Rogue snapped his eyes to Luis, his perfect face twisting into a sinister smile.
“Yeah. I think we should.” Rogue pushed me backwards until my back was slammed against his bedroom wall. He was still gripping my dress as he shoved his knee between my legs. “You think you’re leaving, Scar? You think coming here to say goodbye would make me start caring again?” He trailed his nose along my neck, smiling against my sticky skin.
“No,” I choked out.
“Good. Because I don’t.”
Just like I’d done to Stephanie, Rogue reached back and fisted my hair in his hand, making me wince at the pain. Forcing my head back, he loomed above me, making me totally at his mercy. “You thought you could just come here, dressed like a slut, and guilt us into feeling bad for you?”
I didn’t answer, but I refused to drop my eyes, either. I met his cold gaze head-on, because as much as they hated me, I knew them. I knew what they liked, what they demanded. I also knew I looked good in this dress. Rogue wanted submission. But I wasn’t going to give him that this time.
“You’re nothing to us,” he taunted. “You’re no one.”
I felt the words as they punctured my heart, and it started bleeding into my gut. My stomach roiled with rejection and misery.
“We don’t want you anymore.” It was something they’d said before, but hearing it again, like this, was killing me. Maybe now I could finally let go. All at once, he stepped away, his leg gone from between my thighs and my scalp throbbing with the absence of his grip. “Strip.”
His word hit me like a brick to the chest. “What?”
“You heard me, Livingston. I said, strip.”
“Fuck you, Rogue.”
“I don’t stick my dick in trash,” he smirked cruelly. “You showed up here in that, wanting attention? Well, you got it. Now strip, or I’ll let Luis cut the dress off you.”
My heart slammed against my chest over and over again. I shouldn't have come here. Why the hell did I think I could face them—face him?
He’s right. I did expect something to change once they knew I was leaving. That stupid, naïve part of me hadn’t stopped hoping that this was all a misunderstanding.
“I’m leaving,” I say, darting toward the door, but Godfrey was already there, leaning against it with that stupid fucking lazily amused look on his face.
Luis tsked at me and took a step forward. When I saw the glint of metal in his hand, my blood turned cold. “Uh uh, Scar. You came to play. So, play.”
“Do it.”
I didn’t get the chance to register Rogue’s words before Luis stepped into me and traced the blunt edge of his blade against my chest before yanking the fabric away from my skin. Then, in one vicious slash, my skin-tight dress was cut from my body. I tried to cross my arms over my chest, but I was too slow. Hands were already wrenching my arms behind me.
My entire body shook as my insides turned into a cocktail of shame and shock.
Rogue kept his grip on my arms no matter how hard I struggled, and the other three didn’t even attempt to hide the way they took me in. Wide hips, full breasts, a toned stomach, legs, and arms. The way they looked at me made me feel like the most repulsive person on the planet.
“Let’s get something more fitting for her to wear,” Rogue’s voice said from behind me. Godfrey smirked and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
Luis taunted me with his knife, the tip of the blade running against my sensitive skin, painting red scratches over me. He dragged it from my neck, slowly down to between my breasts, over my belly button, all the way to the edge of my black laced panties.
My mouth was dry, and even though I tried to calm my erratic breathing, I couldn’t. If Luis wanted to, he could pierce me right now, slice me up into a thousand pieces, and nobody would stop him. They only reason he wouldn’t, was because they relished in the emotional form of torture more than they did the physical.
“She’s got matching black bra and underwear, Rogue. Girls only do that when they’re asking to get fucked.”
Rogue’s grip on my arms tightened against my back, and I swallowed back a whimper. Part of me couldn’t believe I was here, in this situation. But as sick as it was, this was the most attention I’d gotten from them in weeks, and even though I regretted going there, I knew I would have regretted it more if I’d left without seeing them one last time.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, my voice shaking.
I felt Rogue’s breath against my neck. “Because everyone needs to know.”
“Needs to know what?”
“That you’re nothing to us.”
