Even as I think it, I know I’m going to come clean. Maybe I’ll get Andrea to drive me over to speak with Principal Rogan tonight. I’d like to do it before my suspension is over, just in case she expels me. There’s no point in wasting anyone else’s time at this point.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Instead of walking back to Marcus's, I catch the bus. I know the walk is only ten minutes, but the bus ride is only 5 minutes and a lot safer than walking the streets when Mike may still be in town. As soon as I step off the bus at the end of Marcus’s street, my phone rings. The moment I see Val’s name on the screen, I know something is wrong. I’ve learnt that a text from Valarie is a details thing or just conversation, but a phone call always means something is wrong. I don’t hesitate to answer the call.
“Val?”
There’s muffled noises down the line before I hear a piercing scream. Val’s piercing scream.
“Val!” I yell, already running.
“Help!” Val’s plea is the last thing I hear before the line goes dead.
No! No! No!
As I run, I try to call her back, but she doesn’t answer. I try her house phone, but there’s no answer there either. My lungs burn, and tears sting my eyes as I sprint through the quiet streets of Fox Pines, desperate to get to Val.
As I round the corner of my street, I call Ayden.
“Lex, what’s wrong?” His voice is frantic down the line. He knows I’d only call if there was an emergency.
“I don’t know. Val called, screaming for help. I’m nearly at her place. Call the cops and ditch school. Meet me there!” I don’t know why I called Ayden and not the cops, but all I know is that I want him here, and I know he will do everything he can to get help to me.
I hang up, cutting him off. The word “No” made it to my ears, though.
I skid to stop in Val’s driveway. There are no cars in sight, but her front door is wide open. I don’t hesitate; I bolt forward, and when I reach the threshold, I hear Val whimpering.
“Val?” I call, and her whimpering gets louder, coming from the back of the house where her kitchen overlooks their backyard and orchard. I move fast, looking around cautiously as I go past a formal living room that doesn’t look like it’s ever been used and a small office that looks like it’s used too much.
The whimpering gets louder as I approach the back of the house. I stop briefly at the bottom of the U-shaped staircase to listen for any sounds upstairs, but it’s silent up there. The only noise is straight ahead.
I don’t wait any longer and bolt into the large space, glancing from a small living area to the grand dining table and the oversized Tasmanian Oak kitchen.
My breath catches, seizing in my lungs when I see my sweet innocent twelve-year-old neighbour tied to a chair in only a pair of knickers.
“No.” The whisper escapes, finally letting air in, and I lurch forward towards Val. She is crying, her voice muffled by a gag tied around her head and shoved in her mouth.
“Shit Val. It’s okay. I’m here.” I cry, reaching to pull the gag free in her mouth.
Her eyes widening over my shoulder is the only warning I get before my head is ripped back by my hair, and I’m thrust into the corner of the island bench. I hear myself scream, and my vision wavers before I fall into darkness briefly. Once the moment passes, I try to focus on who is in the room.
“You fucking little whore. Did you really think you could get away from me?”
“Mike.” The whisper falls from my mouth, and my half-brother smiles like he’s proud. He’s looking a bit worse for wear. Scratches that look like they were caused by fingernails run down his left cheek, and a bite mark is bleeding badly on his arm.
Good girl, Val!
“You and I have unfinished business, little sis, and this time, no one is coming to save you!”
That’s what he thinks. How dumb does he think I am? I mean, yes, I’m stupid enough to not call the cops and wait for them instead of storming in here. I never claimed I was perfect!
“Let her go!” I demand as if I have bargaining power. I know I don’t, not with Mike, but I need time. Time to keep Val alive and drag this out so the cops can get Mike. I can do this. For Val. For me.
The sickening laugh that haunts my dreams fills the room, and I let him see my cringe. I hate this motherfucker!
“Oh no, little Valarie here is going to watch what I do to you, so she knows what’s to come, and then you will swap places and watch me break her in.”
“Fuck you!” I scream and launch myself off the floor at Mike like I’m a crazed, bloodthirsty monkey. I clamp my knees to his waist and shove my hands into his hair, fisting them tight and pulling hard as I throw my head back and then slam it forward to head butt him.
It sounds good, right? Head-butting someone. I’ve seen it on the badass movies, and while it manages to render him useless briefly, it has the same fucking effect on me.
