by Ker Dukey
“Miss Kelly, we can’t allow you to walk around the school unaided, you don’t even have a visitors pass on display.”
“I’m not staying, I just wanted to look in Summer’s locker.”
“The police have already emptied her locker, I’m sorry.”
My phone buzzes with a text from Jarod.
I got into the emails.
“Thanks anyway,” I tell Mrs Olden with a genuine smile, she was one of my favorite teachers when I came here. She had time for people and I liked that about her.
I throw my purse in the passenger seat and make my way to Jarod’s.
I turn the car off and grab my jacket from the back seat. The grounds are busy with students and visitors but I can’t help feeling anxious and on alert. I scan everybody that passes me hoping a clue will spring from thin air like a speech bubble above their head stating ‘I know where she is.’
Knocking on Jarod’s door, I get the familiar “come in” shouted back at me.
“What did you find?” I ask, entering.
“Hello to you too.”
“Jarod?”
“Payment?”
I pat my hands over myself knowing I left my purse in the car and that I hadn’t been to the ATM. “I don’t have it, I’ll owe you.”
He slams the laptop closed and folds his arms over his chest.
“I thought you wanted to help me out?” I say, agitated.
“If you help me out.” His eyes roam my body. Pathetic man. I grab a pair of scissors from the pot of stationary he has on a desk. I unbutton my jeans and snip each side of my panties and tug them free before throwing them at him. He catches them mid-air and brings them to his face to inhale. Dirty bastard.
I shake my head. “Cole said you were a little kinky shit.”
“Who the fuck is Cole?”
“It doesn’t matter, now can you tell me what you have?”
“A hard-on if you must know, you smell sweet. What’s it going to take to let me have my way with you?” He grins, opening up the laptop and passing it to me.
“She got a link to the site via an email address. It can’t pinpoint to one person but I do have the destination in which it came.”
“And?”
He stands shoving my panties into his pocket before he crowds my space, dipping to look into my eyes. “It came from our campus, Winter.”
What the fuck?
“Did you find any history from the site?”
“She looked on there and signed up, she had the welcome email but she never posted.”
I shut the laptop, quickly thanking Jarod, and rush back to my car. That didn’t make sense, who would be emailing her from this campus? Unless it was a fluke and some freak was sending random emails… That’s even more hard to believe.
I open the trunk of my car to put the laptop in and my knees buckle. Summer’s birthday cake and present are still inside. Wrapping my arms around my waist I pinch my skin to bring pain, I needed to stop the fear and sorrow. I open the laptop and log into the site.
USER: Amber:
Saint vs Sinner. Winner gets an Angel.
USER: Autumn:
Ok, let’s play.
I pull out my cell and text Jake.
What are you up to?
He’s quick to reply.
Hello beautiful snowflake. Just finishing a lecture why?
I don’t reply, instead I make my way to his lecture room. I needed him to take away the sorrow, the weakness that was clouding my thoughts.
I get there as the last stragglers are leaving. He’s not watching the room, instead he’s engrossed in a phone call. “You’ve seen her picture. Fine, I’ll send a normal one.”
I slip my hands around his waist, causing him to startle. “I have to go,” he says into his cell quickly.
He turns in my arms, placing his cell back in his pocket and encompassing me in his embrace. “You scared me, I thought one of my students was getting frisky.” He groans, nibbling on my earlobe.
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” I mutter.
He pulls back to look down at me. “What are you doing here, I thought you’d be with your parents?”
“I just needed this,” I say squeezing him. I slip my hands under his shirt and up his torso, eliciting a gasp from him as he quickly pushes me away like I’m toxic. “What the hell?”
“I’m sorry, I just… We shouldn’t really do this while you’re in an emotional state.”
I laugh and tears flow as the emotion builds inside me. “Like you care about shit like that.” It was pure laughable. Jake was a bastard and would take advantage of a nun if he thought he could.
I grab his shirt and tug it open but he recoils back. That’s when I notice a mark on his neck, a scratch mark. “You son of a bitch.”
I pull his shirt from his grip and stare at his marked body, scratch marks, like a bitch in heat got carried away on his flesh.
“It’s not what you think,” he states as he tries to reach for me.
“You’ve been getting all freaky with some whore while I’ve been out there searching for my missing sister?” He goes to speak but I hold my hand up. “It’s not a question. Fuck you, Jake. Fuck – you!“
“I was separating a fight and got caught up in it.”
“Between who? Two lionesses, you cheating waste of space?”
“Snowflake?” He calls as I retreat but there is nothing he can say. Fuck him.
I knew I knew her. I watch her from the shadows of a small passage as she rushes past. She almost broke at something she saw in her car. It was fascinating to watch. She hurt herself to stop the emotion, her slim fingers digging into the flesh of her abdomen. She was going to be so much more than the others… than anyone. She would be mine.
I wanted to take her and dig myself into her mind to see what makes her tick but she wasn’t like the others, she was a dark angel sent to test me, and in return I’d test her.
I bring up the alerts on my phone and read the message.
USER: Autumn:
Ok, let’s play.
I hit respond and type.
