27011 (Welcome to Whitlock, book 3) Read online

  27011

  Welcome to Whitlock

  International Bestselling Author

  in Erotic Horror

  A. A. Dark

  27011

  Welcome to Whitlock

  International Bestselling Author

  in Erotic Horror

  A.A. Dark

  Copyright © 2018 by Mad Girl Publishing

  ISBN:

  All Rights Reserved

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Prologue

  Bram

  To understand oneself, you had to be truthful about who you were. It was no secret I wasn’t a good man. If I wanted to be honest about who Bram Whitlock truly was, I had to look deep within and peel back the layers of desensitized evil I had become accustomed to.

  From my earliest days, I had been exposed to torture—to rape and death of the vilest nature. Monsters. It was such a widely used term to describe men like me. Men who could stare you in the eyes while they took away your very existence. Men who got pleasure in doing so. But what was it to kill others just as corrupt and malicious as yourself? Did it matter? Was it redeeming in any way?

  Perhaps it was debatable. It was nothing, yet everything. But I wasn’t just a killer. I was a ruler of an underground fortress housing sex slaves. And I allowed for the continuation. I always would—until my dying breath. Why? The answer was simple. If I didn’t, someone else would. At least I could control the age of the slaves. I could monitor the horrors in my home. It wasn’t moral, but neither was life. Being the Main Master of such a place didn’t allow for leniency or feelings. That got you murdered, making you irrelevant in the grander schemes of things. Not long ago, my best friend had almost succeeded in taking my life. When he failed and showed me the horrors this place could truly become, I came back with a vengeance to set things right. One so powerful, it cost me not only most of my board members, but the respect of the only person I loved: Everleigh, slave twenty-four-six-ninety.

  Monster. Yes, I was that. With my numb emotions came our distance to one another. Instead of being there for her and trying to help the broken woman she had become because of West Harper, my focus was on revenge. Weeks of rage left me blinded to the signs before me. I lost her. And not just her trust or love, but she escaped Whitlock. She escaped me.

  And so, the cycle of my obsession reignited. The deadness within melted like acid at the news of her escape, and my sins…they were reborn.

  Regret was something I rarely felt. With Everleigh, I was drowning in it. All I had were what-ifs. They sung the most grievous mantra of mourning. Awake. Asleep. The nightmares that developed concerning her safety and distance plagued my soul like nothing ever had.

  I.

  Love.

  You.

  I.

  Love.

  You.

  God, I loved her. For hours, I had texted those words to my slave. Even as my fingers got tired from the constant typing, there was no way I could stop trying to show her the fervor of my infatuation. Months of desperate intensity at her missing presence soared to heights I could barely contain within my aching chest. I had to do everything in my power to make her see the truth. She had to know why I couldn’t set her free. It wasn’t just because of the Whitlock laws binding her to my fortress. I couldn’t release her…for myself.

  Love. Obsessive love. It had always been there for her. Even after my attempted murder when the trauma had taken my emotions, my brain still held to the fact that she was mine. She’d always be mine.

  Panic—mania.

  Each day was spent scouring reports on her possible whereabouts. Each second, my mind clung to her memory as if I were terrified I would never get to make more with her. Love. Love. Love. My heart and brain screamed at me to make this right. To find her at any cost.

  And found her, I had.

  Master Gavin Draper’s tip brought happiness. The damaged thing in my chest had skipped in celebration. I would have her again. But it didn’t last. It exploded in agony when we finally came face to face.

  Drugged and nearly unresponsive in her guard’s arms, she lay there helpless because of me. I thought by having Master Draper drug her, it would allow Everleigh to remain calm as I explained my feelings for her. I could prepare her for our return to Whitlock and the way things had to be. I knew she wouldn’t like what I had in store, but she didn’t have a choice. Neither did I.

  None of it mattered. The plan went up in flames right there over Everleigh’s shoulder and arm from a blowtorch. My slave’s guard used her hostage against me. He hurt her, keeping enough distance and leverage to have me spinning in circles of fury. She was gone. Again. And injured, because she couldn’t fight against what the guard thought was best. The pain she must have been in was all my fault. But I wouldn’t back off. I couldn’t.

  I always seemed to hurt her in one way or another. A real man would have set her free. A real man would have accepted the loss and known she would have been happier without coming back to the black hole of Whitlock. But I wasn’t a real man; I was a monster of men. One who knew how neurotically far gone he was and didn’t give a shit. I had said it a million times. Even as I stared across my jet at Everleigh’s new slave, Eleven, my brain chanted the truth in repetition of a single word: mine.

  Chapter 1

  Aamir

  Paralyzed. Even drugged and unable to move, I couldn’t fight the effects of the mourning engulfing every inch of my insides. Tears ran down the sides of my face, and every so often, a sound managed to claw its way free from my throat. My twin was gone. No…I was gone from her. Taken by the Main Master who silently sat on his expensive leather chair inside the jet we were on. Layla and I had never been apart for more than a few hours. Not once in our entire lives. And now, we were. Possibly forever, if the bastard had his way.

