She lunged for the door handle, but thankfully Maccon was quick with the child safety locks.
I grabbed her hand. “I am not lying to you. We’re the good guys. You are never going to have to see that house or your tiny cell ever again. Alastor will never be able to hurt you ever again. We’re rescuing you.”
She was practically hyperventilating.
“Should we take her to a hospital or something?” Maccon asked.
“Jett would have told me to do that if that were what he wanted. He said to keep her safe. What if that douchebag found her at a hospital? We can’t risk losing her again.”
“We just fucking kidnapped a hostage. How fucked is that?” Maccon rubbed the back of his neck. “This whole situation is completely fucking.”
“Yeah, man. It really is.” I stared at Katherine as she hysterically cried, her face buried between her knees. “We did the right thing though.”
Finally we made it to the safe house deep in the Georgia woods. It felt like it took years to navigate the winding dirt roads, but we made it.
Bear and King were waiting for us on the front porch smoking cigarettes.
“I am going to carry you into the house now,” I explained as Katherine scooted as close to the far door as possible, frantically shaking her head.
“We need to get you cleaned up and get some food in you,” I continued.
Maccon came around the side, opening the door behind her.
At the first sight of freedom, Katherine tried to bolt away from us, only making it a few steps before she tumbled down on the gravel drive. I leapt out after her, pulling her up into my arms as the blanket started to fall off of her body.
Bear trotted down the steps to help me, but I shook my head before he got too close. Katherine was still screaming and shaking uncontrollably.
“Fuck, gents. Y’all weren’t kidding when you said you needed some help,” King scoffed as we all entered the hunting cabin the Atlanta Unacceptables had had for as long as I could remember.
“We honestly didn’t know what to expect. Thanks for coming on such short notice.” Maccon greeted our brothers as I rushed Katherine into the bathroom.
“I am going to get you cleaned up,” I explained, setting her down on the floor.
She cowered in the corner as I started to draw a bath.
“I don’t understand,” she muttered.
The hot water poured into the tub as I yanked open the medicine cabinet, looking for anything that might calm her nerves a bit. After finding an expired bottle of Xanax on the top shelf, I sank down next to her.
“This will help you calm down. I know everything seems scary right now, but I promise you’re safe and I am going to protect you from anyone hurting you ever again.”
“I don’t want them,” she whimpered, turning her face away from me.
“You don’t have to take them, but they will help.” I reached up to set the tiny white pills on the counter. “Will you at least take a bath?”
She didn’t move. For the first time since we had rescued her, Katherine was silent.
“Please?” I begged.
After a few seconds, she unfurled her bony body and sank into the tub. I did my best not to look at her, but I didn’t feel like I could leave her alone either.
Maccon tapped on the door, yelling through it, “How’s it going in there?”
“Better,” I hollered back. “Can you get her some clothes from the back room? Someone must have left something there.”
“On it.”
“Where are we?” Katherine mumbled as she used the washcloth to wipe away the layer of grime from her freckled skin. I watched from the corner of my eye. As the dirt washed away, scar after scar was revealed. It was heart breaking.