The Ghost and the Darkness Volume 1 (The Fallocaust Series Book 2) (37 page)

I wanted to laugh but I couldn’t over the poison rising in my throat, it was burning me with every attempted swallow. I was rather fucked.

We were all fucked… King Silas didn’t do well with threats. Reaver had tried to bargain a cicaro’s life for Killian and that had failed. There was no way he was going to exchange Elish for that little cicaro.

Poor fucker…

My eyes looked over the paper and I did memorize it, for no reason other than to take the heat off of me and the other captives. If I didn’t do as this red-haired fuck asked I would only get pummelled more. I wasn’t an idiot; I had learned how people like this worked. Bridley had been the same way. I had fought him tooth and nail when he had first locked me in his bedroom but eventually I just complied. Now I knew Kerres had my ass, I’d rather comply than get beat and then comply anyways.

An hour later he came back with the golden-haired one I had met before in Skyland, named Shale. They hoisted me to my feet and walked me out of my cell.

The sewers were dark brick, dripping water and radrat piss like my cell had been. Cylinder tunnels that stretched out and branched off deep inside of Moros. I could see cigarette butts and garbage on the floors, some of it slowly being taken away by the sewer current. The smell was god awful.

I walked, or limped rather, my movements nothing but half-hearted shuffles and the occasional stumble when they pushed me. My whole body was battered and bruised; even a molar had been knocked out of my mouth when they’d beat me with the butts of their guns. I hadn’t broken any bones I think, but I definitely had more than a few internal injuries.

At least they hadn’t raped me; that I didn’t think I could handle. Kay got the brunt of that.

As my sentry instincts commanded me, I scanned and memorized my surroundings. But all of it was the same, long stretching tunnels of decaying brick, and the occasional bluelamp or extension cord plugged into old halogens.

If Garrett knew where I was… they could raid this place and find me.
I sighed, wishing it was that easy, but I doubt if I started yelling my location while I was reading my random note they would release it. I was screwed, I really was.

There must be a way to alert him somehow. Think, Reno, think…

I had still been a teenager when Bridley had kept me captive, raped me, and beat me within an inch of my life. I wished so badly during those several days that there had been a way for me to signal Reaver. My best friend hadn’t even known what was happening to me. I sometimes spent several days in my cabin without us seeing each other. It was only when I missed a trojan caravan that he had stormed up to my cabin ready to beat me himself.

He realized I was gone and put the pieces together quickly.

My thoughts were knocked out of my brain as Kerres roughly pushed me into a room.

Smart guy, this room didn’t look like the sewer at all.

There was a video camera resting on a tripod, pointed at a brown chair and most interestingly: a coloured flag. I assumed that was the mighty Crimstone flag, the name of their terrorist organization. It had a green rock with red flecks in the middle, with a crimson background.

“Sit.” Kerres commanded. He jabbed me in the back with his assault rifle.

As I sat down I saw two other people I didn’t recognise, a man and a woman, also holding assault rifles they had so conveniently pointed at me.

They had watched too many movies… I looked forward at the video camera and shook my head. I didn’t want to say the things on that paper. I didn’t want Garrett to think I was scared, I wasn’t.

I didn’t fear death, dying was a part of the greywastes, it happened to everyone. I had buried a sister, a brother, and a father and I had eaten them too with my family. The threat of being killed was lost on me, in the end we all ended up as food. Our bodies helped our family and friends live another day and that was just life.

Think, Reno… think.

“Okay, record the video… tell us when you’re ready, Vecht.” Kerres glanced over and I realized that the man holding the assault rifle was now sitting in front of a computer. He was typing away on it with his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. The kid looked like he was sixteen, brown hair and a rat-like face.

I felt the tip of Shale’s rifle jab me in the temple. “We will shoot you, whore. We will do worse than that. I will fuck you until you call me baby.”

“Go fuck yourself,” I suddenly snapped.

As the butt of his gun hit me in the side of my head I wondered why the hell I had just done that. I had been sensitive to threats like that, more Bridley issues, but I had thought I had outgrown those triggers. I guess not.

Someone grabbed me before I could slip off of the chair but the damage was done. White lights collected on the corners of my vision and the room began to spin. I spat a mouthful of blood and grimaced as a wave of pain swept through my already tender body.

Fucking Morosians… fuck…ing... Moros... Morosi…

Mors… Morse…

Morse code, you idiot.

Morse code… okay, do you remember it?

I closed my eyes pretending to be knocked out cold and racked my brain to try and remember my training. Every sentry attended this class; Leo had hammered it into us.

Morse code, radio Morse code when you were in a situation where you had to secretly call for help.

I didn’t have a radio but I could blink. Would those stupid chimeras even notice? I didn’t know but it was the only thing I could do. I remembered enough Morse code to get by.

