-Please be warned that this chapter is a little graphic and deals with not only beatings but abuse of a child.

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Chapter Seven

He'd seen the men, he'd thought he recognised one of them, not enough to be sure. He held a resemblance of some sort that Don couldn't place.

"Do you know me?"

"Er, no, should I?"

"You killed two of my brothers today"

The pieces fell into place for Don in a tenth of a second. Joseph Bruton. He'd begun to reach for his gun, heard a shot and felt the burning in his left shoulder. The pain erupted soon after. Don fell to the floor from the impact , still trying to get his gun. Bruton kicked the weapon away, his accomplice picked it up .

Don tried to roll , tried to get up , back on his feet. His arms where grabbed and he felt himself being lifted, thrown into the van. As he turned his skull exploded in a white light and everything went dark.

Bruton knocked Don out with his own gun. He pushed the unconscious man to the side and got into the back of the van. As they drove away he thought of all the things he was going to do, for Marc, for Roy.

The van arrived outside a run down house near the docks, not far from warehouses. It was a quiet secluded neighbourhood, known by reputation as a place to avoid. Perfect for Bruton's operations. He practically lived here . They were met by another of Bruton's men, Sammy K, who helped drag the unconscious FBI Agent into the house.

"Is it ready?"

"Yeah Joe, it's all ready"

"Good, keep an eye on the street. I don't want anyone hearing the screams"

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Don slowly became aware of himself, or rather the pain in his shoulder . He tried to move but couldn't, slowly he opened his eyes. He was sitting on a chair in the middle of a bare room. The carpet was old and worn through in many places. So many stains that it was impossible to tell the colour. Don tried to not think what had caused them. He slowly raised his head, the nausea alerted to his presence yet kept a respectful distance. For now. His arms were tied behind him, his shoulder in an uncomfortable position . His legs were tied to the chair legs. All in all he knew he wasn't going to be going far, and he certainly wasn't going to be putting up much of a fight. Not like this. He tried to manoeuvre his hands , trying to find a weakness in the rope but the effort only served to raise the pain in his shoulder. Don dipped his head as another round of nausea, stronger this time, assaulted him. He knew he was panting. Knew the sound would alert Bruton that his prey was awake. Had anyone seen him being taken? He was sure the store clerk would have heard the sound. Would they know who'd taken him though? He knew he wouldn't be missed for another few hours so if the clerk hadn't called in the gun shot then he was in trouble, big , deep trouble.

As the sickness abated Don raised his head again and took in his surroundings. Dark room, curtains drawn. Wallpaper peeling away. Blood splatter? Oh god where was he? He tried to listen to any sounds from outside but heard nothing. There was a TV set up in front of him. A VCR underneath. Again Don tried to loosen his binds but his shoulder protested with the help of his stomach and he vomited onto the floor. The effort to do so while in the position he was in did nothing to help his pain. He kept his head down, panting again, trying to catch his breath and get the pain under control. He barely heard the sound of the door opening.

"What's your name pig?"

Bruton moved to stand in front of Don, he lifted his head by a handful of hair and spat in his face.

"You've lost your dinner already, well that's not a great start is it"

The man was large and muscular, his t-shirt although blue was streaked in something red. Don guessed it was his blood. He was glad he'd ruined the guys t-shirt.

"Name?"

"What do you want?"

"I want your name pig"

"What do I get in return?"

Bruton smacked Don across the face, his nose began to bleed while his eyes saw spots.

"You know my name"

"Yeah, I do, Eppes. Eppes who killed my brother Marc, Eppes who killed my brother Roy. You got any brothers Eppes?"

"No, had a sister once though"

"Yeah? What happened to her?"

"Died"

"Wish I could say I was sorry. Any other family?"

"No, they all died together, car accident"

"I got no parents either, had me two brothers until earlier today thanks to you"

Bruton's voice was eerily calm. This unnerved Don more so than anything else. He wanted the man to scream, to shout, anything but remain so level and calm.

