The final source of tension was Mykail. Dana had been right about one thing, he stared. A lot.
Every time I saw him, he was staring at me. For the first two days, everyone in the family was far too nervous to be around him alone, or without the discipline clicker in-hand. After the second night of all of us being present for the application of the lotion and the delivery of meals, we started to realize that Mykail was docile. He never did anything—never fought, never spoke, just stared quietly.
Wednesday night my mother was brave and invited Mykail downstairs for dinner. He walked slowly to the dining room and sat with us as we ate. It was a tense, quiet dinner.
But after that night, we let Mykail eat dinner with us every night. My mother was the one who bathed Mykail and took care of most of his needs. He soon became the family pet. There would be the usual questions almost every day. “Did you feed Mykail?” “Did you buy bottled water for Mykail?” “I’ll bathe him tonight.”
His care was part of our routine.
By Friday I was ready to get away from it all.
I went to Archangel with a lot on my mind and every intention of talking to Clark. I wanted to ask him more about Dana and how Dana could possibly know about my father’s brother. However, when the other boys in our group appeared, Clark was not with them.
“Where’s Clark?”
“Oh, he’s not coming tonight,” Devon said. “He’s sick or something.”
“Oh…” I said slowly. When I heard that, I decided to go to the balcony, get something to drink, and sit in one of the chairs to pass the night. I said goodbye to my now-estranged group of friends and joined the other Commish Kids.
No one bothered me, which was a relief, since I was not in the mood to talk.
I spent my night sitting in the back of the Archangel balcony, trying not to think about the way my life had changed so drastically in such a short time. I was trying not to think about everything I had seen at the Commission or about the eyes of the silent Mykail on me as I moved throughout the house. My life and everything I thought was normal had been turned upside-down in as little as two months. So much was going on in my brain on a normal basis that I was exhausted.
I stood, leaving my drink behind, and descended the metal stairs to the dance floor, weaving through dancing students. I was wearing the tight blue dress and felt the fluttering wing of the one sheer sleeve move as I passed through the people to the middle of the mass. I started moving with the music as Devon had taught me my first night at Archangel. I moved my hips and shoulders with the beat, letting my body act on its own.
The song was finishing and another one started playing, the lights flashing in sync with the opening. The bass was heavy and the beat of the song was intoxicating from the first sound. It was a foreign song, and while I didn’t understand the words, my body continued to move as it wanted, feeling the pulse of the music down my spine.
I danced until I felt like I was alone in the room.
I felt him approach. That strong, cold power was at my back before I could react, large hands encircling me and lying flat against my belly, pulling me tight to him. I gasped and my eyes fluttered opened, surprised and dazed.
I felt his mouth at my ear, his breath soft against my skin.
“Keep moving, Little Lily.”
I obeyed.
His voice and hands sparked something deep in my belly. My mouth fell open as my hips moved against his. I felt his fingers flex and my eyes fluttered as that fire grew inside me. His hands moved from my abdomen to my hips, pulling them tight against his. I moved against him, grinding hungrily. My hands locked behind his neck, weaving in the thick, soft hair at his nape.
His hands were powerful on my body, one hand resting over my lower abdomen while the other snaked up my side to rest under my breast before lightly grazing over it as the hand crossed my shoulders, tracing my collarbone and pinning me to him. I danced with the music, feeling his mouth on my neck as he lightly kissed the skin, his hips pushing against mine in rhythm with the music.
I moaned, surrendering, my hands tightening in his hair. It was extremely hot in the club and I felt dizzy and light-headed. I closed my eyes and felt my body begin to sweat and shake. Some part of me knew what was really causing the tremors.
“Yes…” he breathed against the skin of my neck.
I was a puppet in his hands, responding to every move his fingers made over my body. His leg slipped against my behind and I moaned openly, grinding and feeling nothing other than the heat of the room and the sparks he left on my skin. His hand moved from my shoulders back down my body, over my breast again, which he gently squeezed before moving his hand across my abdomen, sliding down my side, over my hip, and to the skin of my thigh as he kept me firmly pinned, hips anchored to mine.
