The Psycho (The Soldiers of Anarchy 1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Liv

By the time Friday came around, I had totally convinced myself that I’d got this. I was going to go to that asylum, The Sanctuary as they’d renamed it, and I would stay true to myself. I’d tell him that all the feelings he thought he felt were in his head. I was just an illusion to him, a dream he thought he wanted to make a reality. But life didn’t work like that. Real life was tough and messy, and I would never fit into the ideal he’d created of what he wanted me to be. I was complicated, hard work, and ever so slightly neurotic, despite portraying to the outside world that I had my shit together, and I didn’t suffer fools gladly.

I’d arranged for Hayden and Oliver to go and stay with Effy’s mum and dad for a few days. They loved spoiling them and they had the added bonus of their husky, Luna, being a great playmate to my over-energetic brothers. That was one problem taken care of, now to focus on the next hurdle.

I got a text from Emily early on Friday, asking if I wanted to go bowling with them all, but I told her I had a date, which I knew was one way to stop her from badgering me. The prospect of getting me paired off was too appealing, and so she wished me luck and told me I had to ring her the next morning with all the gory details.

This time, I decided to go for a simple black bandeau dress, short and stretchy, but it made me feel comfortable, powerful. Black felt more fitting for a place like The Sanctuary. I’d really missed the mark last time, wearing the red dress. As much as I liked to stand out, that wasn’t the place to draw attention to yourself. Sometimes, less was more.

I kept my hair down, my make-up simple, and sipped on my glass of wine to give me the courage I knew I needed. My trusty talisman, the Tiffany shell necklace my gran had given me before she died, sat around my neck, reminding me that I was a badass. I could do this. When the Uber sounded its horn from my driveway, I took one last look in the mirror, grabbed my clutch and headed out, determined that this time, it would be different.

A while later, the car pulled up outside the front of The Sanctuary, and just like before, I could see people crowding around the entrance, lining up to get in. I leant forward from the back seat and asked the driver, “Could you pull around to the side of the building? I’m not using the main entrance.” I have no idea why I told him that extra piece of information. Nerves, maybe? I did tend to ramble on whenever the nerves kicked in.

“No problem, love,” he said, pulling the car back out and driving the extra few metres to park up around the side.

I paid him and then got out of the car, straightening my shoulders to give myself a boost of confidence. I wanted to walk in there, showing everyone that I was a strong, forceful woman. Project power and positivity and it can change your life, or so the self-help book my mum had insisted I read a few months ago told me.

I walked over the uneven ground towards the side door, and just as I got closer, it swung open and Devon Brady stood there, looking at me like I’d come down from the last spaceship. So, we were back to playing this game again? Send another soldier down to get me and deliver me to his lair. I’d thought after the kiss we’d shared–well, two kisses–that he might show some degree of humility, but who was I kidding? This was the psycho. He didn’t act in the same way as the rest of us. I needed to remember that.

“I see he sent another lapdog to face me,” I said, stopping right in front of Devon and looking him up and down like I was about to tear him a new one. “I thought we’d finished with the mind games.”

“No games,” Devon replied in a monotone voice, and then he swallowed, showing a hint of vulnerability. “He wants me to show you the way. He got caught up with a few things, but he’ll be there.” He looked up at the staircase behind him as he said that, and I almost expected Adam to appear from the shadows, but he didn’t. This whole cloak and dagger shit was a far cry from the welcome I’d received the first time, and quite frankly, it was pissing me off.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Show me the way,” I said, feigning my enthusiasm. I was seriously doubting my ability to make sensible decisions lately and this was looking to be one of my worst. My head said turn and run, but I was ignoring that bitch in favour of the devil in my heart who wanted to know what I’d find at the top of those stairs.

He nodded to himself and stepped back to let me in. Once over the threshold, he locked the door behind me then told me to follow him up the back staircase. A dark, rickety old thing that I wasn’t even sure could hold our weight. I’d certainly be leaving behind a few dents from my heels on the softened wood. The smell of mildew and damp lingered in the air back here, and the graffiti that painted the walls was a far cry from the masterpieces Finn, Effy’s boyfriend, liked to paint. These walls were littered with crude graffiti tags and other pointless markings. Nice to see he’d rolled out the red carpet for me.

“Have you had to come far?” Devon asked, making a feeble attempt at conversation.

“I live in Sandland and I got an Uber,” I replied, making sure he could tell from my tone that a cosy chat wasn’t on the cards for him from me.

As we climbed the stairs, heading deeper into the heart of the building, my own heart started to beat harder in my chest. I could hear the thump of the bass from the floor downstairs, but the farther up you went, the more the atmosphere felt darker, more mysterious. Deadly promises were ahead, and I had no idea what I was walking into. Where the fuck was Devon leading me?

We came to a landing and Devon pushed a door open onto a long corridor. There, I could see people quietly milling about, not really paying much attention to me but opening doors and then disappearing inside. I seemed to remember Colton talking about themed rooms, and my mind started to whirl, thinking about what that actually meant. I followed Devon down to the end of the corridor, but as I walked past, each door stayed locked, keeping the secrets of whatever was happening behind them away from my prying eyes.

When we came to the final door at the end, Devon opened it and we both stepped inside, into a room with one girl sat behind a desk, tapping away on her computer. Now I was really fucking confused and my pissed off level had reached this-bitch-is-about-to-go-nuclear mode. Who the hell was she? And what the fuck was going on? It was starting to feel like I’d walked into a trap, and I didn’t like it.