  Layla. She was all I could think about. All I could see as I relived the horrible nightmare of the guards opening the cell in Master Draper’s dungeon and tearing us away from each other. They said we were slaves. I was meant to be sold at Whitlock, while she’d stay at Red Island with Master Draper because of her accident and the scar running down her forehead. As if she wasn’t good enough for where I was going. As if…

  This wasn’t happening.

  A deep, broken-up sob left my lips as my chest shook from the cries that couldn’t be contained. I had promised to protect her. I had sworn to her I’d keep her safe. I hadn’t. Not just from Ram, the giant on the ship that had transported us, but myself. Layla was right. I should have killed her and myself before allowing Ram to manipulate me into raping her. I had convinced myself I had fucked my own sister to save her life. But had I? Had I really helped her by prolonging the horrors she now faced with the Dragon? What if Master Draper…

  More sounds left me as thoughts collided among a million others. More tears.

  “Jesus. Enough. I get it, slave. You wanted her to come. Everleigh gave you hope and I’m the bad guy for taking it away.”

  Main Master Whitlock stood as he glared down at me with blue eyes—heartless, enraged eyes. It was sheer luck I was paralyzed facing his way or I wouldn’t have been able to see the multiple expressions that crossed his face as he began to pace and steal glances my way.

  “Whitlock is not
a charity house. It’s a hellhole. Get that through your thick head. Have you learned nothing so far? This life you now live will not get better. It will get worse. And for reasons you have no business knowing, I refused to sell you two together. You should have never been taken as a pair to begin with. Yes, I could have sold Nine, but you would have liked that outcome a lot worse. Did you want your sister to become food for the scavengers? Dead? That’s what would have happened in her condition. You think you’ve lost her because you can’t see her? Because she’s not close? Would it have made you feel better to have her next door so you could endure her screams? No. Now you will never know whether she’s dead or alive, and that, slave, is a fucking blessing in this world.”

  He growled at my near-silent cries. Turning, he ate up the space as his fingers pushed through his dark hair. Moments passed before he pulled out a phone, only to shove it back in his pocket, a collection of emotions sweeping over his nearly perfect features.

  “Everleigh. Jesus, what are you doing? What do you want with a male slave? I know why, but what are your true motives in this game you’re playing?” A hard stare moved over me as the Main Master came forward. “In-house protector? You’re built. You’re a fighter, or you were. It didn’t take me five minutes to discover your life story. If I know, she would know…but I’d fucking protect her. Unless…” He gave a hard shake, as if he didn’t like where his thoughts were going. “She fears me. She should fucking fear me. But...” Again, he stopped as he continued walking back and forth, seeming to forget about me. “I love her. I made a mistake once in the White Room. I wouldn’t do that again. She has to know I wasn’t myself.”

  Tingling drew me even farther from his mindless whispers as I managed to wiggle my toe. Even with all my strength, it would barely move. A groan had him looking back in my direction.

  “Wearing off, I see. It doesn’t matter. We’ll be at Whitlock before you can so much as speak.”

  “W-Wr…ong.”

  The word had come from nowhere, and yet, every part of me. The Main Master raised one of his eyebrows and twisted his mouth.

  “So it would seem. But you know what?” Challenging eyes narrowed as he reached the counter and lifted a vile. “I’m only wrong for as long as it takes to be right. I always have a backup plan. Never forget that. Never underestimate me, Eleven. Who you see is exactly the person I want you to. What you hear, I want you to hear. The way you live or die…me. It’s all up to me, slave. I am your God, your devil. Your religion and survival. I am the one and only thing that allows your world to go round.” My finger moved, and he smiled. “I have to give Everleigh that much. She’s opened my eyes and made me step up my game.”

  My breaths grew heavier as I tried to make more words come.

  “You still have a good hour before you’re back to normal. Before then, you and I will part ways. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re going to help me. Funny thing is, you don’t even know it. We’re going to share something special, Eleven. Just wait and see. Everleigh thinks she’s in control. Little does she know, the game she plays belongs to me as well.”

  “ETA: fifteen minutes.”

  A blurry silhouette disappeared just as fast as it had popped the top half of its body in behind Master Whitlock. He didn’t say a word as he came closer.

  “Do you love her? The brunette in the bedroom? Jessa, I believe you said, earlier. She’s yours, is she not?”

  I tried to get my voice to work again, but it wouldn’t.

  “What bad luck you have being brought to me. Your sister, your love—those closest to you have been thrust into my world to be used and die. I almost feel sorry for you. Perhaps, this is what my slave feels.”

  Puzzlement clouded his face as he slowly walked over and took a seat. The minutes stretched, and I somehow cleared my throat before forcing the one word out.

  “Any-thing.”

  The Main Master glanced over.

  “I already have everything.”

  My grunt drew his attention, and my desperation grew the closer we got to landing. I may never get an opportunity to see him again.

  “Not…the Mis-tress. Not her.”

  Dark hair swayed against the sides of his face as he snapped his focus on me. “Watch it, Eleven. What I need you for doesn’t permit you to be able to talk.”

