The Pack and The Ruffian

Gem's Hell

Gem woke slowly, she knew she was in a car, and wondered why they were driving again. The last thing she remembered was Hunter shoving the door open and… nothing. s**t, had she been hit in the head? She tried to lift her hand so she could feel her head. And found she couldn’t. Her hands were tied behind her back. She tugged at them and was surprised at how strong the bonds were. “What the hell?”

“Oh, you’re awake.” A strange voice said from the front seat. The music that had been playing died and silence filled the car. “I was hoping you would stay asleep until we reached our destination. But this is okay too.”

“Who are you? Where am I?”

“Who, what, when, where?” The stranger laughed. “Those are good questions. Well, who is Paine. Nice to meet you. The What, is your plan to take me down failed, so now you’re my hostage. The when, I’m not sure yet, since that will depend on if your friends survive the explosion, and if Sam can actually find us. And then where? Well, that’s a surprise.”

“Paine?” Gem gathered her strength and shifted her body, so she was sitting up now. “As in the Ruffian?” Gem’s head felt fuzzy. There was an explosion, she remembered now. She threw herself at the back window, her eyes looking for any sign of the house.

“Go back! You can’t leave them inside there!”

“Oh, but I did. I’m sorry, but they’re probably dead by now anyway. No use going back. Not that I would anyway.” She laughed and Gem felt her whole body shake with fury. “Sit back, relax. We have a long drive ahead of us.”

“Why didn’t you leave me with them?” Anguish flooded Gem’s body. Hunter couldn’t be dead. No, she’d know if Hunter was dead. Gem tried to break the rope that tied her hands but frowned when it wouldn’t budge. Her vampire strength let her down, she felt her fangs pierce her lower lip as she fought her bonds.

“It’s no use, just relax. They’re vampire proof.” Paine laughed again and as Gem started to swear, she flicked the radio back on and turned up the volume.

Hours later Gem, now quiet, her head to the side as she watched the trees speed by, wondered if Hunter was somewhere behind them. If she had their trail, and if she came for Gem, she’d let Gem do the killing. She felt a smile tug at her mouth as she shook her head. No, Hunter would do the killing. The car shook roughly as they moved off the tar road and sped down a gravel road. Gem had no idea where they were. She knew they were going into the woods. Tall trees were on both sides of the road, and she could see no lights from the city. Wherever they were, it was isolated and far from anyone else.

“When we stop, you need to behave yourself. I don’t want to hurt you before I want to hurt you. Okay?”

“f**k you!” Gem said, but she had no intention of trying to escape. She would stay with Paine, and, yes, when Hunter found her, they’d take care of this woman once and for all.

“Oh, we will get to that.” Paine laughed as she watched Gem shake her head in the rearview. “What’s your name?”

“What?” Gem frowned, the question was from nowhere, and surely this woman knew the people she’d taken on.

“Your name?” Paine repeated. “I know Sam, Amber, Mya, Taylor, and, of course, Jane. A shame about her. But had to be done.” She laughed when Gem kicked her seat. “Feisty. I like being feisty. What’s your name?”

“Gem.” Gem didn’t see a use in keeping it a secret.

“And the ones that were with you?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“That’s fine, they aren’t a problem anymore anyway.” Paine turned off the road and the road became almost impossible to drive through. Wherever they were going, no one had been there in a long time.

“Where are we?” Gem asked.

“Home,” Paine said. There was a strange note in her voice as she stopped the car and looked at the small cabin. “At least, home for now.” The door opened and a woman stepped out. She stood, hands-on-hips as she watched Paine get out, then pull Gem from the car. “Don’t provoke her. If you think that I’m bad, she’s worse,” Paine warned. “Don’t do anything stupid. And you’ll live to have supper.”

“Sure.” Gem snapped. She wasn’t sure how to feel about dealing with another crazy woman. “Who is she?”

“My wife.” Paine grimaced and led Gem toward the cabin. “Hey, honey.”

“Don’t ‘hey honey’ me! Where have you been?” The woman snapped. “You said three days! It’s been two weeks!” She held out her arm. “I have bug bites!”

“I ran into some trouble, I’m sorry!” Paine said. She pushed past the woman and walked inside where she shoved Gem down onto a couch. “Stay!” Gem nodded. “Baby, I had to deal with some things and need you to be safe. I couldn’t let them find you!”

“I should have been at your side!”

“Ray, you know why you had to stay here.”

“Yes.” Ray took a deep breath. “Still doesn’t mean that I have to like it.”

“Of course not, baby.” Paine rolled her eyes at Gem when Ray walked to the kitchen. “Please tell me we have something to eat.”

“Yes.” Ray turned. “We don’t have anything for a vampire.”

“I’ll go get her a rabbit.”

“Let her starve,” Ray said. “Why should we look after her?”

“Because I need her,” Paine said. “Leave her to me and stay away from her. She bites.”

“I can pull her fangs!” Ray said.

“Later, let’s leave that for later.” Paine shook her head. “What have I told you about instant gratification?” Paine walked to the woman and kissed her. “Drawing out the pain is better. And now she knows what she must look forward to, the torture has already begun.”

Gem watched as they started undressing right there. Paine lifted Ray onto the kitchen table. Gem groaned and looked away. She tried to blank out the noises the women made. And hoped that Hunter was on her way. There was no way she was going to make it if these two planned on torturing her. She’d end up killing herself.