by Lily White
Pulling off the smooth concrete road, we turned left from what I could guess beneath my hood. The car bumped and shook along an uneven path while what sounded like gravel pinged against the body.
Quinton complained, breaking the silence. “Damn it. This is going to be hell on my paint job.”
“Stop crying.” Grady’s retort was spoken with laughter. “We’ll get it fixed when we get back.”
Back from killing me apparently, after they had their fun running me down.
I wondered what that meant exactly. Were they going to release me into the woods so I could act out a bad horror movie before I died? Or were they planning on cutting my bindings on a deserted road to see if I could outrun their car?
Still in my waitress uniform from the diner, I wasn’t sure I would get very far. If they didn’t find me and kill me in time, the cold weather certainly would.
Any way I looked at this, I was screwed. But I still couldn’t calm down and accept that my death would come soon. I’d run as fast as my legs could pump beneath me. And I’d fight now that I wasn’t being caught off guard.
The least I could do is blind one of them with my fingernails before taking my final breath.
Every once in a while, my anger would transition into pain. I still couldn’t wrap my head around how Nolan would take part in this. Would he stand there and watch while Soren raped me? Would he let Quinton and Grady take their turn too?
Hell, was he so depraved that he would have his own bit of fun with me before it was time to crush in my skull?
I dry heaved at the thought of it. The idea didn’t make sense to me because I wasn’t a lunatic, but I guessed the world had seen worse.
When the car came to an abrupt stop, more gravel pinging against the chassis, tension took hold of my muscles and my stomach threatened to unload despite the lack of food.
“Is this the place?”
Nolan cleared his throat to answer Quinton’s question. “It’s as good as any. The run shouldn’t take too long.”
Sniffling, I didn’t care that they’d find my cheeks stained with dried tears and my nose covered with snot. I hoped it would be a pretty little picture they could carry to their graves.
“Anybody going to tell me what happens next? Are you hunting me with guns, or using clubs to bash me over the head when you catch me?”
While three of them laughed and climbed out of the car, Soren hugged his arms around me.
“Clubbing you would be too easy. We’d like to keep you alive long enough to have some fun.”
“Ah, a rapist and a murderer, huh? Guess I was right about you after all.”
He stilled beneath me, every muscle going taut. Voice dropping into a soft, dark tone, he warned, “Careful, Olly. Don’t piss me off. I wasn’t planning on raping you.”
“Oh, no?” I laughed, pure vile in the sound of it. “Then what was all that you said to me before about fucking when we got out of the car?”
His hand slid up the front of my body, brushing between my breasts before trapping my throat.
“You thought I would take you by force, didn’t you?”
Cruel laughter shook his chest. “No, baby girl, when we get to that point, you’ll be begging for my cock.”
“Fuck you,” I growled.
“I plan on it.”
The door beside us opened, and Soren handed me over to one of the three. Setting me down on my feet, he kept my arm in his hold as the bag was pulled from my head, four sets of eyes staring at me with smirks on their arrogant faces.
My throat was still clogged with nastiness, so I sucked it up and spit at them. They dodged it easily and Nolan smiled.
“It’s good to see you paid attention when I taught you how to fight. Unfortunately, you didn’t learn enough to get out of this.”
He pulled a utility knife from his pocket and spun his finger in the air for them to turn me around.
I was out of tears at that point, out of energy and my mind was slipping into that dangerous place where I stopped caring about the world or myself.
The tip of my knife ran down my arm, enough to threaten, but not hard enough to cut.
“Here’s how the game works. We let you go and count to ten. Then you start running. We’ll even give you a head start seeing as how you’re smaller than us and all.”
Staring out at a roughly cut path through the dark forest, I wasn’t sure a head start would be able to save me. I knew roots stuck out of the ground and animals lingered nearby, knew small branches of the trees would cut across the path to act like whips when I ran into them.
I didn’t have the clothes for this. Didn’t have a light to show me where I was going or any sense of direction to know where I’d end up. All I knew was that every step of the way would be made with predators hunting me down.
What would they do if I simply stood still and refused to run as instructed?
Nolan cut the ties around my wrists at the same time Quinton released my arm.
I didn’t stick around long enough to find out.
My legs pumped beneath me and I ignored the pain in my shoulders and arms. Laughter exploded behind my back, Grady’s voice rising into the darkness. “She didn’t wait long enough for us to count.”
“Count anyway,” Quinton answered.
“One...two...three...”
I was putting distance between us with each step, the numbers growing faint until I barely heard ten. They had to be a good distance away, but I didn’t think it would be enough.
Already, thin branches had grabbed at my hair and ripped individual strands from my head. My feet had stumbled over stones on the ground and roots that were growing too high up.
Every so often, thick patches of bushes would block my way, causing me to turn left or right to avoid them.
I was engulfed in darkness, the moon and stars hidden above the canopy of trees, and eventually the forest around me grew silent. I could only hear my heavy breathing. But I didn’t stop. Didn’t turn to see if I could hear footsteps behind me, didn’t slow down to give myself even a second to catch my breath. I just kept going without concern for where I would end up, as long as it was away from them.
