Chapter 10: An All Hands Retribution

The Strip Club, Trenton County, Oregon...

A revved engine echoed across many open lot spaces as Duko Lovell made his way down the highway and into the small county where Rae Hadley had apparently come from. He knew from the moment he saw her that she'd been a runaway, they usually never get far before trouble finds them, he was after all something of a wanderer himself at that age. He didn't need to be told which place it had was that she'd come from. He found it just fine, a little hovel of a town on the back end of Trenton County. He wasn't in the least impressed when his bike pulled into the place and many curious eyes had watched his arrival with interest. Duko stopped his bike at what looked to be a rundown strip club. He must have been a sight to these people as large as he was shirtless and intent on finding the source of all of Rae's pain.

He didn't particularly know why he cared, it wasn't as if he'd known her for longer than a few hours, but this was important to her and there for important to him.

Heavy black boots hit the upturned dirt road as Duko climbed off the bike and made his way toward the stripclub. It was an old building badly in need of repair and with one neon sign busted out front. It was the middle of the morning, but the club was open and most of the citizen from the town were all inside undercover of darkness despite the heat from the blazing sun.

Duko didn't say a word as he entered the club more eyes had been on him. It seemed this town had not been too fond of strangers but he could care less, he was here for a more personal reason and if they so happened to want to get themselves involved he was quite happy to oblige them. It was a lot cooler inside than it had been out but it didn't make any difference to him as he scanned the semi darkened room ignoring the half drunks and barely dancing whores. He could smell the various scents of sex, sweat, and booze after it passed through the pores of a drunkard lingering about in the air.

One of the strippers, an older woman whom appeared to be as worn out as the club itself approached him wearing a black silk lingerie. She had bleached blonde hair and worn makeup on her aged face which included thick black eye shadow that appeared to be more to cover bruising than to add beauty to her face.

"Well hello Handsome." she said with her dark eyes flickering with lust. "What brings a good looking thing like you to the back end of nowhere?... you looking for business or pleasure?"

"Business." replied Duko annoyed by her obvious attempts to flirt with him.

As unruly as he was when it came to matters of sating his lust, she was no where near his type and easily breakable when it came to his given nature.

"Business huh?" she said confused. "Commercial or Personal?"

"Personal." replied Duko stifling a growl as he continued to scan the room for any sign of his intended target. "Do you happen to know where I can find a man by the name of Ed Earl Hadley?"

The woman seemed confused for a moment then sighed.

"Well what in the world would a man like you want with my no good husband?" she asked with an arched brow. "Ain't know he knew somebody like you must be some shady business you after to seek him out."

Duko recognized this woman as Rae's mother. He could see the reason she wasn't too fond of her and even more of a reason to despise Ed Earl Hadley.

"Do you know where he is or not." replied Duko barely concealing his rage at being interrupted by a woman Rae held such contempt for.

She seemed to feel the aggression radiating off him.

"H-He's in the back with one of the girls...Candy I think." she stammered unsure why she suddenly had an uneasy feeling about the stranger whom had just rode into her town.

Duko proceeded toward the area where she pointed ignoring anything else about her as he set his sights on finding Ed Earl.

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Backstage, The Strip Club, Trenton County, Oregon...

Duko ignored the protests from the many half naked girls that looked like they'd seen both better days and that they dropped out of high school much too soon. The stench of alcohol and sex was now overwhelming. He might have been aroused if he wasn't so disgusted by the memories he'd received from the moment his eyes locked onto Rae's for the very first time, as he moved through the darkness of the backstage area. He knew all of the sick twisted things Ed Earl had Rae do, his own daughter in a bid to sate his twisted sexual lust. He had whores and strippers aplenty but he sought to defile his own daughter and if she had not run away when she did there was no telling how far he would have gone just to have her. The very thought of Ed Earl having his hands all over Rae made Duko's eyes flicker with a faint red glow as his fury seemed to get the better of him. He could feel the fangs making themselves known as he finally cornered his target at the end of the long hall.

Ed Earl Hadley was a staggeringly thin man with long hair going gray, thick semi gray sideburns, and a thin beard. He seemed to be as strung out as his wife was and half naked due to being shirtless and holding a clear plastic cup filled with cheap rotgut liquor that he often reeked of. This time had been no exception as he gripped a cigarette in the same hand as he held the cup of alcohol.

