Page 83 of Sin

“You think he’s going to have her out in the open, so we can just come in and grab her. Fuck no. That bastard is going to hide her. She’s here, man. I know it. There’s no way that bitch took two days of torture just to lie to us.”

I know he’s right. “The cellar.” We search for a door and come across one that’s under the stairs. I slowly open it and that's when I hear it. Whimpers.

“Slow.” Lick reminds me. “We don’t know who’s with her. We can’t make rash decisions.” Taking the wooden steps one at a time, her whimpers grow louder. Stepping off the last one and seeing the scene before me, I know I’m going to lose my grip.

Savannah is lying on a mattress, completely nude. Lick comes up behind me and stiffens as he sees what’s before us. Her arms are stretched out at her sides. There are wire sections attached to a buckle that are around each wrist, the opposite ends are attached to a hook type contraption on the cider block wall. Her feet are tied to the bottom of the bed frame. Her once brown hair has been bleached blonde. He’s shaven her pussy completely bald. She’s covered in cuts and bruises. I look over at Lick and know that he feels the same utter devastation, and uncontrollable rage as me. Her whimpers cause me to bring my eyes back to her. “Please, Tyson,” she begs. I try to go to her, but Lick stops me and shakes his head.

“Not until you submit. Not until you say you’re mine!” I hear him off to the side, in another room. When he enters, he's adjusting the waist of his shorts.

“The baby. The baby, Tyson. There’s something wrong. I think I’m in labor and it’s too early for that. I’m not ready, she’s not ready.”

“And if she dies, so what. I’ll give you another one, a boy next time. Girls are worthless anyways.”

Those words are what push me over the edge. I push Lick’s grip from my arm and enter the room.

“Get the fuck back!” I keep my blade down at my side. I step in between the bed and Tyson. I hear the metal of her restraints clink against the wall.

“Of course you’d show up. Haven’t you learned your lesson? She’s mine, always has been, always will be.” He doesn’t take his eyes from the bed. He has a hint of crazy in his movements.

“Are you okay, sugar?” I ask.

“Yeah, just sore.” My jaw clenches. There's a commotion behind me and I know its Lick freeing her from her confines.

“Soreness is what happens when she’s been ridden by a real man.” He taunts me. “Almost got all signs of you washed from her skin.” He continues to talk but never once takes his eyes off Savannah. Stepping to the side, I watch as Lick covers her naked body and lifts her from the mattress. “Once I shove my cock up her ass, I’m sure she’ll all but forget about you.” My body quakes with anger as his words taunt me. Stepping towards him, I adjust the blade in my hand. I’m not sure how much more I can take of this cocksucker.

“Matty.” Her voice is soft, making me stop mid-stride. “Kill him.”

Without another moment to waste, I raise the blade and drive it through the skull of the man who thought he could touch my world.

We made it back to Las Cruces in record time. Lick drove the entire way while Savannah slept in my lap. I can’t keep my hands off her. I constantly nudge her stomach making sure the baby is still kicking. Lick suggested that we take her to a local hospital, but I wasn’t certain they would keep our visit under wraps. Once we get home, Doc can make sure she and the baby are okay. I have no idea what Meredith is up to after our little pow wow. I need to get her back home where she’ll be safe.

*****

Savannah’s been out since we arrived at the hospital. Doc says it’s normal, her body is healing. The baby’s heartbeat is steady on the monitor and I’m being told there isn’t anything to worry about. My mother has been in along with everyone else who cares for her.

I place gentle kisses along Savannah’s stomach. Rubbing my nose over the swell, I trying to find peace in the gift that’s still safely growing in the warmth of her mother. These two mean more to me than I ever could have imagined. I’ve felt the baby kick, wiggle and squirm. You have no idea how comforting those moves are “You’re going to suffocate her, mijo.” I hear my mother’s voice from behind.

“I need my girls to know I’m here. I need to feel them.” I don’t take my eyes from the white of Savannah’s hospital gown. I spot a small rumble of the material followed by the feel of small movement under my hand.

“She’s a fighter.”

“I know Mama.”

“The baby will be alright, mijo.”

“I hope so.” I swallow down the emotion that’s lodged in my throat. The thought of losing them. Knowing how close we got to losing each other. I don’t ever want to take that chance.

“You can’t always know when danger’s approaching. There's no way of knowing and you can’t burden yourself with that worry. If you do, then before you know it, your life is gone and you can’t remember living it. Things happen. Bad things, good things, it doesn’t matter who you are, they will happen.” I take in her words as I smooth my hand over Savannah’s stomach. “How you live your life doesn’t determine if bad things happen. You can live careful, you can live without danger then one day you can step into traffic and poof, your life is done.”

“I know.” I tell her.

“Do you?”

“I do now. I’ll admit I didn’t before. I believed that I was being punished for my decisions, for the life that was thrust upon me, but I understand that it’s just life. It has nothing to do with me.”

“Matthew.” I turn my head and look at my mother. “Your life has always been beautiful. Even in the midst of tragedy, there’s always been beauty because you continue to live, survive. From the time you were born, your father knew you would be nothing like Devin, or even himself. Why do you think he gave you the name Sin?”

I know why he gave it to me, as a joke, because growing up he never had to worry about me ‘sinning’. Me doing wrong because I'm not Cut, I'm not like him. “I already know why, I’ve lived the past thirty years hearing about it.”