Edge of Chaos (17 page)

Luke shakes his
head and opens his eyes and he’s back on his motorcycle on Highway One overlooking
Stinson Beach. That was not too bad as far as flashbacks go, but it was vivid.
It seems his life is becoming just one long series of poor choices and
unfortunate events and it all started when his father survived the attack on
him the day he was released from Folsom Prison.

Luke pulls out
back on the highway and decides to risk going back home. After all this time he
really doesn’t think his father will still be watching his house. He’ll go
there and wait for the next call to action. He just hopes Kayla doesn’t have to
pay too dearly for the delay in rescuing her.

Psychological
torture, while not physically painful can be equally terrifying. For twelve
uninterrupted hours Kayla is forced to listen to the agonizing screams of the
woman in the video. The 90 minute DVD just keeps repeating itself over and over
again leaving Kayla trying any number of ways to block out the sounds,
including doing some of her own shrieking; anything to blot out the woman’s
tortured screams.

Kayla wakes from her
nightmare to the screams of terror from the girl on the DVD. When Kayla’s
captors finally return, the air around her is rank with fear and the stench of adrenalin-laced
sweat. Gunnar walks up to Kayla and wrinkles his nose at her.

“Whew woman,
couldn’t you have held it? Gunnar asks. “You’re like, twenty feet from a
bathroom!”

Kayla refuses to
speak. Even though her tormentors turned off the DVD, she can still hear the
screams echoing around in her head. In fact she is finding it extremely difficult
to follow any conversation. There is just too much going on between her ears
right now. Looking at the four men, Kayla notices something interesting. Three
of them seem to radiate an aura of pure evil from their bodies. But the
fourth…he doesn’t fit. She gets the distinctive idea that he is there because
he has to be there, not because he wants to be. She wonders if he is the weak
link in the operation. The man that really creeps her out is the mousey one
called Kurt. Just by looking at him she can tell he really gets off on
torturing people. He walks up to Kayla and looks at her for a minute like he’s
trying to see inside her mind.

“Now here’s
something you’ll find interesting Kayla,” Gunnar says after a minute.

“I’m sure I
won’t,” Kayla replies.

“Kurt is something
of a mind reader,” Gunnar announces. “Right now he is looking into your psyche
and determining what form of torture will produce the most terrifyingly painful
experience. Fascinating isn’t it?”

“Thrilling,” Kayla
deadpans.

Finally Kurt looks
away and focusses on his tools. After some deliberation he finally chooses what
looks like a dentist’s drill. He holds it up for Kayla to see, and then he
turns it on just for a couple seconds. The effect is immediate. Kayla wrenches
away from him, arching her back.

After a moment he
turns it off.

“Didn’t think so,”
Kurt begins. “It’s far too tiny to impress you. Let me see… I think you’ll
respond better to something a little flashier…something with a little glam to
it perhaps.”

He goes back to
examining his tools. After a moment he selects the small blow torch. He turns
on the gas and ignites the flame.

“I get the sense
that you’re a person who appreciates the arts; and not just any art. No, I
think you really like things that are more Avant Garde…abstract if you will.
Tell me I’m wrong.”

Kayla keeps her
lips shut tight. She refuses to give the sadistic bastards any satisfaction of
her crying or screaming. Kurt holds the torch up in front of Kayla’s face. As
her eyes focus on the little blue flame her eyes dilate. She begins to breathe
faster and she’s starting to sweat.

“I knew it, I
fucking knew it!” Kurt proclaims with satisfaction. Then he turns to Gunnar.
“Did I not tell you she appreciates the arts?” Without waiting for an answer he
continues talking to Kayla. “You’d be amazed at the patterns you can make on a
person’s body with this little device,” he says pointing to his torch. “I’m
quite sure you’ll appreciate it.”

Kayla doesn’t say
a single word but the closer he gets to her with that thing she realizes her
resolve is probably only going to last about two seconds.

Kurt walks around
behind Kayla and watches as she squirms, trying to see what he’s doing back
behind her. Kayla clenches her teeth and her nails dig into her skin as she
waits for the burning to begin. She waits and waits but still nothing. Then she
smells something nasty. It takes her a moment then it hits her. She smells her
hair burning! Her body tenses, but she keeps her mouth clamped shut. Then
without warning rough hands grab the thin material of her sleeping shirt and
starts ripping at it. All of a sudden four men are grabbing at her shirt and
panties and tearing and ripping until there’s not a stitch of clothing on her
thin frame.

Soon shame and
embarrassment trumps her fear of pain; but not for long.

When the flame
finally touches the tender skin on her low back it feels like ice; but only for
an instant. Kayla arches her back, throws her head back and shrieks for all
she’s worth. She could not have even begun to imagine what it feels like to be
slowly burned alive. The pain is so intense Kayla loses all control of her body
and just starts jerking and bouncing and she flails about in every direction at
once. The third time the flame makes contact with her upper back she jerks so
hard the whole chair falls over sideways and she just squirms and jerks
spinning round and round. The four bikers stand back and watch her movements
with amusement.

If someone would
have told Kayla that someday she would be in so much pain she would try to
brain herself on the floor to escape it she’d have said they’re crazy. Tied to
a metal chair and lying on a dirty cement floor, Kayla jerks and strains
against her bonds. Pain breaks and flows across her body like ocean waves, each
one more powerful than the last. After a moment she relaxes her tightly shut
eyes and ventures opening one.

Kurt is holding a
drill bit in front of her face. The bit is about four inches long and maybe an
eighth of an inch in diameter.

“Don’t get too
carried away,” he cautions. “I want this to last a few days or so.”