A few moments later, I spun around to look at him and saw the man I had been dancing with. He had a smirk on his face, which was normal, but his glasses were off, and the unnatural color of his eyes in combination with the predatory look made knees give out. He was not in his normal three-piece suit. Instead, he was wearing a black shirt with the V-collar exposing the dip of his collarbone. Over that, he had a black jacket and he was also wearing black pants with boots. He smiled as I looked him over appreciatively. He looked down my body as well. I could feel the trail of his eyes over my skin as he scanned me before his hands on my hips and my lack of coherent thought caused me to keep writhing to the heavy, powerful beat of the song.
His arms encircled my waist and pulled me against him, his hand flexed over my backside as his other hand, once again, skimmed up my side and palmed my breast. I moaned and swiveled my hips against his, hungry for sensation.
“Perfect, Little Lily,” Dana whispered, his mouth close to mine. My eyelids felt heavy. I was drunk off his presence and the heat of the club. “This is the way I want to see you…in need…begging…”
“Please…”
“Keep moving,” he commanded.
I stretched my body against his, feeling myself elongate and extend the need in my belly to encompass my body fully. I pressed my chest to his, moving my mouth closer, but he pulled away, smiling with that dangerous look. He chuckled coldly and moved with me, dancing with the music against my body, working my nerves until I was incapable of control. I felt like a rag doll in his strong, powerful hands, being willingly toyed with.
He lifted my leg and wrapped it over his hip, holding me even tighter and in a far more intimate position. I choked back a moan, my eyelids fluttering wildly. He chuckled and the sound ran down my spine in time with the beat.
The hand that had been on my breast moved to tangle in my hair. I gasped as he yanked my head back, exposing my vulnerable neck and kissing the underside of my jaw slowly, smiling against the sweat-slicked skin. I groaned and my hips continued to move against his. I didn’t think about everyone else in the club or how the others could be watching this very intimate dance between me and the one-and-only Dana Christenson. I knew the students on the main floor wouldn’t recognize who he was, but the Commish Kids in the balcony would know him immediately and would see us only layers of fabric away from having sex.
I didn’t care. His incredible power had turned me to putty in his hands.
“You are mine,” he growled against my throat. He yanked my head further back and came to lean over me at his towering height. He smiled devilishly. “Do you feel this?” he hissed, pushing me against his hips again. The spark that ran through my body was like lightning and I moaned. “That is from me…you cannot run from this…”
I shook my head. It was too hot. I couldn’t breathe. Dana’s hand was over my mouth. He cooed down to me.
“Shhh…shh, Little Lily,” he breathed as I started to panic, though my body was still grinding against his. His other hand was still groping as my leg remained hooked over his hip. “Submit everything to me…you cannot escape…”
I couldn’t breathe. I tried to move my mouth away from his hand. It was too hot. The
music was too loud. I couldn’t move…
I opened my eyes. I was no longer in the club. I was against the side of a building, hearing the thumping of the music in Club Archangel not far away. As I started to regain my senses, I realized that I was sweating and light-headed, finding it difficult to open my eyes, feeling dizzy. My leg was hooked over someone’s hip and a hand had slipped under my dress and was palming me while the other hand was locked over my mouth.
I forced my exhausted eyes focus and saw three boys around me. One more stood in front of me, pinning me to the wall as he pressed against me, grinding roughly against my skin. All four of them I recognized from the Commission.
“Aw, shit, is she coming to?” Freddie groaned to my right. My heart began racing. I had been drugged and I was going to be raped if I didn’t do something quickly.
“Get the fuck off of me!” I snapped, trying to push Brian, but my limbs were weak.
“Ha! She’s still pretty feisty!” Lance chuckled, demeaning my desperate attempt to fight back. “Better tame her quick, Brian.”
“Fuck yeah!”
