Destroy Her: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Crimson High Book 1)

by Bella King

  “The seatbelt doesn’t work. It’s broken,” Kain said, chuckling when he looked in the rearview mirror at me.

  His eyes didn’t move from the rearview for a good few seconds, flickering up to it repeatedly until I realize what he was looking at. He could see up my skirt because of the way I was sitting. I huffed, crossing my legs and straightening at my skirt. What a pervert.

  Kain stopped staring at me once I covered myself up, placing a hand on Amy’s thigh as he drove the rest of the way to the party. I stayed silent in the back seat, my mind drifting into memories of Travis. It had been a few days since we had detention, and I hadn’t heard from him since then. I hoped that his dad had taken it easy on him.

  For a moment, I toyed with the idea that Travis had been lying about his dad beating him to gain sympathy and manipulate me into helping him throw Grace under the bus, but the fear in his eyes had been real. Unless he was a grade-A actor, I was pretty sure he was telling the truth.

  I couldn’t trust him fully though, and I had no reason to believe anything he had said about the mysterious disappearance of Kimberly three years ago. He had refused to even tell me his side of the story, but constantly bullied people into being quiet about the rumor that he had killed Kimberly.

  It was always possible that he was just tired of hearing it after so many years, but if he didn’t make such a big deal about it, I doubted that anyone would care. His problematic behavior was what made it worse for him. Come to think of it, he probably learned that violent behavior from his father.

  These thoughts swirled in my head, drawing me into a fantasy where Travis really was a murder and I was the one that uncovered the truth. Part of me wanted to play detective, but the cautious side of me told me to stay away from Travis. For now, the safer option was winning the internal battle, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. It was hard to resist the pull of Travis’s dark allure.

  “Hey, we’re here,” Kain said, turning to me.

  I could already hear music spilling out of the house we were in front of into the surrounding neighborhood. There were tons of cars parked outside. It looked like someone’s parents had left their senior student home alone for the weekend and they had decided to throw a huge party. I was almost certain that was the case.

  I stepped out of the car, giving Kain a quick thanks before following Amy into the house. The music was booming as Amy opened the door and we stepped inside.

  The place was huge, with collapsible plastic tables parked against the walls. They were all filled with different drinks. Whoever was in charge of this party had gone all out. It looked like almost every senior was attending, even the nerds and shy students.

  “Kain said he’s going to get food,” Amy said with a smile. “Do you want anything?”

  I shrugged. “Not right now,” I said, scanning the room for anyone I recognized. I didn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean they weren’t at the party. The house had three floors and a backyard. I assumed I would eventually be able to find someone that I knew, other than Amy. She would be hanging out with Kain, no doubt, and I didn’t want to disrupt her sexual adventures.

  Amy punched my shoulder. “Come on, stop daydreaming. Have a drink with me,” Amy urged, grabbing an open bottle off the table and giving it a swig.

  “Ew, whose drink is that?” I asked, recoiling at Amy’s lack of concern for germs.

  “I have no clue,” Amy said, her eyes wide with excitement. “Who cares?”

  I laughed. “You’re nasty.”

  “Listen, Alice. I’ve had my mouth on much dirtier things,” She replied, taking another drink from the bottle.

  Amy didn’t shy away from talking about what she did with guys at Crimson High, but I had no real experience on that front to compare with hers. The truth was, I had never even had sex before, but I suppose that wasn’t terribly unusual for an 18-year-old. I mean, my focus was on school, not guys.

  I patted Amy on the shoulder and gave her a knowing look. “Some of us like to keep our mouths clean,” I said jokingly.

  Amy rolled her eyes. “You have to have fun every once in a while. Come on,” she said, yanking my arm, “Let’s go find someone for you to talk to.”

  I allowed Amy to lead me through the throngs of people that were talking and drinking. We arrived in the living room, where there were a few tall guys standing together in the corner, not actively having any conversation, just scanning the room quietly.

  Amy pushed me into the group. “Alice is new at Crimson High. Talk to her,” she said, leaving me standing awkwardly with the three guys.

  I flashed them a reluctant smile. “Nice party, huh?”

  One of them frowned, studying my face for a second. “You’re friends with Travis, aren’t you?”

  I straightened my back. “Not at all,” I said defensively. I didn’t want to be associated with him.

  “No, you definitely are,” the other guy said. He was tall and intimidating as he leaned in toward me. “You ratted out Grace.”

  Was I in trouble? I thought as much. I had better get out of there before things got too heated “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied, taking a step back.

  The guy put his drink down on the table beside him. “Grace was chill. You and Travis are fucked up. Why’d you do that?”

  “You’re right about Travis, but I don’t have anything to do with him. Besides, Grace was Travis’s snitch,” I tried to explain. “She wasn’t really that innocent.”

  This seemed to make the guy in front of me very angry. I had a knack for doing that, it seemed. His friends shook their heads after I spoke, and the guy’s hand shot out, grabbing my shirt. “Grace is my sister, you stupid bitch.”

  Fuck, I was already in trouble and I had only just come to this party. This was why I wanted to stay home. It seemed like no matter what, someone had a problem with me. I guess it all came back to Travis, who I was now apparently linked to permanently.

