The Tattooed Bad Boy

by Shiewanie Kristo

  “Oh, no! G...Go ahead! You've already done a lot. Please, do what you have to do. I’ll go home myself.” I said almost immediately.

  He nodded and just like that, he walked off.

  Chapter Three

  I lay in bed, thinking about what happened earlier today. I knew there was more to Hunter, but I didn’t expect him to be this nice. He helped me out and even waited until I was fine again, even though he had somewhere else to be. How could I believe that he’s a criminal? That he starts fights? Or that he’s a murderer? I buried my face in my pillow and groaned loudly.

  “Why are you making me feel all these feelings!” I complained.

  A car pulling up in the driveway caught my attention. My eyes grew wide and paranoia struck me. I knew exactly who it was. I ran to the window to check and it was like my heart failed when I indeed saw Tony’s car outside. Tears pricked my eyes and it was as if my feet suddenly had gotten a brain of its own, which only led to me running and locking my bedroom door. It was silent. Awfully silent. I heard him walking around, going to his old room, and perhaps taking a shower. I sat down next to my closet, hugging my knees, hiding from him, even though he couldn’t see me. It was this very anxious feeling –an anxiety I knew I’d never be able to get rid of. Time felt as if it stood still and was flying at the same time. Just when I thought that he wouldn’t force himself on me today, a loud knock on my door startled me.

  “If you don’t open this door, I will break it.” I shouted.

  I gulped, shaking I hugged my knees even tighter and crawled back even more. I don’t want too... I don’t want to...

  “Open the door, you bitch!” the bangs only got louder and louder.

  I covered my ears, crying as I shivered. I don’t want to... I don’t want to... I don’t want to!

  It went silent. The bangs stopped, his voice stopped. It took a few seconds before I finally heard his footsteps fading following with a door being slammed shut. When was this going to stop?

  “No! Please! Stop!” I cried as he tied me onto the bed.

  “This wouldn’t happen if you opened that fucking door last night, you bitch!” he breathed on my face as he grasped it harshly. “You think that you can hide behind a locked door now, huh? I’m going to teach your disobedient ass a lesson.”

  I couldn’t utter a word. I couldn’t understand how this horrible man scared me to an extent where I was even scared of speaking, so standing up for myself was far from any form of option. My eyes grew wide when I saw the knife he was holding in his hand. I wanted to scream, but the moment I opened my mouth to scream, he placed the tip of the blade on my tongue, startling me.

  “Scream, I dare you. Scream. You'll see how you lose your worthless tongue.” he threatened.

  At that moment, the look in his eyes told a lot more than his lips were. The anger, hatred, and disgust that he felt for me truly knew no boundaries. If he could he would kill me right then and there, but I knew that that’s not what he wanted. Tony wanted to see me suffer. He wanted to see me alive, but die every moment.

  “Good girl.” he grinned evilly.

  He climbed on top of me and forcefully grabbed my face again. He traced the tip of the blade down my jaw to my neck, licking the spot afterwards. This disgusting feeling that arose within me only worsened the more e touched me. Crying was all I could do at this point. Alas, the blade made its way to my waist and I hissed in pain when I felt the knife cutting through my skin. It only worsened when he poured hand sanitizer over the deep cut that he had just created. This time I didn’t hold it in and screamed in agony as it burned the living hell out of me. I had never even gotten some similar painful injury as a child.

  “This is just the beginning. I’m going to enjoy myself a lot more now.” he grinned once again. I doubt he even stopped grinning in the first place.

  I felt the knife cut through the skin of my thigh and I gasped. I could feel the blood dripping off my body.

  “Yes! That’s what I want. I could do this all day.” he rubbed the hand sanitizer on my cut.

  Why...

  What have I ever done to you...

  Before I knew it, everything escalated and I just lay there, giving up on trying to fight back. It wasn’t going to stop, so I just let him do whatever he pleased. When he was done with me, he just let me be as he always did.

  “I have a few clients coming over tonight, so I want you to prepare our mean, clean up the house, and you to stay in your room until they’re gone. Understood?” I just nodded my head and he left.

  This was the first time that he was going to have people coming over to this house. Tony actually has a bunch of other houses, but here is kind of his hideout and since he had people coming over, it made me wonder what kind of people were going to show their faces today. Releasing a heavy sigh, I made my way to the bathroom, ready for yet another school day.

  Chapter Four

  “And this is how you solve it.” Mr. Noah explained.

