Always For You (Books 1-3) (8 page)

I got involved, sucking the poison into
my brain. I did more that night than ever, a quick fix remedy for the
pain, numbing my senses, dulling my ability to care.

Cain

I
stood at the bar in
Room
Z
,
scanning the barmaids for Grace. The bar was long, stretching right
across one wall of the cavernous space, throngs of men queueing up
for their drinks. The place was packed, and the dull thud of the
heavy base made it hard to think. I couldn't see Grace, perhaps she
wasn't working.

I felt disappointed. I'd come out with
Brad because he wanted to go, but it struck me as a good chance to
see how Grace was doing. Whether I'd actually talk to her was another
thing, but I just felt this innate responsibility to her, to make
sure she was OK.

Krista was there though, chatting
people up, focusing mainly on the women. She didn't know I was there,
I hadn't told her. Frankly, our relationship was purely in the
bedroom, so it really didn't matter to me whether she knew or not.

As I watched her a suspicion began
growing inside me. A suspicion that she wasn't a barmaid, but was
something much worse. She didn't wear the same outfit, didn't set
foot behind the bar. She simply went around talking to people,
offering them drugs, walking off with them into the back. They'd come
out rubbing their noses, their eyes bright, big smiles on their
faces. She was a fucking pimp. It sickened me.

She caught my eye as I stood there
staring at her, a sheepish look on her face, like she'd been caught
red handed. I glared at her for a while before turning away. She
approached behind, shouting above the music.

“
Hey,
I had no idea you'd be here tonight.”

I just nodded, saying nothing.

“
Am
I coming round to yours later?”

I continued to look disinterested,
angry even. “I thought you were a barmaid here?” I asked.

“
Erm,
yeah I am. Not tonight though, it's my night off...”

“
Sure,”
I cut her off. “You know what, I think we'll call this quits now,”
I gestured with my hand, shaking my finger between the two of us.

She looked up at me. “Why, what's
wrong?”

“
Nothing's
wrong. We're just done.”

I walked away, leaving her behind me,
and found Brad chatting up a couple of girls. I handed him his beer.

“
Hey
bro, what took you so long? Ah, doesn't matter. Meet Flo and
Shannon.”

“
Nice
to meet you,” I said, my mind still burning.
I
bet that bitch has been pitching to Grace. This place sickens me.

Grace

I opened the doors to the toilets
downstairs and walked in. There was no one in there, nothing but the
thud of the base above and the stale smell of vomit drifting out from
a cubicle. I'd got used to that smell since I'd worked here, it
didn't bother me anymore.

I walked up to the mirror and splashed
water on my face. I looked rotten, my eyes all sunken and lifeless,
and felt just the same. I heard the door open behind me and saw
Krista walk in. She had a girl with her, someone I hadn't seen
before. Another victim.

She asked me if I wanted a line. I knew
what she was doing, she did it to all the girls. She'd left me alone
recently though, had been focusing her attention on other girls. Not
tonight though, tonight she was ultra friendly, ultra nice, all in
her own fake way.

I snorted the line and felt nothing. I
never did anymore. She asked me a question she hadn't asked in a
while. “You looking for a party,” she said. I'd said no before,
several times. But not tonight. Tonight I wasn't thinking.

I
said yes and she started leading me through the club, through the
back into the VIP area, the room we all knew as
Room
Z
.
I'd seen so many girls go in there, but felt no nerves as I
approached. I just walked after Krista, following her in without
thinking, without caring. She opened the heavy red door and in we
went, the thuds of the club down the long hallway now tremors in the
distance.

Cain

I
stood with Brad and the two girls, my mind still fuming over Krista.
I didn't care about her, I was just sickened by what she was, what
she did. I saw her approach a nice looking girl and sweet talk her,
leading her down some stairs towards the toilets. She threw me a
scathing look as she walked by.
Fucking
bitch.