  “I didn’t know. I’m sorry. Travis is the one who ratted her out. He bullies me,” I said quickly, trying to defuse this situation before it turned ugly.

  “Hey!” A loud voice snapped from behind me.

  The grip on my shirt loosened, and the guy that was threatening me stepped back. I turned to see Travis taking quick strides toward me and the guys. He looked like he could kill someone.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Travis said aggressively, pulling me back from the guys. His fingers dug tightly into my shoulders, almost painfully so.

  “You and your girlfriend got my sister expelled,” Grace’s brother spat.

  Travis smirked. “You’re lucky we didn’t do worse. Right Alice?” He said, looking down at me with a sinister grin.

  I couldn’t answer. I was thrown off by the fact that this guy had called me Travis’s girlfriend. Did people really think we were that close?

  Grace’s brother was clearly nervous around Travis, but still attempted to stand his ground. “You’re a real piece of work,” he said.

  Travis didn’t seem phased at all. In fact, it looked like he thrived off the confrontation, growing more confident and cheerful by the second. “Both you and your sister are a joke to me. If I see you in the hallway at school, I’m going to beat your ass.”

  Grace’s brother didn’t say anything, silently fuming with rage, his fist clenched tightly. He knew better than to push Travis, who had a terrible reputation already for being violent. Travis’s grip on my shoulders got a little lighter, and he turned to leave, pulling me with him.

  Once we were far enough away from the group of guys, I attempted to shrug Travis’s hands off my shoulders, but he only dug them in tighter.

  “Ouch, Travis, get off,” I said, but he didn’t listen, instead leading me upstairs. “Where are we going?” I asked.

  Travis didn’t say anything until we entered an empty bedroom, after which he closed the door, locked it, and pushed me up against the wall. His deep black eyes pierced through me. I didn’t k
now what he was doing, but I didn’t like it.

  “Travis, what the hell,” I said, pushing against him.

  He pushed me harder against the wall, using his muscular arms to block me in. He looked like a jaguar, sizing up his prey as his eyes scanned my body. “You look nice,” he said slowly.

  I began to grow afraid. What was he trying to do to me in this bedroom? I felt that I was in danger now. “Please let me go,” I begged.

  “I’m not done with you, Alice. You keep painting me as the bad guy at school. I want to know why.”

  “Because you are,” I said boldly.

  He laughed, but there was no hint of amusement in his voice. “I can be, but I doubt you want that,” he threatened.

  “Listen, Travis, I haven’t done anything to you. I’ve been minding my own business since detention.”

  “Then why is everyone turning on me? You know, Kain won’t even speak to me anymore. Everyone around here is acting like I’m the enemy ever since you came to Crimson High.”

  “Probably because he’s too getting his dick sucked by Amy and she’s my best friend. Of course, he’s going to take my side.”

  “Stay away from my friends, okay?” Travis said grimly.

  I could see that there was no use in arguing with him. No matter what I did, he would always blame me for his own problems. I suppose that was what bullies did. They had to find some reason to hate the person they bullied.

  I glared at Travis, but he didn’t ease up. Instead, he reached a hand down to my legs, running his fingers slowly up my thigh. My heart raced in my chest as I realized what he was doing. This wasn’t okay.

  I pushed his hand away, but he came back to my legs, slowly brushing his hand against my bare skin. This time, I stood defiantly, not moving at all even as his hand came to a rest just south of my panties. I glared at him. “You can’t do this to me,” I said.

  Travis frowned. “Do what?” He said, inching his fingers up and pressing them between my legs.

  I felt a shock from this, like a bolt of pleasure that I didn’t want to feel. It felt good, but I wanted it to stop. I wanted this to be over, but Travis seemed to have a different idea. He began to pet between my legs with one finger, stroking the same spot a few times until I shivered with a mixture of fear and arousal.

  Travis, my bully, was seducing me, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. I didn’t want him in my life, but he had inserted himself there, unwilling to budge. I stared up into his eyes as he continued to touch me, now moving more quickly.

  “You’re wet,” he growled, removing his fingers from beneath my skirt and showing them to me. They glistened slightly with my moisture.

  I didn’t know what to say. I felt embarrassed that I was becoming turned on by the way Travis was touching me. What’s worse was that I was letting him. I didn’t yell for help, and I didn’t try to push away. Maybe I should have, but I was captivated by his eyes. They were like pools of death, luring me into an erotic demise.

  My cheeks were flushed bright pink as I looked up at Travis and the two fingers he held accusingly in front of me. He smirked, showing me what he had done, as though he had conquered me in some way. Maybe he had.

  “Travis, I need to leave,” I said finally, pushing against him.

  He still had his fingers held up in front of him, examining the product of his actions as he allowed himself to be pushed back and for me to run from the room. He didn’t follow me as I ran through the hallway and down the stairs to escape from him.

  Chapter 10

  I left Amy at the party, choosing to walk home instead. I knew that it would take me at least two hours to get there, but I didn’t care. I had a map pulled up on my phone to guide me, and I needed to process what had just happened.