USER: Amber:
Autumn, round one = Survival.
Ignoring the continuous texts from Cole demanding where I am, I drive back to the hotel. I needed to regroup and redirect my focus. Jake was never something I planned on lasting, not really. He was too selfish, and although I wasn’t looking for a Romeo, I didn’t want to live my life with someone like Jake. He was fun while it lasted, and I’d have to go collect my shit from his place, but this was maybe for the best. What we had couldn’t really be called healthy.
I’m exhausted by the time I reach the hotel. When I get to the room an angry Cole is sitting on my bed.
“I told you to leave your cell on,” he barks at me.
Slamming the door, I drop my belongings on the table. “It is on.”
“Then why have you ignored me?”
“I was driving, Cole. Do you have anything important? Any leads?”
He drops his head and rubs his hands over his thighs. “No.”
“Then it doesn’t matter, does it?”
He stands, coming right at me and backing me against the wall. “You’ve been groomed by a maybe serial killer and your sister is missing. Me knowing you’re safe and not getting yourself killed does fucking matter!” he growls.
My nipples pebble and show through the thin fabric of my tee. I’m breathing heavily as his scent clings to my skin, teasing me of its promise. I want to be doused in it while he fucks me hard against this wall. I want to feel him thrust into me like he did his fist. Images of him masturbating assault my mind making me almost moan aloud.
His eyes have grown heavy as they linger over my flesh. My tongue swipes out to moisten my lips, and then he’s gone.
“So where were you?” he asks, clearing his throat.
“Nowhere. I want to have a bath and an early night.”
He frowns as if he is aware of the atmosphere now between us,
but he nods sharply. “Okay, sleep well.”
I follow him to the adjoining door and rest my head against it as he closes it behind him.
I nearly jumped on him like a sex starved nympho. There was a heat between us that was undeniable. The way he looked at me at first, I wasn’t sure what it was but just then, in that moment, I saw my own lust reflected back at me. I need to stop thinking about him and about men in general. My track record was appalling.
I grab up Summer’s laptop and see that I have a message.
USER: Amber
Autumn, game one = Survival
What the hell did that mean? I bring up the news articles of the Angel killer again and someone has posted a picture of one of the victims on the scene where her body was discovered. She’s naked, and her skin and rib cage have been torn upwards to give the gruesome effect of wings spouting.
Vomit burns up my throat and I rush to the toilet, emotion retching from me in violent waves. I wasn’t sure if it was the blood and gore that had me heaving, or the fact that that image could have so easily been Summer.
It’s become dark out and I meander on to the balcony in aid of some fresh air, the nausea not bating even though I threw up all the contents of my stomach. A wave of loneliness hits me for some strange reason. I’d rang my parents to get an update but they couldn’t tell me anything different to what they could that morning. We were just going round in fucking circles, round and round with no way out, or no way in.
Cole’s light is out and I sigh to myself, feeling the depths of my loneliness in the marrow of my bones. Sometimes I just needed a hug, a good tight hug that promises to squeeze all the darkness out and allow in a little light, normality even.
I need to bathe and then try my best to get some sleep. I also need to update Cole on things, but I was putting that off. He wasn’t going to be happy that I replied to the message. Then again, he didn’t seem to be happy about anything I did.
“Oh yes,” I sigh contentedly as I slide under the depths of the hot water, the bubbles touching my chin. It’s surprising how good the complimentary toiletries are. The shampoo has softened my hair and the bath foam smells absolutely delicious. I make a mental note to scour the internet for the same brand.
Resting my head back, I close my eyes and relax for the first time all day. I’m still stumped at how the email came from my campus. I was hoping Jarod would have more for me but everything led to a dead end and I was nowhere closer to finding Summer.
Although it unsettles me, the thought of playing cat and mouse with this sick fuck, it’s all I had to go on, the only problem was I was pretty sure I’d become the mouse. I have no idea what to do to gain the upper hand. He held all the cards but maybe, if he wanted to play, I could ask for proof of life or get him to meet me alone but have Jarod track my cell… Damn, I needed to think.
My thoughts are severed when suddenly a weight on my head plunges me under the water. My legs kick out as I struggle to break free, the power of someone’s hold threatening to drown me. I hadn’t had chance to take a breath, and now I was starting to wane, my hands clawing at a large hand as I try to break from his fierce hold.
My ears catch the splash of water before I’m thrust upwards. Fingers in my hair drag me out of the bath and as my body hits the floor with a thud, pain tears through my hipbone. I try to make a break for it, but he is on me within seconds, hands clawing at my arms before I’m thrown across the room.
He’s massive, the sheer size of him amplifying my fear when I catch a glimpse of him as my head thuds against the wall. I don’t recognise him. Before I can move, he’s on me again, lifting me and throwing me onto the bed. I can’t fight him. All my skills flee as fear hits, and any defensive moves have little effect on him.
My lungs are still trying to catch up with the air they lost after being plunged under the water and my chest aches. My body hurts from where I hit the wall, and my mind is in turmoil as I look for a way out. But there is none.
I try to scramble off the bed to get to the door, but my attacker is there before me, grinning like a madman and daring me to even try to escape.
