Page 57 of Tortured Souls
“Why?” I’m surprised he hears me, my voice a mere whisper laced with betrayal so unbearable it hurts to breathe.
“I’m not who you think I am, Skylar. I don’t remember the boy and girl we once were. All that’s left of them is whatever Mom and Dad told me the moment I woke up in the hospital. You should have just stayed away. I’ve been told you’re a real pain in the ass. Just know you probably deserve what’s going to happen to you.”
“Seven, what are you talking about?” I whisper.
The door closing behind him is what scatters me completely. I’ve lost. I’ve failed. I don’t care anymore. This ache inside me is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and instead of pushing it away, I welcome it. I allow the pressure to suffocate me, gripping the last remaining pieces of my heart before it crumbles into a million tiny pieces, leaving me empty.
I don’t care to survive this; I wouldn’t be able to live with this pain anyway. I just hope they hurry up and end this soon. I have nothing to live for anyway. The tears are hot sliding down my cheeks. I’m hyperventilating, and my vision is blurry. Just when I’m about to pass out from my labored breathing, I see his face. His beautiful, stoic face that’s constantly scowling. His dark eyes, and his lips when he saysI love you.
Saxon Wilder said he loved me once, and even when I know this is how I will end, at least I will go knowing he loves me. Someone loved me once, even just for a moment.
Helovesme.
SAXON
The drive doesn’t take as long as I remember. Maybe it’s the adrenaline or the fear that something’s happened to her. She hasn’t returned any of my messages or calls. The realization that something bad likely has happened becoming more real by the minute. Closing my eyes, I try to clear my head of all the possibilities. I need to stay focused. I need to stay ready, so if anything has happened to her, I have the strength and energy to burn their fucking world to ashes.
“Five minutes out,” Saint says through his walkie, informing the rest of our guys in the van behind us.
“Got it,” Law says back. My shoulders tense as I lean forward and take in the view of the road up ahead. Squinting my eyes, I see something off in the ditch on the right. It looks like a vehicle and when we get closer, my chest cracks a little more.
“Hold on, why is Sky coming back here in the first place?” Brooks asks.
“This whole ride, and you’re just now asking that?” Saint sounds dumbfounded.
“Dude, she’s a legit serial killer. Like a good one too. She’s killed so many people. Well, all the people that have hurt her in the past. Which just so happens to be members of the Hellstorms. She came here to kill off her mom and dad. Fucking wild, right?!” Finn chuckles as he shakes his head back and forth.
“Are you fucking with me?” Brooks asks. But when his eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror, it dawns on him that it’s all true. “Shit, man. Remind me never to make her mad.”
“That’s her car,” I say to no one in particular, mainly needing to hear it myself that she’s still here, which doesn’t mean that’s a good thing. “Fuck.”
“I’m going a little further ahead. We can hide the vehicles there,” Saint says as we pass her car. I close my eyes tight, inhaling through my nose, and when I open them again, I feel ready. I’m ready to tear this place apart to find her. For their sake, she better not have a hair out of place, or they will wish she had succeeded with her plan, because mine is going to be so, so much worse.
“Finn, I want her father and her mother alive. They’re mine.” He scoffs behind me.
“Fine, you can have them, but you can’t stop me from killing anyone else that comes in my path. I haven’t killed someone in a while. I’m itching for some action.”
“Kill whoever else. I don’t care. Have a fucking ball, but they’re mine,” I say to my deranged friend, who responds with a mock salute as I watch him in the rearview mirror.
“So, is that the plan? Go in and kill everyone?” Owen says from the back seat, his head finally popping up from where he was lying down. I turn around to face my friends.
“No one is coming out of that house alive, except her and her parents.” Owen, Finn, and Brooks all nod. The promise of violence makes all three of them smile, as well as Saint. Finn is right. We haven’t hurt or even killed anyone lately. Not since Diego and Leonard. My friends are all bloodthirsty, maybe not as much as Finn, but we all enjoy having the occasional blood on our hands. It’s a way to purge our demons, giving our souls a break from the constant battle of holding them back every day. We all need this night to feel cleansed. As fucked as that sounds, this is our way of calming the shadows that live within us.
We all get out of our respective vehicles, grabbing our gear, and start the journey up to the Sagan compound. Everyone has their orders: get in, kill, and search for Sky. Easy and simple.
The large house comes into view, lights are shining through the windows, and I see a few men walking around inside, carrying weapons across their chests. What I don’t see on these men are any type of vest. No Kevlar and I know this will be easy.
We split into four groups. Saint, Owen, and I will take the front. Brooks and Finn will look for a cellar or storm shelter door that leads to a basement. Law, Enzo, and Heath are taking the back, while Trip and Mich are going to scale the side wall to the second story. Luckily for them, the side of the house has a wooden lattice panel holding thick vines twisting through and all the way up to the second-story balcony. Cake.
We all have our mics set up now, making it easy to communicate with everyone. The moment Saint, Owen, and I are at the front, we wait for the guys to tell me they’re all inposition. It doesn’t take long; my guys are quick. Surprisingly, there is only one guard positioned at the front door. Owen is fast, stepping up behind him and slicing his throat with his hunting knife.
“On three. One. Two. Three.” Saint kicks in the front door, splintering the wood as it flies right off the hinges. Immediately, I take out two guys who come running to the foyer, dropping them to the tiled floor. I can hear more bullets coming from upstairs. We sweep the bottom floor, taking out three more men, two in the kitchen and one that appeared to be taking a nap on the couch.
Five guys total are now dead on the first floor and one outside, but still no sign of Sky or her parents.
“Two down upstairs, clearing rooms now,” Mich says over the radio. “Holy fuck!” I hear him yell over the radio just as I turn and see Mich now tumbling down the stairs. Shit. We race to the staircase, guns pointed up as we see a literal giant of a fucking man take on Trip.
“You okay?” I ask Mich, who is starting to get up and shaking his head side to side.