  Travis was more dangerous of a man than I thought. It seemed like his threats were largely empty, until they weren’t. I remembered how violently he had thrown me out of my seat during my lunch break, knocking the breath out of me. I hadn’t even been able to eat lunch because he had also tossed that to the ground.

  Now Travis was growing bolder, thinking that he could touch me in sexual ways and that I wouldn’t do anything to stop him. Then again, I hadn’t done anything to stop him, at least not at first. I had been the one who let him touch between my legs, exploring a sensitive and deeply private place on my body. I had never let anyone do that to me before.

  I had gotten a rush from it too, and I was beginning to feel excited by the thought of it again. Travis had been so dangerously intentional about what he did to me, using it as a way to gain control over me, I suspected. It was like he was asserting dominance over me and I had allowed it.

  I was disgusted with myself for letting things go that far. My morbid curiosity had taken over and driven me to do things I shouldn’t have. I wondered how Travis felt about it, or if he was even capable of feeling anything at all.

  The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go back in time and stop Travis from getting me into that room with him. I wouldn’t let him lead me anymore. I was going to fight back against him, show him who was boss, lest I end up like Kimberly and vanish from Crimson High overnight. Or maybe she had fought back against him, and that’s why she had gone missing. Travis could be grooming me to be his next victim.

  These thoughts sent a chill through me, and I found myself wishing I had brought a jacket to wear. The cool night air wasn’t enough to make me cold, but what was going on between Travis and I was making me feel strange and gave me goosebumps. I wanted to crawl into bed and be consumed by warmth until morning.

  As I turned down my street, I noticed that there were red and blue lights flashing down the road. Was that coming from my house? I picked up the pace, beginning to worry as I drew closer. When I realized that the police were at my house, I broke into a full out sprint.

  I took the porch stairs be threes and I burst into the front door, anticipating the worst. I looked around frantically, finding my mother and father sitting with two police officers in the kitchen.

  “What’s going on?” I blurted out, worried, but at the same time relieved to see that my parents were okay.

  “Alice, thank god you’re here,” My mom said, jumping up and rushing to hug me.

  I held her, instantly forgetting about what had happened earlier with Travis. An officer stepped toward us, tapping on his notepad. I drew back, looking from my mother to the officer.

  “The Brier’s house burned down. So far there have been three confirmed casualties,” the officer said seriously.

  “Who’s house?” I asked, confused.

  “Your mother said you were attending a party there,” the officer replied.

  I was in shock. The house that I had left just two hours ago had burned down? I didn’t know what to say, until I remembered Amy. “Is Amy okay?” I scrambled to ask.

  My mom nodded. “Her mother called me and said that Amy couldn’t find you during the fire. We feared the worst.”

  My dad stepped in. “Where the hell were you? It’s been hours since the fire was reported.”

  “I was walking home,” I said.

  “Why on earth would you walk home?” My dad asked.

  I didn’t want to tell him about Travis, so I lied. I was lying to my parents a lot now because of Travis. He was turning me into a person that I didn’t want to be. I hated myself for lying again. “I felt sick and I didn’t see Amy, so I left early without her.”

  My mother hugged me again. “We’re just glad you’re safe.”

  The officer put away his notepad and nodded at the other officer. “Alice, we have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind answering them in private.”

  My parent’s looked shocked, and so did I. “What do you mean?”

  “The young man that your friend, Amy, said drove you to the party, is one of the ones that passed in the fire.”

  “Holy shit,” I said, covering my mouth. “Kain?”

  The officer nodded gravely. “We’d like you t
o come to the station with us. Your classmate, Travis, is already there,” the officer said.

  Travis? Did he have something to do with the fire? My mind was racing, and my mother started sobbing. I patted her on the back. “It’s fine, I didn’t do anything wrong.” That was the truth this time, but I couldn’t be certain that Travis hadn’t had something to do with the fire.

  My dad’s face was frozen in a scowl as the officers led me out of the house and into the police car. It was late, but I suspected my night had just begun. Now, at least three more people were dead, and Travis was at the center of it all over again. This was getting nasty.

  Chapter 11

  I was seated in a small room with two detectives and Travis, who was in handcuffs. One of the detectives stood by the door, while the other one began asking me questions. Travis sat in his seat, staring at the wall and not speaking.

  “My name is detective Charles. I just want you to know that you’re not in trouble. I want to ask you a few questions, standard stuff,” the detective said, pulling out a chair from himself across from Travis and I. He clasped his hands together and leaned toward me. “Are you comfortable with that?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  Travis looked like he was sitting in the most boring class of his life, ignoring everything the detective said to me, and not even acknowledging that I was beside him.

  “Alice, you were at the party, correct?” Detective Charles asked.

  I nodded. “I rode there with Kain and Amy.”

  “Could you give me your version of what happened. Just go through the events up until you got home.”

  “Well,” I began, “I rode there with Kain and Amy. I went inside and Amy tried to get me to talk to this group of guys. One of them got pissed off at me because he thought it was my fault that his sister got expelled.”

  The detective frowned. “Grace Cadwell?”

  I nodded, wondering how he knew who I was talking about.