I felt a hand wrench my head up and a hard smack to my face. I opened my eyes and saw the red light of the video camera beeping.

My eyes fell to around my surroundings. Every piece of brick had been covered by their flag, even the floor had a sheet draped over it.

I could hear breathing behind me and in the reflection of the camera lens I saw two figures cloaked in black, holding rifles. They looked every bit like terrorists even down to having black ski masks over their faces.

I blinked hard, trying to banish the shimmering lights from my vision. That was the last time I blinked, I didn’t want them mistaking the Morse code for my eyes needing to be adjusted.

“My name is Reno Nevada from Aras…” My eyes flicked over to Kerres, I saw him frown, well away from the glare of the camera but he didn’t say anything. “And I am Garrett Dekker’s fiancé.”

M… for Moros. Two long blinks.

“And I love him very much.”

S.

“Garrett, I’m scared. They’ve beaten me badly and I’m in fear for my life.”

E.

“Whatever you have to do please surrender Elish over to the Crimstones along with ten thousand tokens.”

W.

“The drop will be made in Sheryn Park five days to the minute of this videos release.”

E.

“Failure to comply will result in the execution of the cicaro Kay.”

R. Ending in two short blinks followed by a long one.

I saw the red light disappear, then a hard impact against my head. I fell to the ground and groaned; my face hitting the sheet-covered brick hard. After that the next thing I remembered was waking up in the dark cell again.

My mind went a bit squirrely after. Though it more than likely was a combination of where I was, what I wasn’t eating, and how many blows to the head I had received. Either way, time melted to a depthless soup over the next several days.

The only thing that kept me from ranting and raving like a lunatic was the faint hope that one of the chimeras would pay enough attention to realize my blinking wasn’t just from finally seeing light. Though as the time bled on, I became more and more discouraged.

But I still had my hope, and the love for Garrett and my two buds to keep me going. I tried to channel Reaver and force myself to be strong. That guy had gotten through worse. He had been chained up for a couple of weeks when Perish Dekker had imprisoned him, and at least I was sleeping.

Though he had good food, Killian nearby giving him love, and a warm room to stash himself. I was in a dank and damp hell hole, laying in my own piss and blood.

Well, that was your situation Reno… don’t give them the satisfaction of seeing you upset about it. You’ve been through worse; at least you’re still alive.

And as long as I was breathing, I was in a good place.

Like my mind was trying to relay the point to me, I inhaled a breath. My ribs ached and my parched throat tensed as the cold stale air filled my lungs. I coughed and spat out a wad of phlegm, before continuing to count water droplets.

Then there was a fuck load of yelling.

The door was thrown open, spreading light on me that was more a searing discomfort than relief. I immediately felt my body recoil, anticipating getting my ass kicked again.

Kerres was shouting; there was a flurry of activity around me. My body got grabbed and dragged and I felt the stale piss smell of my cell start to fade into the distance.

There was a rush going through my body, giving me enough strength to at least open my eyes to see the faces to the angry voices. I squinted and made out Kerres and Shale, and two more men.

How many Crimstones were there? Usually Shale fed me and taunted me, Kerres sometimes but only when he needed something from me. I wonder if Kerres had convinced them they had a higher calling besides him settling a grudge match with Elish.

Then Shale cast aside his usual muted but ignorant tone and let out a yell of rage. I was dropped to the ground where he proceeded to beat the living shit out of me.

Like he was underwater I heard the muffling yell of Shale before I started to get dragged again. Kerres was shouting and snapping, I heard a fight break out behind me.

The fight faded and I was mercilessly chucked into another room. I landed on my side and didn’t even make an attempt to move.

This place smelled better at least. I tried to inhale but ended up coughing up more phlegm, yellow slimy muck that stuck to my lungs like the black slime we saw on the bricks of old buildings.

“I checked you out… and you weren’t lying. You are a greywaster.”

Kerres grabbed my collar and pulled me up; I managed a sitting position and lifted my neck so I could look him in the eye.

“No shit,” I croaked, barely recognising my own voice. I sounded like a frog that had just been put through a blender, and I felt like one too.

Kerres lit a cigarette and took an inhale. He kneeled in front of me. “And you’re Reaver of Aras’s best friend too, aren’t you?”

Yes, and he’ll find you and murder you slowly. “Indeed I am.”

“Reaver… the person King Silas is quite interested in finding…” Kerres let his voice drag with a creepy smile on his face.

The hair behind my neck bristled. I didn’t know how he knew this but my educated guess was that Caligula’s little boyfriend Nico had cracked. The other two were pets, Nico was a full-fledged member of the team and Caligula had been there when King Silas came to Aras. Though the Crimstones looked to be made up of people from all districts so maybe he had rats in high places.