  That's all I actually heard Mr. Noah say, since I wasn’t really paying attention. All I could think of was Tony and his torture. I wanted to stop all of this. The pain I had on my stomach and my thigh almost made me want to burst in tears. Any kind of movement caused immense pain throughout my body and I didn’t know how to stop it. Why is Tony like that? What have I ever done to Tony for him to treat me that way? Are all men like that? Is Hunter like that?

  Hunter...

  Just thinking of him made my heart beat faster. Everyone talked about how bad Hunter is, but if he was really that bad, why would he help me?

  “She’s mine and I don’t like sharing.”

  Did that really happen? Did hunter really say that or was it just my anxiety that caused me to hear things? That was probably it. Hunter just helped me out and that’s it. Besides, I can only like people. It’s not like I would ever get in a relationship. Tony would kill them, so it’s better to just stay away from guys. Funny how one powerful man can have everything in his fist.

  “Zoe!” Mr. Noah shouted my name, making me snap out of my thoughts.

  He raised his eyebrow at my startled expression before looking in his book and then writing a sum on the blackboard.

  “So, Miss Rainey, would you mind solving this with the formula I just explained while you so happened to be not paying attention?” he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “B...but-”

  “Please, I insist.” he cut me off.

  What do teachers ever get by humiliating students like this in front of the entire class? Can’t he have mercy this one time I wasn’t paying attention in class? I reluctantly got up and walked over to the blackboard. I felt myself getting anxious as I felt all these eyes just watching me as if I'm some kind of entertainment show. Taking the chalk, I looked at the sum. I couldn’t understand anything that was written on there. I didn’t know how to solve it. My hands started sweating and I almost wanted to throw the chalk across the classroom and run away from here. Should I run away from here? If I run away, he might not let me enter this class again. I turned around and looked at Alyssa as she shot me an encouraging look. I turned around again and just as I was about to write something so stupid that would make my life even worse, the door suddenly flew open, making a girl from my classroom scream.

  “The principal’s calling her.” I heard him say.

  I heard more voices, but I couldn’t focus on them, since I could only stare at Hunter, who was standing right in front of me now. With wide eyes I stared at him as he took hold of my wrist.

  “Since when does the principal ask you to do stuff?” the teacher scoffed.

  “Well, that should be none of your goddamn business, Noah.” he started pulling me along. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’ve got a lady to escort.”

  We were about to walk out of the classroom, but he suddenly stopped. He walked back, but all my stuff back in my bag and then walked back to me. He handed me my bag and then continued to drag me along. Tears filled my eyes, not because of my anx
iety, but because Hunter as unknowingly hurting my already bruised wrist. I stopped walking and jerked my wrist out of his grasp.

  “I’m not going.” I cried.

  Hunter stepped closer to me and I flinched, expecting him to hit me. He was shocked for a few seconds, but then took another step closer to me, which again, made me flinch as my hands tried to keep my face safe.

  “Why are you flinching so much?” he asked as he removed my hands from my face.

  I can’t tell you that it’s because of Tony...

  “I’m just a paranoid person...” I avoided eye contact. “E...either way. I...I’m not going with you.”

  I turned around to walk away, but stopped right on my tracks when a pair of arms wrapped around my body. A small scream escaped my mouth when Hunter picked me up and started carrying me bridal style. I tried squinting and getting away from him, but he was too strong. Neither my screams of protest, nor my jerking movements helped me get out of his grasp.

  “Please put me down!” I cried out.

  “Where will you go if I put you down?” he asked.

  I stared at him. Where will I go?

  “Cafeteria or the library.” I quickly thought of something.

  “With your bloodstained jeans?” he asked and once again, my eyes grew wide.

  My heart started pounding and my gaze immediately went to my jeans. It was indeed stained with blood. A lot of blood. The cut that Tony created this morning probably caused all the blood to flow once again. I gulped, looking at Hunter. Is that why he’s carrying me like this?

  “I don’t have a jacket to help you cover it. So, I’m sorry for startling you like this.” he looked down at me.

  How does this guy manage to surprise me every time? The uncomfortability I was feeling just about a minute ago was suddenly gone. I could see the sorry and care in his eyes and honestly, he left me speechless. Is this really the bad boy everyone talks so badly about? Why is he so misunderstood? When he saw I wasn’t reacting, he continued walking until we were outside the school. He walked over to this car and I realized it was his. I thought I saw him come to school with it a few times. He placed me in the passenger’s seat and then went to his seat. I watched him as he started the car and turned his head towards me.

  “Why is your thigh bleeding?” he asked and I just stared at him, dumbfounded.