I felt Brian’s hand move to my panties but in my panic, I regained some strength and managed to reach one of my hands down to the front of his pants. I felt sick touching him, but I grabbed, twisting my wrist as fast and as much as I could.
Brian cried out in pain and crumbled, falling away, his hands releasing their grip. Because I had no coordination in my limbs, I also fell to the ground, not caring that my dress was bunched around my waist.
“Holy fuck, dude, y’alright?!” Justin gasped.
“Fuckin’ bitch!” Freddie snapped, backhanding my face. The pain was sharp and tears sprung immediately to my eyes. I was stunned by the strong pain and then felt myself being pulled flat to the ground by another set of hands.
“No!!” I screamed, trying to kick.
“Fuck! Hold her still!” Lance growled.
“Excuse me,” a quiet voice filled the alleyway. My eyes shot open and my breath hitched in my throat. I turned my head and saw a tall figure, his eyes bright even in the dim light of the alley. Beside him were four men—one I recognized as Sean.
“Mr. Christenson?!” the boys gasped.
“Get them,” Dana ordered shortly, his voice uninterested.
The guards darted forward, Sean included, and went for the boys. Lance and Justin jumped up to run away, but that just caused the guards to, quite literally, tackle them to the ground. There were sounds of struggling and pained shouts as Sean and the other guard moved to Freddie and Brian, angrily pinning them. Sean looked up at me and I smiled weakly, trying to thank him.
Dana stepped forward, his hand enclosed around his pocket watch. He crouched next to me. His eyes were not compassionate for the situation he had found me in. I shivered, remembering my strange—hopefully drug-induced—fantasy.
He tenderly tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Aren’t you a fortunate little one?”
He offered his hand to me. I stared at it, and then at him. He looked into me with those eyes that could see everything and, before I knew it, my hand was in his and he was scooping me up in his arms. I was carried, half-naked, into the limousine parked at the entrance of the alleyway. He placed me in the limo before climbing in himself. I hastened to straighten my dress, but my fingers were clumsy and I was on the verge of tears as fear of moving from one assault to another consumed me. Dana closed the door and moved closer.
“Allow me,” he breathed, moving his hands to the hem of my dress and slowly pulling it over my hips. My breath was stuck in my throat as I watched his hands carefully.
When the dress was straightened, his eyes locked on my lap and I shifted uncomfortably under his hungry gaze. His eyes moved to my face, the dangerous light playing in them. I felt as though I was trapped in a cage with a wild animal that was stalking me as its wounded prey.
“A-Aren’t you…going t-to ask me i-i-if I’m okay?” I stuttered, unable to keep my voice from betraying my terror. He chuckled, the sound causing every nerve in my body to tremble.
“No,” he said. “I know you’re fine.”
“Like hell I am!” I snapped, pushing him angrily, though he hardly moved.
“They didn’t do anything to you. Not yet, anyway.”
“That’s not the fucking point!”
“Oh my, what language,” he chided playfully.
“Wh-what the hell are you doing here, anyway?! Are you fucking following me?!”
“Yes.”
I blinked, not expecting a blunt confession. He sounded as though he was doing nothing wrong. He cocked his head to one side in the way that told me he was thinking of something dangerous.
“What do you want with me?” I whimpered.
Dana smiled mysteriously and moved closer, his face mere centimeters from mine.
“Everything.”
My body was frozen as he leaned closer, his tongue darting out to catch the tears that tumbled down one side of my face.
“I like the taste of your tears.”
“Please…” I whimpered, sobbing. “I want to go h-home…”
“I am going to take you home,” he assured. He moved even closer. “As soon as Sean gets back.”
I wasn’t sure if I should have been comforted by his words or not. I wasn’t sure how long it would take before Sean was back in the car. As soon as he was back, I would be safe from Dana—for a time.
“It was probably a date rape drug,” Dana noted, moving to the limo bar to get a bottle of water.