I back up, holding my hands up. It occurs to me that I’m naked and still dripping wet but that’s the least of my problems. “What do you want?” I’m not even sure it’s me that has spoken, my voice sounds wrong, panic making it high-pitched and shaky.
“To stop you butting in to other people’s business.”
His voice is as rough as his looks, his face covered by a scar that attracts my attention. “What?”
I’m trying to stall him, and he knows it, because in the next second he’s on me again. My back hits the mattress and he’s looming over me with that sickening smile.
“I have money,” I try as I mentally try in vain to find a route out.
His laugh is deep and causes me to shiver with the malevolence in it. “You think I want money?”
I swallow as I stare up at him not daring to move. My stomach lurches when one of his large hands roughly grip my breast and I will myself not to cry.
“I think you know I don’t want money, Miss Kelly.”
The fact that he knows my name makes it all the more personal. “Who sent you?” Memories of my mom sending her dealers into my room rape my mind and I try to still my hectic heart. I’ve been through this crap before, I beat this, I killed a man for trying to hurt us…hurt Summer.
He doesn’t answer me. I growl when his other hand forces my legs apart, his knee sliding in between to hold me open as he starts to unzip himself.
Oh God, not again, I promised myself I’d never let a man do this to me again.
But he doesn’t stop. Fear has already turned to rage, and dread morphs into adrenaline. I scream out as my hand fists and I plow it into the side of his head. He rocks sideways, both of us surprised by my strength.
A choked cry leaves me when his knee connects with the junction of my legs, pain forcing its way through me at the contact. What he doesn’t know is I have a high tolerance for pain and I’ll dish out as much as he gives me. I bare my teeth and manage to sink them into one of his arms, tearing at the flesh like a rabid dog.
His other hand hits me in the face, stunning me. My mouth opens, freeing him but I have a nice chunk of his flesh between my teeth that I spit up at him and then laugh manically.
“You crazy cunt, bite me again and I’ll really start to hurt you.”
We both still when the adjoining door rattles. “Win?”
Before I can shout him, my attacker slaps his hand over my mouth. His eyes tell me to keep quiet and his other hand around my throat forces it home.
I can’t help but whimper into his hand when I hear Cole’s footsteps moving away.
The man grins down at me. “Now, where were we?”
Vomit lurches up my throat when he frees his cock and presses me further into the mattress. My head shakes as tears finally make a bid for freedom. He’s too heavy, and too strong to move him. It’s like a ten-ton weight bearing down on me and I can’t help but feel hopeless beneath him as I come to terms with the fact I was going to be raped, but I promise myself as soon as any chance presents itself I’m going to bite, tear or cut off his filthy cock and feed it to him.
“We both know you want it,” he leers as he starts to position himself.
Defeat flows in and I close my eyes, mentally shutting down to what is happening. I doubt I could cope with forever remembering this moment, and I’m a pro at taking my mind somewhere else while my body is violated. I force my mind to seek out a happier time.
“This is gonna be such fun,” he laughs, “Such a tight little thing deserves a good fuck.”
“And such a prick deserves a nice round hole in the back of his head.”
The sound of Cole’s voice and the pop of a gun causes me to snap my eyes open in time to watch my attacker’s mouth fall open and a stream of blood pour from him like a waterfall over the edge of a cliff. His eyes are wide, unseeing as he flops down on top of me.
I scream, I can’t help it. His weight is deadening, his blood pouring over making the vomit that had curdled in my belly burst free.
“Shh.” Cole is pushing him off me and taking me in his arms within seconds, pulling my hair back so I can puke freely over the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry,” he says over and over. “I couldn’t get to you quick enough.”
I shake my head and bury my face into him, using him for mental support as my mind continues with the scene that abruptly stopped thanks to Cole. He rocks me, squeezing me harder until my brain accepts that it’s over. For an age he just holds me, his soft shushes in my ear finally penetrating the horror in my head and granting me peace.
I don’t care that I’m naked. I don’t care that I’m sobbing like a child. I don’t care that I’m getting snot all over Cole’s bare upper body. All I care about is his arms around me, making sure I’m safe, his silent protection making the rampant beat of my heart slow to a more regular rhythm.
Eventually I pull back and look up at him.
“Are you okay?” His voice is tight as though he’s furious.
I can’t speak so I just nod.
“He didn’t… he didn’t…?”
Quickly I shake my head, soothing his distress. He blows out a breath and sags in relief.
“I have to call this in, Win.” He’s wearing a slight grimace as if he knows I’ll go on a rampage but I nod.
“I know.”
He moves me off his lap and gently places me on the mattress, then taking the duvet he covers the dead man before he unhooks my robe from the bathroom door and hands it to me. I pull it against me and smile gratefully as he disappears on to the balcony with his cell and calls into his department. I’m suddenly aware of how Cole got in my room after he’d tried the locked door, and my heart swells with the knowledge that he’d risked climbing over the large gap eleven floors up.
I can’t help but turn my head and stare at the lump under the duvet. He’d called me by my name. He knew who I was. A shiver racks my body when the awareness of what that means filters in.