Dark Boundaries (2 page)

Before I can comment the lights dim and the room grows foggy, as mist is sprayed into the club from the stage’s direction. There’s a loud boom, followed by bright lights and then the spotlight reveals a man dressed in torn jeans and a white t-shirt. A woman is kneeling at his feet. The woman is face down, so I can’t make out what she’s wearing.

Another boom and my eyes grow huge in their sockets as the man grabs hold of the woman’s hair, yanking her from her kneeling position up against his leg. Her face is right next to his … ah … package. She’s topless! I didn’t expect to see anything so soon and my body flushes hot with embarrassment.

“Way to ease us in,” I mumble, slouching down in the chair.

“Don’t be such a wuss. Maybe you can learn something here,” Kelly teases and then she reaches for my drink. She finishes it in one big gulp. She catches the eye of a waiter and places another order for us.

My eyes are glued to the stage. The woman is now dancing seductively around the man, her hands all over his chest. She rips off his shirt and my jaw drops open, again.

“Hallo hotness,” Riza says, “I hope she keeps stripping him.”

He takes the ripped shirt and ties the woman’s hands behind her back. I sit up a bit straighter in my chair. I’ve only read about men tying women up. Seeing it is a bit shocking, but hot at the same time.

He pushes her down on the floor and as he reaches for her panties, I look away. This is way too much for me.

“Oh hell,” Kelly squeals, “He just ripped off her panties!”

“I don’t need a running commentary! I’m going to the toilet,” I hiss. I follow the sign and let out a breath of relief as the toilet’s door closes behind me, muting the music and sounds.

I take my time in the toilet, in no hurry to go back. This is not my kind of thing. Where Riza and Kelly don’t mind watching porn once in a while, I don’t like watching. It’s too fake and I want to experience the emotion that goes with sex, not just the act itself. I love reading about it, and imagining the things myself. I don’t like seeing it. I get too flustered with embarrassment and then the girls take advantage of it and tease me mercilessly.

When I head back to the table I find it empty. I didn’t see them going to the toilet and start to look around. Where the hell did they go?

“Your friends are seated on the balcony,” a waiter informs me. My eyes dart up and meet a happy looking Riza. She waves at me.

I can’t believe they’ve gone and sat with those men!

“I’ll show you the way,” the waiter pulls my attention back to him. I’m reluctant to follow him, but my friends are there and we promised to always stick together. I’m out voted on this one.

I follow the waiter to a door at the back of the club. There’s a narrow passage that leads to what looks like an exit. To my immediate right is another door and a little further down is one to my left. The waiter opens for me the door and shows for me to go in. I take the stairs slowly, trying to prolong the moment before I have to face a table full of strange men.

I see the blonde guy first, he’s sitting between Kelly and Riza. Kelly’s eyes are on the stage, and Riza is smiling up at the blonde guy.

Kelly spots me and smiles. “That’s Garrett,” she points to the man nearest to me. His dark brown hair is cut short and neat. He’s sporting a day old beard that makes him look dangerously handsome. He stands up and I see he’s wearing jeans and a charcoal shirt. I’m staring so much I almost miss it as Kelly goes on to introduce the others. “And this is Justin.” My eyes jump to the other man. There are some similarities between Garrett and Justin, but Justin’s hair is longer and he’s clean shaven. They both have the darkest shade of brown eyes I’ve ever seen. “And this is Warren,” she ends by introducing the blonde guy.

Riza’s eyes are still sparkling up at Warren. She must be pleased with the attention he’s giving her.

“Let me,” Garrett says politely, pulling out a chair between himself and Justin for me. I hate that the men have separated us from each other by sitting between us.

~*~

Chapter Two

Kristine~

Okay, so the men aren’t that bad. Actually, Warren is quite the joker.

“So, where are you from?” I’ve been trying to keep my eyes from going to Garrett or Justin. I either look at the stage or Warren and Riza, but now that Garrett has asked me a direct question I have to look at him.

He’s leaning back in his chair, one hand splayed on the armrest and his other hand braced under his chin. Dammit, he looks freaking yummy. The shorter hairstyle makes him look more serious than Justin. You can easily see he’s the older brother. Kelly asked Justin if they are related. I’d never be that forward.

Garrett is staring at me with a piercing look hiding in the depth of his eyes. I smile, and this time I’m more successful than when I took a seat.