I coughed and spat more phlegm. “I’m assuming your ransom video didn’t go well?”

Kerres’s jaw tightened and his dark eyes blazed, my hatred of him got the best of me. “King Silas won’t trade any of us for Elish. You were stupid to think it would work.”

The room went tense, the crimson Morosian looked down at me with distain. It radiated off of him like a thick stench. Not just fear though, I saw desperation in his eyes which scared me more than anger ever could.

“You’re right, Reno. He won’t… but he will trade Elish for information on where to find Reaver.”

I swallowed as those words left Kerres’s lips, and as the silver smoke fell from his mouth he lowered the cigarette and rubbed the ember into my bruised hand.

I clenched my teeth but said nothing more; I steeled my body and washed any outwards signs of pain on my face. I focused on the door knob behind Kerres, and dismissed any other sense around me.

“How am I supposed to know where Reaver is? I got shot in the gut and thrown on a plane by Elish and Jade,
your
Jade. I woke up in Elish’s hospital that’s all I know.”

I took in a rattling breath through my nose as he extinguished the cigarette on my arm, before taking my chin into his hand. Kerres clenched it and rose my face up so I was looking at him.

I hated it when they did that… made you look at them. Silas had done it… Bridley had done it. It was their wonderful way of trying to show you who was boss. Well, I had bosses already, and I didn’t answer to anyone but Reaver and maybe Garrett.

Reaver owned my soul and Garrett owned my heart. Kerres owned my body and he could do what he wanted with it. I wouldn’t say a word.

The asshole shook my chin in his hand; his smoke dusting ash on my face.

My ears picked up a strange crackling noise. I glanced down and Kerres did too.

He was holding a plastic electronic in his hand, with a blue lightning-like electricity bolt that shot between two prongs. I only saw it for a moment before he pushed it into my inner thigh.

The pain was nothing I had ever experienced before, an overbearing wave of electric shock that ripped through my body with such ferocity I felt like it was exploding my veins.

Immediately I felt my entire body clenched so tight my muscles spasmed.

I gasped, my mind had tried to swallow the tsunamis of pain but the scream broke my lips. With a rattled groan the electric shock subsided and I was left a puddle of nothing on the floor, heaving and choking to fill my congested lungs with air.

“Where is Reaver?”

My mind jammed inside of me, the wheels stopped turning and all I could do was stare forward. A few moments passed before my lips moved.

“Do whatever you want, I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

There was no reason for him to suspect that Elish had saved Reaver, and that was what I would solely believe no matter what he did to me. I would never sell out Reaver or bring down any hopes we had for killing King Silas. My life just wasn’t that important. Reaver and Tink being safe and King Silas getting raped and murdered, that was what was important.

I watched unblinking as Kerres’s desperation filled him. Though what a few minutes ago was nervousness at his desperation, now I could be no more indifferent. If he was going to kill me for not telling him what he wanted, he could go right ahead. I wasn’t selling out Elish’s rebellion.

There was just nothing more to say about that.

“Everyone has their breaking points, Reno, and I will find yours,” Kerres said lowly. He rose to his feet and dealt me a hard kick right to the back.

My mind went hazy after that but I heard a click of the door as he closed it. Ignoring the burning pain in my inner thigh and the still bruised and open injuries on my body I shuffled myself back into the sitting position.

With blurry eyes I scanned the room I was in. To my amazement there was an old TV in the corner with bunny ears. I shuffled my sorry corpse over and turned it on.

It turned on… well, it looks like we got reception in this hell hole.

Good ol’ Skyfall TV. I turned to channel three which was the news channel and wiggled the long antennas.

Like a slap in the face, my emotions came rushing to me. My heart hurt inside my chest as I saw my suave chimera standing beside King Silas. It looked like they were holding a conference in front of Skytower.

He looked well physically but it was an act, I could see it in his light green eyes. They were big, and staring, like he was doing everything he could to show unwavering confidence.

Behind him I could also see Ares, Siris, Artemis, Nero, and Caligula, each one holding the exact same expression: pissed off.

“We will not negotiate with terrorists; we kill terrorists!” Silas’s voice was cold to a point where even I was surprised. “And any attempts at negotiation will be met with such action you saw today.”

A man’s voice narrated over King Silas, I realized this must’ve been recorded at another time. The TV switched to a view of a green park, with King Silas and Elish, face-to-face with who I think was Vecht, the cicaro Kay, and five other masked Crimstones holding assault rifles. It was two chimeras against a fleet of men and women armed to the teeth.

