Page 27 of Disturbed Lucidity

“Look alive, Ivy,” Mouth whispered, standing next to me. “Frat boys just walked in.”

Shit.

With a nod, I busied myself, filling orders, while Mouth handled the brothers’ affairs. Having a bunch of college kids walk in, eager for a good time, was nothing out of the ordinary. Yet, just as expected, after a couple of playful drinks, those brats would always become overly confident, resulting in utter chaos.

Keeping a watchful eye on the rowdy frat boys, Anne approached with an empty tray. Anne had a gentle, kind-hearted nature. Balancing the role of a single parent, she successfully held a part-time job at night, pursued her studies, and raised her daughter. Anne made the tough choice to kick her baby daddy to the curb after uncovering the truth about his past relationships with two other women.

“God, I hate when they show up.”

“What do they want?”

“Beer, of course.” The young woman groaned. “My ass is already sore. Told them I wasn’t a club whore, but apparently, they are all deaf.”

“They give you any more trouble, let me know.”

“Of course, Ivy,” Anne said with determination while she gathered her tray, which was now filled with various items, and headed back towards the boisterous group.

Throughout the next few hours, I couldn’t tear my eyes away as the frat boys grew progressively more aggressive toward Anne. The poor girl had already been pushed to her breaking point when one of the ignorant frat boys carelessly seized her by the waist, causing her to accidentally drop her tray, its contents scattering across the floor. She immediately turned and delivered a sharp slap to the college fucker, who retaliated instantly, backhanding her across the face.

Without hesitation, I sprang into action as Anne’s scream echoed through the air.

I leaped over the bar, charging toward the obnoxious fuck, forcefully bringing him down to the ground and delivering a solid punch to his face. Mistaking it for an invitation, his buddies took action. Suddenly, one of them grabbed ahold of my hair, forcefully dragging me away from their friend, and then struck me hard with a backhand, causing me to stumble and collapse onto the floor. The fucker I tackled quickly got to his feet and yanked Anne toward him before bending her over the table.

“This fucking bitch is mine!”

That’s what he thought.

Kicking the fucker who grabbed my hair in the balls, I rolled to my feet, reaching for my knife, when Slash grabbed me from behind.

“Jesus fuck, Ivy. Enough!” he shouted.

Saint, Indigo and Mouth quickly subdued the rowdy group of idiots escorting them from the premises while Frost looked at Anne.

“Girl, are you looking to get kicked? ‘Cause Luc is just itching for a reason.”

Pushing Slash off me, I turned to face him, my voice dripping with contempt. “If he really cared about Anne, he would have done a much better job protecting her.”

“It’s alright, Ivy,” Anne said. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not!”

“Go walk it off, Ivy,” Mouth ordered loudly.

Completely disregarding the people around me, I made my way to the bar, snatched a bottle of whiskey, and stormed out of the back of the clubhouse. I sank into one of the many chairs, I twisted off the bottle cap, raised it to my lips, and took a satisfying swig.

Every single day of my life, I battled tirelessly for the most uncomplicated desires. I fought for everything. Most days, I just fought to live to see another day. No one understood the true depth of horror that roamed this earth.

I did.

I fought the fucking Devil himself for years, only to be tossed away into another hell.

I’d be damned before I allowed any of that shit to touch Anne.

She wouldn’t survive it.

Not like me. I was born and bred in the fires of Hell. I was used to men like those sick fucks. They were all the same, until someone challenged them. Some men didn’t care when a woman stood up to them. Hell, I even saw one man smile when his woman got in his face. But he was a rarity.

The men I knew. The men who influenced my upbringing were so deeply entrenched in a culture of violence that they would readily resort to physical aggression to assert their power over women without any hesitation. The sicker they were, the darker and more malevolent their souls turned.

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