  “Let…” seconds followed, “…me. I’ll bring her here. I’ll…my sister.”

  A smirk pulled at his full lips as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked ahead. Silence. I could feel us dropping in altitude. Panic had my leg moving up along the sofa I laid on. I wasn’t bound. There had been no need once the drug kicked in. It was as if the Main Master wasn’t worried about what I was capable of in the least.

  “Anything,” I breathed out. “My…sister.”

  Moments passed. Torturous, long seconds.

  “Do you know what they call birds that have been set free from their cages, slave?” Confusion blanked my mind as Master Whitlock once again turned his blue eyes on me. “Dinner. Not free. They are food for the foul. You see, once set loose, it doesn’t understand the rules of the real world. It has been trained to its conditions, broken within its mind, therefore losing sight the moment it gains freedom. If released from her cage, your sister will perish and surely crumble to reality. She has endured the worst of men. In her mind, all she knows at this point is to survive. To fight. If you take that away from her, she has nothing left. There is no coming back from what she’s been through. Surely you know that.”

  “I…need her.”

  Tears came again. My fingers slowly drew into a fist and I managed to rotate my head the smallest amount. A steady pounding plagued my temples, but I didn’t care.

  “You don’t. And she doesn’t need you. I wasn’t going to tell you this, but what the hell. It’s not like you’re going anywhere. Maybe it’ll help ease the guilt over your…guilt.” He took a deep breath. “Master Draper told me he will keep her in the tower adjoining his bedroom, housing the most luxurious amenities. She will be dressed in silk and pampered. She is a slave of status now, given she belongs to the Main Master. There’s nothing to worry about. Cherish the thought. Reality for her here would be far less grand. She’d be lucky to last a month. Master Draper will take good care of her unless she gives him reason not to.”

  Was that supposed to make me feel better? My anxiety heightened. I knew my twin. I knew her pride and fearlessness. Material possessions or status meant nothing to her. She would give him a million reasons to kill her, and he would eventually. With us separated and no help in sight, she had no reason to live. If she didn’t kill herself, the Dragon would end her life. It was only a matter of time.

  The jolt from the plane landing jumpstarted my heart. The hard thumping in my chest left me weaker. My fingers unfurled from my fist and my eyes rolled for the briefest second. A fog took over my mind, and before I knew it, the Main Master was standing and looking down at me. Opening the vial, he used the dabber to rub oil over my forehead, almost seeming to spell something out.

  “This is where we say goodbye until auction night.”

  With that, the tall man I’d grown to hate in such a brief time disappeared. Footsteps stomped passed, and Jessa was carried from the room. Before I could attempt to yell for them to put her down, another man easily lifted me and threw me over his shoulder. Dead weight and gravity pulled at my limp arms as they swung and bounced uselessly against the man’s wide back. My eyes rolled, and just like my life, time was stolen from me once again.

  Chapter 2

  Scout 19

  “Look at me! Just…look at me! I look like a fool. Like a goddamn fucking idiot. I’m gonna kill her. I swear, when she gets found, I’m going to…”

  Master Barclane’s face was bright red as he paced in front of the large television covering his living room wall. Most didn’t care for the luxuries of television amid their private sadistic spaces, but Master Barclane was a rarity. He more lived in Whitlock than being the
occasional Master who only appeared when they were ready to commit their evil deeds. Unfortunately for him, he’d gone to his private residence in Cheyenne only hours ago and had been bombarded by the press.

  “Do you see how I’m caught unaware? Look at the shock on my face as they practically shove the microphone down my throat. Everleigh! That bitch. I know she was behind it. She probably blames me for Bram almost catching her. I wish he would have. I wish—” A strangled sound left him as his fist waved at the television. A soft giggle had me glancing toward a blonde standing in the bedroom door. The smile melted from her face as she quickly disappeared back behind the wall.

  “Calm, Master. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It’s not every day one gets nominated for a Child Abuse Intervention Award in the outside world.”

  “That award is going to eat me alive if…” His eyes cut away from me, returning to the news program he had recorded. “I can’t believe she donated all those millions in my name, making it look as if it came from me. Me! That…fucking…cunt! It’s a warning. The Main Master has her slave and gave another away to Master Draper. I heard all about it. She’s pissed that her plans got foiled and she’s taking it out on me. She’s—fuck!”

  Again, his hand sliced through the air.

  “Master Barclane, are you sure Mistress Harper is the one who did this? It’s only been a little over twenty-four hours from when she was almost caught. Rumor has it she was injured, and badly.”

  A loud growl tore through the room. “You know nothing! Everleigh could be on death’s doorstep and wouldn’t go down without fucking everyone else with her last breath. The woman is all revenge and twice as evil. She is behind this. I know she is, and so help me, you’re going to find her and make her pay. You’re going to—” Barclane glanced toward the ceiling in the corner of the room and lowered his voice as he stepped in closer, using me as a shield to the camera we both knew was recording our every move. “Kill her. I want that bitch dead before the Main Master has a chance to find her. Alive, she’s a threat to us all.”