Page 20 of Psychotic Nightmares

I nod, I can’t trust myself not to start bawling if I open my mouth. He turns and asks if I can remove my underwear then lie on my side. I do as he says with trembling hands. Peacock kneels beside the bed, keeping eye contact with me the whole time.

“You have travelled a long road alone, Natalie. The journey wasn’t easy, you hit a lot of bumps and turns along the way. But, you will look back at your footprints one day, and you will be proud of how far you travelled, of how many turns you tackled and bumps you walked over.” She says, distracting me from what Bull is doing. “And going forward, your journey will be easier. Because you’ve already handled whatever Hell has thrown at you. And from now on, you will have us to walk the path with you.” She smiles and Bull hums in agreement. “You’re not alone anymore, Natalie. You have us to help you straighten out that path. To help lift you over the bumps. You don’t have to fight alone from today. I know that trusting us isn’t going to be easy after what you saw. But I promise, one day we will be good friends. Hell, you may even replace Bull as my best friend.” She winks and Bull gasps audibly before chuckling, making me smile. “And if any of those three break your heart, or worse, break your trust. I will gladly get my gun and shoot the bastards in the face.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Bull mutters. “Luckily, Dante managed to jump out theway in time.”

“What happened?” I inquire.

“I…” Pea huffs. “I may have got the wrongend of the story. And I may have been a little drunk.”

“Some woman hit on Dante when we were out one night,” Bull starts the story, “He told her to back off and she went completely mental, calling him names and everything. We left the bar and she followed. Pea was in the bathroom at the time. This crazy chick started hitting Dante, punching and kicking him. He shoved her away, and that was all Pea saw. As soon as we got back here, well…”

“I may have got a little trigger happy.” She blushes with embarrassment. “But now I make sure to get the full story before,” she mimics shooting a gun with her fingers.

I’m not the only one thinking she’s crazy right?

Bullfinishes his examination, covers me with a blanket then walks around until he’s in my line of sight.

“You have some tearing, so you’ll have to use stool softener for a little while and take painkillers for the pain. I know I shouldn’t say this, but try not to have sex for a while either. You have severe bruising in and around your vaginal area.”

“Okay.” I whimper. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, I’m just doing my job.”

A loud crash and another alarm rings out, making the other two quickly jump up.

“Stay here with her.” Bull tells Peacock. “Once I leave this room, lock the door and don’t fucking answer it unless it’s one of us.” He grabs his knife from the bag, takes out his mask and slips it on, then runs out the room.

Peacock does as he asks and slides the deadbolt across the door.

“What’s going on?” I ask, but she doesn’t answer me.

six

Julian

This fucker managed to slip past me, and worse, he recognised me. Even after the beating I gave him when he tried to escape the first time, he managed to fight back, kicking me in the balls then running out the door.I knew I should have let Dante tie him up. I’m useless at knots, but I entrusted Natalie with him. I couldn’t call him back after he took her away from the danger. I need to stop fucking up so badly. He could have found Natalie and hurt her again, he could have escaped and told the police what happened. He could…

“Boss?” Bull calls from the door. I manage to lift myself up onto all fours. Fuck being kicked in the balls hurt.

“He got away, find him.” I order and he’s off. Bull is a fast runner, hence his nickname.That and he’s built like a fucking brick shit house. I force myself up despite the pain. Bull needsto get him back. I need my treasure to get her revenge.

“Get off me.” Howard yells, I get the chair ready knowing Bull will soon be dragging his ass back in. “Do you even know who I am?”

“I don’t give a fuck who you are.” Bull growls. “But I do know what you did to that poor girl.”

“Poor girl?” Howard laughs sadistically, “Oh you mean my little pet?”Crash. Howard's bloodied body comes flying through the door, Bull follows, closing the door behind him and standing guard. “Mother fucker. I’ll sue you all.”

“That’s if you stay alive for that long.”I can hear the smirk in Bulls voice.

“People will come looking for me, my brother is the chief of police.” He smirks at me, “but you already know that, rightJulian.” I grab him by the throat and throw him back on the chair. I hold him there and gesture for Bull to tie him down, I don’t want to make the same mistake twice. “How would your daddy feel if you were to kill me over some pathetic slut?” He sneers, no matter what we do to him, he won’t stop talking shit about my woman. I’ll end up killing him before Natalie gets the chance to.

“That’s his girlfriend you’re talking about, so if I were you, I’d shut your mouth.” Bull growls as he heads toward the fireplaceto grab some tongs for me. Hehas been in this room with me so manytimes that he knows exactly what my next move is.

“Girlfriend.” Howard spits. “Oh I see, so you were the one who was waiting for her yesterday. Did you not come in because you’re afraid I’ll tell her who you really are?” He smirks. “Worried she’ll leave once she learns the truth. Or are you scared that I fucked her better then you ever could. God, her body…”

I grab his jaw, forcing his mouth open before he can say anything else.

“How did you know it was me?” He looks toward my tattoo, one I forgot to cover before coming back in here.Shit.“I can’t have you telling her who I am, so it looks like you’ll be losing your tongue.”