The Tied Man

I finally managed to steady my breath so I could take a chestful of air again. ‘Fucking coward!’ I screamed at Coyle, and attacked him with teeth and nails and feet – anything to try and run from whatever was coming next.

Finn

In a clean fight, Lilith might have stood a chance, but with Coyle it was never going to be clean.  When we were both teenagers on the same bare-knuckle circuit, Coyle O’Halloran was notorious for concealing a short length of lead pipe in his fist, or landing the first punch before his opponent had even turned around to face him. Back then I had been one of the few to ever floor him, and the bastard had been taking his revenge ever since.

Now I could only watch and continue to make useless, empty entreaties for Coyle to stop as he began his attack on the woman I had failed.

When I’d left Lilith and returned rattling and half-asleep to my room, Coyle, Philly, Lawson and Damo had been waiting for me there.  I fought like hell to get back to Lilith, but Coyle, hidden behind the door, had swung his boot into my weakened knee so that I crashed to the floor, and as soon as Damo slapped the duct tape across my mouth, it was already over.  The additional kicking was merely entertainment for them, and the start of a well-deserved penance for me.

I’d heard my rib crack as Lawson hoofed me once I was down, but I hardly felt that pain now; it was nothing new, and it was nothing at all compared to my horror at Lilith’s arrival.  I couldn’t believe how badly I had miscalculated – I had only prepared for my own punishment, stupidly thinking that Lilith was somehow beyond reach.

Coyle now had Lilith pinned to the floor.  ‘So do I scare you now, you smug wee bitch?’ he crowed.

Lilith could only manage a breathless cry of terror in reply, and I knew that Coyle wouldn’t give a shit about her asthma, and that she might die right there simply because he was an ignorant beast of a man who didn’t know what was happening to her.  I tried to find the words to warn him, but before I could say anything, he grabbed Lilith’s wrists in one hand and with the other he yanked down her pyjama pants.  He used his knees to push her legs apart and I was vaguely aware of yelling ‘No’ over and over again, and knowing that there was nothing that could stop Coyle’s game.

‘Enjoying the show, fag?’ Coyle called to me.  ‘Remind you of last night, eh?  What did you do?  Use some of your special tricks of the trade to get her screamin’ for more?’  Question after question, all of them unanswered and unanswerable.  He bent low so that his face was next to Lilith’s.  ‘Ready to see what a real man can do instead of your little shit-stabber there?  I can’t fuckin’ believe you let that filthy cock anywhere near.’

Lilith had almost stopped struggling now, and I didn’t know whether it was through fear or absence of breath.  I didn’t even have the haven of hoping this was all empty posturing – Coyle had done this so many times before.

‘Right, your ladyship, let’s see if you’re up for a bit of proper lovin’.’ He looked up to wink at me then jabbed his fingers deep inside her.

Lilith screamed in pain and shock and my own impotent bellow of rage added to the cacophony, but no sound was as loud as her attacker’s manic laughter as she tried to writhe away from his assault.

Coyle lifted his hand to show me the blood.  ‘So, no tits, and a cunt so dry it’d be like stickin’ it up a fella’s arse – is that what worked for you, faggot?’  he asked me conversationally.  He was licking his fingers when Lilith broke free of his grip and head-butted him.  She gashed open the fleshy bulge above the bridge of his nose and for an insane moment I imagined her winning the fight as a fine spray of Coyle’s blood coated her face, but with a primeval roar he grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her across the kitchen.  His game was cut short as Lilith fell heavily against Henry’s beloved stove, and there was a sickening crack as her scalp split at the hairline.

‘That’s quite enough, Mr O’Halloran.’ Blaine made her sedate entrance.  ‘Playtime’s over.  Ingrid, attend to Lilith, please.  And Henry, I suggest you clean up the mess before it soaks into the slate.’

Three paces behind Blaine came Doctor Parnell – the only time I’d ever been glad to see the woman – and hiding behind her was Henry.  One look at his stricken face told me that I no longer needed to ask how Blaine had discovered our transgressions so damn quickly.

Lilith

A pyrotechnic display exploded in my head as I forced my eyes to open.  I remembered falling and I could feel blood congealing in my hair and right eyebrow but to my puzzlement I couldn’t bring my hand up to wipe it away.  It took me forever to realise why; I was still in the kitchen, but now I was sitting in the chair opposite Finn, and my wrists were bound with the same duct tape that held him fast.  A new strip of tape sealed his mouth again, and his eyes were wide with concern and shame.