She’d often felt like giving up. Just giving into his demands and letting him ravage her. He’d promised her happiness and riches. If only she’d give herself to him, he’d love her until he died.
Thank God the fire had taken him before he’d had the chance to take her back. His eyes had been amber fire as he’d stared down at her while she lay in that hospital bed. He’d been appalled at what she’d done. Furious even.
As she’d laid there, her side stitched and bandaged, he’d whispered heated words of angry passion. And when the doctor had come in to check in on her, Earon had promised to come back to get her. And he’d promised to make sure she never did something so foolish again.
Little did he know that a few hours later she’d be on the Grey Hound heading out of the state and he’d be burning to death in a tragic fire that destroyed the theatre – the place that had been her prison.
Chloe forced the painful memories away and nudged Heather. “I need another drink.” She said and headed to the bar. Chloe wasn’t drunk yet, but she wanted to be. Drinking made her giddy and would temporarily drown out the terror of her past. She’d let herself get drunk. Only this one time. This past week had been hard on her. And she could really use a break.
****
Rhys walked through the overly crowded club, spotted Heather, and headed straight for her table. He didn’t know why he’d bothered to show up. Heather had let him take the blame for her mistake. Which was probably why she’d invited him in the first place. Out of guilt.
It was obvious that Chloe had been blaming him for what had happen at the audition. She’d refused to talk to him at the theatre. Instead she’d run to her friends ignoring Rhys all together. He knew he’d hurt her enough already so he’d given her space.
She hated him. He knew that too. But the thought of her thinking he’d betrayed her was too much. She needed to know he hadn’t been the one that told Wilson.
Perhaps she wouldn’t have been so angry with him today if he’d told her the truth that night. That Sophie had forbidden him from seeing her daughter. That she and Earon had threatened to get rid of Bill and ruin his reputation.
The show was still new, and if Bill was fired, he’d have lost money. The show had been Bill’s first production, and if Earon did as he threatened, then Bill’s name would be tarnished. He’d have a hard time trying to produce another show.
At Josie’s insistence, Rhys had done the honorable thing. He’d left. It wasn’t perhaps the right thing, but he couldn’t let his brother be ruined. Not after all that Bill had done for him.
Their parents had died in a car accident when Rhys was sixteen and Bill twenty. They’d been on their way to visit Bill who had been in college at the time. Even though he didn’t have to Bill had taken him in, made sure he finished school and even helped pay for his college. That had been no easy feat.
Rhys hadn’t made it easy on Bill. When Rhys was younger, he’d been rebellious, hot-headed. But Bill had never thrown him out. Instead, he’d been there, through all of Rhys’s angst over the loss of their parents.
Rhys had done what he’d had to do. He and Josie had kept Sophie and Earon’s threats quiet and Rhys had bought a plane ticket for LA. He’d helped his brother even though that meant he had to ignore his own wants. Everything he’d done, he’d done for Bill, even when he’d rather have been doing something for himself instead. Hell he’d even bought a ring. And had things gone differently maybe it wouldn’t still be in the tiny box hidden inside the inner pocket of his suit jacket.
It was just one more thing he’d kept from Chloe. One more reason why he’d wanted to see her again. He still loved her. And he would have confessed this the other night had that night not been a total disaster. He was so sure she still had feelings for him. But then she’d turned so cold on him. And he’d deserved it. He just wished it hadn’t hurt so much.
But maybe Chloe had forgiven him. After all, her friend had invited him tonight. If Chloe hated him, she would have never allowed Heather to ask him to come.
He arrived at the table, his eyes passing over Heather and Wilson’s favorite pupil. Chet or something. Whatever his name was, Rhys didn’t care for him. He’d acted cocky throughout his audition. The boy could sing and he knew it too. And once he was on the stage, Rhys hadn’t missed his arrogance or the way the kid had sent a glare in Rhys’s direction.
