Page 69 of Back To Our Beginning

“We need to leave a message,” the voice from outside yelled.

A message? God, what kind of message?

The monster stopped dragging me. He literally lifted me to my feet by my ponytail. I screamed in pain.

He yanked down his bandana and said, “Quit your sniveling, bitch, or else I’ll really give you something to cry about.”

That stopped my tears. He’d said the exact words that my dad used to say, and I’d stopped crying in front of him when I was eight years old.

I stood on my tiptoes to relieve the pressure on my scalp. The man who was staring at me had a long gray beard and cold, dead eyes. “Your old man made a bad mistake,” he said quietly. “He never should have taken our brother.”

Dad? Dad was still in jail.

That was when I noticed he was wearing a biker’s vest. Not one from around here, though. I knew all the motorcycle clubs and gangs in Tennessee. It was part of the job.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I was too scared. I cleared my throat.

“I think y-you made a m-mistake,” I stuttered. “Dad’s in jail. He couldn’t have taken your brother.”

He scowled. “Don’t try to be cute. Your man. Simon Clark.”

I clamped my mouth shut.

Simon?

Shit, of course, Simon. I was in his house. He thought I was Trenda. What had I been thinking? Well, the last thing I wanted to do was tell this bastard that he had the wrong sister. What I needed to do was get him and his buddy out of the house as fast as possible. Before Trenda got home with her son. Was there something else I could say?

Think, Maddie!

“Simon doesn’t have your brother,” I wheezed out.

I didn’t have a chance to brace before his fist slammed into my stomach.

“Bitch, don’t lie. We know what went down. We know you're Simon Clark’s old lady. He’ll do a trade. He might have been a SEAL, but he’s old and he’s gone soft.”

“What do you want me to do?” I needed to do something to get them out of here before Trenda got back.

“You’re coming with us. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your trap shut.”

“Leave a message, Grizz.” I turned my head just a little and saw an even scarier looking guy with a scar down half his face yelling from outside. “Do it fast. We need to leave.”

Grizz looked down at me. Then he swiped his finger through the blood on my side and pulled me over to the sofa. He leaned over it and wrote on the back wall with my blood.

Each time he ran out of blood, he would swipe more from the cuts on my body.

WE WANT A TRADE

YOUR WIFE

FOR OUR BROTHER

He yanked me by my ponytail again, but this time I was ready and I managed to stay upright. He pulled me out the patio door and I opened my mouth to scream.

His fist hit the side of my head just as I screamed. The last thing I saw was the sky… spinning.

Then nothing.

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