31. Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely – Backstreet Boys
Shay – 33 years; Skye21 years
Sweet darkness plagues my senses, pulling me deep, yet the warm tickle down the side of my face keeps me from succumbing. Some part of me knows I should open my eyes but another, fights my restraint. One more blow follows snapping my face to the right, the ringing in my ear a resonant effect of the hit. I lose count of how many now, every inch of me too numb to feel anymore.
The asshole sounds breathless though as if he’s tiring out. He screams what I assume to be curses in his language.
“Bring it, fucker,” I mumble through swollen lips, lisping blood in the process.
He hears me. The abrupt kick to my ribs has me jerking forward, my restrained arms limiting the momentum. I clench my jaw, grinding down hard on my teeth to stifle the response. I’m not about to give them the satisfaction of seeing my agony. I’d rather die than tell them anything. My chest grumbles with pain as I try to draw deep breaths. I’m sure I have a couple of broken ribs and a fractured nose. Still, I keep quiet.
“Speak,” he shouts, slashing a fist across my right cheek.
Somewhere behind me I hear Griffin yelling for the fucker to leave me alone.
“It’s okay, bro,” I call to him then I glare at the asshole in front of me through my good eye. “You better kill me, fucker,” I grit. “Because if I get out of here, you’re swallowing your fucking balls.” I don’t care that he doesn’t understand me but my expression, what’s left of my face to allow for one, must’ve caught his attention because his next hit brings the darkness I crave.
“Shay, open your fucking eyes, soldier,” Griffin’s hoarse voice penetrates the deep recesses of my brain, drawing me from obscurity.
I open my eyes. It’s not Griffin but the same fucker who just tried sending me to hell. I spit at his feet.
His laugh is maniacal, filling the air around me, his next words freezing my blood as he hisses, “speak, Shay or Blue’s next, we’re going to rip her sweet pussy.”
Startled, I jerk my head back. Blue? How the fuck do they know about Skye. Wait, where the fuck...
“Got you attention now, don’t I?” He laughs in my face.
“Shay!” a bloodcurdling yell roars from my left.
“Blue!” I scream. “Leave her the fuck alone, you bastards. Hang on, Blue, I’m coming.” I move to get up, but my feet resemble lead. My hands feel heavy. I lift them to my face and my vision blurs.
“Shay!”
I swing my head right. “Griffin? Where the fuck are you, bro?” I force my feet to move, pushing upright, my legs wobble and I reach out. The wall in front of me disappears and I fall forward into black emptiness.
A sudden slam against my face yanks me back and my head spins. “Speak, fucker or we tear this baby from limb to limb.”
My eyes fly open, landing on the crying baby the bastard is swinging by its legs. I panic, he has my fucking baby. How? “No, please.” I shake my head. “Don’t.”
“Then speak, tell me the plan, the route and your baby will live.” He lets out another laugh that grate on my nerves at the same time Skye and Griffin’s cries peal from all sides.
I fist my hair, shaking my head, begging for reprieve. “Please let them go.”
“Shay, wake up, son,” Dad’s soft call penetrates the buzzing sounds. I try to focus, letting his soothing voice guide me.
“The baby, dad, grab the baby first.” Confusion and panic send my heart into panic mode. “No, grab Skye, quick, dad,” I cry. “No, Griffin, we need to save him.” My head jerks in all directions. I’m lost. Who do I save?
“Shay, come back to me, son. I’m right here,” Dad begs.
I shut my eyes tight, trying to focus. When they open, orange sand and heated dust scours my face for a moment then I look down.
“Fuck, no.” Griffin’s head is on my lap, blood pumps from his stomach, his camo pants stained black with his dried blood. “Griff, don’t leave me, man, I need you.”
His eyes open, his smile, that usual fucking smirk, back in place. “You’re the Hawk, bro, you don’t need me. You’re fucking stronger than this.” His chest rise and fall in quick succession, his breaths uneven before he coughs up a fucking storm.
