the floor. "Bitch!" he spat and let fly with a kick to her stomach.
Sam doubled over and cried out with pain. The next kick connected with the side of her head, and thankfully she lost consciousness.
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Jack saw Sam go down. He heard her cry out in pain and flames beyond the pain ignited in his head. He struggled against Masa, managing to land two good punches before Masa smashed him to the floor. Even before he hit the deck, Jack's vision was graying and tunnelling, the roar in his ears nothing compared to the torturous pain that flooded his senses.
He lay, unable to move, but felt every blow that hit him, until the spiralling agony drew him away to unconsciousness.
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Masa kicked at Jack one last time to ensure that the man was really unconscious and not faking it.
"Should we drag them to a cell?" asked one of the other guards.
Masa laughed and shook his head. "They can rot here," he shouted loudly, for the benefit of the people that were standing in the shadows.
The people murmured between themselves but no one dared to do anything. Even when the guards had left they stayed in the shadows, except for one woman, and she quietly left the scene.
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Jack tried to open his eyes against the blackness. The stone floor felt cool against his blazing head but offered no comfort. His body was a cauldron of agony; burning rods of pain grafted themselves around his body, grinding on each of his nerves, making every single one scream at his brain. His lungs had seemingly shrunk tenfold; the gasping breath he was sucking in seemed to do nothing for him, his head swimming with dizziness that increased when he finally opened his eyes. The gray shadows jumped and swayed in the narrow tunnel of his vision.
He lifted his head slightly; the excruciated pain grabbing his brain and making his body twitch uncontrollably. 'Sam, where was Sam?' It was the only thought he could fix on, it was the only thought that helped him to gather the strength to fight to stay conscious.
"Sam." He wasn't sure if he'd managed to say it out loud or if it was still in his head. The huge effort it took to turn his head to search out and seek for the familiar blond figure left him gasping. Barely four feet away, Sam lay. It seemed a great distance to him and she wasn't moving. He couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.
The absolute horror and distress he felt at the thought that she was dead was the only thing that could have moved him. He fought with every ounce, every fibre of his very being to drag himself over to Sam. Every inch made him groan in agony, his nerves a network of pain. Trembling with fear and agony he put his hand onto her neck to feel for a pulse.
At first his body wouldn't let the faint throbbing transmit itself to his brain. Gasping for breath he concentrated on his fingers, and groaned with relief as he felt the steady beat flood through him. It was the relief that got him into a sitting position with Sam's head across his lap as he nursed her in his arms, the relief that pushed the pain away for a few short minutes as his fingers brushed her bangs from her face as his ever tunnelling vision grayed out once more.
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