I kept one eye over on the toilets as I
stood there. Brad was using his usual lines on the girls, both of
them falling for his charms. They were asking me questions though,
trying to get me involved, but my mind was elsewhere.

A few minutes later I saw Krista come
back up the stairs, shooting a snide smile at me as she went. This
time she had a different girl with her, trailing in behind her. I
looked closely to see that it was Grace, her face expressionless as
she followed Krista like a shadow through the crowd. I immediately
followed, pushing through the heavy crowd as the lights flashed above
and the bass shook the floor.

I caught glimpses of them as I battled
with the throng, seeing them head towards the VIP room at the back –
Room Z. I rushed forward, emerging from the crowd as they disappeared
through the door. I ran towards it but was stopped in my tracks my a
bouncer, a giant of a man standing as wide as the door.

“
Pass?”
he said, his voice so deep I could easily hear it over the music.

“
I
don't have one, I just need to talk to that girl who just went in.”
I shouted my reply.

“
Sorry,
no pass, no access.”

My blood began to boil. “Look mate,
just let me the fuck in there alright. I'll be two minutes.”

He stood there like a mountain,
unmoving, his hulk like body blocking the door. “Like I said, no
pass, no access.”

“
Just
let me the fuck in!” I shouted, grabbing at the door handle and
trying to push past him. He was going nowhere though, his vice like
hands coming down on my wrists and ripping me from the door. He threw
me backwards as a couple of other security guys came thundering in,
grabbing my arms and dragging me towards the fire exit.

I wasn't used to being manhandled like
this as I scrambled and squirmed, trying to escape their grasp. I
managed to elbow one in the face as they kicked open the door and
threw me out onto the street. A foot came flying into my gut, a heavy
swinging boot that burst the breath out of my lungs. I lay there
gasping for air as another foot hit me, cracking my ribs.

I let out a cry as a final blow hit me
on the head, a fist cracking into my jaw. My brain rocked in my
skull, sending a wave of dizziness over me. Then, as the two giants
casually walked back into the club, I faded into blackness.

Grace

I stood in the VIP room, standing in
front of a private booth. There was a man in a suit there, two
plastic blondes to his sides. He asked me a few questions, and I
answered without thinking. He seemed pleased, a smile crossing his
face.

The girls left and he asked me to sit
with him. My body was on autopilot, taking orders, my mind not
questioning them. I sat next to him and drank some champagne. He was
close, his voice near, his hands drifting towards the exposed skin on
my thigh.

He asked me if I wanted some more coke.
“Real” coke, he called it, “pure coke”. I took a line, and it
hit me. I wasn't like the stuff I had in the bar. It was more
powerful, more potent. It went straight to my head, straight to my
heart. My pulse began to rise as he stood and led me towards the
exit, my heart throbbing in my chest, threatening to explode.

He led me outside and my nose started
bleeding, blood tricking out and down my lips. He looked irritated,
annoyed, as I pawed at him for help. It wasn't going to come from
him. I collapsed to the floor as I tried to get back in the door,
locked from inside, the man in the suit casually getting into a car
and driving away.

Cain

I slowly came round, my head aching, my
ears ringing. I could feel a warmth on my forehead, my eyebrow split,
blood pouring from the wound, obscuring my vision. I wiped it away
and got out my phone to check the time. It had only been a few
minutes.

I sat up and leaned against the wall,
the blood on my hands a familiar sight on a night out. I heard a door
slam shut down the ally round the corner, then someone getting into a
car. The engine roared to life as the car sped off down the ally,
bursting around the corner and shooting off down the street.

I gingerly got to my feet, my head
dizzy, my cracked ribs aching, and walked along the wall towards the
ally. As I rounded the corner I saw a figure slumped to the floor,
blood all over her face and hands. It was Grace.

I rushed as quickly as I could towards
her, checking her breathing. It looked like an overdose. I grabbed my
phone and called an ambulance, holding her up on my knees as I wiped
the blood away from her nose. I sat there, no idea of what to do,
waiting, until I heard the distant wail of an ambulance coming round
the corner.