I see stars, and my grip on him falters, sending me to the floor while he stumbles back into Val, knocking her chair over. The sickening crunch of her head hitting the hard tiled floor echoes in the room and brings me back to the present.
Mike is holding his head, trying to shake free the stars he’s obviously seeing, but I can’t focus on him because my eyes are locked on Val’s unconscious face and the blood pooling from the back of her head where it impacted on the floor.
No! Val!
I scramble across the floor to get to her, but a choking hand wraps around my throat from behind, and I’m pulled up against Mike’s body.
“Look what you’ve gone and done. Now the little snitch can’t watch what’s going to come her way.” Mike’s vile breath hits the side of my face before he drags his tongue up my cheek, just like he did last time in my bedroom.
As much as I want Valarie to be okay, part of me hopes that if I’m not able to get us out of this situation before Mike gets to her, that she dies, so she doesn’t have to experience what Mike is promising.
Mike’s grip on my neck tightens, “Time to play Ali.”
I struggle to get air in as Mike uses his free hand and slips it up my hoodie, grabbing my breast and squeezing so tight that I cry out, pain shooting through the sensitive flesh. I kick out my legs as I try to pry his hand loose from my neck. When that fails, I reach back and do what Val did. I use my nails and try to scratch his face and neck.
I succeed in getting him to loosen his grip, and the moment I’m free, I use my new punching skills and aim for his nuts, giving him the dick punch I’ve dreamed of doing for weeks now. I move quickly out of the way as he tumbles to the ground, and I launch myself towards the other bench where the knife block is.
Just as I’ve slipped one free, which is disappointingly very small, Mike’s heavy weight slams into me from behind, winding me on the edge of the bench before spinning me and throwing me across the kitchen. I slam into the fridge hard, more wind getting knocked from me, making it impossible to breathe. Tears flood my eyes as my lungs scream for air.
Mike takes his time to reach me, obviously still in pain from my dick punch, so I pick up the knife I dropped just in time to take a slice at his hand and arm when he reaches for me.
“You fucking bitch. You’re not coming out of this alive, Ali. I’m going to fuck every hole you have and then carve more holes with that fucking knife and fuck them until you’ve been dead for hours. By the time anyone finds you, they won’t even recognise you!”
The venomous yell from Mike sends chills over my skin and takes more of what little breath I can get in. The good thing about his scream is that someone has to have heard it.
I’m still trapped, cornered in Val’s kitchen. I need to get this fight outside, preferably out the front, away from Val and closer to other people. I stagger to stand and look around frantically, trying to figure a way out of this kitchen.
As if sensing my train of thought, Mike hisses like a snake, and I see his fist at the last second before pain slices through my skull, and e
verything goes black.
I’ve been here before. Been in this place of nothingness. It’s just as peaceful as it was last time; the only difference is me. I’m not the same person as I was last time when I felt like giving up. When I felt like I had nothing but my shame to live with.
This time, my heart pumps with determination. With love. With purpose. This time, I am strong!
My eyes fly open, and Deja vu hits. Mike is standing over me, although this time I’m not naked. My hoodie is gone, and so is my top. Right now, he’s tugging my pants down over my feet, leaving me in my bra and knickers laying on the hard surface of the large fancy dining table.
I lay still, closing my eyes again, so he doesn’t notice, biding my time until I can strike. I hold my breath when I feel his rough, callused hand glide up my leg and rub over a place I only ever want Ayden to touch. I’m not strong enough to bite back my whimper, and upon hearing it, he digs his fingers into the fabric of my knickers.
I bolt upright, my hands grabbing for Mike's head, and I latch onto his cheek, sinking my teeth in, blood filling my mouth. He wails in pain and lifts me, making me lose my grip and throws me as if I weigh nothing at all. My body skims the surface of the island bench, and I land hard on the tile floor, mere feet from Val’s still unmoving form.
“When are you going to accept your fate bitch?” Mike growls, coming around the bench and leaping on me, pinning me to the ground. The taste of his blood still coats my tongue, and I gag when I see the dangling flesh of his cheek as it hangs by a thread. “You’re going to pay for all the trouble you have caused.” Mike’s threat is followed by his hand gripping the side of my head. He spits in my face and then lifts my head, only to slam it back onto the hard floor.