“What?” I choked, trying to stifle my sobs, pushing my tears away with the heels of my hands.
“The drug that they gave you.”
“How do you know?”
“That you were drugged?” Dana clarified, breaking the seal on the bottle. “I’ve seen the look before.”
“On girls you’ve drugged?” I said angrily, though I knew I wasn’t very menacing, since I was still blubbering.
“Let me assure you, Little Lily. When I want a woman in my bed, I don’t need to use any drug,” he purred, his eyes playing with a very intimate light. The fantasy of that night was proof enough of his surreal powers of seduction. The more I thought about how little I fought him in the hallucination—who was I kidding? I didn’t fight him at all—I knew that there was a part of me that wanted him.
He moved the bottle toward me and I reached out. He pulled it away and shook his head, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth.
“Oh, no, no, no, Little Lily,” he said. “You have no coordination. You would drop this and spill water all over the limo. Then I would have to make you lick it all up.”
I felt the fear consume me to the point where I was getting tunnel vision. The only thing keeping me from passing out was the knowledge of Dana’s presence.
“However…” He looked me over and a sick smile spread over his lips. “Maybe that wouldn’t be such a horrible thing…” His eyes locked on mine again, hungry and cruel. I backed away and he chuckled, lifting the bottle.
“Tilt your head back and open your mouth.”
Every joint and muscle in my body was locked. The car was getting smaller and smaller. I knew there was no escape. The doors were locked and he was causing paralyzing fear within me. It was impossible to run.
“Come on now, Little Lily.” He showed me the bottle. “Aren’t you thirsty?”
I was very thirsty, and I was frightened, both to obey and disobey. Slowly, I tilted my head back and opened my mouth, my eyes on his, terrified.
“Open your mouth wider,” he hissed, his voice laced with something that made me shiver. I opened my mouth a little more and he moved the top of the bottle to the side of my mouth and poured. I tried not to choke at the strange angle of my throat, but as he pulled the bottle away and I dropped my head, he spilled some water on my chin and it ran down my neck. His eyes darkened and lit with fire at the same time. He ducked his head to my neck, his tongue moving up the trail of water.
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I whimpered.
The tears started falling down my cheeks again as the frightened sobs rose in my throat. “No. Please…don’t…”
“I love it when you beg,” he groaned. I closed my eyes, feeling his tongue on my throat. One of his hands snaked up my thigh, over my side and to my breast, palming it as his mouth moved to my jaw and chin. He finally pulled away, squeezing my breast, smiling.
I continued to cry, backed against the door, frightened and unable to move.
“Ah…” he breathed, “there are those delicious tears again.” He moved to my cheek and I tried to turn my head. He kissed the trail of tears before running his tongue over the salty drops. “I want to make more of these…”
“Sir,” a voice called as Sean climbed into the driver’s seat of the limo.
“Yes, Sean?” Dana said, kissing me quickly on the cheek before backing away. I went limp against the door, lifting my hands to my face, my whole body heaving with silent sobs.
“The boys names have been taken down and we will be sure to contact their parents. The police have also been called. The others are waiting with the boys until the police show up.”
“Excellent.” Dana nodded approvingly. He turned to me and I tensed, my eyes wide, fear rocketing through me that he would continue the molestation. “We are taking Ms. Sandover home.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dana did not touch me or speak to me for the entirety of the drive. Instead, he stared, watching me cry and sob in terror, refusing to let me look away from his eyes. There wasn’t a smile on his face, but there was a frightening fire in his eyes that caused my anxiety to double. I wished my heart would give out right then and I would simply die. Then, I could escape this horrible life.
He seemed fascinated by my crying. He was enthralled, and the more interested he seemed, the more I tried to compose myself. Finally, I had pushed my tears away completely. I had to hold myself together, no matter what.
I sat as far away from him as possible, our eyes locked in battle. I wanted to watch the scenery pass, to see how much longer I would be trapped in the limo, but his gaze would not allow me to look away.
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