  I couldn’t even say it was because of my period, since it was so low. Why couldn’t I think of anything? It was as if my brain just exploded and there was just nothing there anymore. The look in Hunter’s eyes just made me anxious once again.

  “I... I got a cut...” my voice was low. I doubted that he even heard it.

  “How?” he squinted his eyes at me. So, he did hear me. “You hurt yourself, don’t you?” he asked all of a sudden.

  My eyes shot up towards him. He thinks that I cut myself –that I did this myself. I didn’t say anything and chose to just remain silent. It'd be better for him to just interpret it that way rather than him finding out that it was my brother who actually hurt me this badly. The only concern I had at the moment was that Tony would somehow see me with Hunter and that he’d do something to hurt him too.

  “Aren’t you scared of me?” this time his voice was a little gentler. As if he himself was scared of what I'd say that that moment.

  I stared at him. Am I scared of Hunter? He’s been nothing but sweet and kind and caring towards me ever since we met. He saved me, he helped me, he stayed with me until I felt better, and now he’s helping me again. I don’t know what his motive behind all of this, but for some reason I have been feeling nothing but comfortability with Hunter. My heart started pounding again.

  Badump... Badump... Badump...

  “I guess not...” I breathed out. “I don’t have a reason to be scared of you...”

  “But you’re always so...” he couldn’t find the word.

  “Paranoid?” I finished his sentence with a smile.

  “Yeah...” he sounded rather defeated. “Why?”

  “I’d like to end this conversation here, Hunter. There are many secrets people can’t let others know, so please stop sticking your nose in this.”

  He didn’t say anything. He just released another sigh out of defeat before he started driving. At moments I would steal glances at him and at other moments I would notice him stealing glances at me. I’m sorry Hunter. It doesn’t matter how nice you are to me, or how much you want to know about me, I just can’t afford to feed your curiosity. This is something you’ll have to keep your nose out of, otherwise I don’t know who’ll end up hurting who –because this is just literally just a matter of life and death.

  Chapter Five

  “Where are you bringing me?” I asked, not being able to look at him.

  He was silent for a few seconds. “I’m bringing you to my house. I have a few clothes that you could borrow. You could just give them back tomorrow.”

  “No one has ever been to your house,” I breathed out in shock. “Why do you even care? Just bring me home!”

  “Won’t your parents ask why you’re home early?” he raised his eyebrow at me.

  “I can just tell them that I didn’t feel well, so they sent me home early.” I shrugged.

  Yes, I was lying that I had parents, since I only had a brother, but I couldn’t tell him that.

  “And the amount of blood? How would you explain that?” he pointed at my thigh.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. Now that I think of it, if Tony sees me home early, if he’s there, who knows what he’ll do. Not only does he use me as his toy, but as the sister of such a powerful man, people do expect a lot from me. Every time he introduces me to one of his clients, he does like to brag about how well I do at school, but this year, my grades aren’t that beautiful, so if he sees me skipping, I’m dead.

  “Let me just take you to my fucking house.” Hunter scoffed.

  Why do I not mind going with this stranger? Funny how I’m okay with this pure and utter stranger, but stay away from my own brother. When I didn’t react, he just took it as a yes and drove me to his house. From the outside his house just looked small and cozy and well maintained. I was even more surprised when the inside looked even better than the outside. It was a small house, enough for two people. A small kitchen, living room, two rooms (I assumed), and apparently one bathroom. Hunter entered one of the rooms and then came back holding a pair of jeans. He handed it over to me and when I frowned he just shrugged.

  “They’re my sister’s.”

  I held the jeans to my chest. I didn’t know he had a sister. He pointed to one of the rooms and I realized he was directing me to the bathroom. Once I was out of his sight, I closed the bathroom door and leaned against it. I was in Hunter’s house... I didn’t know exactly what I expected, but it was nothing like this, neither from his personality, nor his living conditions. I swallowed harshly as I removed my jeans. I was right, the cut was acting up, because of my jeans. There was a lot of blood and it was honestly starting to make me nauseous, especially how it made me remember everything that happened this morning.

  “I want to die...” I muttered.

  I quickly washed the blood off and bandaged it with some of the bandage I found in one of the drawers. I put on the jeans Hunter gave me, realizing that it was just a little big for me. I folded my jeans and walked out of the bathroom when I heard Hunter speaking on the phone. His back was facing me and by the way he was shouting, I assumed something had happened.

  “What the fuck do you mean you can’t find him?! Do you want me to shoot a bullet through your fucking thick skull? Find him or else your wife can keep waiting to join you in hell.”