The kid was glaring again. Rhys wondered if the guy had some sort of problem with him. The kid obviously didn’t like him, which was all well and good because Rhys didn’t much care for him either.
“Glad you could make it.” Heather said. “You want a drink or something?”
He declined with a wave of his hand. “Maybe later. So who all’s here?”
“Well there’s me and Jett of course. And Simon and Chloe.” When Rhys glanced around and couldn’t see Chloe, Heather added. “They’re out on the dance floor.”
****
It was warm inside the club. Chloe was on the dance floor again with Simon. And the friction of their bodies was making her sweat. Her head felt like an overfilled balloon and was going to detach itself from her shoulders at any second.
When Chloe realized her hand was caressing the back of Simon’s neck, she felt dirty. Simon wasn’t Rhys, no matter how much she wished it. He was a stranger and his hands were intimately touching her hips. She tried to gently pull back a little, but Simon’s arms were locked in place.
Feeling suddenly ashamed of herself, she tried to mentally distance herself from the dance by letting her gaze move about the club. Her eyes eventually sought out Heather who was in a heated argument with… Rhys.
Chloe froze. She had barely enough time to speculate why he was there before Heather spotted her on the dance floor and pointed. Rhys turned to follow her finger, and she saw him glower in anger. Before Heather could lower her finger, Rhys was on his way over.
Chloe stepped back a little breaking contact with Simon. He looked down at her in confusion.
“What’s wrong?” Simon asked noticing the look of alarm on her face. Simon followed her gaze to Rhys as he shoved his way over the dance floor disrupting a lot of couples.
“What’s Professor Ryther doing here?”
Chloe didn’t answer. All of her attention was focused on Rhys who looked like he was going to fight someone. When he was near enough that she could see the angry glint in his eyes, Rhys turned his glare on Simon, who was smart enough to back up.
Without looking at her, Rhys grabbed her arm and pulled her through the crowd and off the dance floor. Chloe did not utter a single protest until he’d pulled her out into the parking lot. The night was chilly and a shocking contrast to the warmth of the club.
As soon as they’d stopped, Chloe jerked out of his grasp and nearly stumbled as the ground spun beneath her feet. “What the hell are you doing?”
Chloe laid a hand on his car to steady herself and tried to fight off her tipsiness. She didn’t want Rhys to know she may or may not be hammered.
“I should ask you the same damn question.” Rhys’s grey eyes were practically steaming now. “I didn’t know you were so underhanded.”
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb. I figured out your little scheme. You dancing out there with what’shisface trying to make me jealous.”
Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. “His name’s Simon and I wasn’t trying to make you jealous.” Why was she slurring her s’s? Chloe swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. “What are you doing here?”
“You damn well know. Heather invited me.”
Why would Heather have invited him? Chloe had been quite vocal about how she felt about Rhys. Was Heather just not listening? “Well I didn’t know she’d asked you to come.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “How could I make you jealous if I didn’t even know you’d be watching?”
“Then you probably also don’t know that it was Heather who ratted you out to Wilson?”
Chloe shook her head in disbelief and tried to
shove him almost losing her balance in the process. “That’s not possible. I didn’t tell Heather about being in a musical until after my audition.”
“Look Chloe I was there. She found a bootleg video of your performance on the internet and showed it off to everyone.”
Chloe stared at him. No wonder Heather had been acting so strange. Heather had been trying to hide her guilt. And she’d sat there letting Chloe bad mouth Rhys. Chloe groaned. That was so typical of Heather.
Feeling like a total jerk, Chloe stared down at her bare feet. Where the hell were her shoes? She couldn’t be sure, but she sort of remembered kicking them off at Jett. Why had she done that?
“So are you and that Simon kid dating?” Rhys asked taking her by surprise.
She looked up. “N-oo. We were just dancing.”
“Good because we have some things to discuss.”
“Well I have nothing to discuss with you.” She shoved at him again. Missing his arm completely, she lost her balance and fell against his car.