For a moment I believed that I’d somehow outrun them, but when a tree blocked my path and I had to dodge to avoid it, a hand slapped at my arm causing me to scream.
I turned again and ran in a different direction with deep laughter booming from where I had been.
This went on for what felt like forever, silence and then the reminder that I wasn’t alone. A touch, a slap, the slide of fingers on my skin that wasn’t enough to stop me in place, but was a warning of what would come.
I was being corralled, but still I kept running, even when my body wanted to give out.
A cramp assaulted my side, and my legs burned. The pounding of my feet against the ground sounded like a sledgehammer inside my skull with each quick step. My nerves were on fire and my senses so fine tuned that there wasn’t a sound I missed in the forest near me, wasn’t a small bit of motion I didn’t catch from the corner of my eye.
To my left, a large shadow ducked behind the tree, and to my right another ran past to jump over some barrier and get ahead.
I was going to run right into them, but where else could I go but forward?
Another few minutes passed and I was almost done. My body was too tired, my lungs struggling to draw in enough air to fuel what my heart needed to keep this up.
Too caught up in my bid to escape, I didn’t let fear hold me back or reality to slow my steps, but I knew it wouldn’t be much longer before my body would give out.
I thought I was imagining things when a faint light glowed ahead of me.
At first, I thought it was a flashlight one of the guys carried and I decided to turn away, but approaching footsteps forced me to retake my original path and keep running. Drawing closer to the light, I realized it was too bright to be handheld. It was too high as well, the glow lifting above the tops of the trees in the d
istance.
Pumping my legs regardless of how it hurt, I ran closer until I could see that the light was from a house. Praying that whoever lived there would be awake and hear my cries, I ran harder than I thought I could, hope bursting in my heart that they’d miscalculated and freed me near someone who could help.
I reached the house and ran up the steps to the porch, my body slamming against the front door before I banged on it with both fists.
Barely able to scream from how badly my throat hurt, I managed it. “Help me.”
But no one came. No one opened the door and I knew that the boys would find me now because I had made enough noise to give away my position.
Desperate, I ran around the house to the back porch where it looked out over Grey Lake. I picked up a bunch of small rocks and threw them at an upstairs window. A light came on a second later and relief flooded my veins.
“Help!” I ran up to the back door and almost cried when the lock was thrown and the door was opened and-
Dark eyes and an arrogant smile were the only things to greet me.
My shock at seeing Soren prevented me from backing away fast enough.
He reached out to catch me around the waist just before dragging me inside and slamming the door shut.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Soren
Olly was adorable when she was angry. I wasn’t lying when I told her the last time I spoke to her in her room.
Her pale skin is the first to change, ivory to red, her cheeks usually the brightest. Her eyes followed and narrowed, the liquid blue mimicking fire. And then her lips would smirk in such a way that made me want to shove her down and fill that bratty mouth of hers so full she had no choice but to shut up.
But that was when Olly was angry. When she was annoyed. When she was twisted up inside in only the way I could cause.
She wasn’t angry now.
She was terrified.
I loved how that change in her affected me. Feeling a little more alive, I fought the desire to laugh.
So exhausted from having run the mile distance we’d mapped out, her fight to free herself was pathetic at best, limp arms flailing as her knees buckled and her legs gave out.
Sweeping my arm behind her knees, I lifted her from the floor to carry her upstairs to a chair set in the center of an empty room. We’d prepared everything down to the last detail. And while passing by a closet, I reached inside to grab ropes to tie her down.
I wasn’t a complete asshole. I made sure the chair was comfortable and I would offer her water to soothe a throat I knew had to hurt. She’d been screaming off and on since the moment we grabbed her, and her last pleas for help had been a little hoarse.
She dropped into the seat like a sack of potatoes, her chest heaving as she caught her breath, that cute as fuck waitress dress torn in some places, the skirt hiked up her lap.
It would come off eventually, but for now she could keep it.
“Why?” She breathed out, that one word as exhausted as she was. “What did I do to deserve this?”
Hands bound at the wrists behind the backrest, and her chest and legs bound to the chair, she glared up at me with the narrowed stare I enjoyed so much.
“You pledged.” It was an honest answer, and one I was both happy and sad to give.
My knees popped when I crouched down in front of her. Naturally my hand went to her knees and pushed up her thighs because there wasn’t an inch of this girl I could resist for very long.
“I’m a little surprised you finally agreed to it. For a while there, I thought I would never get you to pledge. But here you are.”
Slowly I pushed her skirt up higher, but caught myself before she was indecent. I had to pace myself. It was still early and I had plenty of time to get her naked and writhing beneath me.
Downstairs, I could hear Nolan and them come through the front door. I knew they would take a minute to catch their breath before gathering the tools we’d need to start this show. Out of all of us, I was the fastest runner and could make it to the cabin while they ran this girl in circles.
