Chapter 2: The Reapers

Stacy sat there with her fists clenched. As the seconds ticked, it was getting harder to control her temper. The redhead leaned in a little closer than appropriate and his fingers brushed the side of her breast. Stacy couldn’t help but frown. She pretended to reach for her glass on the counter and swat his hand away in the process.

As she was drinking, the redhead shamelessly grabbed her breasts. Stacy almost choked on her whiskey.

That’s it! She couldn’t tolerate him much longer. Grabbing his hand, she glared daggers at him. “Don’t touch me,” she almost growled out those words.

“Feisty,” he smirked, as if she didn’t just warn him. On the contrary, it seemed to urge him on. Standing up, he stepped into her comfort zone and ran his hand up her arm.

That was when something in her snapped. It’s not like she could get any information out of this brainless pig anyway. With a jerk, she stood up and kneed him hard on his junk.

The redhead groaned and cursed, almost falling to his knees. He grabbed his member and his face contorted in pain.

“Asshole,” Stacy mumbled as she turned to leave.

BANG!

Suddenly, the sound of gunshot echoed in the club. People started to scream and bolt in every direction in panic. The club was in pure chaos.

‘Great! Chaos is exactly what I need right now,’ Stacy rolled her eyes and cursed internally.

She was trying to reach for the exit when Redhead, recovered from his earlier setback, grabbed her wrist. His grip was so strong, Stacy felt as if her wrist was to snap in two. “Not so fast, b*tch,” he said through gritted teeth.

Stacy tried fighting back but her efforts were in vain. She could only watch helplessly as he dragged her in the opposite direction, further into the club. “What are you doing? Let go of me!” She trashed violently but his grip was too strong.

“I’ll teach you a lesson!” He said as he continued dragging her to the back of the club. Stacy closed her eyes. She gave up struggling. ‘I’ll see what I can do when the opportunity to escape comes,’ she thought.

They came out to a dark, empty alley behind the club. Stacy felt her blood boil at this point. Redhead pushed her against the wall before releasing her to unbuckle his belt. He was unstoppable, like a madman triggered.

“Lesson number one, do not anger a Viper,” he said as he pulled his pants off. His member sprung free as he pounded on her like a wild animal. She had her fists clenched and pushed hard on the brick wall behind her.

“Lesson number two, be a good girl and please a man. You’re lucky I even land my eyes on you. Some girls had to flirt so hard to climb their way to us,” he continued on as he ripped the fabric of her tank top into two pieces, exposing her undergarment. The cold air blew on her bare skin and she sucked in a breath to calm her pounding heart.

He started tugging at her jeans and she used the distraction to kick him hard on his stomach. He fell back hard on his back, wincing from the pain.

Not giving him time to recover, she stepped hard on his palm with her heels. Bending down beside him, she held his other hand and with a twist, the sound of bones breaking echoed in the alley followed by his gruesome screech.

“How dare you touch me with your filthy hand,” Stacy sneered before turning to leave. Just as she took a few steps, the cold night breeze blew on her, reminding her of her topless state. Rolling her eyes, she strode back to the breathless man lying on the cold alley ground.

She eyed the pieces of which used to be her top on the ground. Sighing, she grabbed the jacket he dropped on the ground earlier.

It’s a Viper jacket. As much as she hated the gang founded by the man she used to call a father, she wouldn’t want to walk on the street topless. It would attract too much attention.

Just as she walked out of the alley, almost immediately, she regretted all her life choices. A big group of men were across the road, staring right at her.

Stacy had a bad feeling about it but kept a straight face and tried walking away without direct confrontation. As she was walking, she could feel their gazes on her. If looks could kill, she’s definitely reduced into a pile of ash already.

She knew they were coming after her so she increased her pace. At one point, she started running and they were chasing her. ‘Who are they? What trouble am I in now?’ Stacy thought as she was running down the street.

Hearing the motorcycle engines, she knew they’d caught up with her. She made a sharp turn and tried climbing the fence. A hand caught her by the leg and with a tug, she fell onto someone.

Chad caught her as she fell from the fence. Recovering from the initial shock, she looked around to see a group of men surrounding her.

“Viper girl,” Chad examined her from head to toe. He stood tall, towering over her with an intense stare. Stacy held his gaze for a good long minute, trying not to squirm under his stare.

Seeing that she didn’t intend to answer, he broke the silence, “bring her back.” Those words made Stacy panic. With her brows furrowed, she protested, “I’m not a Viper.”

Chad found her words amusing. He eyed the emblem on her jacket and sneered. Looking at his reaction, Stacy facepalmed herself internally and silently cursed herself for the luck she had that day. As she was wearing that redhead’s jacket, which screamed Viper no matter how you look at it, the retort was almost invalid.

“Yeah, you’re right. And I’m your brother,” Chad replied sarcastically. Stacy couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “This jacket isn’t mine,” she tried again. Chad studied her for another minute, probably taking in the oversized jacket on her.

“Who does it belong to?” He probed. “A redhead from Ivory,” Stacy replied without missing a beat. ‘No point in lying. The quicker he finds out that I am not a Viper, the quicker he might release me,’ she thought.

Chad narrowed his eyes. “So you came from the club,” his statement sounded like a question. “Yes,” Stacy nodded.

When she finally thought they were going to leave her alone, Chad commanded, “take her.” The men closed in on her almost immediately.

“Wait! Who are you and what do you want with me?” Stacy demanded as Chad turned to walk away. Chad’s right-hand man, Zalen, seized her arm. “Cut the crap. Don’t try to stall time!”

Stacy struggled against his hold and yanked her arm away from him. “I’m serious! Who are you? Where are you taking me?” She demanded again, a bit more sternly.

Chad stopped in his tracks. He smirked. ‘What game is she playing right now?’ He thought, ‘she better not pull anything. Let’s see what she’s planning. Not like she can escape anyway.’ “Well, if you really don’t know us, we are the Reapers,” he said before he continued striding towards the bikes.

‘This is bad! Seems like in the years I left, there are more gangs formed in town. I haven’t settled my deal with the Vipers. I can’t walk straight into another gang’s dungeon. That will complicate things. I need to escape immediately,’ Stacy thought. She started to have bad feelings about the whole situation.

Chad was confident his men were able to handle her. As he was reaching his bike, there was a commotion behind him.

When he turned around, he was totally shocked by the scene in front of him. The girl whom he didn’t think could do much was fighting his men and she did a good job at kicking their asses. He should be pissed off but he found the whole situation oddly amusing.

“That’s it, no more funny business,” Zalen finally managed to pin her down. Chad took a moment to take in the view of ten of his men on the ground, wincing. ‘Damn, where did she come from?’ He mused.

“I’m saying again, that, I. Will. Not. Go back. With you!” Stacy was still trying to fight Zalen off her. She clenched her fists. ‘If I were stronger, I could’ve escaped!’ She was silently scolding herself and beating herself up for not being able to work a miracle.

“Yes, you are,” Chad said as he moved towards her and cuffed her right wrist. Stacy didn’t expect him to do that. That little action really ticked her off. “F*ck you!” She screamed.

Chad smirked. ‘She’s quite cute when she’s angry,’ he thought. Stacy was glaring daggers at him, as if trying to kill him with her eyes.

Ignoring her venomous words and stares, Chad signaled for them to leave and all of them started getting on their bikes. As they walked her towards their bikes, Stacy looked at the ground.

‘Is this the end? No, it shouldn’t be. I can’t give up! This shouldn’t be happening,’ she thought as she closed her eyes.

“Wait!”