I turned and continued to walk down the hallway, and just as I came up to the left turn Skull told me to make, I heard a door slam and male voices bellowing at one another from the end of the hallway on my right. I jumped with fright and balled my hands into fists to keep them steady.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and my breathing sped up. I inched my way down the hallway towards the voices, even though every fibre in my body screamed at me to turn and walk in the opposite direction. I rounded a corner and followed the voices taking a left turn, then a right.
I ignored my gut and continued my slow and steady walk down the hallway. I only stopped when I came to a door that wasn’t shut all the way. I glanced at the door looking for a number or something to say what the room was for, but there was nothing but dark varnished wood.
There was a space between the door and doorframe and I took it upon myself to look through the gap to see what all the commotion was about. I closed one eye and scanned the section of the brightly lit room that I could see, and when a bloodied man bound to a chair came into my line of sight, I couldn’t help but gasp.
I instantly covered my mouth with my hand and ceased to function altogether in fear I would make another unnecessary noise. I remained frozen until a few seconds passed by and nothing happened. I lowered my hand and gently exhaled a relieved breath.
That was close.
I flinched when I looked back into the room just as a tall man rounded into my view and punched the bound man across the face. The poor man’s head snapped to the right, and a moan of pain escaped him. Other than that one moan, he made no sound—not one.
“Remainin’ silent will only lead to more bad shite happenin’ to you, Shane. Do yourself a favour and tell me where my shipment is. I know you tried to jack it, I’ve eyes everywhere along the docks.”
The bound man laughed then spat a mixture of saliva and blood onto the man speaking to him. “If you have eyes all along the docks, why did none of them see where your shipment got to?”
The man, who I assumed was in charge, took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped his face. “I don’t have time for games; tell me what I want to know or me friend here breaks your legs. Your choice.”
There was a lot of shouting, cursing, and screaming that followed in the next twenty seconds and it caused my stomach to churn. I was about to turn away from the room when the door opened wide and the bearded man who was threatening the bound man stood before me, glaring at me.
Oh, fuck.
“I took a wrong turn, I’m so sorry,” I blurted and turned around.
I all but sprinted up the hallway and ignored the man shouting after me. I also ignored his calls for someone to ‘catch me.’ I took a right turn then a left and stopped when I came to an abrupt end to the now small hallway.
How fucking big was this place?
“It’s like a bloody maze!” I hissed.
I turned around and mentally prepared myself to retrace my steps so I could find the room Skull told me to go to, but all coherent thoughts left my head when I ran into a hard chest.
“Ow!” I grunted and lifted my hand to my head.
“You should watch where you’re going.”
I froze.
I knew that voice.
I fucking loathed that voice.
I tilted my head back and looked up at his marred face.
Kane Slater.
“What the hell are you doing back here?” he snapped at me.
No hello or stupid comment on his part, just rudeness as usual. I was shitting myself by being here, but I couldn’t not be a smartarse to him.
“I could ask you the same thing,” I said and stumbled to stay upright when he advanced forward.
Kane glared at me. “No, you fucking can’t. This is no place for someone like you.”
I knew that good and well after witnessing a bound man being assaulted, but what in the hell did he mean by that?
“Someone like me?” I asked, as I tried to narrow my eyes at him, but found it difficult.
He was mad and I didn’t know how to handle mad Kane. Teasing Kane, or annoyed Kane I could deal with, but mad Kane freaked me out quite a bit.
Kane continued to stalk forward, and I continued to back up. “Yeah, someone like you.”
I walked backwards until my back hit a wall. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I squealed when Kane surged forward and gripped both of my arms with his hands.
“It means,” he hissed and leaned in close to my face, “that good girls don’t belong here. Understand me, babydoll?”
Babydoll? Was he for real?
“What makes you think I’m a good girl?” I asked trying to get the tremor of fear out of my voice.
Kane looked at me for a long moment as a ghost of a smile curved his lips. “I don’t think you’re a good girl, babydoll, I know you are.”
I didn’t know why I felt insulted, but I did.
“That just goes to show you really don’t know me, because I do belong here... I hang out here all the time. I’ve actually hung out in Darkness since before you moved here. I’m practically an OG of this place.”
Kane grinned at me. “Oh, really? Then tell me something, OG, why do you look lost walking down these hallways?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly closed it because I had no idea. Skull said these rooms where for Brandon’s business associates, and I was definitely not one of those. I honestly never even knew Darkness had back rooms, though I shouldn’t be surprised. Brandon was a shady fucker.