The Midnight Foxxx

Chapter 28

VIXEN

Darkness surrounds me as I open my eyes.

"I hope you’re ready to experience hell."

I fly forward, sitting up straight as my breaths start coming in gasps. My body is still sore but the pain is manageable.

“f**k… No. No, no, no, no,” panic and fear strikes my heart as I remember Brax saying he’d take my punishment for me, and the threat Silas gave just before I lost consciousness. Covers are thrown off my body and slide off the mattress, landing in a tangled heap. I throw my legs over the side of the bed and trip over the sheets in my haste to get up.

“f**k!” I growl and kick away the blankets. When I get to the door, I realize I’m in nothing but a raggedy old t-shirt and panties. Deciding I don’t care, I throw the door open, making a loud thud when it slams into the wall.

“What the f**k!” A female dancer walking by startles at the loud noise.

“f**k outta my way,” I growl as I push past. My legs tremble under me as I made my way down the stairs. My eyes flick around frantically looking for the tall brooding vampire. When I don’t see him, dread sits heavy in my stomach.

“Hey!” I grab the arm of the male dancer who helped me get off the stage.

“Oh hey, how are you feeling?” He smiles brightly at me.

“Have you seen Brax?” I ignore his question.

“Uh, no, not recently. Actually, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him in a few days,” he says thoughtfully.

“DAYS?” My voice is practically a yell, “How long have I been out?”

“The last time I saw you was… s**t, I think it was like five days ago?” he rubs his chin in thought.

“Five days? Five f*****g days?” My breaths start becoming short and shallow with panic.

“Hey, relax, I’m sure he’s fine,” the male tries to soothe me.

“No, I need to find him,” I push him away when he tries to come closer. My steps quicken, not bothering to move out of anyone’s way, instead plowing right through them. Curses are thrown at me as I shoulder my way to the door that leads downstairs. My hand is on the door knob but get stopped by another hand grabbing my shoulder.

“Vixen,” Elliot’s voice speaks softly behind me.

“Where is he?” I demand, shrugging his hand off.

“You don’t want to go down there. He asked me not to let you see him,” he says softly.

“f**k you! I need to see him,” the knob turns, but the door doesn’t budge when I try to pull it open. A hand is pressing against the wood, holding it closed.

“Let me through, Elliot,” a growl rumbles in my throat threateningly.

“I promised him I wouldn’t let you see him. He’d kill me,” wood creaks under increased pressure. I finally look up at him. His eyes are full of pity and it pisses me off. The growl increases in volume as I glare at him, rage rippling over my skin. My body wants to shift, but the collar around my neck tightens and I feel a slight burn.

“Get out of my f*****g way,” my teeth snap at the hand holding the door closed.

“f**k!” Elliot yanks his hand away when I bite into him. Blood fills my mouth, the disgusting taste making me gag. I spit it out onto the floor before yanking the door open and bolting down the stairs. My legs still feel weak and stumble on the last step, just barely managing to catch myself.

Brax’s bedroom door is closed. My heart thunders in my chest as I approach. The smell of his blood makes my stomach twists in knots and nausea to rise.

“Brax?” I call to the other side of the door. There’s no answer.

“Brax?” I call louder and knock on the weathered wood. Nothing. I swallow the lump in my throat and open the door slowly. The world around me screeches to a halt. My ears ring loudly as I absorb the image in front of me. Brax is kneeling at the opposite end of the room, head hung low and limp with his hands shackled above his head. A wooden stake is lodged into his stomach. It oozes blood and the surrounding skin smokes from the offending material. Cuts and bruises litter his body. A pool of purple blood has collected underneath him, the smell starting to turn rancid from sitting for so long. My brain finally comes back online and I rush forward, collapsing in front of the wounded man.

“No, no, no, no, Brax,” his face is cold in my hands, colder than it usually is. He doesn’t respond to the touch. His chest is just barely rising and falling with shallow breaths. Shaking hands grab the wooden stake and pull it free, letting it clatter to the floor.

“Brax, please,” I lift his face to look at him and immediately wish I hadn’t. His eyes are swollen shut and his bottom lip is busted. His cheeks are black and blue. Gashes adorn his beautiful face. Blood is everywhere, some fresh and some old.

“f**k, Brax, please, answer me,” tears well up in my eyes. Guilt weighs heavily on my chest.

“Vix, come on. You don’t need to see him like this,” Elliot stands in the doorway.

“f**k YOU!” I screech at him, whipping my head around to face him with canines bared. Tears begin falling, sliding down my cheek before plummeting to the floor, mixing with blood.

“Come on now,” he tries again, seemingly unfazed by my aggression, “He’ll be alright.” The tears continue to come, more and more running down my face. I take the hem of my shirt and use it to clean away the blood on his face.

“f**k… I’m so sorry,” I sob, placing my forehead against his. The same way he’s done to me hundreds of times, “This is all my fault. It’s all my f*****g fault!”

“Hey, none of that. He chose this. He knew what he was agreeing to,” Elliot interjects.

“He wouldn’t of gotten hurt at all if it wasn’t for me,” The guilt is all-consuming. My heart aches as it slowly crumbles into millions of pieces. I wipe my tears away and stand. His tangled black hair feels silky between my fingers as I lovingly pet his head.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, “I’m never letting this happen to you again.”

Elliot stumbles and falls flat on his ass when I shove him out of the way. “Damn, Vix, what the hell?” he grumbles as I storm past, flipping him off.

Everyone moves out of my way, parting like the ocean did for Moses as I stalk back up to my room, rage rolling off me in waves. Dresser drawers filled mostly with costumes clatter to the floor and articles of clothing begin flying around the room. After a little digging, I manage to find an old pair of plain black leggings. I pull them on, adding to the collection of holes by tugging too roughly. The knots in my hair take some effort to fully brush out, but manage to tie the strands back into a long braid. My leather jacket slips on with a familiar ease and the boots fit like a second skin. The bottom drawer houses all my weapons and begin the long process of equipping myself with as many of them as I can, shoving some into my pockets when I run out of holsters and sheaths. Once fully loaded up I exit my room and stalk downstairs with the intensity of a hurricane. I stop to flip off the security camera before walking out the door.

I refuse to be the reason Brax is hurt ever again.

A long dirt road stretches deep into the woods in front of me. A large gate lies off the side, the metal bent and dented. My heart clenches thinking about Brax. I pull my hood up over my head and tuck my chin down into my chest, looking at the ground as I walk the gravel road. It feels weird coming here without hopping the fence or sneaking around. I’m not even sure what I’m doing here. This is probably a stupid idea, but I don’t know what else to do or where else to go. The Alpha had said he could help me. I just hope he meant it.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I freeze and look up into blue eyes framed by blonde curls. My heart feels like it’ll beat out of my chest.

“I’d like to speak with the Alpha.”