The ropes around the girls small wrists twist and rub against her aching flesh, the skin near torn and rubbed dry.
Tears spill from sad eyes, the torrent of them unrelenting.
A body is slumped in the chair beside her, one perfect hole in his head, brown eyes unseeing.
A man is across from her, on his knees begging, begging for the young girls life, his eyes falling to the lifeless body in front of him, then to the one at the young girls side.
A woman and a teenage boy.
"Please." His voice is usually strong, so sure of himself but tonight it wobbles, stained with desperation.
More tears fall from the girls green eyes, her red hair pulled into a plait, something the woman beside the man had been teaching her tonight, sat crossed legged on the bathroom vanity as the woman ran soft fingers through the hair and taught her how to plait.
"Please, don't hurt her."
The man with the gun spins to the young girl, stepping closer to her before the door opens, silencing the young girls sons and the man's please.
An older man walks through, his hair Snow White but peppered with black and comes to a stop in front of the young girls chair, crouching in front of her.
He lifts a slightly weathered hand, grasping a piece of her wild red locks and rubbing the strands between his thumb and forefinger.
"Such pretty hair." He muses.
Despite her fear, despite the tears blurring her eyesight and the ache in her bones from the ropes, she pulls back, the chair groaning beneath her as she glares at the older man, moving wildly so her hair slips from his grasp.
Yet all he does is smile.
"She has fight." He murmurs, standing straight and turning toward the begging man. "What is her name?"
The man's lips purse, refusing to answer and in response a foot is shoved into his abdomen, his groaned plea falling past his lips. "Don't hurt her, she's just a child."
"We were once all children." The man says, no regret in his voice. "Tell me her name."
"Rose." The name falls from the begging man's lips. "Her name is Rose."
The grey haired man crouches in front of me once more. "Rose?" The young girl sniffles in answer. "Say goodbye to your father."
A gunshot erupts around the room, echoing in the girls thoughts, in her memories, in her dreams.
I blink from the sudden memory, almost dropping the glass in my hand. Kade watches me oddly, almost bored.
"Are you going to make me a drink or are you going to stand there and look stupid for the rest of the night?"
I drop the glass onto the counter, then a few cubes of ice and finally a half glass of Scotch, flicking it his way.
He catches it before it topples from the counter, fingers wrapping around it. He doesn't say anything before turning and striding for his table in the corner of the room, the same table they always occupy.
Malachi sits beside him, lifting his own drink in greeting with a roguish grin.
I roll my eyes and turn my back to them, continuing to serve the other patrons.
Minutes go by, then an hour and I glance at the clock on the wall, counting down the seconds until my shift is over.
As soon as it is, I whip the rag from over my shoulder and place it on the bar, my eyes on the door to the back rooms as I walk there.
I pass Candace as I do but she says nothing, her wide eyes speaking loud enough before she goes back to her job and I slip into the room, slipping into the shadowed corner I'd hid my duffle and begin undressing just to redress in my disguise, spending those extra precious seconds to make sure my hair in concealed before I place the mask on and contacts.
The raucaus crowd outside drowns out the door as I open it and slip into the mass of people, side stepping drunken limbs and beer spillages until I'm perched on the side of the ring, my eyes glancing over the bare platform to the eyes fixed on me.
Kade dips his chin in greeting when my eyes make contact with his and I let myself return the greeting, looking to his side to see both Killian and Malac at his sides.
Malacs gaze is on the bar, a scowl staining his usually handsome features and Killian looks over the crowd, a matching scowl to his twins erupting across his face when he sees something across the room.
I turn my head to gaze that way but find nothing, my visual blocked by swaying bodies.
I turn my gaze back to the ring, just in time to hear my name, 'red' being called by the announcer.
I slip under the rope, taking up position in one corner of the ring, my back to the crowd and my gaze toward Kade, Killian and Malachi.
"- get in the ring with Red-"
A few hands shoot up but I pay them no mind, my eyes glued to the three boys who seem to preoccupy my thoughts these days.
It's only when my opponent slips into the ring and walks around like he owns the place that I turn my attention to him.
Lachlan smirks at me, bending his head down so we're at the same height.
"I'm going to wipe the floor with you."
I let my own lips twist into a smirk. Tilting my head to the side, "didn't like losing last time did you?"
His face darkens and his eyes swing to the side. I follow his gaze to see Killian standing closer to the ring, practically chest to rope.
When my eyes meet Lachlan's again, he's glaring at me. "It won't be like last time."
YOU ARE READING
Dead Girls Don't Run - fantasy version | 18+
Action*** fantasy version.*** No one comes looking for a dead girl, as long as she stays dead. • • • Having finally escaped the vicious hands of the life she runs from, Noah hides out in a new city, with a new identity to match. But when life becomes...
