Page 15 of Encircled in Darkness
“Hello.”
“It’s Amaya.” As hard as I tried, I couldn’t keep the tremor out of my voice; the fear of what could have happened began to dawn on me. I slid to the floor, my back to the wall, and fought the shaking that was racking my body.
“What’s wrong?” his tone was demanding, and I worried I may have made a mistake by calling him.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called.”
“Tell me what’s going on? I can hear the panic in your voice.”
I could hear him mumble to someone and I felt worse that I was interrupting him.
“You’re busy. Forget I called. Please.”
“Sweetheart, I’m never too busy for you. Tell me what has you so scared.” His tone was softer, and I could feel his worry coming through the phone.
“Someone... someone was in my backyard and ran away when I went to see what was causing Nova to yell.”
“Nova?”
“The stray cat I feed. Something upset him and when I went to see what it was, a man ran out and disappeared into the trees behind my house.”
There was a brief silence before the sound of his truck cranking sounded through the phone. “Are you safe?”
“I’m locked inside, and he ran away. He scared me, but he never made a move toward me. I overreacted. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”
“I’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”
“You... you don’t have to do that.” I whispered, the feeling of being a burden weighed heavily on me and the usual guilt accompanied it.
“I’m on the way. Double check your locks while I drive over.”
Standing from the floor, I took soft steps through the house, looking around every corner for the scarred man to jump out at me. I reached through the curtain and verified the lock was secure before going to the front door and twisting every lock to ensure they were engaged.
“They’re locked.”
“Good. I’m at the top of your neighborhood. I’ll be there in just a minute.”
“James?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.” I whispered and disconnected the call, clutching my phone against my chest.
Walking to the front window, I moved the corner over and peeked through, waiting to see his truck pull up the road. I scanned the surrounding houses and saw nothing out of the ordinary. A minute or two later, I could see headlights getting closer and when they pulled into my driveway, I jumped up and sprinted to the door.
Quickly unlocking the locks and sliding the chain off, I opened the door to find James on the other side, his eyes filled with a mix of worry and rage. He stepped across the threshold and kicked the door closed as he wrapped his strong arms around me. I collapsed onto him; the fear bleeding out because I was finally in his arms, safe.
James
I left Amaya at her house and drove directly to the warehouse Devlin and I used for... problems.This was one of two different locations we had used for some of the harsher parts of our past, and there wasn’t anyone within a half a mile that could hear what went on inside the concrete walls. The last time I was here, the monster had free roam and spilled blood without remorse. Having spent years trying to rein him in from his need for destruction, and being back here, had him demanding release.
Skid had the two drunk assholes tied to chairs in the center of the room with blindfolds over their eyes. One of them had pissed his pants and the room reeked of ammonia and fear. I kept my steps slow and deliberate as I made eye contact with Skid.
He offered a chin nod from his seat against the wall as my feet ate up the space between me and them. The monster deep inside was rattling the cage, begging to be set free. I cracked my neck and flexed my hands as I pushed him back down. I wasn’t going to kill these two assholes, but I would make sure they never tried to take advantage of another woman again.
It had been years since I had let him free and knowing these assholes had put their hands on her, was making it hard to control him. The monster had grown inside me until he ruled my life and it was only after I was able to escape Marco, after Devlin and I became legit, that he finally started to quiet down. I reached down to grab my brass knuckles when I heard footsteps behind me.
Turning, I saw my brother, my best friend, Devlin walking through the shadows. He smirked at me and his amused gaze wondered to the men moaning and complaining behind their gags.