“I think I’m just gonna leave.” I went to turn around and walk out of the door, but Devon closed it and then stood in front of me, blocking my way. “If you don’t want my foot in your ass, you’d better move out of the fucking way. Now,” I told him, but he just looked back at me and shook his head.

“You can’t leave. You have to give it a chance.”

“I don’t have to do shit. Let me out.” I tried to sidestep him, but he wasn’t having any of it.

“Please, just listen, two minutes. If you still want to leave after that, I’ll drive you home myself,” he pleaded.

“Like I’d get into a car with you,” I hissed back, but going against what my head was screaming, I went with my heart and turned back around to face the girl sat at the desk.

“So, what exactly is the deal here? You look like you’re about to sell me insurance.” I glared at her, wondering why the fuck he’d brought me up here. Was this some fucking joke? Were we about to enter the torture room I’d joked about to Colton before?

“Faye will just need to take you through some quick paperwork before you go through that door,” Devon said, pointing to another door at the side of the room, and I swung back around to give him my death stare.

“What the fuck do you mean, paperwork? What the fuck is this, Devon? Speak now or so help me God, I am out of here.”

“He wants to spend time with you, here, alone. He thought this was the best way to do it.”

Devon had the whole pathetic ‘trust me’ look down to a tee, but I wasn’t stupid. They called him the reaper for a reason. He wasn’t a man you could trust. And yet, here I still was, standing my ground, ready to get some answers.

“Using what? A fucking non-disclosure to protect his innocence?” I spat back.

“No. But there are boundaries.”

Boundaries?

Really?

He had watched me, stalked me for months, and here we were talking about fucking boundaries.

This really was a fucking joke.

I huffed at the stupidity of it all. I was losing the will to live, and fast.

“Probably better to skip to the main part and make it quick,” Devon said, leaning his head around me to address the desk girl, Faye.

“Fine,” she replied, sounding bored. “Sign the disclaimer, here and here. The room is sound proofed but if you use the safe word, ‘spike,’ you will be released from it as soon as it’s safe for you to do so. If you have any hard limits, list them below, and enjoy your experience.” She gave me the fakest grin and went back to typing. I wanted to pick up her fucking laptop and fling it across the room.

“Hard limits? My hard limits are being brought to a fucking room and spoken to like trash. I’m leaving. Tell him to have a nice life.”

I tried to push past Devon, but he held onto my arms to stop me.

“I think we can bypass the signatures this time, Faye,” he said, and then he looked at me. “Please, just go into the room. See him. You can leave at any time. You’re in control.”

I shrugged him off, not liking the lack of control I actually felt in this moment. But I had come this far. I had no idea what was going on and what I was walking into, but surely, I owed it to myself to see this through. Who was I kidding? I had a morbid fascination with what was on the other side of that door, and I’d always been a risk taker, a hell-raiser. I liked the challenge.

“Fine,” I said, shrugging out of his hold. “He has two minutes and then I’m gone.”

Faye didn’t even bother to look up as she pointed towards a door to her left, and I didn’t bother to say thank you for her stellar customer service. She could go and suck a dick.

When I opened the door, it led to a smaller corridor. It was narrow and dimly lit, with no windows to give natural light, and down at the far end was one door. I couldn’t hear anyone else down here, but that only added to the sinister feel of the place. Was this their own personal gateway to hell?

I could feel my heart beating rapidly, losing any regular tempo as it started to dance erratically in my chest, and my breathing became shallow. I felt like the typical blonde girl in the horror movies, and just like those dumbasses, I was heading right into danger without a second thought, but I couldn’t seem to stop my feet from moving forward.

“You’ve got this, Liv. You can do this,” I told myself.

When I got to the door at the end, I knocked, but there was no answer. So, I twisted the door handle and it opened to reveal a basic, square room. There were no windows, and the walls were painted black. Against one wall there was a black leather sofa, with a small chest of drawers to the side of it. Against another wall there was a table that appeared to be bolted to the floor. I noticed a door on the other side of the room, but it was closed.

Cautiously, I stepped in and closed the door behind me. Despite the sparse furnishings and dark walls, it was warm, and I glanced around, expecting to see something personal that might tell me who this room belonged to. But there was nothing.

Then suddenly, the whole room went dark. There wasn’t even a sliver of light showing from underneath the doorways. It was pitch black, and frantically, I started to look for something to steady myself. I still remembered the layout of the room. It wasn’t that hard to remember. It was small and ridiculously basic, so I took a few steps forward until I reached the table, and then I turned and faced the room, cursing myself that I hadn’t come better equipped with some kind of weapon to defend myself.

Being in this dark room and losing my sense of sight, my other senses began to kick in, working stronger and growing more attuned to the space around me. When I heard gentle breaths coming from across the room, I knew I wasn’t alone.

I didn’t call out though. I stood still, waiting, listening. I heard footsteps crossing the wooden floor, and I tried to keep my breaths slow and steady, even though it was becoming hard to fill my lungs with the level of tension I was currently experiencing.

I gripped the table with both my hands as I stood facing the room, and then I felt him. I could smell him too, that manly musky scent of his that did things to me, and I couldn’t stop myself from blurting out. “It’s you. I know it’s you. I’d know you anywhere.”

I heard him make a “shhh” sound but I wasn’t deterred.

“Why did you send Devon down to meet me? And who the fuck is that girl back there? What the fuck is going on here?”