When she kept leaning on the car and made no move to right herself, Rhys reached out and pulled her up. “Are you drunk?” His voice full of disbelief and what sounded a lot like amusement.
“So what if I am?” Chloe said losing her temper. “Don’t look so amused. It’s your fault. I wish you’d never come here. I was doing just fine. I was almost over you.” Her eyes suddenly filled with tears and a little voice inside her head was scolding her. See what happens when you drink too much?
Chloe shrugged off the voice. “Then you show up… And… I realize I still love you… Why are you smiling? It’s not funny!” She didn’t realize she was shouting until Rhys covered her mouth with his hand.
Rhys removed his hand from her mouth and opened the passenger door. “I think I should get you home.”
“What about my shoes?” She asked her bottom lip jutted out into a pout. “They were expensive.”
Rhys pushed her toward the open door. “I’ll buy you a new pair. Come on.”
Still pouting, she let him help her into the seat. That little voice inside her head was mocking her now. It was replaying everything she’d just said making sure the words found their way into her hazy consciousness until she’d been shamed into silence. She hoped by morning she’d have forgotten it all.
Chapter Ten
Daniel stumbled down the dirt path while the young woman giggled nervously beside him. She was just as drunk as he was. She didn’t even seem to care that they were walking through the woods.
The moon was clear and full. The shadows of the trees stretched menacingly across the path trying to grab them. The midnight breeze was sharp and lingering. Its chilly caresses stayed with him long after the wind had moved on.
He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. The girl giggled again and rubbed his chest with her hand. Timidly, she poked her finger in the opening of his shirt between the buttons and tangled her finger in his chest hair.
The girl was pretty with long black hair and tanned skin. He usually preferred girls with fair skin. Her eyes were a brilliant blue but he wished they were green. She was tall too, which he didn’t like at all. Nothing about her except for the black hair was anything like Chloe.
His Chloe.
He’d been so distraught watching her sing on stage and later enraged when he’d seen her drinking and rubbing herself all over that Asian kid that he’d wound up getting drunk. Afterward he’d picked up the first girl who’d thrown herself at him. She was pretty. But she wasn’t Chloe.
As he led the girl to the church he thought about the bottle of wine he’d stored away for their reunion. It was meant to be shared with Chloe; however, tonight he was in need of it. Perhaps if he got drunk enough, he could pretend she was Chloe.
He tightened his hold on the girl. Once he got her to the church, he’d take his rage out on her. He could never hurt Chloe. He’d learned that after she’d misbehaved so many times. All he could do was love her.
This girl, however, meant nothing to him and would stand in as Chloe’s stunt double. He would bestow upon her all the anger that he felt by Chloe’s double betrayal.
“How much farther?” The girl whined, “My feet hurt.”
He nuzzled her cheek. “We’re almost there.”
“Good,” she drunkenly purred into his ear as her tongue darted across his earlobe.
She was willing. He liked that. All it had taken was a few flatteries and some seductive moves on the dance floor and she’d been his. He couldn’t help but be stirred by her eager surrender. Perhaps he’d let her pleasure him before he hurt her.
****
Chloe rested her head on the cool surface of the dining table and let Rhys pour her a cup of coffee. The entire time it was brewing, Chloe had persistently let him know that she hated coffee and that she wouldn’t drink it.
Rhys had never seen Chloe drunk before and it was amusing the hell out of him. Not only that, but she’d confessed that she still loved him. That in itself had been by far the best thing she’d said all night. Though her crying over her lost shoes had been a close second.
“Drink up.” Rhys said and pushed the mug close to her nose. “I want you sober.”
Chloe sniffed at the mug but made no move to drink it. “Why?” She asked her voice a high pitched whine.
“Because,” he said forcing her to take the mug, “There are some things I need to say.”