The plan had come together nicely and was rolling along smooth as silk. I was antsy with anticipation to see how Olly would react to our surprise.
There was no telling how long we could play with her before she had enough. A few hours, maybe. Or even a day. This girl wrote the book on how to be stubborn, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t break eventually.
Olly hid all her fragile parts inside and you had to dig pretty deep to pull them out.
She would cry. I knew that. She would beg and plead, yell and threaten. I had no doubt her mad face would resurface just as soon as she rested and regained her spunk.
“You’re an asshole,” she growled between breaths. “I hope you know I’ll go to my damn grave hating you for everything you’ve done and then haunt the fuck out of you after.”
I laughed. There she was. The pissed off girl I couldn’t look away from no matter how hard I tried.
“Is that so?”
A nod of her head and her hair fell into her face. I reached out to tuck it away and she turned to bite me, her teeth clacking together. The sound made my jaw hurt.
“You’re going to put up a fight?” A shake of my head. “I should have known you’d be the type to keep going. How long do you think you can keep this up?”
“As long as it takes.”
My brows shot up my forehead. “Sounds like a fun time.”
I smirked and her second wind took hold. Fuck, how I loved the color of her cheeks when she was mad.
“Why are you doing this, you piece of shit? I defended you. All of you. Against every person who told me to stay away. I hope you fucking choke on my damn blood when you’re done killing me. I hope you slip carrying my body down the stairs and break your neck. I hope Jonah and Simon find you and stick a gun up your ass before pulling the fucking trigger because you’ll deserve the pain of getting fucked just like you’re hurting me.”
Holy shit. I knew Olly had a temper, but this was almost too much. The laughter leaked out of me before I could stop it.
All it did was piss her off more.
“Damn, you know I wasn’t sure you would be as entertaining as the others, but I think you’ve outdone them.”
Pushing up to where my face was close to hers, but not so close she could headbutt me, I allowed my eyes to trace her lips, the tip of my tongue peeking out with the desire to taste her.
“You have no idea how excited I am to strip this dress off of you and do all the dirty things I’ve imagined.”
Her eyes narrowed into thin slits.
“But...” I said, slapping my palms against the armrests of her chair, “that’ll have to wait.”
Pushing up to my feet, I stepped away from her to take in the scene. She was gorgeous, even with her hair a mess, dirt smudged across her cheek, and a few leaves sticking to her dress where the fabric had been ripped.
“For what?”
My eyes captured hers at the question. “Nolan and the others will be coming upstairs soon. They want to be part of this as well.”
Tilting my head to side, I smiled. “I’m a selfish bastard. I’ll admit it. But we had a deal about this night, so it’s best I stick with it. No worries, though, I’ll get you all to myself eventually.”
The feet of her chair rattled against the floor as she fought to escape the ropes. I waited until she calmed down, watching with amused satisfaction.
The room went silent again, and I chuckled.
“Did you really think that would work? I mean, seriously? Were the ropes supposed to magically fall away so you could ninja your way out of here?”
“It was worth a shot,” she yelled in response.
“If you say so.”
Turning, I walked to the door and called downstairs. “What’s the time estimate, assholes?”
The sound of drawers opening and closing filtered up from the kitchen, more shuffling noises from the living room where those idiots
were taking their dear sweet time.
“Give us a few minutes. Like fifteen or so.”
I rolled my eyes. We should have prepared better, but it wasn’t like Olly was going anywhere anytime soon.
“You don’t have to do this, Soren. You could let me go.”
“I could.” Turning to face her, I was struck by how perfect this picture was. “But I won’t.”
Olly struggled against the ropes again, damn close to tipping her chair in the process.
“If you fall over, I’m not picking you up.”
She glared at me and I shrugged.
“Just thought you should know.”
No matter what I did, I couldn’t keep my distance from her.
Olly was like a warm sun I wanted to orbit. She was made from fire that flared and light that burst from inside her so bright even a million year’s time couldn’t contain it.
Looking at her was like looking at the past, the present and the future all rolled into one, and there wasn’t a damn thing - not even the threat of death - that could tame her.
She would fight until the end.
And I would enjoy every last second.
Her shoulders withered and she gave up, for now at least because I didn’t doubt this girl would blow the fuck up when faced with the instruments of her execution.
It was fortunate she pledged. For me at least. Maybe not her. But that wasn’t my problem.
Still, I was surprised she did it. Leave it to her to give up her own independence to save another, even a sad sycophant asshole that thought he was part of the crowd.
Chad Huxley.
He should be glad Quinton was there to drag him off because if he’d laid even a finger on Olive, he would be sitting in this chair now. Except I wouldn’t make it as fun for him as it would be for her.
My curiosity got the best of me.
“Would you have done the line?”
My question caught her off guard, her head lifting and wobbling a little before she fully focused her eyes on me. “What?”
“With Chad. Would you have done it?”
Olly blinked, confusion filtering into her expression. “No.”