Puppet

“Fuck! Get back here, bitch!” Klaus shouted as he watched Riley run down the narrow path between two buildings nearby. He knew it wouldn’t be any use to go after her; she was already too far away by now.

Tom would be infuriated that he let her get away. But Klaus had to go and tell him anyway, even if it meant losing his life because of it. Luckily, (if he could consider it luck at this point) Tom, Gunther and Mark came out of the building so Klaus didn’t have to interrupt their meeting.

Tom had a smug look on his face, his hand was in his pants pocket and the other was on his gun as they walked outside. Gunther and Mark looked annoyed that they weren’t able to shoot anybody, though. The second Tom saw Klaus out of the car, his smug vibe disappeared immediately.

Klaus ran towards him but stopped short when Tom pulled out his gun and pointed it directly at him. He held back for a moment, wanting to know why the fuck Klaus was standing in front of him and not in the car with Riley.

Heaving, Klaus began to explain to Tom what had happened.

“She hit me in the back of the head with something heavy and ran!” Klaus lied through his teeth. He was taking a huge risk but he figured lying was far better than the truth in this case.
“Please, please don’t kill me, boss.” He pleaded for his life.

“I’m not going to kill you… yet. You’re going to look for her. Your life depends on it. Understand?” Tom took his place in the driver’s seat and his men jumped in the back. No one dared sitting up front next to him. They could tell it was best to be away from him just by the look in his eyes. Not even Gunther said a word as Tom flipped the car into gear and sped off down the road.

Klaus pointed toward the direction he saw Riley run. Tom drove around the buildings. He knew the Escalade wouldn’t fit between them. He also figured Riley was smart enough not to stay in the same place for too long. From the first time she talked back to him, Tom knew she had wit and skill. Otherwise she would’ve been dead a while ago.

Riley began to slow down when she was finally in a more public place with other people around. She had no idea how long she had been running for. Her legs were killing her, though, so she assumed it had been for quite a while. Her breathing was heavy and very uneven as well. She hoped the few people walking by didn’t ask her any questions.

Riley already knew she looked less than perfect. That was an understatement; she knew she looked like shit and that she had more than a few bruises visible from the abuse she had received within the past few days.

She tried hiding her face with her hair. Sadly, since she hadn’t been able to shower, it was now greasy and had knots from the dried blood and multiple blows to her skull. Of course her –previous- captor had a thing for hair-pulling as a form of dragging her around so that hadn’t helped much either.

Walking down the lane, Riley shuddered at the memories of all she had been through. She crossed her arms, clutching her sides thinking (and hoping) it would keep her from falling apart. She never, ever wanted to be back in the clutches of Tom and his… gang of followers again.

Every time Riley thought about each punch, slap, kick –whatever form of torture Tom laid on her, she wondered if this was how women abused by their husbands felt. When she was younger, Riley swore that she would never let a man lay a hand on her. She felt as if she had betrayed herself now because she let it happen. She clutched herself tighter to keep from crying.

She couldn’t fathom why anyone would treat another person in such a way. It was so fucking cruel.

Too bad for Riley, Tom was never one to care about anyone’s feelings. He was tough and barely showed any emotion and everyone knew it. Killing someone was normal to Tom. Ever since he got into his line of work, he felt like he was meant to kill. Everyone that worked with him swore it was in his blood.

Silently, Riley prayed that no other woman would have to go through what she did. Especially from someone like Tom.’ There has to be something seriously wrong with him,’ Riley decided with an angry frown.

And even if she was just one person (that never went to church regularly), she hoped her prayer was heard and managed to save someone in her position. Deep down she knew her prayer wouldn’t have mattered anyway. She sighed bitterly. Being with Tom had changed her from a semi-optimistic person to a full pessimist within a few days. He ruined her life. She hoped she was able to just go back and live a normal life without him around to destroy her completely. And if he was around, then he was going to get the fight of his life. Riley made a new promise to herself. She was determined as hell not to break down just because he slapped her around a bit. She would rather die before she let him win.

She looked at the different shops in the lane instead of down at her feet. It was getting dark now; she needed to go somewhere to keep warm—and stay out of sight. Riley stopped in front of a small coffee shop.

“He’ll never look for me here,” she muttered quietly to herself, refusing to say Tom’s name aloud. She walked in and sat down at a table far away from the windows. Without any money, she couldn’t order anything, but at least she was able to keep warm as the sun went down.

“Can we help you, young lady?” a plump woman came over to the table Riley sat at and smiled at her with her notebook in hand.

Riley avoided making eye contact with her in hope that she wouldn’t see the bruises on her face. She looked down and quietly told the woman she had no money but hoped it was alright if she could stay for a few minutes to warm up.

“Aww, honey, don’t you worry. I’ll be right back with some coffee, on the house of course.” She gave a warm smile to Riley and went on her way.

