Conviction (17 page)

Chapter 19 – Kelly
Kelly was numb. Not just from sitting for so long, but she'd shut down emotionally as well, preparing for the torture that Devlin would have already planned a thousand times over since her escape. Whenever he came to mind, she would start to shake violently and to counteract she pushed her nails into the palms of her hands and used the pain to focus and stop the impending panic attack. She had the distinct feeling that she was being watched, but every time she looked around she couldn't see anyone she recognised. The long distance on the train meant that most people were sleeping by now. The carriage lights had been dimmed and those awake were forced to turn on the overhead lights if they wanted to see. Kelly had switched hers off in an effort to see if there really was anyone watching her. After two hours of careful people watching she decided that she must be so nervous that she was imagining things. Knowing that Devlin had known where she was and who she was with had spooked her. That was it. She was just spooked and sick to her stomach.

Someone came around with a tray of sandwiches for sale, but she couldn't stomach the idea of food. She did buy two bottles of water and drank one steadily over a couple of hours.

One of Devlin's favourite games had been to deprive her off food and water for days on end. When she was so desperate to eat that she would do anything, he would give her food to hold but not eat, before taking it away until she would literally crawl and eat whatever scraps he threw onto the floor. If he was feeling particularly nasty, he would shove his fingers down her throat and make her throw up anything she had actually managed to eat. She was grateful that he had only done this a few times over the years. The memories still made her stomach lurch.

As dawn approached Kelly took in the beautiful scene out of her window. The colours were merging from the horizon in a dramatic display. Kelly banked the vision into her memory, she would use it to focus on later when she needed to hide away in her mind.

When breakfast came around again she refused food, opting instead for an orange juice. At least she was hydrated, it would take her a few days before he could use her thirst against her.

God, she sounded like a vampire. She had known true thirst. Being put in the hot box out in the yard in the height of summer. No air flow no water. Just a metal box locked with several padlocks and no way of getting out. She'd tried. Oh God, how she'd tried. Her fingers had bled and her nails had been worn down to the cuticles as she'd fought so hard to dig her way through the thick metal. She still had no idea how long she'd been in that box for. When they'd finally pulled her out she'd been unconscious. She'd woken up to being raped repeatedly by several men on Devlin's security team. At least someone had thought to put a drip in her arm before they had started.

Midday was when her train would be arriving to an awaiting Devlin. There had been a short delay at a rural stations when an accident shut down the line temporarily. Part of her was grateful for the delay and the other part of her just wanted to get this out of the way. Her fate was sealed, what was the point in fighting any longer.

At ten she once again turned on her phone and it pinged with several missed calls and even more messages. All the calls were from James. She deleted the log and went into the messages to look for texts from Devlin.

There were two.

I trust you are travelling well. I have taken Abbey to the hospital. The next msg has a photo attached for your proof. I expect nothing less than but an easy pick up from the station. If there is any sign, any sign at all that you have called the police I will terminate Abbey immediately.

Kelly sat stunned for a moment. She figured that he would have her watched so that he would already know if she'd gone to the police. She frowned. Something wasn't quite right. Devlin never felt apprehension, ever. He seemed spooked about something. A million different scenarios entered her mind, each with various outcomes for Devlin, but only one for her. She had to make peace with her life. And if Abbey was safe, then that was enough for her.

Kelly opened the next message and took in a deep breath. She could see a young girl with the exact same red hair being wheeled into the emergency room. It was taken from across a car park with most likely a mobile phone. She couldn't see the child's face, but the hair was unmistakable. It had to be Abbey. It had to be. She knew Devlin couldn't be trusted, but she was again left with no choice. Her own life or her daughters. There simply wasn't another option.

When the train pulled in a midday, Kelly waited for everyone else to get off the train. She disembarked and walked straight through the busy hub of the station. It had been a long time since she'd been here and not much had changed. A little updating of signs and a bit of paint here and there, but underneath the new facade she could still see the cracks in the walls and the graffiti they were forever trying to cover up.

Again Kelly felt like she was being watched, looking around there were literally hundreds of people buzzing around her, there was no way she would be able to spot one person in a crowd this size. She only hoped they were there to help her. She doubted it, it was Devlin's style to have her watched so she couldn't back out or try and blindside him somehow. Other than her managing to escape, she knew of nobody else that had gotten away with crossing him. She'd been forced to watch the consequences of men who had tried to renege on a deal or go back on their word.

Kelly walked to the main entrance where four identical black SUV style cars were waiting. She knew they weren't supposed to park there, but Devlin lived by his own set of rules.

A large man made his way out of the third car, coming around from the driver's side to take her bag from her. Quickly he rifled through it, probably making sure she didn't have any weapons on her.

He opened up the back door and nodded his head. The man still hadn't said a word to her. Kelly closed her eyes and took a deep breath before ducking down and getting into the car.