Just then, the bedroom door opened, and Godfrey slipped back inside, but when I saw what he was holding, my eyes widened in horror and I started to struggle again. “No!”
All four guys chuckled. Luis passed his knife over, and Godfrey made short work of cutting three holes into the black plastic in his hand. Then, unable to stop it, the trash bag was shoved over my head, my arms popped through the makeshift sleeves.
Sticky with beer and dressed in a trash bag that barely covered my ass, Rogue circled around me assessingly, while the other three watched with intense eyes.
“There, that’s more fitting for the ex-queen of the Heirs,” he said, coming to stand in front of me. The tears that I’d tried so hard to fight started to pool in my eyes. With a nod from Rogue, Bonham opened the bedroom door and stepped aside.
Rogue looked at me and waved a dismissive hand. “Now do us all a favor and take yourself out to the curb.” Bonham handed me my clutch that had fallen on the floor before shoving me forward, away from Rogue.
I turned and ran.
Chapter Eight
The crowd of people waiting downstairs didn’t surprise me. They gathered in the foyer, sipping on their spiked punch while waiting for me to descend the stairs. I kept my chin held high as I approached them, another trick I once learned from Bonham Brodie. If I closed my eyes, I could still hear him whispering those confidence-boosting words as he climbed out of my bedroom window when we were kids. “Keep your chin up, Scar. No matter what, don’t let them see your lows.”
So, I took his advice and ripped the trash bag from my body. I first felt a cool breeze lick at my skin, making me shiver, but I ignored the discomfort of having my curves on display. I could almost hear the insults my mama had shoved down my throat all these years.
“Are you really going to eat all that?”
“You need to go for a run.”
“Here, I got my doctor to prescribe me some diet pills. I want you to take them.”
I descended the stairs in my matching black bra and underwear with quick steps and cruel eyes, daring anyone to fuck with me. I felt completely naked. Stripped bare for the whole school to see me as the trash they thought I was.
Instead of the jeers I knew were coming, some of the guys cheered and whistled. “Bye, Trash Whore,” a girl said before slapping her boyfriend for staring.
I kept moving and headed for the back door of the house, planning to wait in the garden shed that was at the edge of the Kelly property until my driver could get here. A guy slapped my ass as I fled, but I only let the sharp sting linger for a moment. Then I whipped back and grabbed his hand before he could fully retract it, kneeing him in the balls before shoving at his chest. He slumped to the ground with a painful and surprised grunt.
“Guess she only lets the Heirs pass her around,” another boy slurred as the crowd laughed. I considered kneeing him in the balls too, and when I moved toward him, the coward flinched and covered his junk. I snorted and kept on walking.
Once outside, I ran on the wet glass, dodging discarded bottles and couples as I made my way through the expansive gardens where Luis and I used to wrestle and play hide and seek. The fall air was crisp, and I huddled my arms around my stomach as I moved, distancing myself from the loud music and party.
When the garden shed came into view, I sighed in relief. It wasn’t a special building, not by
any stretch of the imagination. But it held sweet memories, and right then, I needed a place that housed a past that was better than my present.
Once inside, I pulled my phone from my clutch. With shaky fingers, I texted my driver to pick me up. It would be forty-five minutes before he could get to me, so I took a moment to look at the place where I’d gotten my first kiss, and the memory flooded back.
“What if I’m not good at it?” I asked shyly. We were hiding from Godfrey in the garden shed, laughing to ourselves as he called out for us.
“You’ll be perfect at it. You should get the first out of the way. I’m happy to help you with it,” Rogue said with a casual shrug, but I could see the bead of sweat on his upper lip and the way his body was rigid, despite the calm tone. “Come here, Scar.”
I shuffled closer to him and placed my trembling hands on his chest. “Just one kiss. I don’t want to be the only girl in eighth grade that’s never kissed nobody.”
Rogue cupped my cheek, leaning forward to blow his breath down my neck. It smelled like the expensive whiskey we’d stolen from his daddy’s stash. His daddy who was never home to notice, anyway. “One kiss,” he promised, before pressing his lips to mine.
