Wild Boys

Chapter Twenty Two

Iris lay panting after a last attempt at shaking the thick ropes holding her. Her eyes searched wildly for something, anything—she still had her teeth free, she could rip a skin or two, deal any damage for the taking, but the men had suddenly started to act cautious and smart much to her dismay. She was lying on her side with her arms held tight behind her and one of the black figures had just finished tying her ankles together.

"Why?" She hissed through clenched teeth. They acted as if they didn't hear a word.

"You got her?" One of the men asked, breathing ragged. He was holding his nose in one hand, blood dripping, while he gestured around him. "Fuckin' hell. Good thing we brought a bucket of cold water. Go get it!"

Three unconscious bodies lay slumped on the ground. If she hadn't been in a damned dress, her odds would've been much better, but they were ready for her and had relied on numbers. How utterly foolish was she to have willingly come out, believing for a moment that her family was here? It had all happened so fast. One second her heart was pounding with anxiety over the thought of seeing her father, and Ian, and her mother, and then the next second big, burly men had come out of the shadows. How could she be so stupid? They weren't going to come, let alone see her. She was an idiot.

"She's all good," The man who made sure the ropes that bound her would do its job stood up.

"What do you want?" Iris cried, raising her voice.

"Gag her, too. We ain't takin' any chances." He flicked blood from his hand down the ground with an annoyed grunt. "Knocking her out's the smart thing to do, but the boss ain't want her asleep."

Her eyes widened, "No—hmf!" A piece of cloth roughly cut off any chance for speech.

"Better," He pressed something in his ear. "We got her." He nodded, listening quietly. "Alright. We're coming." Turning to the man who came back carrying the water, he said, "Wake 'em up. If you're not back by the chopper in ten, we're leaving the fuck outta here."

She was lifted in the air and carried on one massive shoulder. She thrashed desperately, like a fish out of water, and the grip slipped and she came crashing down the ground on her back. She glared at the disgruntled man and wriggled madly as his hands came down once more. If she's going to get taken, there's no way she was going to make it easy for them.

"Shit!" He hissed in pain as her bound feet managed to hit his knees. "Bitch is crazy!"

"For fuck's sake, just do it quick! They're probably lookin' for her now!"

"Fuck what the boss says, he's not gettin' her like this."

Iris' eyes widened in panic as he loomed over her, holding something in his huge hand. Blinding pain flashed as something hard thudded at the back of her head, all fight leaving her body in that moment as she tried hard to clutch at her seeping consciousness, but it was a losing fight right from the start.

~*~

The monotonous sound of water hitting the steel floor roused Iris up into consciousness. As she blinked her eyes open, she realized it was not water that woke her up. Blood dripped from the back of her head, splat, splat, into a small pool of dark red gathering at the floor. Based from that, she surmised they were going into the topmost floor of the building, and what was the tallest building in Visco? Building D.

"...They're raising monsters in there, ain't it." The deep voice carrying her grated in her head. Iris fought a wince at the pain that flashed, as if there's a small company of aliens drilling an entrance into her head. "Boss ain't messin' with us when he said to look out for this one." His hand slapped her bottom, and Iris swallowed the rage.