Page 15 of Ruckus

Willow was my little sister, it was my responsibility to protect her, and when I ran from Long Beach, I ran from her too. I let that sink in as I sob on the floor.

The trailer door opens a few minutes later and when Josh steps inside and sees the mess I’m in, he sinks onto his knees in front of me.

“Freya.” His head shakes as he touches his hand against my face. “Fuck, what has done to you?”

“I’m fine,” I lie, attempting to stand up, but feeling too dizzy. “You can’t do a show like this, he’s busted your lip open.” Josh looks horrified by my appearance, but that’s the least of my worries.

“You’ve seen me in worse states than this. The show must go on,” I say cheerily, but when I try to smile, it stings too much and I flinch.

“He’s gone too far.” Josh’s head shakes as he stands back up and starts marching to the door.

“Josh, wait.” I force myself up on my feet, holding onto the table for leverage. “Don’t you dare, you know what’ll happen,” I remind him before he can leave. “Josh, he’ll beat you senseless, then he’ll come back here and make me pay for it too. You going at him is not gonna help anyone,” I tell him sadly.

“You think I care if he beats me? I’m not scared of him anymore.” He tries to sound brave but we both know he’s kidding himself. Before I became Drew’s human punchbag, it was his brother who took all the weight of his anger. As soon as Josh started performing, Drew started turning it on me. “This ain’t nothing some makeup won’t fix.” I touch my fingers to my lip. “Go get ready for the show, Josh.” I smile convincingly despite feeling that sting again.

“You should have left here with your brother,” he tells me, ripping the door open and heading out.

I sink into the stool in front of the mirror and look at the mess Drew’s made of my face, holding back tears as I take Ruckus’s coin from my jewelry box. I’m more convinced than ever that it’s his and he was at the show two years ago. Rubbing it between my thumb and my finger, I picture his face. I saw the way he looked at me when he left, the rage in his eyes could have set this whole place a blaze. I’d willed him in that moment to save me. To drag me away from here and take me back to that motel room, where we’d laughed together and fucked. It felt good being carefree and reckless, even if it was only for one night.

I get to work, fixing my face as best I can. Then after re-styling my hair, I stand up and head back outside.

“There she is.” Drew steps up beside me and wraps his arms around my middle proudly. I hate that all his friends act as if they don’t see the mess he’s made of my face. I’ve gotten better at makeup, but I’m not that good. “Tonight’s gonna to be a good one, boys. I can feel it.” He squeezes his arms tight, crushing my tender ribs and making me hold my breath.

“You feel it too, baby?” he whispers.

“Yeah,” I assure him, hoping that tonight’s the night that I get locked in that sphere for the last time, and give this crowd a real fucking show. Suddenly, death doesn’t scare me anymore.Waking up tomorrow and still being stuck in this hell seems far worse of a deal.

I’m here again, standing at the back, watching, waiting, needing to see something.Anything,that tells me I’m right.

The second I get a hint that tells me she’s in trouble, I swear I’m gonna swoop in and fucking take her.

The music starts up the same way it did when I watched this performance last time, and I fidget with unease as the curtain pulls back and she steps out. Her arm raises high as the crowd cheers, but her other hand supports her side and her smile isn’t there like it was the time before. Her eyes scan around her like she’s paranoid about something and as she steps forward into better light, I see fuckin’ why.

“Holy shit,” I whisper to myself as I head down the steps to get a closer look. She may have make up on but it doesn’t mask the state her face is in. Me and Wrath should never have left her here, and when I hear the rev of that fucker’s bike drowning out the music, my feet start to move. I climb over the barrier into the ring and the music beats to the thudding of my heart as I march up behind him. I grip the asshole by his scruff as he slowly enters the sphere, ripping him off his saddle and dragging him to the floor. The music cuts, some gasps come from the crowd, and when I feel the weight of two bodies come at me from behind Ispin around and unleash fucking hell so I can get back to what I came in here to do.

“Ruckus.” I hear Freya’s voice call out to me over the chaos, and after I’ve put all three of Drew’s buddies on their asses, I turn and look toward him. He’s back on his feet, standing in the middle of the ring with his helmet off and as I march closer, he backs him up so he’s wedged between me and the sphere. She races to stand beside me and takes hold of the arm I'm using to pin him up by his throat.

“Ruckus, think about this, there are hundreds of people here,” she whispers.

“He do that to your face?” I turn my attention away from him to ask her, and see that the damage is far worse than I thought.

“Ruckus, you need to leave… pleas?—”

“Did he do that to you?” I repeat, louder. There’s an uncontrollable wave of fury rushing through my blood and it’s gonna unleash. She doesn’t answer me, just closes her eyes and I slowly turn my head back to look at him.

“You son of bitch.” I lose my head and slam my fist into his face, over and over. The cage around the sphere rattles, his blood sprays over my face and drips over my knuckles and when his limp, useless body slumps to the floor, I grip the front of his overalls, lift him up, and continue to punch the shit out of him.

The crowd is silent now, no doubt horrified as they watch, but I keep on going, even when the ground beneath us starts to get sticky from his blood.

“Ruckus, stop, you’re going to kill him.” Freya’s screaming at me, gripping at me and trying to drag me away.

“That’s the fuckin’ plan.” I let him hit the ground and stomp on his ribs, making sure the air leaves his body.

“Ruckus, no… Please. You can’t. Ruckus. You're scaring me.” Her words make me stop and as I catch my breath I turn around to her.

“I’m scaring you?” I look at the mess he’s made of her face, then lower my eyes to him. He’s alive, barely, but his face is mashed the fuck up.

Freya looks around the ring, reminding me that I have an audience. “Ruckus, you need to leave,” she whispers. “Someone here will have already called the pol?—”

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