He has torn me apart and left me here.
All alone with my tears and pain he alone can cure.
I lie weeping at night in the dark
Tears of blood raining down on my bed.
My heart, in his hands, bleeds as he watches
Telling me, he is with me as I scream in my head.
I have given my heart to the Reaper
Though he has hurt me beyond all bounds.
And still, beyond the sorrow and pain he caused
I love him for and with all of his demon hounds.
My heart has been torn by the Reaper, but I still
Hope for his arms to hold me. Without him, I am
Nothing but a soul, dying alone, whishing through
It all to make him happy.
I surrendered my heart to the Reaper
and I hope someday he will surrender his own.
ONE
REAPER
Age 15…
It’s been two weeks. Two weeks of Hell that I’ve endured. Two weeks since, I’ve been patiently waiting for my family to come. I know they will. They always do. I just need to give them time to find me, and when they do, not even God will save the men who took me.
I still don’t know where I’m at or who stole me as I was riding my bike right down the street from where I lived. But I do what they ask me to do. I’ve been locked up long enough to know that this will not end well for any of us if we don’t escape.
I am not the only one here.
There are so many of us. If the situation weren’t so damn frightening, it would look like a small school or birthday party, but this was no party, far from it.
Cages, hundreds of them stacked on top of the other, all full of boys and girls. Age apparently didn’t matter, neither did our race. We were animals to them, and they were treating us as such. They barely fed us, if you’d call water and a slice of bread food. There was a bucket in each cage, but I guess I don’t need to go into detail on what that’s for. The smell of the building was rancid, making some of the younger ones sick, which added to the smell and filth. There were no open windows, no fresh air to breathe, only our own stench.
Occasionally, men would come and add another cage, but more than not, they’d take a kid, taking them out of their confines, never to be heard from again. As another girl was yanked from her cell, my stomach rolled. She was dragged, kicking, and screaming, begging for anyone to help her. But no one will.
Not even me.
I can’t.
They broke me already.
I used to like horror movies but not anymore after being in a real-life one. I remember when they took me from the street. I fought them as hard as I could, but they were bigger, more powerful, and they injected me with something in my neck. I woke up here, naked and in my own cage. I didn’t know what was going on at first, but my fears were correct when they came and took me to another room.
I don’t think about what they did to me. I can’t. I’ve vomited enough already, and the bleeding has finally stopped. I can’t think about it. My head is already messed up enough, and my nightmares keep me awake. No. I shouldn’t go there. It’s going to be my secret. Mine alone. Nobody needs to know the truth. Ever.
Water is leaking from the ceiling again.
It must be raining.
“Max,” a soft whisper to my left makes me turn my head. It’s Remi, a small girl, not yet eight. She is curled up naked next to the bars of her cage, right next to me. Hell, all of us are naked. But that’s the least of our worries. Remi talks to me a lot. I don’t mind though. She was here when I arrived and held my hand when I didn’t want anyone to touch me. I couldn’t tell her no. She cried with me as I came to grips with what those bastards did to me.
She may be young, but she’s my only friend in here.
“What is it, Remi?”
“Stop crying. That makes them mad.”
“I’m not crying Remi. It’s raining.”
“Wipe your face Max. Hurry. before they come back.”
The tone in her voice made me cautiously look around. I looked up and realized it wasn’t raining again. It was me. Wiping my face quickly, I scooted closer to her. Reaching my hand through the bars, I took hers and tried to smile for her. “Thank you, Remi.”
“Tell me again about your family Max. Are they really going to come save us?”
“Yes. My dad is the President of the Golden Skulls. The toughest, meanest bunch of badass men on the west coast. He will come, and he will bring all the brothers. They will ride in on their bikes, and when they arrive, they will kill everyone. Soon Remi. They will come soon.”
“Only the bad men?”
“Yes. Only the bad men.”
She sighed, leaning her head against the bar next to me. “I had a bike—a pink one. My mommy put pink ribbons on it and even a bell. I loved riding my bike. Will your family have a bike like mine?”
“No. My family’s bikes are big, for adults and they go very fast and make a lot of noise when you ride them. You can hear the bikes for miles, Remi. Just listen for the rumbling. They will come.”
“I believe you, Max. I do.” Remi yawned, her eyelids dropping.
Holding her hand as she drifted off to sleep, I looked around me and prayed. I’ve never been a believer, but things change, and I needed something other than my belief in my family to get me through this. I prayed that my father would find me. I prayed that he would still love me after everything that had happened, but mainly I prayed that these bastards all
