BEAU
I jolt awake, thrashing in the chair I am tied to as ice-cold water is thrown on me.
“I thought you were dead for a minute.” The man holding the bucket taps my face, trying to wake me up.
“Delilah,” I whisper, blood dripping from my mouth as my head drops forward. There’s not even enough energy left in my body to hold my head up. The fact that I’m still breathing is a surprise. I can’t remember much, just the pain from the beating.
“What did you say?” The man brings his ear closer to my busted lips.
“Delilah,” I repeat, wincing as my broken jaw twinges from the effort of speaking.
“You fucking asshole,” the man growls, punching me in the side. I groan, squeezing my eyes shut as my ribs crack in two. I pull my hand into a tight fist and try to absorb the pain. I plan to kill the motherfucker who just punched me. I’m just waiting for the right time to act. “You’re still calling her name?” he asks.
“Her name is the last word that will leave my mouth, you motherfucker,” I snap.
He tilts his head to the side. “Is her pussy that good?”
“That’s none of your damn business.” I glare daggers at him.
“I bet it is. Too bad you ain’t going to be having it anymore,” the man says, punching me again. My stomach caves in as blood pours out of my mouth. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to fuck you out of her system.”
“Stay the hell away from her!” I yell, head-butting him. The man stumbles backward, landing on his ass. I use the opportunity to slip my hands through the ropes binding me to the chair as he lifts himself off the floor. The beatings I’ve received have made my hands bloody, so it’s easy to pass them through the ropes.
I stand up but almost fall from lack of strength. The blood loss is severe enough to make me feel like passing out. Ignoring the aches in my muscles, I run in the opposite direction from my attacker. There’s not a door in sight, but the exit shouldn’t be far. They covered my face when I was brought in, so I don’t know where anything is. We appear to be underground somewhere.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” the man yells, chasing after me.
Despite my blurry vision, I continue running, looking for a way out. I force my blackened eyes to stay open. I’m weak, but I need to get out of here. I try rubbing my eyes so at least I can see where I’m going, but the blood on my hands only makes things worse.
I suddenly stop running as I feel a sharp pain at the back of my head, blood rushing to my ears. Something hard had hit the back of my skull.
“I got you, you bastard,” the man says, tackling me.
The whole building echoes with the sound of my head hitting the floor. I shut my eyes, cringing in pain. I don’t get a chance to recover before the man presses his boot into my knee, causing a groan to erupt from me.
“You fucking asshole.” He kicks my side, making my ribs burn. “Thought you could escape, huh?” He kicks my face, breaking my nose even more, if that’s possible. “I’ll make you regret what you did for the rest of your life.” The man picks up a bat from the floor and begins to hit my already battered body with it. No part of me is left untouched.
The pain is too much to bear, so I try to ignore it by thinking about something else. There is only one thing in this world that can distract me right now-my Delilah. I focus my mind on her and only her, and everything else around me fades, even the assault being taken out on my body.
Delilah’s stunning face comes into view, smiling beautifully at me. I can’t believe my eyes; she’s here. I look around us, and we’re in a garden filled with flowers. I see Delilah’s favorite and crouch down to pick one for her. She loves lilies.
Standing up with the flowers in my hand, I see Delilah jogging away from me, but she looks back, smiling. I try to catch up, but she moves farther away. Her beautiful brown eyes glow under the sun as she turns around, giggling at me. She’s so beautiful. Her curvy hips sway from right to left as she continues to run from me, looking as gorgeous as ever. That stunning body that makes me want her whenever she is around me is just out of reach.
My steps quicken, and I catch up. Her contagious laughter fills the air as I wrap my arms around her perfect-sized waist, pulling her back into my front. That familiar smell hits me, and I bury my nose in the nape of her neck, inhaling her unique scent.
“I was starting to think you’d never catch me,” she says, turning around and wrapping her arms around my neck, she pecks me softly on the lips. As she pulls away, a soft growl vibrates through my chest and I lean down, wanting her lips back on mine.
“I was letting you have your fun,” I say, looking into her beautiful eyes and admiring her lovely smile that always brightens my day even when she’s not trying to.
“I love you,” Delilah says, gazing at me. Her brown eyes are filled with emotion. My heart squeezes in my chest. I don’t deserve those words from her. I shattered and hurt her beautiful heart more times than I can count.
I lift my hand to touch Delilah’s face, but I feel nothing. The hand around her waist isn’t holding onto anything either, and her touch against my skin is gone. Panic rises in me as Delilah slowly starts disappearing into thin air.
“No!” I scream. I panic even more as the beautiful garden also starts to fade away. I turn around, searching for Delilah, but she’s nowhere to be found.
The place where I’m being held comes back into view, and my eyes widen as gunshots ring out. The man hitting me stops, freezing with the bat in mid-air. I force my body up, looking around to figure out what’s happening.
A blast goes off a few feet away, and then there’s the sound of multiple footsteps. Have they finally found me?
“Beau,” a familiar voice says.
“Here,” I try to yell, but it’s barely audible.
“I’m coming for you, man,” Harvey says. He must have heard me. Thank God.
I hear something drop to the ground. Turning, I see it’s the bat the man was holding and realize he’s running. He won’t be able to get far. I keep my eyes open as I hear the footsteps getting closer. I can’t wait to get back home. To get back to Delilah.