Read Soldiers of Chaos- Chaos Abounds: Book 1 in the Soldiers of Chaos series Online
Authors: A.A. Askevold
Soldiers of Chaos- Chaos Abounds: Book 1 in the Soldiers of Chaos series
Soldiers of Chaos
Chaos Abounds
Written by A. A. Askevold
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my loving husband who put up with my mental absence even though I’m in the same room as him, the sometimes late dinners and hardly ever done dishes.
I would also like to thank my friend, sounding board and quasi-editor, Rachael. You have been an integral part in getting this book finished and in giving me the confidence to publish it.
I dedicate this book to the girls in the lunch room who’s frequent and interesting conversations about the men in their lives and in their dreams have provided me with much inspiration and amusement.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Soldiers of Chaos- Chaos Abounds
Self-Published
First Edition
Copyright © 2014 by A.A. Askevold
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
Contents
Nikki drove her Mustang down her old street towards her mother’s house.
While she loved her car it wasn’t her usual mode of transport. Normally she’d be roaring into the neighbourhood on her ’77 Harley Café Racer. She’d bought it cheap with her first real pay cheque and it had been nasty. She’d restored it from the ground up. Man she’d loved that bike even though the guys had teased her about it being a POS, at least until she’d finished it that was. She’d had it for years and now it was gone. Last time she came to check on her mother, Sheila had lost it and dashed out to the driveway pushing Nikki’s bike over and smashing it with a baseball bat. It’d taken her several goes to get the bat off her and by then the bike had been pretty fucked. It was still sitting in the back of the shop waiting for parts. She didn’t park in the driveway either stopping the Mustang a few houses down from Sheila’s. The neighbourhood was not what it used to be not that it used to be fantastic but it was dirtier, grittier, and poorer. Even with all that she knew no one would dare touch her car because of who she was, who she belonged too. She wasn’t untouchable or anything but if anyone wronged her she could bring hurt and death down on their heads quickly. She checked on her mother on average once a fortnight although the day and the time was never the same. Her mother had been a party girl, alcohol, drugs, men, she got herself into more trouble than she could handle when she was younger and age didn’t seem to slow her down. When Nikki was young she’d bore witness to her mother’s disgusting antics on more than one occasion but for the most part she was lucky to avoid a lot of it because of Rose. Rose had been her father’s best friend’s wife. She would send her son and his best friend over to collect her on a regular basis especially when her mother was entertaining which was more often than not. After a while she realized her own mother was less of a mother to her than a woman who owed her nothing and she owed everything. But still she felt obligated to the bitch that birthed her.
Her father left when she was really little. He was never around much and by the time she could remember he didn’t come to the house at all. She only ever saw him now and then at Rose’s place. He’d always acknowledge her, friendly but distant. Asked how she was going, gave her money, presents at birthdays and Christmas, he also gave Rose money to look after her she was sure that’s what it was for and she knew Rose tried to give it back. But he wouldn’t take it so Rose put it away for her and that was how she’d bought her bike and her mustang. So while her dad was distant she liked him, she appreciated him and she let the blame for all the shitty things in her life fall square on her mother’s shoulders instead. May not have been fair given her father’s absence but god knows there were plenty of single mothers out there who had their shit together. Here she was again being the fucking responsible parent to the person who was supposed to have been her responsible parent. She made sure the bills were paid, her mother had food, cash in her pocket and the house was clean. Although she was always loathe to give her the money, but one way or another her mother would get it and if she relied on other people to get her cash that shit always ended in trouble. She’d bailed her out on several occasions, small loan sharks for the most part and with the threat of retribution against them if they loaned to her again, she put a stop to having to do it more than once with each vender.
Nikki ducked around the side of the house towards the back door. She had learnt a while ago that opening the front door on her mother’s nastiness only invited her to take it out in the street. If she went through the back she could avoid any nasty surprises by quietly retreating or if her mother followed her out then the argument would at least be unaccompanied by nosy bystanders. She turned the door knob quietly and snuck through the laundry into the hallway. The house was silent except for the television in her mother’s bedroom which meant she probably drank herself into a stupor on her own instead of with company. None the less she moved as quietly as she could towards her mother’s door. The door was slightly ajar and she peered through the gap. She couldn’t see well as the only light in the room was coming from the small television on the dresser. She pushed the door open and froze. Everything was red. The sheets, the pillows, the bed head. Blood. Everywhere. Her mother was naked, hands and feet tied to the bed and covered in blood. There were cuts weeping red all over her body. Her face was twisted in an ugly grimace, a bullet hole between her eyes and a halo of brain matter spread out around her head. She opened her mouth and she was sure she would’ve screamed except all the oxygen in her lungs had already left her. The sound of running water hit her ears and she sucked in a noisy breath. The bathroom. They were in the bathroom. She unfroze and whirled around too late.
“Why hello there. Aren’t you a pretty little thing? Far better looking than your mama and probably sweeter too.” The man in front of her had eyes black as coal and a soul just as dark. She could tell in an instant this was death come for her. He held up a bloodied blade his tongue snaking out to lick the blood from it, her mother’s blood. She fucking moved then, quicker than her mind could, she whirled around to run further down the hall towards the front door. Another guy stepped in front of the hallway entrance blocking her path. She made a quick left into what had been her bedroom. She swiftly shut and locked the door backing away. Fuck. She had to get out. “Now, now sweetheart no need to run. We just want to have a little chat.” The handle on the door jiggled. Shit. Her hand went to her mobile in her jacket pocket she hit speed dial one while she looked for an exit. The window. Too late, the door busted open. Her hand went back into her pocket depositing her phone and going for the switchblade she kept there just in case. Not great but better than nothing. She flicked it out. The two men halted in front of her one with his gun drawn. “Oh dear sweetheart it would appear you bought a knife to a gun fight.” A smile that was pure evil spread across creepy guy’s his face. She glanced at the other guy quickly. Average build, average height, average looking, and an average thug. Not the one to be concerned with. “Put it down or he’ll shoot you.” She glanced at average guy again and caught the quick glare he sent his partner. He didn’t like him, interesting. She took a step toward the creepy guy. Average guy didn’t shoot just aimed his gun more purposefully at her. “Aaaaahhhh a brave little thing are we, so more like your father then.”
