Bad Luck and The Law of Averages (The Old Guard Fanfic)

Chapter 2 - Beyond Reality

It probably said far too much about his lifestyle that Nicky knew exactly what he was going to find about a second after his mind started to clear. He was hanging from chains against a wall. At least no one was poking him full of holes with sharp implements this time, not yet anyway.

Shaking his head, he pushed himself up to relieve the aching in his shoulders and looked around to assess his surroundings. At a guess he was in someone's cellar. There were stone steps at the far end that went up to a door and the room was lit only by a single meagre bulb. That someone had removed his coat and shirt for him wasn't overly settling, but at least he still had his jeans and boots on.

He couldn't help remembering what he had seen before he passed out, but he had to wonder if that had been to do with hitting his head hard on the wall. The woman had to have dosed him with something or he'd hit at an awkward angle, because it took a lot to put one of them down for more than a few seconds.

Pulling on his manacles, he soon discovered they were solid and tight enough that he couldn't get his hand through. His fingers were mostly asleep where the wrist cuffs had been restricting the blood flow as he hung from them. Wiggling them back to life, he looked around for his options.

There was a dark stain on the wall next to him below a hook similar to the one his bonds were attached to, which didn't look promising. He knew dried blood when he saw it. If he didn't get himself out, he was probably going to be in a lot of trouble.

He was considering how efficiently he could smash his hand to a pulp to get out of his bonds when the click of a lock grabbed his attention. He recognised Ruth, if that was even her name, as soon as she walked through the door. The first thing that became obvious was there was no baby bump; he had been duped.

She was followed by her fake assailant and three others, two women and a man. All were dressed casually in t-shirts and yoga pants and it all seemed faintly ridiculous. If the feel of cold hard steel against his skin hadn't continually reminded Nicky that this was no game, he might have laughed.

"My, what pretty eyes you have," Ruth said as she came to a stop in front of him, "and what good shape you're in. So many people let themselves go these days."

The others spread out behind her, all eyes on him and Nicky's skin crawled. There was something about the way they were looking at him that just wasn't right.

"Where am I?" Nicky asked. "Why did you bring me here? Is your name even Ruth?"

She smiled at him for that.

"It is, actually," she said, "my parents were very biblically inclined. Abusive fuckers."

She never stopped smiling, even as her words dripped with venom.

"As to why you're here," she said, stepping towards him, "you are the prey in the trap."

He wanted to cringe away as she ran her fingers down his chest, but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction. Her touch was cold. It made him think of a corpse.

"But I'm being rude," she said, "you haven't been introduced. These are my family, I made them myself."

She turned and waved at the others.

"This is Roy," she said, gesturing to the big man, "you almost met him earlier. You're very fast you know, nearly foiled our little scheme. He makes such a terrifying mugger."

She mock shivered.

"I picked him up in London, he was a gangster weren't you sweetie?" she said.

The man laughed as if there was something really funny about that, but Nicky didn't get the joke.

"And these are Lucas and Dani," Ruth went on, "they're from Newcastle. Such a pretty pair don't you think? I only keep the pretty ones."