Kurt nods, and
then returns his attention to his drill. He holds the drill right in front of
Kayla’s face while he slips the bit into place. Once seated in the drill he
tightens it and licks his lips with anticipation. He rests his index finger on
the trigger and watches Kayla’s reaction when he depresses it. Her eyes
literally grow two sizes and her heart begins to hammer painfully in her chest
as she watches the spinning drill bit. She begins screaming even before the bit
touches her knee cap.

The watching
biker’s expressions range from a dull boredom (Gunnar) to unabashed excitement
(Johnny C, the clubs new Sargent at Arms). The only person who isn’t enjoying
the show is the youngest of the four, Marcus. Torture, especially torture for
the sake of torture, is not what he signed up for. They have been terrorizing
the woman for close to 18 hours and no one has asked a single question of her.
The whole idea behind the kidnapping was to interrogate the victim to find out
where Luke is hiding out. Gunnar doesn’t seem to be even remotely interested in
finding out.

Kurt moves to drop
his pants, and that's the last straw for Marcus.

Marcus’s grip
tightens on his 9mm. He’s just about to draw it out when the window behind him
breaks and a metal canister flies through the air and lands in their midst.

“Kill the girl!”
Gunnar yells.

Marcus is the
first one to react. He lashes out with his foot knocking Kayla to the ground as
bullets tear through the vary air her body occupied a moment ago. Kurt is
useless. He still has his pants around his ankles and he stumbles and falls to
the ground; also unhurt. Johnny and Gunnar draw and fire simultaneously. Johnny
aims for Kayla while Gunnar points in the direction the tear gas grenade came
from and just starts spraying blindly. The attackers are prepared and wait for
the smoke to take full effect before they attempt a breach.

The Kings are
lucky that the attackers have one goal and one alone; rescue the girl. For that
reason they hold their fire when they realize the girl’s captors are rendered
useless. While Gunnar, Kurt, Johnny, and Marcus roll around on the ground, gasping
for air, guns long forgotten, two of the assailants grab Kayla, chair and all
and hoof it for the exit.

The attack is over
as quickly as it began. Not two minutes after the canister of tear gas sails
through the window, the four masked attackers and their captive disappear into
the night leaving four bewildered bikers choking in their wake.

Kayla’s ordeal
lasts a little while longer, having not had the benefit of a gas mask. Her
rescuers choose to forgo giving her a mask in the interest of getting out of
there before anymore bullets begin to fly. She lies in the backseat of the Ford
truck gagging and choking and there’s nothing that can be done about it, but at
least she's safe.

Luke purposely
chooses to ride in the other truck to give Kayla some time to get her head
straight before he springs what will probably be an unhappy reunion upon her.

The plan went off
without a hitch. They decided to limit the raiding party to five guys. Luke
didn't want to risk more men than necessary getting shot or captured by his
father’s men.

Luke’s emotions
run the gamut from the pure excitement of a successful mission to deep remorse
every time he recalls the last day he and Kayla were together. He smacks his
forehead with the heel of his hand; as if that will help knock out some painful
memories. They're on the way to the clubs new headquarters in Richmond. The
brothers who had defected from the Suicide Kings now meet at fabrication shop
owned and operated by one of the brothers. They call themselves the Sons of
Chaos and their ranks are swelling, but it’s going to be tough operating in the
same area that's crawling with clubs like the Suicide Kings, the Harbingers,
and the Dead Soldiers just to mention a few.

When Luke and the
brothers arrive, the Sons of Chaos are gathered in force. As they pull up Luke
sees what must be well over fifty Harley’s in the shop’s lot. Luke elects to
let them get Kayla situated and comfortable before he shows up. He hangs around
the brothers for a couple hours getting caught up. He's been out of the loop
for nearly a year and has no idea what's been going on.

Shortly after Luke
disappeared key members of the Suicide Kings split off from their club and
begin riding under different colours. Before long they were over 60 strong.
Clashes with the Kings were frequent and often deadly. For that reason they
rarely show up in force at their clubhouse. The last thing they want is an open
war with the Kings. Many members of the Sons are ex-soldiers with combat
experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and they 're convinced that on their own
terms they can defeat and run the Kings out of town.

The Kings are
scrambling to increase their ranks by having frequent patch over parties with
some of the smaller clubs in the area. They tried to get the Devil Dogs patched
over but the Sons beat them to the punch and now they have a strong presence up
north. Luke learns all this as he waits for a good time to approach Kayla. He
also learns that the Sons want him to lead as their new President.

After a quick vote
Corey, younger brother of Marty who was murdered by Harbingers last year,
presents Luke with his cut, replete with the proper three part patch, his
diamond 1%er patch, and the President patch as well; it’s official.

Some of the
brothers break out the booze and it’s time to celebrate and unwind. Luke hangs
with his new and old brothers for another hour or so before he finally feels
the time is right to go see Kayla. She is resting in Brian and Cherry’s house.
They have a large house on the same property as the shop and it’s well guarded
by the Sons of Chaos. They know all too well that the Kings are going to be
looking for revenge. Wearing his new cut, Luke knocks on the door and the
brother’s old lady lets him in.

“Come one in
Luke,” says an attractive blond woman. “My name is Cherry. Your woman is in the
last room on the right.”

“Thank you so much
for looking after her Cherry.”

“Anything for a
brother,” she replies with genuine sincerity. “She should be awake now. I just helped
her get a shower and I gave her a bite to eat. Just…just…well, she is in bad
shape Luke so be prepared. Those fuckers had her for several days I think and
it was brutal.”

“Should we be
taking her to the hospital?” Luke asks anxiously.

“I’m actually a
nurse over at Saint Josephs, and I’m the one who’s been looking after her.
There’s nothing more to do except give her time to heal.”

Luke thanks her
for her help and walks down the long hall to the last room on the right. He
takes a deep breath, lets it out with a long sigh, and knocks on the door.