Page 58 of Ravaged By the Dark

Trev gripped his shoulders with surprising strength and pulled him into his arms. He clung to his brother and wailed. He was losing it. They were being hunted, and no matter what they tried, they couldn’t seem to shake them.

“You need to pull yourself together. I can’t make it to the end without you,” Trev said in his ear as he rocked him back and forth.

“I can’t. I can’t walk any longer.” He stared off into the distance and the miles they still had to go. It was impossible. They were all going to die out here.

“You can, and you will. You’re a fucking Navy SEAL. You’ve trained for this!”

“No,” he whimpered.

“Look at me, soldier,” Trev commanded, and he no longer saw his brother but his Master Chief. “You’re going to get your ass the fuck up and walk until I say otherwise. That’s an order!”

“Shit, they’re coming. We need to keep moving!” Dean said. Shadows on the horizon could be seen in the distance. Arek stumbled to his feet with Trev’s help and heaved the pack over his shoulder once more.

Move or die.

Arek sat up straight in bed, gasping for air. A hand was gripping his shoulder, and he snarled and grabbed at the unknown wrist.

“Ow Arek. You’re hurting me.” Renee’s voice reached through the fog in his brain, and he blinked, the past fading back into the recesses of his brain.

“Oh, shit Renee, I’m sorry.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hand and wrist.

“I’m fine, but are you okay? You were thrashing around and calling out to get down.” Arek swung his legs over the side of the bed, his head hung in defeat.

Some shit you just couldn’t run from.

“I’ll be fine.” His hands shook, and he quickly squashed the images before they could take hold.

Arms snaked around his neck, and the soft skin of Renee’s naked body pressed into his back. He rubbed at her arms as she kissed his neck.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she whispered before continuing her sweet assault on his neck.

“No, not right now. One day I’ll tell you all about it, but it’s….”

“Too raw?” He nodded

She pulled back on his shoulders, and he let her guide him down to the bed.

“Then at least let me make you feel better.” He stared up at her naked breasts as they hung in his face and couldn’t stop the stupid smile spreading across his face.

“I can definitely be talked into that.”

Cody looked in the rearview mirror and made sure his hair looked as messy as possible. He pulled himself out of the car and limped toward the new shit-ass house they were in tonight. It was like Tyson was meant to live the life of a gypsy, traveling all the mother fucking time. They never stayed more than a week in the same spot, and he was sick of it.

It was part of Tyson’s slow mental breakdown of your psyche, but knowing it didn't make it any easier.

“Holy shit, man, what happened to you?” the guard leaning against the door asked as he hobbled up the steps.

“Where’s Tyson?” Cody asked, not bothering to answer the question. He ranked above this guy, so he didn’t have to say shit to him.

“He’s in the basement.”

Cody pulled open the door and quickly assessed the lay of the land. To the left were the guards. Some were actually doing their jobs, others were using the merch they sold, and the rest were getting fucked by the variety of girls. To the right were the sounds of more fucking, which was great. It meant he wasn’t going to get any sleep at this cockroach-infested shit hole, even if Tyson didn’t kill him.

He found the stairs to the basement and exaggerated the limp and thump of each step as he made his way down. He could hear one of the Fast and Furious movies playing as he neared the bottom. Cody shook his head but kept his comments to himself as he stepped into what used to be an entertainment area at one point.

“Where have you been,” Tyson asked, not bothering to look over. He was too busy cutting a pattern into the back of one of the new girls. She’d either passed out or was already high, but she never made a sound as the blade cut another long line across her back. At least she was still breathing.

“I went to do as you asked and spoke to my sister.”