Two (Sold to my brother’s bestie)

Two 

Nala’s POV 

I barely noticed Sue's hand wrapping around my body as I stumbled after the gang leader to the now chill air of early evening. I didn't notice anything or anyone.

Only one thing was ringing in my head.

Ethan Brooks was involved in an accident. My brother might not be the best of all brothers out there, but an accident—or heaven forbid, death—was the worst that could happen. I might not heal from this. My body shuddered merely thinking about it.

We are orphans, never had the privilege of knowing our parents. My brother, Ethan, has been the parent I never had. He dropped out of school just so I could go to school and so he could feed both of us till I was able to assist him with the bills.

Ethan has been my best friend, my parent, and my guardian. It's difficult to even imagine my life without my brother in the picture.

Every part of my body feels like a burden on my soul. Nothing should happen to Ethan. Nothing must happen to Ethan.

My stomach rumbled loudly, reminding me that  I'm yet to eat anything today, but the fear of me not hearing from my brother again overshadowed that.

The MC leader started his Harley and signaled for me to get on the bike. On a normal day, I would have hesitated or even given him a bite of my sassy tongue, but right now I can't seem to think clear, and I didn't hesitate before climbing on his motorcycle and holding his leather cut in my clenched fist as he started the Harley.

"Call me when you get there, dear. Stay strong for yourself and Ethan," Sue patted my leg gently before blowing me a kiss since she wasn't tall enough to reach my cheeks. I managed a fake smile for her, nodding in acknowledgment of her words.

Sue was like the mother we never had, and I'm grateful for that. But even that is not enough to distract me from the reality that Ethan might be battling with death currently.

The ride through the city was a blur, and even the racing motorcycle didn't race as fast as my heart. Before I realized it, we weren't moving towards where the popular hospitals were situated. Rather, we were moving towards the abandoned part of town that was more warehouses, bars, and strip clubs.

There's probably a smaller hospital nearby, I thought to myself. But when the bikes going before us stopped in front of a strip club and the Harley carrying me also parked in front, I double-checked to be sure the 'Booty & Bullet' strip club with the neon sign by the road flickering like it had seen better days could probably be a hospital. 

Maybe my sight was dwindling, but unfortunately I didn't see any hospital nearby. Now I started to rethink my decision to hop on the bike of people that are well-known criminals without double-checking their claims.

I didn't even have my phone. Fuck. If they were to kill me this instant, no one would be able to trace my body to them. Even the police avoid anything HELLBOUND SONS MC related, and now I've jumped into this willingly like the forward duck that I am.

I cleared my throat nervously as my situation dawned on me. I'm in the middle of nowhere with no means of communication or any cash at hand except for the few cents I picked up earlier.

"Excuse me," I smiled falsely like it's completely normal to be in an unknown territory with almost a dozen men I don't know anything about except for the fact that they are obviously gang members, and I've followed them blindly because they told me my brother is involved in an accident.

The leader grunted in acknowledgment, moving forward to a cleared path beside the strip club. His men followed him, and I was the only one left behind. They didn't even bother to check if I was following.

The devil I just met might be better than the devil I don't know at all. I took the path they just took and quickened my step before I lost track of them.

Soon, we got to a large expanse of land littered with truck containers and what looked like abandoned warehouses. But I knew better, especially with different bikes parked across the street and beside the containers.

"Is this the hospital?" I asked no one in particular, but I was hoping someone would answer me this time. No one did.

The leader knocked against one of the warehouses that looked the most abandoned and dilapidated. The building looked like if you rested against it too much, it would collapse. It looked like if you sneezed in the wrong direction, the roof would detach from it before the house collapsed.

The leader—the one I sat on his bike earlier—knocked again, and this time it was rhythmical, as if his knuckles were passing across a message. But then again, I remembered it's a motorcycle gang. It would be abnormal if they did it normally.

The door flung open as soon as he stopped the rhythmic knock, and the man stepped in. The last of them almost closed the door on me, and he would have if I wasn't fast enough to shove my leg in between the door.

The fuck?

I already knew before I stepped into the room that it was not a hospital. In fact, as soon as I saw the strip club we alighted at, I already suspected foul play. But a part of me wanted to give them a chance to prove me wrong. They keep proving me right.

We stepped into the room, and it took me well over a minute before my eyes adjusted to the darkened room that looks like it could look better with a window or two.

None of the faces looked like that of Ethan's, and no one was saying anything.

"You didn't come all the way to Sue's with almost a dozen men just to kidnap me, right?" I faced the leader. "Where is Ethan?" I walked closer to him, looking him in the face. The worst he can do is shoot me dead, but I'm more stressed than I'm scared at the moment. Fortunately for them.

The leader met my gaze, his eyes pinning mine in a cruel, horrifying glare. His scar worsened things.

Then he burst out with laughter. Not just any laughter, his body was shaking and his eyes closed as he threw his head back, laughing so hard like there was something else behind his laughter that I didn't know. Maybe it's not me. I looked at myself again. My skinny jeans aren't stained, and the Sue's T-shirt I had on isn't that bad either. So what can be the cause of his laughter?

Soon after, his men joined in, and I was the only one in this dark enclosed room not laughing like the bunch of fools around me.

"Enough!" I ordered, and the laughter ceased instantly—well, except the boss, who now took a cigar out of his pocket and pointed it towards one of his lackeys, who lightened it with a lighter immediately.

"The boss has won himself a firecracker," he said in between laughter and drawing his cigar.

The boss?

If the leader of the gang—who I, alongside everyone in this area, know as Scar, the leader of the HELLBOUND SONS MC—was referring to someone else as the boss... does that mean what I think it does?

Who then is their overall leader or boss?

"Scar," I schooled my face into a cold mask where no emotion was sure to leak out. He met my gaze, this time every trace of laughter gone and the cigar hanging between his lips adding to his personality. Our gazes met, and for a minute neither of us backed away from the staring competition. I broke first.

"What am I here for? Where is my brother?" I asked as calmly as I could without tucking my tail between my legs or giving in to the fear I felt.

"Ethan is paying his dues," he finally said in the same coarse voice that sounds like he would rather be the one doing the questioning, not the other way around. But I've passed the point of caring.

"Take me to Ethan," I said after minutes of interpreting his last words in my head and not making any sense of it. "Please," I added when he didn't move.

He took a drag of his cigar before handing it over to one of his lackeys. He signaled for me to follow him, which I gladly did.

I pretended not to notice the way his men were eye-fucking me and the not-so-subtle comments they were making about my thick ass. I held my head high and navigated the room as if I founded their club.

We stopped in front of a door I would have missed if I wasn't following Scar. He knocked briefly before unlocking the door with a bunch of keys he took out of his pocket.

The first thing I saw as soon as the door opened was my brother tied upside down, looking all battered up and bloody in nothing but his boxers.

"Ethan!" I screamed before I could stop myself.