Page 121 of Degradation

Elijah follows him, practically pushing him out of the way to embrace me.

“Jesus,” He mutters as he breaks apart. “You look more fucked than we all are.”

My lips pull into a tight grin. The years have not been kind, not to any of us, but we’re here, we’ve survived, haven’t we?

When they spot Malik and they both still, staring at him like he’s an apparition. A reminder of all our pasts that might be better off forgotten. As if we could.

Elijah moves to embrace him, but I hold up my hand to stop him. “He doesn’t like being touched.” I state.

They exchange looks, glances that say it all.

As the rest of the guards clamber out of the trucks and gather around, I can sense the uneasiness.

I guess it’s to be expected. All of us have paid the price these last five years. These bastards here were the last of us to get free. The Brethren were smart enough to separate us. Do I feel guilty about not finding them sooner? Guilt is for the weak. Guilt is for lesser people. What’s done is done. And now, we will get our revenge.

“Come on,” I mutter, jerking my head for them to follow. “Cooper and Mace have sorted out a nice little welcome for you all.”

Elijah’s eyes light up. Noah practically jumps with the prospect.

As I walk into the compound the sound of screams reaches my ears. Apparently, they got the party started early then.

“What the…?” Noah says, staring at the carnage, at the mess, at the naked women who are half trying to escape, half already giving in and submitting like the whores we know they are.

“They were being trafficked by some small-time prick.” I mutter. “I decided we had more use for them than they did.”

Cooper spots our new friends and jumps to his feet. He’s naked, his cock is standing up to attention and in his tight-fisted hand, he has a tearful redhead with a bloodied nose.

“Fuck me.” He growls, before looking at me. “You did it. You got them out.”

I shrug. “Said I would, didn’t I?”

He grins more. “Yeah, you did, but you’re a crazy bastard, hard to tell what’s real and what’s just in your head.”

I throw my head back and laugh. Like I don’t have the same problem these days.

“Get your fill.” I say to the men behind me. They don’t need telling twice.

The few girls that haven’t been claimed scream when they see them coming towards them. I let out a sigh, swiping a beer and watch it play out. I have no interest in fucking now. I have no need for it.

My only focus is on finding that blonde bitch, finding Paitlyn, and making her pay.

Pailtyn

Ipress my face against the cold stone and try to remember what sunlight feels like. The memory is already fading, becoming as insubstantial as smoke.

Did I ever really feel warmth on my skin?

Did I ever really see colours other than this endless, suffocating black?

Maybe I’ve always been here. Maybe everything else, the betrayals, the abandonment, the slow dissolution of everything I thought was real, maybe that was the hallucination.

Maybe this darkness is the only truth there is.

The thought should terrify me, but instead it brings a strange sort of peace. If this is all there is, then I can stop fighting. I can stop hoping for rescue that will never come, stop believing that somewhere beyond these walls, people who claim to love me are working to bring me home.

“I trusted you.” I say to the darkness, because the darkness is all that’s left to talk to. “I trusted all of you.”

I curl into a ball on the floor, my ruined hands tucked against my chest. The blood has stopped flowing, or maybe I’ve just run out. My body feels disconnected from my mind, like a machine that’s running on fumes. Every breath is an effort. Every heartbeat feels like a choice I have to consciously make, and I don’t understand why I haven’t just stopped it. Stopped it all. Stopped breathing, stopped pumping blood around myself, just fucking stopped.