Riley didn’t have to force a smile of her own as the woman walked away. Her little act of kindness reminded Riley that there were still good people in this world.

“Tom, there’s hardly anyone walking around anymore. How in the hell are we supposed to find her?”

Tom shot a glare at Klaus. He continued to fuck up today. First he questioned Tom’s judgment, then let Riley escape and now he was bitching that people weren’t out anymore. He was now regretting not killing him when he told the bullshit lie about how Riley escaped. Tom thought it was remarkable that Klaus actually thought he believed his story. Tom saw straight through his lie. After all, it takes a liar to know a liar and Tom was the best there was. He didn’t get away with the things he had done in the past by telling the truth… or at least the whole truth. That’s what scared people; they could never tell when Tom was being honest or if he was just incredibly convincing with the lies he came up with.

‘The less people, the better,’ Tom thought. His brows furrowed. She couldn’t have gone too far. And he knew Riley didn’t know the area. A high class, good- looking girl like herself probably wouldn’t have anything to do with downtown Berlin.

“I swear, if you don’t shut the fuck up, I will kill you here and now.” Tom threatened. All of the men in the car could hear Klaus gulp in fear. “We wouldn’t be looking for her if you hadn’t let her escape in the first place.”

“But sir, she—“

“I don’t want any more of your fucking excuses!” Tom’s knuckles turned white as he grasped the steering wheel angrily. He was losing his cool—which rarely happened to him. Klaus had been pushing his luck way too much today and Tom didn’t like it.

“Tom,” Gunther put his hand on Tom’s shoulder and pointed out the driver’s side window. “You think she went down there?”

Tom’s lips curved into a slight smile. “This is why I keep you around, Gunther. You’re smart, unlike Klaus.” Tom wasn’t afraid to insult him. Klaus knew he was on Tom’s shit list and he needed to make it up to him to get off of it. Fast.

“Mark, you and Klaus will stay in the car. Gunther and I will walk down the lane. This time, there won’t be any complications, understand?” Tom looked at Klaus as he spoke. Both men nodded while Tom and Gunther got out of the Escalade and began walking down the street.

“I take left, you take right?” Gunther asked and Tom nodded once in agreement. He was the only guy Tom allowed to make decisions. He didn’t trust anyone else to do so.
The men split up without another word and continued the search for Tom’s precious Puppet.

It didn’t take long for Tom to see Riley sitting, huddled up in a small coffee shop. She looked so pathetic and weak sipping her steaming cup of coffee as her eyes darted back and forth waiting for something to happen.

Tom took this as the perfect time to barge in and take back what belonged to him.

He let out a low whistle so Gunther could hear. They had both walked at the same pace on either side of the street so if one of them found her, the other could come over and help.

Tom went into the coffee shop, confident as ever as he walked over to her and took a seat in front of her.

Smirking, he said, “Did you really think you could get away from me that easily, Puppet?”
Riley froze in fear. She could recognize that voice from anywhere now. It sent chills straight to her very core. She knew that by Tom finding her, her punishment would be severe.

She looked up at him coldly, hiding the terror she could feel was already present within her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She sipped her coffee, acting as if Tom wasn’t even there.

“Do you really want to cause a scene and get those nice people over there killed?” Tom taunted her as he tilted his head to the elderly couple that owned the place.

“They didn’t do anything,” Riley hissed. “Leave them the fuck alone.”

“Giving me orders? Tsk, tsk. You should know better than that, Riley.” Tom folded his hands and placed them under his chin as if he were meeting a client. “That just cost the old man his life. I’d apologize now while you have the chance.” Tom winked at her cockily before reaching into his coat.

“Please! I’ll go with you. Just don’t kill them. They didn’t do anything.”

“Ah, and what makes you think I care?”

Before she could argue with him anymore, Tom grabbed her forearm roughly and pulled her over to him, causing her coffee to spill all over her.

“Fuck! Asshole! Son of a bitch!” Riley shouted a strand of curse words as the coffee burned through her jeans and part of her arm.

“That’s your own fault, Buttercup.” Tom smirked and pulled Riley to the door.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing, sir? You can’t just drag her like that!” The old man tried to stop Tom but it was no use. Tom pulled out his gun and shot both the man and his wife, while Riley stared in shock.

“What—he was trying to help me!” She screamed furiously as she tried getting out of Tom’s grip.

“Exactly,” Tom hissed and tugged Riley closer to him. “No one tells me what to do, understand?”

All Riley could do was glare at him. She was pissed and scared; no words could express how she was feeling right now.

“Gunther, call Mark and tell him to bring the car around. And kill Klaus while you’re at it.”

“Yes sir.” Gunther walked off with a smile on his face. Finally Klaus would be taken care of and he’d get to be the one to do it.