Chloe stared down into her mug as if she were trying to silently talk herself into drinking its contents. Finally she took a sip, grimaced, and said “Fine. But at least let me add some cream.”
Rhys would let her finish her coffee before he told her the truth about their breakup. In the meantime he engaged her in small talk, discussing things like school and the musical.
After a while Chloe was almost back to her sober normal self and Rhys decided it was now or never. He wasn’t ready to give her up, so it’d have to be now.
“So what did you want to tell me?” Chloe asked. She sat perched on the edge of her chair.
“It’s about the other night.” Rhys watched as Chloe closed her eyes for a minute as if trying to ready herself for what he was about to say. “When I said I left because of our careers, it was a lie.”
Chloe nodded her head slowly. “I knew you were lying,” she admitted, “and that’s what hurt the most, the fact that you hadn’t been honest with me when I asked.”
He tried to apologize, but she said, “So what’s the real reason you left?”
Rhys apologized again and wanted her to understand why he’d lied. “I thought the truth would hurt worse.”
Chloe sat straighter and gripped the seat of her chair. It was as if she were preparing herself for a horrible blow. Rhys felt like an ass. He might be repairing his status in her heart, but it would still hurt her to know her mother’s role in all this.
She blew out an unsteady breath. “Just tell me, and let me be the one to decide whether or not it hurts.”
Rhys frown, nodded, and took a breath. He then told her everything.
****
The night air blew through the broken stained glass window in the steeple and in between the small cracks in the ancient stone walls causing the night to cry out in approval. Like any good audience, the wind oohed and awed at the approaching scene.
Outside the dead lay buried in silent anticipation. Soon another would be joining them in a never ending slumber where their only company was the worms.
Daniel would have to be done with his grisly task before the sun began to rise, otherwise, nosey students might stumble upon him and his victim. He tried not to let his growing excitement ruin the moment. He had been waiting for too long for this. He couldn’t let his impatience get the better of him. First he would torture the girl, kill her, and then bury her. All because Chloe had misbehaved
For too long he had let her run freely in this world. She’d been foolish to try and escape him. He hadn’t been able to stop her, but now the hour
was growing late, and he could no longer live without her. It was time she returned to him, throwing this absurd new life away. The longer she stayed in this corrupted place, the harder it would be for him to pull her back out of it.
Already he could see how college was polluting her mind, and making her easy prey for all the horny boys like the ones he’d seen at the club.
He returned his focus to the girl as she began to stir. She’d fallen asleep soon after their bout of rough sex. He’d been the master and she the slave. He’d used her body in ways she’d never dreamed of. And she’d screamed and bucked and wilted beneath him. He could still hear her breathless pleas as he’d ravaged her again and again.
He looked down at her naked body enjoying the way the fire light illuminated the bloodied bite marks he’d left on her breast and thigh. There was dried blood on her mouth left over from his forceful kisses. He’d wanted to cause her pain, but it had only made her want him more. He scowled. She should have screamed for mercy. Instead, the bitch had loved it and begged for more.
Before she woke fully, he made sure his mask was secure. He’d changed into his costume while she’d been sleeping. The costume gave him power, something to hide behind.
The girl, he’d never managed to catch her name nor did he want to, rolled over on the makeshift bed of cushions and silky duvets. He sat on a bench, his contact juggling balls rolling around in his palm, and willed her to wake up. There was other stuff he still needed to do before dawn.
Her eyes fluttered, she groaned, but she didn’t wake up. The balls twirled faster. He was starting to lose his patience. After their sexual frenzy, he’d lost most of his anger and regretted bringing the girl here. Had he taken her elsewhere, he may have let her go unscathed. Alas, he’d foolishly brought her here. She’d seen the mannequins and memorabilia. And for that, he couldn’t let her leave here alive.
He sighed. Time was being wasted. He moved the spinning crystal orbs to his left hand, grabbed one with his right hand, aimed, and sent it careening into the sleeping girls face breaking her nose.
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