Page 48 of Damned Embers

"Yes, that's a tattoo off one of the guys. The same tattoo we were just talking about," Knox mumbles, pulling a pair of plastic gloves out of his pocket and putting them on before reaching into the box to pull out the note placed next to the thugs skin.

"God, that's disgusting," Creed calls out, running to the sink to puke. Honestly, I don't blame him. It's completely disgusting. Whoever did this is a psychopath.

"What does it say?" I question, trying to hold the bile back.

"You should take better care of your things, Boys. Don't worry, your precious Skylar is now safe in my hands and I won't let anything happen to her ever. You should have kept a closer eye on your things. I'll let you see her again soon. Just need to make sure she is behaving before I do. Ta ta for now, Boys," Knox reads.

With every word, my blood begins to boil more. This psychopath has my girl and is taunting us with her. When we find out who they are, they're dead. If there is a single hair out of place on my Princesses head, I'm going to make their death be extremely painful.

"I'm telling Trevor he needs to hurry up," Knox grumbles, standing to leave the room. "No one touches that box," he demands before stepping out into the hallway.

"Bas," Creed mumbles, barely holding himself up at the kitchen sink. Before I can take a step in his direction, he faints, falling to the ground with a hard thud, barely avoiding hitting his head on the counter on his way down.

"Fuck" I snarl, rushing to get him up and carrying him to his room to place his unconscious form on his bed. "He hasn't passed out like this in a long time. Not since he stopped the drugs and alcohol and started his mediation shit. This is exactly the stuff I was worried about with Sky coming back into our lives. All of us are now spiraling. "Gunner, get your ass in here and help me," I shout, needing to make sure Gunner is in my sight at all times. If I know my brother, he's seconds away from storming out of the room and raining pain down on others until he starts getting some answers.

"I'm not your little bitch, Sebastian," Gunner growls, stepping into the bedroom.

"Never said you were," I chuckle. "Now help me with our brother. We all need to be at one hundred percent so we can find Sky."

"You're a fucking bastard, but fine," Gunner grumbles then get to work grabbing a cold wet wash cloth to place on Creed's forehead. "I'll stay until he wakes up. We both know if you're he he may just lose it on you."

"Fine," I roll my eyes and leave the room. I'm always the one stuck taking care of them, but I'm also the one they choose to fucking blame for everything. Such bullshit.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Do you know why you're here?" the female's voice rings out over the speakers.

For the past two hours, on and off, she's spoken to me and tried to get a rise out of me. I've done my best to tune her out but I have to admit, it's starting to get to me. If I could just reach through the speakers and punch her I would. I tend to shy away from violence but she is driving me mad. Why me? What did I do to earn her ire? To earn her attention? All I wanted was to play in a band with the three men I loved. She ripped that away from me. I did what she asked, I left to save their lives. Why bring me back? Why torture all of us like this?

I never thought any of the men would forgive me for leaving in the dead of night. Gunner lost himself and turned to the darkness within him, needing pain to find some semblance of control. Creed turned to drugs and nearly lost himself before the others saved him. Sebastian... Well, he turned darker than I could ever remember, colder too. I thought when I came back the guys would hate me for life. At times I think they do still hate me, but at least Gunner and Creed have finally come around in an effort to forgive me. They finally got me back, just to lose me again.

Is this just a game to this psychopath? Or is she determined to break every last bit of me and my men? Either way, I can't let her win.

"Ah, I can see you still don't feel like talking. Well, that's too bad. I have things I want to say to you," the voice continues to speak. I raise my hands over my ears in an effort to tune her out. I don't want to hear anything, I just want to be free. "You confuse me Sky. Everyone wants to be you, and yet you can never stand up for yourself. I tried to help you come out of your shell. I thought, if you believed your life was in danger, you would fight back. Instead, you ran when I threatened your men's lives. They never meant much to me. They were a means to an end. It was always you. I've only ever wanted you."

"Oh for the love of god, either shut up or show yourself," I snarl, pushing myself into a rising position. I shouldn't have lost my temper, I should have kept my head down and just let her keep talking but there is only so much I can handle. I can't make any moves until I know who this psycho is. Once I do then I can find a way out of this mess. All that know-your-enemy crap better pay off.

"Now, now, you can't actually think you have any control here, do you? Oh, my sweet innocent Sky. You have much to still learn. Don't worry you will. Just as soon as I get back." The voice cuts out and silence rings through the cell once more.

"Goddamnit!" I snarl, slamming my hand against the cement wall. When is enough, enough? I didn't ask for any of this. How did I draw their attention? I always thought it was because I was standing in the way of them wanting my men. But if this was about me then how do I stop that? Why would she want me? I'm not interested in women and never have been. Trust me, I've had women throw themselves at me just as much as the guys did. I never took the bait and I brushed them off. I'm only into men. So why does this woman think that it will be different with her?

I won't give her what she wants. Even if it saves my life. I can't do that. I know Gunner and Creed won't forgive me for fighting back but I have to. I won't go down without a fight. No, this psycho chick has no clue who the hell she is facing. I may be a guitarist, I may be a computer genius, but Rockport Security taught me how to fight and I plan on using those skills the second that I can to save myself.

~~~~~

At some point sleep claimed me. I tried to fight it but the pain in my head was too much and I knew if I was to stand a chance of escape I needed my strength which meant I needed to sleep, to heal. The cell has no light, so I have no idea how much time has passed. No clue if it was day or night. I guess in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter much, but I would prefer to know how much time has passed. How long have I been away from everyone?

I trust the band and I trust Rockport Security to do everything in their power to find me. They found Emma when she was taken by the Silent Death Family. I know that they will find me as well. No one will give up on me. I would hope that they'd find me within twenty-four hours but I know it will probably take longer. If I was awake when I was taken I could have fought, I could have left a trail for them to find. I can only hope that Knox pulls all his resources and trusts Gunner and Creed to help. I have a feeling it will take all of them to find me and save me now.

"Wakey, wakey, little princess," a male voice calls out right before the door to my cell opens.

Scrambling into a sitting position I push myself back until I'm as far as I can get from the creep who just entered my cell. He's tall and bulky. It's so dark I can barely make anything out besides that. There's a light outside the door but his body is blocking most of it, making him look like a dark scary figure.

"Who are you?" I mumble, my voice coming out much weaker than I meant it to.

"Definitely not your worst nightmare. We were told we couldn't rough you up, but that doesn't mean I can't touch you. What she doesn't know what hurt her right?" He chuckles darkly, stepping further into the cell.

Fuck. No, this cannot be happening right now. I refused to let this creep touch me or get anywhere near me. If he lays his hands on me, I know I will never be the same. No one touches me without my permission. No one!

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