Page 26 of One (The Towns Syndicate #2)

Ally

M y body hurt as I rolled over and I remembered what I had done with Boogie and King. I didn't want to wake up, but my bladder was full, and I had an awful taste in my mouth. It reminded me of the days Kris used to drug and move us to different locations.

My heart pounded as I looked around, wondering where the hell Boogie and King were. Maybe they had left to do some Halloweenie stuff. I got off the bed, and went into the bathroom, finally realizing I was not in the same room.

After I did my business, I walked out to look for Boogie, but when I tried opening the door it wouldn’t open. I jerked the door a few times, looked out the small window but saw only a hallway and that’s when panic hit me full force.

Fuck… was I taken while I was asleep? What did they do with Boogie and King? I backed away from the door as my heart pounded even faster, blood swooshed in my ears and my vision began to spot. My legs hit something, I turned and screamed but quickly lost my balance and fell to the floor.

I had been taken. That was the only explanation. My chest constricted in pain, and my body shook. I couldn’t be taken again. I didn’t want to be that girl who was owned by a man again. I would rather DIE.

My lip trembled as I went over different scenarios to rationalize what was happening, but the longer I thought about it, the further my mind lost it. I had been taken, and I had lost Boogie and King.

My heart constricted as I thought about our last moments together, the rightness I always felt with them, and I finally had the courage to tell them I love them.

It didn’t even matter that they didn’t say it back, but what did matter was that they knew my feelings before whatever had happened to them.

One meltdown, one crying session, and then I would figure out how to get the fuck out of here. That's all I was giving myself. I wasn’t going to be some docile woman again. If I was someone's property again, I was going to give them hell until I escaped or until they killed me.

The room left no clues for me to figure out where the hell I was.

Nothing could be used as a weapon, and it had been at least a few hours since I had woken up.

I was starting to get hungry in the last hour.

This officially fried my nerves., I was not looking forward to going hungry for hours on end again.

I rubbed my chest in an attempt to ease the bubbling anxiety in me that felt like it might break me at any moment. My freedom had made me soft, and I was a fool to let myself feel safe. The power of the town let me believe that I wouldn’t have to go back to my old life.

I scolded myself. Maverick had always told me to be diligent, and not even a few days after they had left, I was taken. A part of me hoped that once they found out I had been taken, they would come looking for me or maybe even the Mayor.

Would Arthur do the right thing and report me missing? My doubts about him were a whole other story. I hoped I was wrong about him, but that would mean my intuition was wrong, and a sinking feeling told me that Arthur or Lance had something to do with this or maybe even both of them.

My ass was falling asleep from sitting in the corner of the room, but it gave me the best advantage if someone came in. I could take them out and escape, hopefully they had a gun. After that, it was up to blind luck or god. I wasn’t betting on either of them.

Faint footsteps grew louder like they were coming closer.

This might be it. My chance to escape. I got up and crouched down, ready to pounce when the door opened.

My heart was pounding as I tried to slow my breathing like Maverick and Winchester taught me, centering myself and letting my body do the work.

Keys jingled together and I couldn’t help the smirk that graced my lips.

Showtime.

The door opened as I launched myself. A blur of blonde hair caught my eye, making me hesitate and then familiar gray eyes stared back at me as I was about to punch them.

“Boogie!” I yelled, hugging him.

“Hey, Little One,” he said hesitantly.

“I thought they took you,” I said, kissing his cheek. “Where is King? Is he ok? What happened?”

I looked up to see King walking into the room too.

“Oh, thank god,” I said, as my lip trembled. “Fuck, I thought they took you too and— Actually never mind that, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

I slid down Boogie's body, feeling every hard curve, and I willed myself not to get excited. That could wait for another time unless everyone was already dead.

The door shut behind King, making me look up at them. They didn’t look nearly as happy to see me as I was to see them.

“Ally, I think you should take a seat,” King said, leaning against the door.

“No, I want to leave,” I said, moving forward.

“Little One, sit down, please,” Boogie said, catching me around the waist.

“What the fuck’s going on?” I snapped as Boogie put me on the bed.