“I’m from Rhode Island.”

He moves his body and chair so he’s facing me. “You’ve lived there all your life?”

I smile again, and this time it’s a nervous smile. The man is so damn intimidating just sitting there. Way too much man for me!

“Yeah, my parents still live there.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Are you close to your parents?”

“I haven’t seen them in a while, but we’re a pretty close-knitted family.”

“Can I order you another drink?” As he asks this, I notice the waiter standing by Kelly. She’s ordering something … again. I know we don’t have to drive home, but at the rate she’s going she won’t even be able to find the exit!

“Uhm … no, thank you. I think I’ll just have water for now.” Before I can ask the waiter for water, Garrett gives our orders. At least he made no comment about the water. One of us needs to be sober and make sure we all get back to the hotel.

I look back to the stage as a slow rhythmic beat starts up. A girl comes running out onto the stage. She’s a total contrast to the beat. Where the music is slow and teasing, her movements are rushed almost as if she’s scared. She darts to one side, then back to the other side of the stage before she falls down, her chest heaving. The beat picks up as a man enters the stage.

He prowls towards her. Where the other couples danced together, telling stories of lust and passion, this couple seems to convey a message of anger and fear. The bulky man stops by the girl. He yanks her up by her shoulders and as she stands shaking, he rips the gauzy lingerie from her body in one fell swoop.

I gasp at the harsh way he’s handling her, ripping the material from her body and then he throws her. She hits the dark wood of the stage and skids a few inches before her body stops. She raises her head high, as if to scream and empty eyes meet mine. I hold my breath as the man grabs hold of her hair. He yanks her back up, turns her around and then slaps her. I don’t hear the sound as his hand connects with her cheek, but it looks pretty real and painful. I feel uncomfortable.

“This particular scene seems to be upsetting to you.” Garrett’s not asking, he’s stating this.

My eyes jump from the stage to Garrett’s watchful gaze, then back to the stage. “I …”

“It’s not for everyone,” he smiles. I’m filled with a rush of disappointment that he seems to like it.

The night drags by slowly and the shows get more intense. The last show is of two men having sex with a woman. While the one man is pumping into her from behind, the other has his erection shoved in her mouth. By the time the curtain closes, I feel sick. I’ve had sex before so don’t get me wrong, I’m not some prude. But the few times I had sex it was dark, I didn’t even get to see the guy’s body. This was the first time ever I saw an erection, even if it was from afar. I just want to go back to the hotel and forget everything I saw.

~*~

Chapter Three

Garrett~

She is so out of place. Her hands are shaking and she looks like she’s about to faint. Huge grey eyes keep moving flittingly from the stage to her water. The other two seem to be enjoying the night, but Kristine definitely isn’t.

I reach over and take hold of her hand. I give it a light squeeze. “You survived. The shows are over,” I whisper.

“Barely,” she mumbles back. Her eyes flit between my hand and my eyes. I’m making her nervous. I smile and watch as her lips curve into a small smile.

She’ll be perfect. I can see Warren keeps looking at her. She’s gotten his attention as well, not as much as Riza, whose face he’s busy sucking. They sound like an Elephant slurping water. The man can’t kiss to save his own pathetic excuse of a life. He lets her lips go with a wet popping sound. I can see the redhead is struggling to not reach up and wipe her mouth off.

For a brief moment Warren’s eyes meet mine, then Justin’s. “It’s time,” Warren stands up. “They’re right.” He’s eyes skims over each girl and I know what that look means.

Disappointment flashes over Kelly’s features, where she’s been talking to my brother. I can’t help feel sorry for these girls, such stupid girls.

Warren’s still smiling as he takes out a gun with a silencer attached. I hear Kristine’s gasp and then the whooshing sound it makes through the air, as he hits Riza against the side of her head. Her body falls to the ground from the force he used. Shock vibrates through me. I’ll never get used to seeing a woman being beaten.

Justin grabs hold of Kelly and covers her mouth before she can scream. I hold Kristine’s hand tighter. She stares at Riza for another shocked moment, then she launches her body forward to get to her unconscious friend. Blood trickles from a gash where the gun connected with Riza’s temple.

“R … Riza!” Kristine manages a gasp filled with terror. “Why did you do that?”

Warren turns the gun on Kristine, a look of irritation on his face. “No!” I jump up and yank Kristine up next to me. “Don’t be stupid. You don’t have to kill anyone. Think of the money. Your father will be pissed. He wants four girls.”

