Page 31 of Disobedient Pawn

My mum grabbed my arm and looked at me with her stern expression, the one she used when she needed me to pay attention. I hadn’t seen her this alert or with so much conviction in the last year.

“Ren, I need you to go into the closet.” She took a deep breath, and I could see her struggling, but the new doctor said she was miraculously getting better, so I didn’t understand why she seemed worse. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes,” I said and then jumped as something crashed downstairs.

“Go in the closet. On the top shelf at the back is a red box. Bring it to me. I have a gun,” she said, squeezing my arm. I didn’t know my mum had a gun or knew how to use one. “Go now and hurry.”

I ran across the bedroom to the massive walk-in closet and jumped up and down, trying to see the top shelf. “Mum, I don’t see it.”

“It’s there. Keep looking,” she said, and I watched as she opened her nightstand. My fingers hit the edge of a box, and I had to jump back as an old shoebox fell toward me. It hit the floor, and the lid popped off. Mum’s old sewing needles and scissors tumbled out of the box.

“Shit. I need a stool.”

“No, Ren, stay there.”

Her voice cracked like she was crying. I let go of the shelf and stared into my mum’s eyes. There was something sad and desperate in the look. My pulse raced faster than it had when I saw the robbers. “I love you, baby, and I always will. Remember, never back down. You’ve always been a queen.”

“Mum?” I stepped toward the opening, and a thick steel door I never knew existed, slid across and slammed into place. “Oh my god. Mum!” I screamed and ran at the thick metal, pounding my fists against it, but it didn’t budge.

“Think Ren, think. There has to be a control panel,” I said out loud. Moving all the clothes out of the way, I found a small door so well hidden I would never have seen it without looking for it. When I pulled it open, there was a keypad and a small screen. I hit the ‘On’ button and screamed at the top of my lungs, watching helplessly as one of the men grabbed a pillow and held it over my mum’s face. Her arms and legs thrashed, but I knew she was no match for three men.

I needed to get out of here. Why would she do this? Screaming hysterically, I ran to the door and threw all my weight against it. Over and over, I slammed my shoulder into the door until I cried out in pain. But I wouldn’t give up and clawed at the metal until my fingers bled.

“Leave my mum alone!” I hollered over and over again. My mum was the sweetest person and wouldn’t hurt a fly. She was also deathly ill and not a threat. I couldn’t understand why they would want to hurt her.

Movement on the screen caught my attention, and I stared in horror as my mum lay still, her arm hanging limply over the side of the bed, the pillow still covering her face. One of the men was close to the door, looking it over like he was trying to figure out how to get in.

“I hate you!” I screamed and kicked at the door. “Do you hear me? I’ll kill you for this!” As the words left my mouth, I knew they were the truth. I would find a way. It was horrible of me as a person. I should want them arrested and thrown in a cell for the rest of their lives, but all I could see was my mum’s lifeless body and what they had done.

“I’ll find you!”

My fear had been replaced with a burning rage, and as I stared into his dark brown eyes, I hoped he would find a way to get the door open. My pulse thumped in my ears, tears trickled down my cheeks, and I walked to the back of the closet. The items that had fallen out of the box were still scattered on the floor. I calmly squatted and picked up the scissors.

My eyes locked on the gray metal door as my hand squeezed my weapon, but all I saw was blood…his blood. I wanted him to suffer. He’d just taken the most precious person away from me, and my hands shook with a rage I didn’t even know I possessed—a rage that terrified me.

Before I could reach the sinks, I collapsed to the floor on all fours. It felt like my heart had been torn from my chest, and I was left bleeding. Then the door rattled, and I screamed as images of that night, of my birthday, came back to me.

“Ren,” a soft voice said. I heard footsteps coming toward me, and then someone knelt by my side, placing a warm hand on my back. “My dear sweet girl, what’s wrong?”

“Mrs. Frey?” I mumbled before the panic attack consumed my mind, and everything went dark.

NOVEMBER 7 – SUNDAY 5:02 PM

Myles

I paced the locker room, my feet slapping against the damp tile floor as Blake told the other guys the story of my screw-up with Ren…again. Three times was pretty excessive, and I was close to punching him right off the bench.

“So get this. Not only did he do all that, but then he pulled this girl into his lap, and she screamed across the cafeteria that she didn’t want to watch us sucking each other off.”

Blake laughed hysterically, and Liam followed suit. I didn’t think the story was as funny the third time around. Blake had taken to making faces and acting out being punched in the face. If he kept it up, I really was going to hit him and give him a reason to cover his nose.

Nash was in the zone in the corner and wasn’t paying attention, or at least I didn’t think so. It was hard to tell with Nash when he was this focused.

“I haven’t told you all the best part yet. Nash, you listening,” Blake asked.

“I’m trying really hard not to,” he said, his tone sarcastic as he rolled his shoulders.

“Dude, the final race is not for another half-hour. You need to take a breather,” Blake said. “You already beat Austin in the individual events, and we’re going to fucking kill them in the team medley.”