“We think it’s best?—”

King scoffed and looked away as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. Boogie's nostrils flared as he took a deep breath. The tension between them was palpable. Something had happened while I was taken.

“Since the attacks, your safety is the most important thing for us,” Boogie said, grabbing my hand. “You're here because it's the safest place for you.”

“Excuse me?” I glared at Boogie, wondering if I had heard that correctly.

He repeated himself, but once I looked at King and his terrible expression, everything clicked into place. Boogie was speaking, but I didn’t hear him.

This mother fucker was mansplaining why they locked me in this room like he was doing me a favor. I pulled back my arm and punched him in the face and because that wasn’t enough, I slapped him too. Boogie took it like a champ even as his nose was bleeding and he was leaning back.

“Ok, I might have deserved that,” he mumbled.

“Fuck you,” I snarled. “I am not staying in this damn room. You are letting me out and I am going back to Christmas Town. I have a fucking town to run.”

“Ally,” King said, sitting on the bed as Boogie went to the bathroom and I hoped I had broken his nose.

“Are you seriously going along with this?” I growled.

“Would you have stayed here if we had asked? I know you think you can handle this on your own, but Ally, whoever is gunning for you has the manpower and the resources to do it,” he sighed.

“If you promise to stay here and run Christmas Town under our protection, I’ll let you out and you can roam the grounds, but?—”

“It’s still a prison,” I said. “Just because I’m free to walk around doesn’t mean I’m actually free to do anything.”

King had the decency to look guilty, but this had Boogie written all over it.

“Ally, what if this is just the beginning?” King asked. “What if the moment we take you back to Christmas Town they have people waiting?”

“Thats what planning is for and talking and fucking listening to each other!” I yelled. “Look, I know what we went through was scary as shit, and I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess. I know it's my mess and?—”

“We don’t care if it's your mess!” Boogie yelled, coming out of the bathroom. “I would go to war for you every day, every month, every year and in every lifetime if it meant keeping you safe, but watching you die, I just can’t tempt fate again.”

Boogie’s eyes were shiny with tears. I could feel his heartache. I felt it when I thought something had happened to them.

“I need you safe, and if you can’t compromise with us, then you will stay here,” he said, his voice eerily calm, even as a tear slipped down his cheek.

“Giving me two choices isn’t a compromise,” I said, looking away. “Don’t do this. If you really want to help me, you will let me go and we can find a solution, something we all agree on, together.”

I looked at King, he was usually the voice of reason.

“I need your word you're not going to run away at the first chance you get,” King said, walking to the bed.

I clenched my jaw. “I?—”

“Don’t fucking lie!” Boogie snapped, getting up from the bed.

“You out of anyone should know how hard this is for me,” I said, hitting the bed. “How would you feel waking up with the same taste in your mouth from the drug they used to give you when they would pass you around to a large group of people?! How would you feel being locked away again?”

I stood up, and walked up to him.

“How would you feel being trapped in a room for hours thinking you had been taken again?” I whispered, then looked up.

His nostrils flared.

“Don’t do this to me, Boogie,” I pleaded. “Don’t be like every other man in my life who has locked me in a room like a possession.”

His mask slowly crumbled, his hurt and fear were heartbreaking until he hid his emotions again. His stoic expression was back.

“I will not put your life at risk,” he said in a monotone voice.

“Give us two days, Doll, and we can see what kind of threat we are looking at and reassess,” King said, stepping next to us. “Once we figure out who this is, we can take care of them, and put this whole thing behind us. Then we can finally go get those tacos we talked about.”

He leaned down, trying to kiss my forehead, but I turned my head, stepping away from them and turning away.

“We just want you safe, Little One,” Boogie said before they stepped towards the door.

“If you leave me here,” I said, looking over my shoulder. “There will be no us. The moment you lock me in here again, I will never forgive you.”

King sighed, hesitating by the door. “Ally.”

“Then I’ll be able to earn your forgiveness because you’ll be alive,” Boogie said, pushing King out and closing the door.

The door locked, the sound was deafening. I wondered, ‘what if they never find the person and I’m stuck here for the rest of my life’. I just traded one prison for another and now the men I love were my jailers.