Dismissing the memory, I leaned my back against the wall of the wood shed and slid down. I’d promised myself that they’d gotten the last of my tears, but new disappointments seemed to want to spill down my cheeks. I swiped at the harsh moisture collecting in my eyes and balled my fists.
Rogue was always in charge, always commanding me to take a chance and do the things that scared me. None of them would ever admit it, but he ran them all. They followed him simply because his mere presence demanded submission.
They’d been right when they said I was hoping that something would be different tonight. I’d hoped that Rogue would see me all dolled up, that he would realize that I was leaving, and that something would change. At the very least, I’d hoped that I’d get a break from the hatred in their eyes, and instead see lust. But that hatred had just mixed with cruel desire. It was apparent in the way Rogue had held me against my will. In the way that Luis had scraped my skin with his blade. It was obvious in the way that Bonham wouldn’t quite meet my gaze, and the way that Godfrey opened that door for me to go meet my humiliation.
Their hungry, dilated eyes may have betrayed some desire for my body, but they still wanted to crush my soul.
I placed my shaking palms on the wooden floor, trying to ground myself. For a moment, I closed my eyes, trying to stay in the memory of being thirteen again, and having Rogue’s mouth against mine.
He’d been so sweet with me. So slow and patient. And when his tongue had dipped into my mouth, everything had changed for me. It was no longer about a rite of passage—of completing an important step with someone I trusted. When Rogue had cupped my face and kissed me like he cared about me, something opened up inside of me.
When he’d pulled away, our brown eyes had locked, but if he could sense the change in me, he didn’t mention it. After that day, I stopped looking at him like just a friend, and I saw him as so much more.
One kiss and I’d been hooked. And while I was the only girl who was allowed to hang out with them, Rogue didn’t have a change of heart like I’d had. He didn’t suddenly ask me out or take me to dances. I was forced to watch him with other girls, and I’d hated it. I still hated it. Like last Friday, when I saw some cheerleader with her tongue down his throat, I’d burned with jealousy and indignation. He’d looked over at me, watching me watch them, and had deliberately cupped her ass as I watched. It was embarrassing how long it took for me to walk away. I was imagining myself there in the palm of his hand.
Keeping my back pressed against the wall of the shed, I counted my breaths until they finally slowed enough that my heart was no longer pounding in my ears. I looked down at my hands beside my thighs, noting the slight redness across my knuckles. I was an idiot for coming here tonight, but at least I got to punch Stephanie. The humiliation I suffered was almost worth it.
During the time I waited in the shed, I carefully constructed the wall of numbness that I’d come to rely on. It washed over me in steady waves, until not caring became my armor. When it was back in place, I stood up on steady legs and dusted myself off. There was a gardening apron hanging on a hook, so I swiped it and tied it around me. It made me look like a slutty housewife, but at least my front was covered.
Glancing at my phone for the time, I figured I should head to the street so my driver could easily find me. I opened the door to the shed, peeking outside first, but luckily, there was no one around.
Deciding to go the long way rather than cut through the patio, I headed to the garden path. It was barely lit up with dim twinkle lights every few feet, and I was so focused on not tripping that I didn’t realize I was hearing voices until I was much closer. Freezing in place, I strained my ears and instantly recognized Rogue’s smokey tone.
“—and I’m gonna ask you again. What the fuck are you doing here?”
I crouched down behind the trimmed hedges, trying to locate where they were. The sounds of the party a half-mile up the garden path were dulled all the way here, but I could still make out the thudding beat. Crawling forward, I spotted Rogue and the other three, along with a fifth guy that I didn’t recognize. The moon lit up their shadowed silhouettes were they stood against the fence of the tennis court.
The guy I didn’t recognize chuckled. “You know why,” he answered. “Johnny Jack wants his shit back.”
Rogue’s fists clenched at his sides. “Your boss can go fuck himself.”