Warren moves his hand so that the gun is pointing directly at my chest. I clear my face of all emotion. I shove Kristine at Warren. “Kill her then. It doesn’t matter to me. We’ll just have to keep looking, because I sure as hell won’t be telling your father why we failed him.”

Kristine is whimpering at Warren’s feet, a total mess of snot and tears. Warren scowls down at her. “She’ll be a turn on for someone who likes the sniveling kind. Silence her before I change my mind.”

I reach for Kristine but she tries to scramble away, in the direction of the injured girl. Before I can take hold of her, Warren’s pointed shoe connects with her ribs. Her mouth opens in a silent scream and more tears fill her eyes. I grab hold of her, one arm around her waist and the other over her mouth.

Warren glares at the waiter standing by the door to the balcony. “Bring this one,” he points to Riza. The waiter rushes to the girl and he throws her limp body over his shoulder. The way he’s carrying her makes the dress ride up, exposing her ass.

I lift Kristine off the ground and follow the waiter. Her hands come up, gripping hold of my arm. Sharp nails dig into my skin. She tries to fight but she should know it’s useless. She’s no match for me.

~*~

Chapter Four

Kristine~

This is not happening!

This can’t be happening!

That man just hit Riza! He could have killed her.

It’s all some horrible nightmare. We are not in the back of a van being taken to God-only-knows-where.

My stomach and ribs ache something fierce from where Warren kicked me. I tear my eyes away from Riza, who is still unconscious. I’m so worried about her. I pull Kelly closer to me, trying to comfort both of us.

The van slows down. When it comes to a full stop, it causes all my muscles to tense and quiver. I send up a silent prayer.
Please, don’t let them hurt us!

The sound of metal turning on metal makes me press my back hard into the wall behind me. I pull Kelly tighter against my chest. The van door swings open. Garrett looks very unhappy as he glares into the back of the van.

“Put her with the others!” Warren commands and then he shoves a plump girl into Garrett’s arms.

“Let’s get back to the house. We need to get started,” Garrett says as he picks the new girl up and forces her into the back. She scrambles over Riza to get to the other corner. She looks terrifies. I’m sure we all look the same, scared out of our minds.

“Can’t wait to break them in,” Warren says with a dark smirk.

Break us in? What the hell is he talking about?

My eyes meet Kelly’s terrified ones, and fresh tears spill over my cheeks. The realization of what happened and what is happening hits hard. Oh my God! We’re being kidnapped!

“Close your eyes,” Garrett whispers.

My eyes dart to his and I can’t believe they fooled us like that. He doesn’t look like a killer. I was actually starting to like him before they took us. They all look so decent. I would never have suspected any of them being able to hurt a fly, no less any of us.

“Close your eyes,” he whispers again. “There’s nothing you can do. It will be easier if you try to get some rest while you can.”

He slams the doors closed and I hear the lock engage. My heart rate picks up and my throat clogs with fear.

Riza starts to move, regaining her consciousness after what feels like hours of being stuck in the back of the van. She’s confused when she comes to and tentatively lifts a hand to her forehead. “Ouch,” she whispers, bringing her fingers away from her head to check for blood.

“How do you feel?” She sits up and looks around. Her eyes widen when she realizes we’re in the back of a moving van. When she looks at me, I see the horror in the eyes that’s taken root deep in my stomach. I hold out my hand to her. “Come sit with us.”

“No!” She starts to cry uncontrollably. “Where are we? What’s happening?”

“They’ve taken us,” I whisper, thinking the softer I talk the less of a blow it will be to her.

“We’re being kidnapped!” She shrieks and crawls to the door. She starts to pound on the steel, all the while screaming. “Help! Somebody help. I don’t want to die. Help!”

“Riza,” I whisper but she doesn’t seem to hear me. I clear my burning throat. “Riza!” I shout. “They’ll shoot you. Don’t make them angry!”

She doesn’t listen and keeps banging on the doors.

“Is she your friend?” the girl in the other corner asks.

“Both of them,” I say softly, too upset and drained of energy to raise my voice above a whisper. I cover my mouth with both my hands as a sob escapes. Riza’s screaming and panic is making my panic and fear escalate. Kelly’s silence is killing me.

I’m so scared.

The girl inches closer to me. “I’m Cathy.”