I immediately see stars, unexplainable pain shooting through my skull, and nausea rolls my stomach. The impact affects my entire body, and I can’t seem to move. I try to scream, but I can’t find my voice.
Holy shit! I’m going to die. This is it. This is the moment when my life, that I just started to see a hopeful future in, ends.
I can hear Mike hissing venom at me, but the ringing in my ears is too loud, and his rough hand slaps my face. The action shifts my head, and I can see Val now. She looks peaceful, like she’s asleep, but her skin is so pale. If she’s not already dead, then she’s not far off.
I’m sorry, Valarie. I never wanted you to get hurt.
Rough hands wrap around my throat and squeezes, and right when I accept that I’m about to die, the hands vanish, and so does the weight on my body. I still can’t move, and I try to hear over the ringing in my ears. I think I can hear yelling. Things are smashing.
I try with all I have to move but can’t. Something warm and wet is soaking my back. It feels too thick and oozy to be anything else but blood. I must be bleeding from somewhere. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling faint.
“Lexi!”
My name! Someone is calling my name.
“Lexi!”
I hear it again, but I can’t turn my head to see who it is.
“Get up, Lexi! Run!”
There’s the voice again.
It’s not Ayden’s voice.
It’s not Officer’s Zimora or Reynolds voices.
Wait! I can hear sirens. They are very distant, but I can hear them.
My body gets jolted as a form lands next to me, blocking my view of Val.
“Lexi! Run!”
That face! It’s Muz. I try to answer him and tell him I can’t move, but no sound will come out of my mouth.
Mike comes into view, reaching down and punching Muz in the face. Blood sprays from the impact, going in my eye. I blink rapidly, trying to clear the red from my vision, but it doesn’t help. Everything is tinted red. Muz returns punches to Mike as the sirens get louder.
Yes, Muz! Kill him!
The metallic smell of blood engulfs my senses, and my head starts to spin. I try to force my eyes to stay open, try to keep my eyes trained on Muz and his fierce fight against my brother. It’s no use, though. Blackness dots my vision and starts to tunnel my view. My eyes drift closed, and again I try to force them open, needing to see that Muz is okay, but I’m too weak. They shut against my will, darkness closing in on me.
The last thing I hear is the loud crack of a gunshot before heaviness drags me down deep, consumed in nothingness. Suffocating. Buried.
BURIED
HEAVY HEARTS BOOK 3
COMING IN JULY 2021!
Visit Sarah Jane Duncan at
sarahjaneduncan.com
for updates!
THE HEAVY HEARTS SERIES
HEAVY – BOOK 1
They see my smiles. Fake!
They see my confidence. It’s an act!
They see my control. It’s the mask I wear!
I can never tell anyone about my vile truth.
The shame and disgust I carry are becoming too much,
and I’m struggling to hold it all together.
But while I seem to be able to fool my friends,
the new boy isn’t so easily fooled.
When bearing the burden becomes too much,
the vile truth is all that is left.
I am Lexi West, and this is my nightmare!
DEEP – BOOK 2
I know what you are going to say…
You hate me for that cliff-hanger!!
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again,
I have no control over the characters in my books!
They don’t listen to me!!
I’ll keep trying though because I’m craving
Lexi and Ayden’s Happily Ever After just as much as everyone else.
Let’s see what happens in book 3!!!
BURIED – BOOK 3
Available – July 2021
Stay tuned!
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About The Author
Sarah Jane Duncan
Sarah Jane Duncan is a dark romance author, with her debut series, the Heavy Hearts Series.
Sarah lives in the beautiful Gippsland region in Victoria, Australia, with her high-school-sweetheart-turned-hubby and three grown children.
She has a very close relationship with her young adult children, who are more like her best friends.
When she’s not busy writing, Sarah can be found sewing dance costumes for her daughter or helping her hubby in their family business.
Sarah hates cooking with a burning passion, in her own words: “I’d rather clean than cook, but I also hate cleaning.”
Sarah writes about females who have to fight against the odds to find their power, find their voice, and find their truth. The heroine’s in Sarah’s stories possess the strength that only comes when you have to fight for your life!
Deep (Heavy Hearts Book 2) Page 31