I lay her back down gently and rushed
towards the end of the ally, my cracked ribs slowing my progress. I
called out to the medics and they looked around, ushering them
towards the ally where Grace lay.

Within moments they had her strapped
down on a bed in the back of the ambulance, rushing her off to
hospital. I sat there next to her, praying that she'd wake up,
praying that she'd be OK. She'd been driven to this, driven into this
world, and it was all my fault.  

April
19/20
^th
2013

Grace

The smell when I woke up was familiar,
the sour scent of disinfectant and sterilizing agents. I was back in
the hospital after a six month absence, a journey that had taken me
full circle. I lay there alone once again, nobody to greet me. I
doubt this time that anyone had come visit, would come visit. I'd
burned a lot of bridges over the last few months.

The door opened slowly, its hinges
creaking slightly as the person tried to enter without waking me.
Instinctively I closed my eyes again, hearing a light footfall
approach. I heard them sit down in a chair, breathing shallowly, a
light touch of fingers suddenly rubbing over my palm as it lay by my
side.

“
I'm
so sorry Grace. I'm sorry for everything.” The words were deep but
soft, full of hurt. I thought I recognized the voice but couldn't
place it.

I heard the door open again, the
footsteps quicker, more purposeful.

“
How's
she doing?” a female voice whispered. “Did she wake up yet?”
She continued to walk around the room busily.

“
Not
yet,” the man spoke again. “She'll be OK though, won't she?”

“
Of
course, she'll be fine. It's just a matter of time.”

The words seemed reassuring to the man,
who let out a quiet sigh.

“
How
are you though? That was a nasty cut to your head?” the girl
continued.

“
I'll
live,” he said. “Trust me, it's something I'm used to.”

The girl gave out a bit of a chuckle.
“Well perhaps that's a habit that you should be breaking.”

“
Believe
me, I wish it were that easy,” he said.

“
Men,”
the girl said in a breezy tone as she walked once more towards the
door. It creaked again as it shut behind her, sending the room back
into silence.

I heard the man stand up and slowly
walk towards the other side of the room. I took my chance and cracked
open one eye, peering through the slit to see him standing and
looking out of the window. He wore a blue t-shirt that exposed his
tattooed arms, strong under the light fabric. He was quite tall, and
had a shaved head, short like a marine. A bandage was wrapped around
it though, with heavy padding over his left eye.

Then I saw it. The helmet. The same one
from the accident. The same one worn by the guy who'd saved me. It
was sitting on a counter, the pattern unmistakable. Was this the guy?
I thought I recognized him: the voice, the shaved head, the tattoos.
I racked my brain but I couldn't remember, it didn't fit together.

I saw him begin to turn and closed my
eyes shut. He walked back towards the chair and sat down, in silence
once more, patiently waiting for me to wake up. I had an urge to open
my eyes, to find out who it was, but I didn't. I don't know why I
didn't.

It wasn't long before the girl walked
in again. “I'm sorry sir, visiting hours are over, you're going to
have to come back tomorrow.”

“
Can
I not stay here?” the voice asked.

“
I'm
sorry, but we only allow that with critical patients. Grace is fine,
she just needs to sleep it off. Come back tomorrow, she'll be awake
by then.”

I heard the man grumble his agreement
before grabbing his helmet and walking from the room behind the
nurse. As soon as the door shut I opened my eyes, catching a glimpse
of him as he strolled off past the window.

Oh my God. Cain.

Cain

My ribs still ached as I drove my
motorbike back to my flat. Two fucking cracked ribs from that
elephant of a bouncer. I've half a mind to kneecap him, or both of
those neanderthals, one day.

I'd
just been chucked out of the hospital because 'visiting hours were
over'.
I
mean what the hell is that about – what's the problem with visiting
past a certain time?
All I was doing was sitting there, no harm done. Maybe it was me –
I guess the bandaged face and tattoos isn't the most trustworthy
look.