"Had to kill them, they were gonna kill my men."

"Wish they had, so will you soon"

"What do you want Bruton?"

Don received a smack round the jaw as an answer. He was vaguely aware that the other two men had entered the room.

"Have a little story to tell you Eppes, but first we're gonna mould you a bit. Take some of that FBI smugness outta you"

The first few punches were the worst, after that Don felt nothing but pain all over. The sounds of the impacts resounded through the room. Don heard rather than felt the sound of a rib breaking, followed by another. Slowly his stomach became numb, followed by the rest of his body. He succumbed to the oblivion only to be pulled back by a bucket of ice water thrown over him. He watched as a second man took position for his turn.

Punch to the ribs, punch to the stomach, punch the face.

The third man stood before him, smiling . He was missing his two front teeth.

Punch to the stomach, punch to the face, punch to the shoulder.

Dons world erupted into pain again, his vision nothing but red. He tried to turn away but he was bound too tightly. His stomach lurched and he dry heaved for what seemed like an eternity.

Bruton lifted his head by the hair again.

"A little story for you Eppes. We have quite a good business going on here. We trade kids but I guess you already know that. Sanderson asked no questions and did what he was told."

"Like a lap dog?"

"Yeah, just like a lap dog"

"Bet you didn't count on that dog biting you back did you"

Another smack to the face.

"We made a hell of a lot of money from the girls, none of them missed. But ya see, one of them, she was so pretty , such smooth skin. I couldn't sell her. I kept her for myself and seeing how this is LA I decided to make my own little film with her. You wanna see?"

Don looked at Bruton wide eyed and shook his head slowly.

"You have to see Eppes, I think you owe it to my brothers to see what it is you took away from me, my family, my girl, Sanderson's kid was going to be my next movie project."

"You're sick Bruton, you know that? There's no way you're going to get away with this. I'm gonna put a bullet in you just like I did Roy and Marc. Bet you piss your pants just like they did"

Bruton smacked Don so hard across his head that his body went limp. Another bucket of ice water was thrown over him yet he didn't stir. Bruton stood behind him and pulled back one of his fingers from the right hand.

"Wake up Eppes"

Don became aware of a cold sensation, followed by a different pain. He tried to turn to see and was reminded he was bound.

"What?"

"Stay awake Eppes" Bruton pulled back on Don's finger , the break sounded through the room.

"Stay awake or I break another"

As hard as he tried Don couldn't keep the scream hidden, he didn't want to show weakness, didn't want to show pain but there was no way he could muffle his cry.

Bruton had moved to the VCR, Sammy K had moved behind Don and held his head upright. Held him so tight he couldn't turn away.

"If you close your eyes Eppes, I'll break another finger"

He pushed play and stepped back, arms folded across his chest. Grin on his face. Excitement evident in his eyes.

Don watched as the camera panned round a dark room, this room he realised. The wallpaper, the curtains, the carpet. It had all happened here. A young girl, no more than eight, was strapped down, spread across a mattress on the floor. The cameraman panned round again and Bruton stood at the side of her, his brother Roy the other side. Both naked.

Don watched as the horror played out. The child's screams became more than he could take as he saw the source of the blood on the carpet. He closed his eyes, tried to turn his head. Bruton moved around him and took hold of his right index finger and pulled back. The snap barely audible over the screams of the girl on the tape. Don forced his eyes open. Tried to let the FBI agent in him take over, notice the surroundings, notice the features of the girl. Find her family. Let them have closure at least. He couldn't though, he couldn't watch as the third Bruton moved into shot to take his turn. The girls screams barely whimper's now.

"I'm glad I killed them, I'm gonna kill you as well"

Bruton's cool exterior fell away and he lent back and kicked his boot into Don's right hand with all his power. Don felt the bones breaking, his world refused to fade to black and his screams matched that of the girl on the tape, as she begged for the end, begged for darkness. Begged for death.