Fractured Minds (Rebels of Sandland 3)

true.

I was all he noticed.

Me.

And knowing that made everything else fade into oblivion.

Finn Knowles was and always would be my happily ever after.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d turn into one of those guys. The kind that clings to his girlfriend and wishes the rest of the world would fuck off forever. But I was that guy now, and when my phone buzzed with a call from Ryan, I didn’t want to answer it. I let it go to voicemail and stayed under the covers, holding Effy in my arms as we talked about our plans for the future.

The future.

I couldn’t believe I actually might have one of those.

My phone buzzed again a few more times and she insisted that I pick it up, but when I grabbed it off the floor, I saw it wasn’t only Ryan trying to get in contact with me, the soldiers were after me as well.

Theirs wasn’t a message I wanted to open up in her house. I didn’t want any of their filth infecting this part of my life. Looked like I was going to have to check back into reality pretty fucking quickly, and what a shitty reality it was too.

Reluctantly, I got up and started to get myself dressed, stopping every few seconds to lie back down on the bed she was still lying on and kiss her. I didn’t want to leave, but I explained that I needed to see Ryan about our latest party. She’d had the invite, so she knew all about it, and being the perfect girlfriend that she was, she didn’t argue. We made plans to go out the next night, and when she walked me to the door, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her so tightly she gave a little squeak. There was another reason that I loved her; the cute noises she made. The thought of spending the rest of my life with this girl, and finding more and more reasons to love her made me smile. For once, luck was on my side.

I started to walk back towards Zak’s place. I hadn’t spoken to my parents in weeks, but I really didn’t care. They had my number and they hadn’t rung me either. Pretty sure if I won the lottery they’d have been kissing my ass though. They only wanted me when I was useful to them, and I wasn’t paying rent anymore, so I was officially surplus to requirements.

The roads were quiet, but my mind was not, so I took a detour through the park and headed to the underpass where I’d painted my Effy masterpiece all those months ago. I ducked through the bushes that were growing wild and made my way to the secluded spot, away from prying eyes and listening ears. Leaning against the wall opposite, I grinned to myself when I looked at her. It was a pretty good likeness even if I did say so myself. And then, I ducked my head down and took my phone out of my pocket. From heaven to hell in a matter of seconds.

I opened their text and clicked the video link. It was the same as before, grainy footage taken in the warehouse. The lighting was dimmer this time, but I could still see my uncle slouched forward on the chair he was tied to. His fingers, or rather, the place where his fingers used to be, were a bloody gruesome mess, and he sounded like a wounded animal, crying and groaning in pain.

I turned the volume up, hoping to hear something from the soldiers or some clue as to where they were keeping him, but I couldn’t make anything out. The camera panned across his face, his body and then moved back to show the full view of him sitting down again. I heard banging next, which made me flinch slightly with how loud the volume on my phone was turned up. A soldier came into view holding a steel baseball bat. This guy had a black and white bandana tied across his face. It wasn’t Adam Noble or Colton King, that much I could tell, but I had no idea who this one was.

He started to laugh like a freak and just stood there, to the side of Tony, looking down at him like this was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. Then he put both hands on his bat and lifted it up, swung it back down and bang, he smashed it into Tony’s legs. Tony cried out and threw his head back in agony. But this guy didn’t let up, he kept going, lifting his bat up and swinging it back down on his knees with so much force I thought the bat would break in two. Tony’s legs jolted at first on every impact, but eventually that stopped, and he sat there limp and pathetic as the soldier smashed his kneecaps into dust.

When the guy had had enough, he threw his bat onto the floor and grabbed a fistful of Tony’s hair, yanking his head forward to face the camera.

“No more running from the police for you,” the guy said in a sing-song voice, toying with my uncle. “You’ll never be able to run away from the filth that you are ever again.” He pushed my uncle’s head back and then wiped his hands on his jeans with a hint of disgust. I held my breath as he walked with a confident swagger towards the camera, staring right into the screen like a psycho, then gave me the peace sign.

And then it cut out.

This wasn’t over yet.

My uncle was still alive, still breathing air into his rancid, vile body.

I needed it to be over. For me. I didn’t give a shit what they did to him, but I was tired of this. Tired of the constant panic that he might escape. Or that they’d kill him and still spread his vicious legacy wherever they could. Would I ever be free of this nightmare that he’d dragged me into all those years ago?

My skin prickled with revulsion and I felt vulnerable and exposed, even though I was hiding under this underpass. I had to get away. Having her looking down on me while I thought about what he’d done made me want to throw up. So I ran out, sprinting my way back through the park, and when my phone rang again, and I saw it was Ryan, I answered.

“Dude, why are you ghosting me?” He sounded pissed off, but I didn’t give a shit.

“I wasn’t. I was with Effy.” I panted, breathlessly. Not that I felt the need to justify myself. I was tense, antsy, and I had to take it out on someone, right?

“Cool. I’ll let you off this time. Em told me you and Eff are official now.” News certainly travelled fast. To be honest, I was glad he was chilled out and hadn’t picked up on my anxiety. “Are you free to come with us to scope out this factory then or what? It was your idea.”

I froze, not really loving the idea of crossing over into Brinton Manor after everything I’d just seen, but I didn’t want to raise any suspicions. Not now. There was too much at stake.

“I’m ready when you are.”

“Be at Zak’s in ten minutes or we’re leaving without you.” Ryan was back to his matter-of-fact, curt responses.

I heard some sort of commotion down the phone, like he’d dropped it, but then Brandon’s voice came through and I knew he’d grabbed it off Ryan to say his piece.