Upclose, Ed Earl was most disturbing to look at with a face as wrinkled and tightly wound as leather and his eyes a glossy emerald green color that might have been the only attribute that attracted women to him in the first place before booze and drugs ate away his youth and left behind a haggard looking old drunk in it's place.

He had tattoos from the vietnam era of living and seemed to have seen combat a time or two while over there.

Duko wasn't in the least impressed as he approached Ed Earl his eyes shifting from the suppression of his rage to flickering his fury in seconds. The old fool was much to drunk to notice however and it seemed to work well in the younger man's favor.

"You Ed Earl Hadley?" asked Duko in a near on growl despite knowing he had the right creep.

"Who wants to know?" asked Ed Earl in a snide tone as he looked up at the nearly six foot two younger man with widened eyes. "Who in the fuck are you?"

"My friend's call me Duke." replied Duko with a smirk. "But you and me ain't friends....I'm here on behalf of your daughter...you know the one you always seem to be so keen on trying to rape."

"So Raelynn sent you?....Whatever she told you she's always making up stories!" protested Ed Earl."I ain't never touched that lying little bitch!"

At the mention of the word Bitch, he found himself receiving the thrashing of his life time as the now terrified strippers watched in horror.

The shattering of glass, mirrors, and splintered wood echoed throughout the back room as Duko gave Ed Earl the beating of his life.

A couple of the towns folk attempted to jump into the fray which was quite alright by Duko as he had not been in a good brawl of this size for quite some time.

He slammed one attacker onto his back and threw two more into a nearby wall making large holes in the already shoddy structure. Ed Earl gasped for breath amid blood and broken glass as he attempted to get to his shotgun.

Duko relished the challenge and snatched it out of his grasp and slapped him across the face with it. There was going to definitely be swelling on the right side of the bastard's face, but he'd live, he'd be a bit disfigured, but he'd live.

The superior man grabbed the bloodied Ed Earl and dragged him out for the remainder of the town to see that had not been fool enough to interfere. He pulled him via his leg into the middle of the street while he howled in pain from his various injuries.

Duko dragged the screaming drunkard all the way to his house and tossed him through the front door leaving a trail of blood in his wake and a lot of frightened and relieved faces as everyone watched Ed Earl get what they always felt he had coming to him.

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The Hadley Residence, Trenton County, Oregon...

Ed Earl's mouth was a bloodied nearly toothless mess by the time Duko entered the front door and stepped over him. He could smell the familiar scent of Rae having been here as well as her fears as she went through life in this place day after day. Duko didn't need to be told which room had been hers as he opened the door. He found a few articles of clothing she seemed interested in the most due to how her scent lingered on them and other items and stuffed them into a large black backpack at the foot of her bed.

He found the tip jar in the kitchen and emptied it putting all the money into Rae's bag and proceeded to enter the living room where Ed Earl was still gasping for breath. He had been nearly unconscious when Duko gripped him via the collar and pinned him to a nearby wall. It was the same space in the house where the sick freak often stroked his inferior cock and watched his daughter exit and enter her bedroom.

"Your daughter belongs to me now." growled Duko with his eyes glowing red further terrifying Ed Earl whom had never known anyone could have what he believed to have been supernatural abilities. "I want to hear you say it."

Ed Earl fearing for his life wholeheartedly agreed.

"Yeah man s-sure thing." he stammered nervously as he looked into the glowing red eyes of his attacker using the moniker "Duke". "Rae is yours now you can fuck her, eat her, or whatever man just let me live...I give you my permission ....consent or whatever."

"Good boy." replied Duko as his rage seemed to subside.

He dropped the ailing older man onto the floor and gripped the now full and tightly closed black backpack. He hated this place almost as much as Rae had and the obvious suffering she endured here only made him want to kill Ed Earl all the more but he knew that in the long run it wouldn't be enough to give her closure.

Duko took his leave of The Hadley Residence and once more put on his shades. Eyes watched him on high alert as he started the engine of his bike and took off down the long highway back toward the roadside motel and back toward the last place he had left Rae Hadley.