Page 15 of Psychotic Nightmares

“Just because I helped you today, doesn’t mean I have to like you. The only reason why we had to do what we had to today was because you don’t know how to answer a fucking text. I’m never going to be your friend, let’s get that out there now. We are never, ever going to be friends, Natalie.” He tells me. “Now let me see your head.”

“O-okay.” I lean towards him where he is sitting on the chair opposite mine. “What’s your name?” I ask.

His eyes meet mine, eyebrows furrowed in confusion before he looks away in anger. “Dante.” He scoffs.“Please stay quiet while I patch up your wounds, we have nothing to talk about.”

He cleans the blood off my face and puts gauze on the cuts. I want to ask him what I did wrong, why does he hate me already when we have only just met? But I stay quiet. I was almost killed, I don’t exactly want to piss off another dangerous man. Yet, there's a comforting aura about him. I don’t feel afraid, even after he says he basically hates me. After a few minutes we hear a knock against the van, Dante puts his mask back on and opens the door. The others are all there waiting, Julian has an unconscious Howard flung over his shoulder. Dante moves me from the seat by the door to the seat furthest away, one facing the doors. Peacock sits on one side of me while Bull sits the other. It’s not uncomfortable. And again,I feel safe with these people.

These strangers. A stranger who is taking one of my hands in hers, the other finding a blanket from one of the drawers and wrapping it around my shivering shoulders. Julian gestures for Dante to come out, before he throws Howard on the floor of the vehicle. His taped up face lands beside my feet. I noticehis arms are tied up behind him, and his legs are also tied. There's some tape holding together his gunshot wound on his shoulder. Blood seeps from a cut on his forehead.

What did they do to him after I left, and what happened to Xander?

“Don’t worry, he won’t be able to touch you again.” Peacock tells me while Julian slams the doors shut. Peacock and Bull both remove their masks as soon as the overhead light comes back on. She smiles at me slightly, her short dark red hair falls to just below her ears. Her pretty green eyes check the gauze on my head, double checking Dante'swork. She has to be around the same age as me. “Typical, he’s doneit all wrong. May I?”

I nod once, she stands and takes some things out of one of the drawers. Bull starts removing the gauze Dante applied. “Stupid question, but are you okay?” He asks.

“I will be.”

“Stop trying to be fucking brave.” Julian's voice makes me jump as he calls from the front seat. “You broke your promise.”

“No,” I whisper, “no I didn’t. Xander was still there.”

“He could have left and you wouldn’t have known.” He snaps. I start shaking out of fear. I’ve angered him again. He told me he has a temper and I can’t exactly escape. I’m fucked. I close my eyes and lower my head, Peacocks arms wrap around me tightly,

“Julian!” she yells. “You’re scaring herso either apologise or shut the fuck up.”

Bull starts giggling beside me, I look up at him and his grey blue eyes meet mine. “She’s one scary bitch ain’t she.” He drawls. “Don’t worry darlin’, she will protect you from these guys. You tell him Pea.” His smile is contagious, he seems older than the others. Maybe somewhere in his mid thirties. His stubble is long enough to almost be a beard,his nose is wonky, probably from being broken so many times. The engine roars as one of them starts the ignition. Julian stays quiet, refusing to apologise to me, not like I deserve an apology.

Once Peacock finishes redoing my dressings, Bull double checks them before shuffling across to another seat.

“Try to rest up darlin’,” he wraps another blanket over my shoulders, and Peacock taps her lap. “We have a pretty long drive ahead of us. Don’t worry though, we’ll look after you.”

Peacock taps her lap again, I lay my head on her thigh and she starts to stroke my hair. Quiet humming comes from both Peacock and Bull, the melody is the same as one of the lullabies I used to sing to little Gustin when he had his nightmares. All the remaining energy drains from my body, my eyes start going heavy and I find myself drifting off to sleep.

four

Julian

Why didn’t she answer any of my phone calls? Why didn’t she text me back? Why did she have to make me go as far as to ask my team to break the fucking rules and take out someone who wasn’t put on our fucking list. I’m going to have to pay them out of pocket for helping me with Howard, and that other fucker, as soon as he called my girl a freak I almost broke my cool composure. Fortunately, Pea doesn’t tolerate bullying and shothim right in his leg. Then, when he saidNatalie is getting what she deserves for being a whore another shot, this time in his stomach. Even then, after all his whimpering and crying out forMr. Howard, the latter took his sweet ass time to come out from his office.

I hear Peacock and Bull whispering in the back, I can’t hear Natalie though. I fucked up, I scared her and now she’s not talking to me, not talking to anyone. I’ve seen her like that only once, just before she tried to take her own life. She stopped talking to the people at her work, stopped talking to the shop workers whenever she went shopping. She went silent. I made a mistake, I shouldn’t have shouted at her. Is she going to go silent again?Fuck!

“Are you sure about this?” Dante starts to question. “It’s a big fucking risk.”

I glare at him from under my mask, a low growl escaping my throat. I’m not mad at him, or Natalie. I’m more mad at myself. I fucked up bad, and I don’t think I’m coming back from this one.

“Fine.” He huffs. “I won’t say a word. But if the big boss finds out, I won’t lie to him.”

“I never asked you to lie.” I reply, cross my arms and flop back against the seat like the child I am. A big fucking child going in and basically kidnapping my woman from her place of work all because she didn’t want to call in sick. But then again I’m happy I did, what would have happened to her if we never went?None of us knew Howard fucking Shaw was hurting her again, I was just going to get her away from him because she wasn’t answering any of my damn messages. “Now just shut up and drive.” My lips still tingle from hers on mine this morning. I can’t believe she kissed me. And now…

God, I need to figure out what to do before we get back home.

He shakes his head in disapproval and signals to turn a corner. Just another twenty minutes and I get to be alone with my treasure.

As Howard emerged from his office fisting my woman's hair, half naked with blood covering her face and legs. I instantly wanted his fucking blood.Half fucking naked!Did he rape her again? I warned her not to be alone with him.I swear if it wasn’t for the fact my identity would have been known, I would have beaten him there and then usingmy fists. Unfortunately DNAtesting exists in this day and age so I’m forced to take him to the Locked Room. I just wish he wasn’t in the same vehicle as my girl.

Luckily, two of my most trusted members of my team are back there with her. I wish I was, but Bull didn’t trust me with Howard. And I didn’t trust myself being around Natalie right now, especially with the state she is in. God damn it, she should have listened to me this morning and just stayed at home. Why does she always have to be so damn stubborn? I ask her not to harm herself - she does it. I ask her to not tease me and she throws herself at me. I ask her to stay with me at home and she goes to work and gets herself fucking hurt. Well no more, shewilllisten to me from now on. Ihaveto keep hersafe, she doesn’t have a choice.

“Julian. Be gentle with her, okay.” Peacock warns me. Her voice is soft, the softest I haveever heard fromher.