Another laugh escaped the mystery guy. “Maybe. He’s a talented guy. Tell me, who was that little thing that got you four so worked up tonight?”
My mouth went dry at the taunting words, and Rogue visibly stiffened. Was that guy talking about me? No, that didn’t make any sense.
“She’s no one.”
Maybe it was stupid, but hearing him say that about me to a complete stranger made me feel like I’d swallowed ash.
Another dark chuckle. “Maybe. I’d wager different, though. The way I see it? You got a whole lot of no ones around you. So I guess it won’t matter if I tell Johnny Jack all about her.”
The guys shared a look.
“Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?” Rogue asked, his voice a lethal growl as he circled the man.
The man didn’t seem phased by him at all. “I’m the message man. It’s what I do.”
When I saw the moonlight reflect off the metal in Rogue’s hand, I noticed that it was the same knife that Luis had used to strip me from my clothes.
In the next blink, Godfrey landed a punch on the guy’s face, Bonham and Luis held his arms back, and Rogue was positioned in front of him, holding the sharp blade of the knife against his jugular. “I think the real message is in the things that aren’t said.” WIthout hesitation, Rogue sliced the vein in his neck. The slick swipe of the blade looked too easy as velvety blood started flowing through the gaping wound.
Luis kicked the man’s back, forcing him to fall face-first in the grass as he suffocated on his own blood. I watched in horror as the body convulsed, until there was nothing but frozen emptiness in his vacant body.
Holy fuck.
It was a quick kill, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. The guys that I’d grown up with—the ones who had been my best friends for most of my life, had just murdered someone in cold blood.
Chapter Nine
I ran. This time, I didn’t care who saw me, or where I was going.
I needed to get away from them, or I was certain they’d kill me, too. This whole time I thought this was a game to them. I thought their cruelty would meet some unspoken finish line, and if I could just hold out long enough, I’d win. But there was no winning at death.
I tripped on a stray branch, and a grunt escaped my lips as I crawled back up to a standing position and started running again. I was headed towards the wooded area behind the Kelly estate.
If I could get there, maybe I could lose them.
“Fuck!” I heard Rogue exclaim. “Stay here and take care of the body. Make sure no drunk idiots stumble over here.”
Pounding boots dug into the earth behind me, and I knew I was being chased. Pushing my legs harder, I ran past the exhaustion, using my fear to propel me further. Holy shit, they just killed someone.
I didn’t look back, just kept running, dodging hanging limbs and fallen branches until my feet were scraped and bloodied. I was just about to make it to a wind in the trail that led to the public park at the back of their property, but before I could touch the tip of my toes to pavement, I was eating dirt. One of the assholes tackled me to the ground. The gritty mud coated my tongue as I used my fingers to try and claw my way out from under him. I didn’t get very far, because there was a rock-hard body on my back.
“Don’t say a fucking word,” Rogue growled against me.
Of course Rogue would be the one to catch me.
Rogue flipped me over then grabbed my wrists before shoving them up to hold them over my head. Sharp rocks dug into my shoulder blades as I squirmed, desperate to break free.
When it was clear that he wasn’t going to let me go, I stopped struggling and looked up at him. “I won’t say anything. I didn’t see anything,” I insisted.
I knew how this sort of thing went. I’d seen enough crime television to predict what would happen. I was dead. I knew too much to stay alive.
“Stop talking!” Rogue hissed.
He continued to hold me down, digging his pelvis into mine as he pinned me. I chanced a glance at his furious face, and gasped when I saw the look on his face. I should have been in shock, right? I should have been a sobbing mess on the floor, but I wasn’t. Instead of fear, I felt something else entirely.
My angry Heir. He looked like an vengeful angel. Or maybe a demon was more fitting. What the hell had happened to him to make him this way? And why the hell wasn’t I more bothered by it? I should be terrified, but I wasn’t. Not really. There was a larger part of me that unfolded as he pinned me down. The part of me that craved him, darkness and all.
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