I take a detour on the way to get coffee and stop in the nearest restroom. After I leave, I walk past Mayhem and then the stairwell. I never noticed the door was slightly ajar until I was right on top of it.
It’s funny how things can go from normal to horrifying in only seconds. How fast your world can change in an instant.
When the door flings wide, and someone reaches out, hauling me into the stairwell, I don’t have time to react or scream. A hand slaps over my mouth, and something sharp presses into my side.
“Make a sound or fight me, and I’ll make sure you’re the sibling who dies this time.”
I freeze. With a nod, I listen, knowing my life depends on my cooperation.
The man, a confirmed killer, drags me away from the door.
That’s when I notice a woman standing there. She peeks out and keeps the door cracked. She laughs and shuts the door with a soft click. “That biker bastard didn’t see shit. He doesn’t know we’ve got the girl.”
Any hope I have of Mayhem coming to my rescue is obliterated with her words. I’m roughly hauled down the stairs and feel the sharp object poke me a few times. It stings. I know I’ve been nicked by a knife when I see a red splotch of blood leaking into the right side of my shirt.
At the very bottom, there’s a door. I hope it leads to the interior of the hospital. It doesn’t.
As it swings open, I see a truck idling right across from us. It blocks the parking lot, so the prospect out there will never notice as I’m dragged toward it and shoved inside. The guy keeps his meaty hand on my head, forcing me to crouch.
As we drive away from the hospital, I try not to panic.
The woman smashes a rag against my nose and mouth. It’s foul and burns. I choke on it before I feel everything go fuzzy around me. I can’t stay conscious even as I try to fight it.
I don’t know what will happen when I open my eyes.
My mind is foggy as someone slaps my face. Twice. The pain of it has me blinking and opening my eyes, fighting through the thick sludge in my brain to finally clear my vision.
I’m in a field. I can’t see anything for miles but rows and rows of tall, thick corn stalks. There’s a wide circle cut around me where the ground is flat, and huge hay bales squat on the flattened grass and soil.
It takes a minute to register that the woman and man who took me are speaking. He calls her Rashell, but I can’t focus enough to hear what they’re saying.
Horror creeps into my brain when I realize I’m not on the ground. I’m much higher up, tethered by thick pieces of rope on a wooden stake. My arms are stretched painfully wide, my wrists lashed to the arms of the cross-like shape. My feet rest on a single plank.
Across from me, I see glowing red eyes.
The odd but fascinating part? They’re moving closer at an inhuman speed. And in the dusk light of twilight, I can see the corn stalks in the distance waving and smacking into one another. A bellow of rage has the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck prickling with awareness.
Something is coming, and it’s furious.
Chapter 13 Hayride
Idon’t like leaving Natalya, even if I’ve got a club brother there watching over her and Thad. It doesn’t sit right to leave her protection in anyone else’s hands. But I also need to be there when we find Big Tom, Earl, Clay, and Rashell Allen.
Virus found an address. It’s an old property located southeast of Raven’s Crest. The kicker? It’s got a big barn. The same type of barn that Thad described to Boomer.
The land belongs to Vernor Johns. His son, Clay, inherited the house, barn, and surrounding acres upon Vernor’s passing in 2020. Since then, Clay has taken out a loan for repairs, which means he lives there. He’s got to be using this property in some capacity.
It’s the best lead we’ve got.
“You ready, Hayride?”
I focus my attention on the present and answer Scythe. “Yeah, Pres. Let’s find these motherfuckers and make them pay.”
“I didn’t hear that,” Boomer announces, rising off his bike as he joins us.
We don’t usually invite Boomer along for our illegal activities, but he’s got a warrant to search the property. That gives us a green light to step onto private property.
“You’re all deputies for the day. Don’t make me fucking regret it,” he warns.