“Why, if it isn't my little red whore coming home. Oh, I've got plans for you, so many plans. But for now, I want you to look at me. Do not take your eyes off me unless I tell you to.”

Kelly was shaking the only thing holding her upright was the seatbelt she'd quickly fastened to avoid the man she knew was in the car. She could smell him. His whiskey breath and the distinctive hair product that he used that smelled like off milk.

Kelly told herself to be strong and raised her eyes to meet the brown pools of depravity that twinkled at her. He was already enjoying himself. Devlin was sitting directly across from her, the car having been modified to accommodate his needs. His long legs were spread and his arms were stretched out behind him in a completely relaxed pose.

“Did you get the photo?”

Kelly nodded without replying, she knew better than to speak, even if he spoke directly to her.

“Seems like you have learnt a thing or two from that wannabe dominant. He's trying to get to you, you know. But as you can see he's too late.”

The news took her by surprise. She hadn't thought James would actually come after her himself. At the most she'd thought that he would call the police and hope that they were able to track her down before she made a really dumb decision.

“So you see I'm a man of my word. Abbey was taken to the hospital and left there.”

Kelly was dying to ask questions about her daughter, but didn't dare. Devlin would feed her information an inch at a time. When and if he decided she had worked hard enough for it.

Devlin sat forward in his chair so that his knees were touching hers. His grinned when she flinched.

“I see I haven't lost my touch. Have you been dreaming of me, Kelly? Have you been seeing my face in your nightmares?” He ran a single finger down the side of her face and Kelly's eyes closed involuntarily to try and block out what was happening. A sharp slap to the side of her face had her realising her mistake, as the sting reddened her face and forced her to open her eyes. “I said keep your eyes on me you worthless whore. You know that's what you are, don't you? A whore. A piece of ass to be used and thrown away when
I'm
done with you. This time I
will
be done with you. I just haven't made up my mind when that will be. Put it this way, you won't see your thirtieth birthday.”

Kelly didn't flinch or waver at this information, it really wasn't much of a surprise to her and the name calling? She'd heard it all before. Her thirtieth birthday was still eight years away. There was no way in hell she would be able to last that long. They drove in silence for a few minutes before a mean snarl came over his face before he smiled at her.

“I have something to show you, Kelly, something that might just make this a little more real for you.” Devlin passed her a photo and as she realised what the image contained she began to scream and sob. The photograph dropped from her fingers and she began to shake as Devlin undid his pants and started to rub himself, enjoying her pain and anguish. It had always turned him on but even through her tears Kelly could see how hard he was. She didn't think she'd seen him that hard before, although he had always needed to hurt her in some way to get an erection.

“Why did you tell me you took her to the hospital? Why would you...how could you?”

“You think that I gave a shit about that whiny little brat? I wasn't going to tell you until later, but I just couldn't resist, to be honest. I wanted to see your reaction.”

“She was your daughter!”

“Prove it! You're nothing but a whore, remember? Half of my men have fucked you, you have no proof that the little bitch was mine.”

The image burnt into her brain. Her baby! Her baby girl was dead. She'd left her there to die, too concerned with her own escape. She deserved what was going to happen to her. Abbey had died twelve months after she had escaped. Over a year ago. How could she have left her there? They had strung her up and sliced her skin open, from the look of the blood on the floor they'd let her bleed out. The date stamp told her the exact time and date.

“Oh, there's more, sweet whore of mine. I have video as well and you're going to watch it with me while I fuck that ass of yours. I'm sure it's tighter now that I haven't been tearing it up.”

“Fuck you, Devlin King.”

She welcomed the anger that came with the barrage of punches from the animal in the seat opposite her. Knowing that one of them would eventually lead her into oblivion.

Chapter 20 – Kelly

Kelly woke slowly, her eyes heavy and her head throbbing. As the nausea passed she slowly opened her eyes and remembered what had happened over the last few hours. Pain. Grief. Anger. Desperation. Acceptance.

She'd been through them all. Her only reason for escaping, her reason for trying to live a normal life, was gone. She had nothing left to hope for. Nothing left to try and struggle through her nightmares for. She was done.

“I see you are awake.” Kelly didn't bother turning to his voice. She knew where she was. The cold concrete floor felt good on her face, despite the smell of urine that surrounded her. She could tell by her damp clothes that the bastard had pissed on her. She didn't move. She had no energy to.

“Just kill me, Devlin.” she whispered slowly.

“Kill you? Why the fuck would I want to do that?” He chuckled absurdly, obviously amused at her idea. “Oh sweet fuck bunny, you still have no idea, do you?”

Kelly's entire body started to shiver. She had been positive that he would kill her. Especially knowing that Abbey was now dead. He had no reason to keep her alive. No bargaining power. As soon as she had a chance, she would end it herself. Then she would be with her daughter.

