“Let’s not kill anyone we don’t have to.” Lenny looked down at our feet where the two guys were laying. “We don’t know if they’re even in on what is really going on here.”
“Maybe you should have mentioned that before I threw someone into the ocean.” Dane clenched his jaw.
“It was necessary.” I patted Dane on the back. “Let’s find Lyric.”
Some more bloodshed was necessary before we got to the bottom of the ship. One of the guys we encountered put up a fight and I had to put a knife in his gut to stop him from snapping Maximo’s neck. I didn’t regret my decision, even as I watched the life drain out of his eyes. When we got to the cargo area, we saw a light, and heard a thud, followed by a grunt. The sound was repeated again as we got closer. I motioned for everyone to be quiet and peered around the corner once we were almost to the point of the noise. We saw a man, dressed in black pants, tied to a hook that hung overhead. He looked to be in awful shape with blood coming from his mouth, dried blood around his nose, and bruises all over his body. I saw a rather large man step forward and punch him in the gut. It was the thud we heard, and the grunt appeared to be the man’s breath being forced out of his lungs.
“I’d like to say, I don’t enjoy this, Prince Harland.” The man chuckled and lit a cigarette, which absorbed some of the blood on his hands into the whiteness. “You’ve always been a cocky, arrogant prick.”
“Fuck you...” Prince Harland sputtered, blood coming from his mouth as weak words were spoken.
“This will all be over when someone pays your ransom. After that, I don’t have to stop beating you when you’re within an inch of your life.” He chuckled and exhaled a stream of smoke.
“I’m not there yet.” Prince Harland remained defiant, even when it resulted in another punch on top of flesh that appeared to have endured a lot of punishment.
“Once your ransom is paid, I’m going to have fun with that pretty little thing your cell. We haven’t touched her yet because she gives you hope. No matter how much we beat you, she always manages to bring you back so you can spend more time out here with me.” He punched Prince Harland again.
“Touch her and I’ll fucking kill you!” Prince Harland’s body jerked against the chain holding his arms.
“I’ll let you watch while I do it. That way it can be the last thing you see before you taste death.” He threw another punch, connecting with Prince Harland’s skull.
“Okay, we have to take this motherfucker down.” I motioned to the group. “I don’t know how many others could be in this area, but he’s between us and Lyric.”
“Let me at him.” Dane vibrated with anger.
We charged into the room. I was the first one to reach the behemoth of a man, who only seemed to grow larger as I got closer. When I tried to tackle him, he didn’t even move. He was startled but he reacted without hesitation, driving an elbow down into the back of my shoulder. I felt a bone pop and my knife fell to the floor before I could use it. The man’s strength was godlike. I fell to the floor clutching my shoulder and the man brought a boot down on my good arm, trapping me in place. Maximo hit him with all of his weight. It was like running into a brick wall. The man picked up Maximo and threw a man that was built like a tank as easily as if he was swatting a fly. Dane’s rage was enough to keep him from going down as easily. He got both arms around one of the man’s powerful biceps and plunged a knife into his gut. The man just laughed and kneed Dane in the face. He yanked the knife out of his stomach and drove it into Dane’s back before he hit the ground.
“Prince Harland! You brought friends!” He threw his head back with hideous laughter. “One of them appears to be shy. Are you just going to stand there holding that ax or are you going to come over here so I can shove it up your ass?”
“You know what?” Lenny tossed the ax to the ground. “Just fucking die.”
Lenny reached behind his back and pulled out his gun. We had discussed not using them unless we had to because it would draw everyone to us when they heard gunfire. I felt like it was definitely a necessity at that point. None of us were weak men, but the guy that had been hired to serve as Prince Harland’s personal torture device was no ordinary man. He had snapped my scapula. Maximo wasn’t moving and I didn’t know if he was still breathing after slamming into the floor headfirst. Dane was bleeding on the floor and the knife wound in his back was going to be fatal if he didn’t get help soon.
“Do you know how many bullets it would take to put me down?” The man started walking towards Lenny.
“Yeah. One.” Lenny fired and I saw the man stop in his tracks.
The man seemed to pause mid step, and then collapsed to the floor. He rolled towards me and it appeared that Lenny’s bullet had went straight through his eye. I struggled to push myself up, clutching my arm. Prince Harland was dangling from the chain. Lenny ran over and unhooked him while I checked on Dane. He was breathing, but unconscious. Maximo started to get up on his own, and then we heard shouting. More people were coming. I hoped they weren’t as big as the first one.
They started pouring into the room and Lenny picked up his ax, charging them before they realized what was happening. Gunfire erupted as some of them fired. I waded into the thick of it with one good arm and a knife, stabbing anyone that wasn’t wearing a wetsuit. Maximo staggered over and started attacking as well. I don’t know how many of them there were, but I was soaked in blood before the last one fell.
“Okay...” I spit some blood out of my mouth. “Now, let’s go get our girl.”
“I’m fucked.” Lenny turned towards me and I saw a bullet wound in his stomach that was gushing blood.
“Lenny! Fuck!” Maximo grabbed Lenny before he could hit the ground.
Chapter 19: Lyric
Hope was gone. Every time that Harland was taken from my cell, he returned with wounds that took him closer to the end of his life. It was clear that his suspicion was right. The people that had taken us had no intention of keeping him alive. I saw lust in the guard’s eyes each time one of them came to our cell to take Harland away or bring him back. I wasn’t sure what had kept them from taking me, but I knew it was my fate. No matter how compliant I was, they weren’t just going to throw me into the ocean without satisfying that lust. It burned too bright. Each time they came, they seemed to be fighting back an urge. I kept Harland alive and nursed him back to health each time they returned with him. I was grateful for those moments, because they would be the last ones I had.
I’m sorry I can’t take your pain away, sweet prince.
Harland was ripped away from me before he was even recovered. No amount of time could have let him recover. They rarely let him go more than a couple of hours without enduring another beating. They stayed away from his face for the most part after the first few beatings, but his body was nothing but a solid bruise from head to toe. I had no idea how he managed to survive without internal bleeding. It was downright horrifying to hear his screams when they finally did break him, and they broke him every time. I sat on the edge of my bed crying. I couldn’t hear the actual beating, so I just waited for the scream.
It didn’t come.
Something was happening. There was shouting, but I couldn’t make out the words. Then there was a gunshot. I sank down to the floor and started sobbing.