Ride Hard

I stand there for another few seconds before finally turning and making my way toward the stairs. I’m about to take the first step when I hear the chains rattling.

“Why am I here?” His voice is deep and harsh, very masculine.

I look over my shoulder at him, swallowing roughly, curling my hand around the wooden banister of the stairs.

“Who the fuck are you people and why did you bring me here?” he asks again and sits up straighter, his voice harsher, more aggressive. But it’s as if he catches himself, and his expression softens ever-so-slightly, although I don’t think this man could ever really look soft.

I face him once more and take a couple steps toward him, knowing better than to get too close. “I haven’t tampered with the food, if that’s what you’re worried about.” I look down at where I set the water and food. “If you don’t trust me, you can see the water is still sealed, and the apple… well, it’s an apple.” I shrug. “The sandwich pocket, I just heated up.”

Still, he says nothing, and a part of me knows he doesn’t care about any of this. He wants to know why he’s here, because then he can decide what to do, which will probably kill us all.

I smooth my hands up and down my jeans. “I’m nobody,” I say honestly. Still, he doesn’t move, doesn’t respond.

After a moment, he glances over at the water and food and shifts slightly, which makes me take a step back. He stops moving and glances at me, the corner of his mouth rising slowly, as if he’s amused I’m terrified. While holding my gaze with his, he reaches out, grabs the water, and pops the cap so you hear the snap of the seal being broken.

He never once takes his focus off me as he chugs the water, finishing the whole thing in one go. Then he goes for the apple. When it’s in his hand, he rests back against the wall, biting into the flesh, the crack of his teeth breaking the skin seeming to echo throughout the basement.

“I’m sure you’re someone,” he finally replies in between eating the apple.

I shake my head slowly. “I don’t know why you’re here. I don’t know why he took you.” I hear the sound of a door opening and slamming closed and glance at the ceiling, my heart racing, fear closing in. The heavy fall of footsteps pounds right above me.

Einstein is home.

If he catches me down here, it won’t be good. It’ll be even worse if he’s high, which he most likely is. Einstein isn’t shy about slapping me around when he’s strung-out on crystal, and this will set him over the edge. He may be a nasty junkie, but he’s stronger than I am.

I can feel the fear pouring out of me as I listen to those footsteps move from one room to another. And then I hear the front door open and close once more. I exhale slowly and look back at the man. He’s watching me with this strange expression on his face.

“If he catches me down here....” I shake my head, a cold, clammy sweat breaking over my body.

“Get the key and let me go, and I can protect you from him.” His voice is smooth and calm.

But I know he can’t protect me. As soon as he’s free, he’ll come after me. His MC will destroy us, because we are connected to Einstein.

“I don’t know where the key is,” I say honestly, although I assume Einstein has it on him at all times. “I’m sorry,” I whisper and turn to leave, not looking back even though I can feel his stare on me the entire time.Chapter SixRideI watch the girl disappear, and long after she’s gone, my gaze is still glued to the door. I learned quite a bit just now, but not enough. Whoever it is who took me, she’s afraid of him. I’ve stayed alive by reading people, and the fear I saw on her face went bone-deep.

She’s terrified, and yet she’s risking everything to bring me food and water—hell, to just be down here. That seems strange to me. Usually, in my dealings with people, they think of themselves first. It’s that instinct to survive that drives them. This girl is risking everything by bringing me food. I’m still not sure what her angle is, but I figure she has one. Still, she’s got compassion in her, and I can use that to my advantage.

I finish my apple and toss the core against the wall opposite me. It bounces off the cinder block and rolls an inch away. I stare at it for a second, thinking of what I’m going to do. This place is even worse with light filtering through the small rectangular windows at the top of the cinder-blocked walls. The glass is dirty as fuck, but dingy light still filters down. This place is even more of a shitshow than I initially thought. At least it’s big. I fucking hate small, tight spaces.