“Kristine,” my voice disappears at the end and I clear my throat again. “My name is Kristine.”

We both watch as Riza keeps pounding at the door. Her voice goes hoarse from all the screaming but she doesn’t stop. She screams for hours until her voice is a rasp of what it used to be. I should pull her back but I’m too scared, so I cling tighter to Kelly instead.

The van stops again and my heart starts to pound out an erratic beat of total terror. When the metal sounds of the key scraping against the locked fills my ears, the terror bleeds into icy cold horror.

This is it! They’re going to kill all of us now.

I don’t want to die.

There’s so much I wanted to do still - so many dreams.

Justin opens the door. “Get out!” he barks. His jaw is clenched, he looks angry. They all look like they’re about to rip our throats out!

“Please,” I croak, my voice thick with fear. “Don’t kill us.”

Suddenly Riza darts forward. Her fist connects with Justin’s cheek. For a moment he looks shocked before he manages to pin her arms at her side. “Stop!” he yells when she doesn’t stop fighting. “He’ll shoot you if you don’t stop.”

Riza doesn’t seem to care. She keeps fighting, kicking and hitting, until Justin pulls something from his pocket. Fear that he’ll kill one of my best friends propels my body forward. “Nooo!” I watch as he plunges a syringe into her neck.

When Garrett and Warren walk into view, I start scrambling back towards Kelly and Cathy. The gun is looming huge in Warren’s right hand. “Oh God! Please don’t,” my begging turns into a yelp as Garrett grabs hold of my foot. I’m dragged back.

“Out!” Warren commands.

Garrett grabs hold of me around my waist, and I’m lifted into the air. The earthy scent of Garrett fills my lungs as I’m pulled back into his arms, and pressed hard against the solid muscle of his chest.

“Shh … If you’re quiet, he won’t kill you,” Garrett whispers hot in my ear.

All I can do is shake my head in denial. I don’t want to die!

Justin lifts Riza’s limp body and starts to walk away with her. Garrett sets me down on my feet but doesn’t let go of my waist. He keeps me pinned against him.

Warren grabs Cathy’s thick dark curls and drags her out. A look of impatience clouds his face. “When I say get out…” he throws her down in front of us on the hard ground, “then you fucking move it, slut!” He kicks her in the same way he kicked me. My ribs ache just remembering that pointy shoe. I feel so sorry for the girl.

Kelly quickly scrambles out of the van, fear darkening her green eyes.

I turn my face away as Warren pulls his foot back and kicks Cathy again. “I’ll bring them,” Garrett says, his breath stirring my hair. There’s a cautionary tone in his voice. Is he scared of Warren? Is Warren the leader?

Of course Warren’s the leader! He’s the one with the gun!

Garrett moves me to the side and grabs hold of Cathy’s arm. As soon as he pushes her into me, I grab hold of her to keep her standing. I don’t want Warren to shoot any of us. Garrett then grabs Kelly and I reach for her. The three of us huddle together, each trying to be small so we won’t be noticed. Garrett pushes us lightly and I take a stumbling step into the darkness, all the while clinging to the girls.

I try to keep my eyes on Riza as we’re all taken through the back door of a house. I can’t see the surroundings or proper shape of the house from the outside, it’s too dark. I have no idea where we are!

Once inside, we walk through a kitchen where two guys are playing cards. One gives us a scowl, the other has a light of interest gleaming in his eyes. It makes my skin crawl.

As we’re taken down a hallway to the living room, we pass a lot of doors, all of them closed. We also pass a stairway, before we enter the living room. A fat man is sitting on a chair next to a table filled with eats.

“Pop, we got them,” Warren says arrogantly. “Look at the little sluts. Did you proud, pop, did you real proud.”

Garrett nudges us forward into to the room filled with the stale air of smoke. My stomach lurches and I can’t keep my body from trembling.

“For fucksakes!” the fat man bellows. “You’ve already marked that one. Can’t you do anything right. Get her out of my sight!”

Justin turns to leave the room with an unconscious Riza. I can’t let them split us up. “Please don’t!” I panic and reach for her.

Warren grabs me behind my neck, pressing down so hard my knees buckle under me. Pain shoots down my spine and into my skull. He shoves me hard and unable to catch my footing, I fall.

Sharp pain explodes in my shoulder and the side of my head, darkness drags me under.

~*~