Page 58 of Ariel's Ruin

I wish that wasn’t such an impossible daydream given my current situation. But it’s a good one. And I have it all planned out and vividly envisioned when the door of my cell opens. The bright fluorescent light in the hallway blinds me after spending so much time in the dimness of my cell and the darkness of my visions.

Joker is standing at the door. I can only see his silhouette, but I’d know him anywhere. He’s my number one target now. I’ll kill him if it’s the last thing I do.

“Come on, I need you now,” he says.

I walk up to him. He’s half a head shorter than me, but stockier. In a one-on-one fight I’d take him down, no problem, but he’s got five of his guys at his back here and they’re all armed with knives and guns in holsters at their waist. And that’s just the weapons I can see.

“I’m not doing anything until you let Ariel out of her cell.”

In all my dark daydreams, that’s always the first step. I need to know she’s safe before I engage him.

He laughs, as do several of the guys behind them. “She’s really got you good. But you saw she’s well taken care of. She’s in a nice clean room, not like the ones she’s used to.”

I could break his neck right now for saying that. But then his guys would kill me, and Ariel would rot away in her cell. Or worse.

“All the same. I want to see that she’s all right and I want her by my side. Or I’m not helping you with shit.”

I’m not in a good bargaining position, but I’m gonna ride it as far as it’ll take me.

“You really think you can barter with me?” he asks sharply, all traces of previous laughter gone from his face.

“You need me for something. Else you wouldn’t take my woman. And I’m not doing anything until I get my woman back. Simple.”

I can match him glare for glare all day. And after a few moments it starts to feel like maybe I’ll have to.

“Simple, huh?” he finally says, still not breaking eye-contact.

I shrug. “For all I know you only showed me some recording of her. Maybe even an old one, and you don’t actually have her.”

“Dude, you drive a hard bargain,” he says, sounding impressed, but I’m sure he’s just mocking me. “Did the Devils teach you that?”

“What will it be, Joker?” I snap. I’m getting sick of looking at his face.

“Fine, go get her and meet us in my office,” Joker says to one of the guys behind him.

For a split second it looks like the guy will argue, but Joker fixes him with his flat, dead look and the guy hurries off.

“After you,” Joker says and steps aside so I can exit the cell.

I don’t want him behind my back where I can’t see him, but I follow the group of his guys down the hall anyway, since I don’t have a choice yet. But as soon as I get the tiniest window of opportunity, Ariel and me are outta here. It’ll probably mean taking Joker as our human shield, but that’s fine. I can handle him. And with Ariel at my side, I can’t fail.

We climb up two sets of narrow concrete steps and walk down another long hallway before reaching his office. It’s a small space, decked out with plastic chairs and a plastic patio table and nothing else. The tiny window on one wall overlooks the courtyard where it seems that his whole MC is assembling. I can spot Karma and the Forsaken huddled together in one corner, but I can’t see my three brothers anywhere. Not a big surprise since the courtyard is black with bikers. They look like a bunch of chickens bunched together at one of those industrial chicken farms. I can hear the muffled sounds of conversation and engines revving, but the thick concrete walls of this place are blocking off most of the noise.

“Ruin,” Ariel says hoarsely behind me, and I turn to see her try and run to me from the open door. But two Sons hold her back.

Three have to hold me back as I try to go to her. Her face is covered by dried tear tracks and her eyes are outlined in smeared mascara, but otherwise she looks unharmed. Good for Joker and the Sons.

Joker chortles. “They wanna be together so bad… look at them. So sweet.”

The others laugh too. But I still have eyes just for Ariel and she for me. A big part of me doesn’t yet believe this is real. With all my daydreaming of killing Joker and destroying the Sons, maybe I’ve entered the fantasy for real. But her eyes are begging me to make this all right, to make this nightmare stop, so vividly I doubt I could make it up.

“Let’s make it happen,” Joker says. “Cuff them together.”

It takes them about two seconds to get it done, cuffing my left wrist to her right one. I pull her to me and hold her almost as tight as she’s holding me.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” I whisper into her hair to the renewed laughter of Joker and the five Sons in the room with us.

“Tall promises there, Ruin,” Joker says. “But then again, don’t we all like to lie to our old ladies?”

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