Her father? So was this about her father then and not her mother. She took another two steps towards creepy man. “Don’t” Average guy finally spoke but she didn’t look at him at all. Those few steps had actually placed her closer to him even though she had been heading towards creepy man. She waited. They waited. “What the fuck are we doing here?” Gun guy shifted his eyes to creepy man. Big mistake. She switched her blade to her fingers then turned and pegged it at him. He reacted to her movement, his finger squeezing the trigger but it was too late the knife sank into the hollow above his right collarbone. The bullet ripped into the flesh at the back of her left thigh. Nikki cried out and stumbled backwards going down hard hitting her head on the floor. Her thigh burnt like hell and her head ached. She was too woozy to right herself. “Bitch!” Gun guy screamed and she was sure she was gonna be dead in about five seconds but better than being cut up and bled out. “Stop. Now” Creepy guy commanded impatiently. “Get that shoulder cleaned up before you bleed all over the fucking place. I’ll deal with her.” Nikki was not waiting around for that shit. She peered out from under her lashes surveying the room. Her phone had skittered out of her pocket and come to rest under the dresser. No hope there anyway. Her eyes kept sweeping around and something in the bottom of her closet caught her eye. Under the overflowing shoe rack was the Glock the boys had given her a good ten years ago to protect herself in case one of Sheila's boyfriends got any ideas. It was always fully loaded at the boy’s insistence. "That bitch just stabbed me. Get out of my way. I'm going to kill her." She began dragging herself inch by inch across the floor. "You will not kill her. You will leave her to me. Go. Now Roach." She was almost within reach of the closet. Nikki heard the door close.
"Now where do you think you’re going sweetheart.” Just a little bit further. She heaved herself forward. Then she felt his boot squish down on her left thigh. She cried out in agony unable to hold it in. Then she was flipped over onto her back, a gun in her face and a knife to her throat. He was straddling her good thigh his eyes gleaming with excitement. She shuffled back a tiny bit. “Don’t move.” He sheathed his knife and pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket. “Give me your hands.” She hesitated. He pressed the pistol into her forehead “Now.” She brought her hands up and he slapped them on one wrist then the other. He pulled the keys out and dangled them in front of her then tossed them across the room. She watched as they slid across the floorboards stopping near her bedroom door. The gun went between her legs. “You be a bad girl and I’ll make it slow and painful like your mother, you be good and I’ll make it much quicker. Now nod so I know you heard me." She fucking heard him and she nodded but her mind was on that gun not far from her head. She kept silent with her eyes on the ceiling. “Good now move your hands out of the way.” She placed them over her head. It would be harder to get the gun like this, the cuffs made noises when she moved and her hands would have to move in unison. Her shirt ripped open as he cut into with his knife exposing her bra. A burning pain across her collarbone let her know the first cut had come. “Mmmmm. That right there is beautiful.” She breathed through her clenched teeth. He leaned down to her slowly weeping cut and licked at it with his tongue. Her stomach rolled and a shiver of disgust caused her body to tremble. She didn’t have time to let the fear in. She took that opportunity to move her hands higher above her head and closer to that gun. Creepy man brought his head up but she didn’t look at him. Eyes on the ceiling. Eyes on the ceiling. “So sweet.” A shiver of disgust moved through her.
He shimmied down her leg, his eyes on her short skirt. Why the fuck hadn’t she worn her jeans? Probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway. He used one hand to push it up higher revealing her upper thighs and her panties. She felt the blade pass over her inner thigh as the gun moved out of her crotch and onto her stomach. The blade slid into her panties and tore them open. “Hhhhmmm, not enjoying yourself sweetheart. Never mind there’s plenty of ways to get wet. One in particular I like.” He moved the knife in a quick slicing motion high on her good thigh. She flinched but managed to hold in a whimper of pain. She kept sliding her hands north and felt the cold metal of the gun against her fingertips. She levered the gun into the right position with her fingers then closed her right hand around the grip. She looked at him then. His eyes were fixated on the blood oozing down the inside of her thigh so close to her sex and they glittered with ecstasy. Fear rushed through her cold and icy. He used the fingers of his knife hand to spread the blood over her folds. He glanced up at her and she knew he’d glimpsed the fear on her face and thought he had her. He ducked his head down to the cut on her thigh suckling it. She heard the slide of his zipper. Bile rose in her throat. She couldn’t lose it now. She slid her hands slowly out from under the rack gripping the gun with her right one. She brought her arms up over her head pointing the gun at the top of creepy man’s skull. He shifted about to move up her body. Nikki didn’t have any more time to waste. She cocked the gun. The sound caught creepy man’s attention and he shot up just as she squeezed the trigger. The bullets hit one after the other, the first in his forehead exploding out the back of his skull. The second and third in a line as his body dropped down onto her, his head landing low on her right shoulder. The fourth went out into the room. The door burst open and five went who knows where as she swung towards it. She’d aimed awkwardly with the dead body on her and six went low tearing through the cheap wooden door into Roach’s left knee. She swung wildly back to the right as he went down and by sheer luck seven went into his right forearm causing him to lose his grip on his gun and it flew across the floor boards. But he’d already pulled the trigger and a bullet scored through creepy guy’s dead flesh and sank into her left shoulder. She did not feel it; adrenalin was coursing through her body.