Once again grief struck her like lightning, welling up deep in her chest before exploding in body racking sobs. She knew she should control it, hide it from Devlin, but she was powerless to stop its overwhelming hold on her heart.

“Oh, yes, keep going. Do you want me to tell you that she suffered? That she squealed like a pig each time the knife cut into her soft-as-icing skin?” Devlin taunted her as he moved closer, circling her like the predator he was.

Kelly knew where he was holding her. Part of the basement had been his dungeon, his play area. Devlin could access it from the main house through a small corridor. He liked to be able to bring his guests down during parties, not wanting all the
fun
to be had in the main areas of his expansive home.

What most of his guests didn't know was that off the dungeon was another room. Made completely of concrete the only way in or out was through the hidden door. There were no windows and only three metres by three metres. Often Devlin left her there for days. Disorientated by the darkness and unable to tell what time of day, she'd follow the walls until she found the door and would scratch at it until her fingers bled and she had no strength left in them to keep going. The room was also fitted with large speakers which Devlin would play constant white noise through, or a recording of his voice repeatedly telling her what a whore she was. The noise was deafening and prevented her from being able to sleep.

Another torturous function of the room was that it was fitted with thirty heat lamps. Designed for outdoor use when they were turned on the concrete room quickly became insufferable. He'd only used this technique with her a handful of times, the last time she had nearly died from dehydration.

“I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to use you, hurt you and let everyone who wants to, do the same. You're never leaving here again. You will die here.” Devlin had leant down and whispered his vicious words in her ear. She shivered violently at the close contact.

“I already have.”

Devlin chuckled and forced her to roll onto her back so that he could see her face. She closed her eyes and turned her head to the side to avoid his black eyes, sickened expression and the rank, smell of his breath.

“Oh, but you are very much alive, you're just going to wish you were dead.” Devlin gripped her chin harshly, forcing her mouth to open slightly. He dipped his head to hers and thrust his tongue in her mouth, Kelly gagged and her natural reflexes kicked in.

Kelly hooked a leg around the man who had taken everything from her and reefed him around so that he smacked his head onto the concrete floor. In two seconds she was sitting astride him and started punching his face with every ounce of strength she had. Her training was paying off as she continually punched his face.

He didn't fight her instead letting her assault on him get more and more brutal as he laughed and spat blood in her face.

Kelly was too focused on her anger to hear the door open and two of Devlin's 'bodyguards' barrelled into the room. Despite their presence Kelly didn't stop her assault, letting her anger explode through her with each contact of her fist into Devlin's face.

The first bolt of electricity had her back arched and her arms frozen mid punch. The bastards had used a stun gun on her. The two men where small giants and could easily have pulled her off Devlin in an instant, instead they chose the more sadistic route. They were just like their boss, morally lost and intent on hurting her for their enjoyment and entertainment.

The second jolt of the stun gun forced her over to the floor where she seized uncontrollably with the upped ampage.

“Do what you want with her, but you keep her alive. If you kill her consider yourself dead.” Devlin walked from the room wiping blood from his face on his suit sleeve and spitting blood from his mouth onto the floor.

Kelly felt the men hovering over her before they roughly pulled out the prongs from her body. She still couldn't move and knew, that no matter what, she was no match for two men who both looked like Dwayne Johnson on steroids. She closed her eyes and prayed that oblivion would come quickly.

Two hours later Kelly lay bleeding on the cold concrete floor. She had no more tears to cry, even though the pain that wreaked havoc through her body was intense and continual. Her throat was dry and her voice had almost completely disappeared from the screams the two animals had forced from her body.

Her nose was most likely broken and the blood had finally stopped flowing. Her breasts, ass and back were covered in bite marks that had been so brutal the men had had to spit out chunks of her skin. They'd used her own blood to draw patterns on her body, marking her and degrading her at the same time.

Kelly had tried to block everything out, like she'd used to be able to do, ensuring her psychological protection and giving her momentary reprieve from their continual assault. But her short time with James had left her unable to shut herself down. He'd awakened her soul, allowing her feelings and emotions to finally be freed. But now she was suffering and she began to focus her anger on James. She knew who she should focus it on, but it was easier to be angry at a man who wasn't there to defend himself.

She remembered what Devlin had told her in the car and that James was trying to get to her. She hoped he had given up, Devlin wouldn't hesitate in killing him and Kelly already had one senseless death on her hands, she wasn't sure she would be able to cope with another.

Kelly groaned as the white noise filtered through the speakers at an ear piercing level. This was only the beginning and there wasn't anything she could do this time to prevent it. The white noise reverberated through her head, the blinding pain enough that she was physically unable to move. Even breathing hurt her entire body.

The first chance she had she was going to kill herself and take away Devlin's ability to keep her until he was done with her.