My mouth fell open as I watched what happened next. With the male voice narrating I saw King Silas take out a gun and shoot Vecht in the head, before both Elish and himself turned guns on the other Crimstones. A gun fight ensued that ended quickly. The Crimstones went down one by one, as bullets shot into King Silas and Elish without either of them flinching or batting an eye.

Kay wasn’t that lucky. Before one of the Crimstones went down he shot Kay in the back. He fell down with his mouth open in a soundless scream. I felt my heart wrench for him. I had heard that kid sobbing in my cell just several days ago.

When it was over, with both of them bleeding but still standing, Elish and Silas walked from the park, the camera zoomed out to show them eventually getting into a black car.

“– Reno Nevada of Block Aras. The video was taken a week ago, and shows Reno pleading for the life of him and the other captives, all held at origins unknown
.” I grimaced at my own self on the television. Though it was neat seeing myself on the TV I looked like absolute shit. Half-dazed with blood streaked all over my body. My hair was getting black roots too.

But at least I was blinking, yeah, at least I had done that right.

“Reno Nevada is engaged to Skytech mogul and chimera Garrett Dekker. Garrett Dekker had this to say:”

“Our family bends a knee to no one, my king saved your ancestors from the war and this is our repayment? Folly,”
my suave chimera said. He was being ushered into the building by Saul.
“Reno knows and understands that my family will not turn over Elish. I suggest to his captors they let Reno and the rest of the captives go, and take it as a lesson learned. The Dekker family bows to no –”

I yelled and jumped back as two arms broke my view of the TV. They slammed into the television and pushed it off of the tray. I scrambled back as the television crashed onto the ground, the screen shattering onto the brick sending sparks and smoke up to the ceiling.

A blow to my face knocked me off of my feet. I fell backwards; the hands bound behind my back wrenching from their sockets making me clench my teeth so hard I thought they would break.

To my surprise and confusion it wasn’t Kerres, it was Shale. The blond-haired one with the brown eyes, the arrogant but quiet piece of shit who had spat on me more times than I could count.

Then he turned on me, I already had had my brain matter electrified so I didn’t feel a single blow. A steady numbing essence had seeped itself through my skin, and though I was lucidly aware, I didn’t feel any pain.

But when I tried to think… my mind didn’t function properly. I recognised this feeling with grim realization, this had happened on day three of Bridley beating and raping me. I had woken up feeling different, like I was always hovering just an inch over my body, the shell of me soaking up the pain and emotional torment, leaving my spirit free to watch, but out of pain.

Shale hit me, and through choking sobs he called me every name in his and my vocabulary. Vecht or one of the others must’ve been his partner – King Silas had shot his partner.

Then Shale grabbed my pants in a manner that filled my body with ice water. With both hands he pulled them down and over my shackled feet, exposing my bottom-half to him.

“You have to be fucking kidding me…” I whispered, a shudder of anxiety fluttering in my chest like loose moths. I automatically shifted away from him, licking my dry lips with increased dread.

Shale response with a kick in my side, and a command that cut through my hazy mind. “Touch yourself… do it!” he snapped. The curly-haired fuck dropped to his knees. I realized his pants were off, an uncut dick with a gold piercing through the head being massaged in his hand.

My jaw became glued tight; I stared up at him a surge of hatred mixed in with the nauseas memories filled my mouth like arsenic. My brain was being fed a constant noise of nails on a chalk board, or pinched fingers picking at a scab.

There was nothing in my mouth to swallow but pride and that would stay on my lips.

Shale put a hand on my thigh and moved it between my legs; I gritted my teeth as I saw the desire in his eyes. He had been the main person who had raped Kay. I had heard him grunting and I had heard him commanding the teary-eyed cicaro.

But he wouldn’t break me; I wouldn’t give into him. This was one situation where I refused to comply for my own safety.

Shale put his hand on my cock and I wrenched my cuffed wrists out to strike him but the chains wrapped around my stomach stopped me. Instead the blond man laughed and dealt me a blow that knocked me to my side.

My desperate yell was muffled by my face buried in the cold brick floor below me. I tried to move my shackled feet away as he raised my ass towards him but he kicked my lower legs to the point of them being numb.

I pressed my lips together, my body going rigid. In response to the pressure behind me I tried to shift away, but as he mercilessly skewered himself in me, my body froze and nothing but a gasping scream escaped my lips.

Without lubricant and without care he broke me like he had a fever in him. My hands desperately clawed at the brick, trying anything to stop the horrendous pain ripping through my backside, up my spine and pooling like burning acid into my brain.

There was no pause; he ripped himself in and out of me without rest, feeling blood mix in with the burning pain as he grated flesh on flesh. Susserating on his lips a series of moans and grunts in tune with his thrusts. I only saw his left arm balance himself beside my face and every once in a while a curl of blond hair.