by Jae
Through The Dark
By Jae
Copyright © 2014 by Jessica Lynn Evans
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
To Katelyn,
For asking me every single day if I’ve written anything new. It was extremely annoying. I appreciate it.
I love you.
I loved her, not for the way she danced with my angels…
But for the way the sound of her name could silence my demons.
-Christopher Poindexter
Chapter One
I enjoy staying home, reading books, and listening to music. That’s just who I am. I have perfect grades in school. I don’t go to parties or get in trouble. Unlike my friends, I don’t have any tattoos or crazy piercings. The craziest thing about me is probably my clothes; though, those really aren’t even all that crazy. So you can easily imagine that when my friends invite me to go to a party with them the night after graduation, expecting me to say no like I always do, they’re extremely surprised when I say yes. I just feel like I owe myself a night out for once. I mean, the way I see it, it’s the final summer vacation I have before I start college anyways. So why not let loose a little bit and have some well-earned fun?
I stare at myself in the full length mirror in my closet. I’m wearing a loose black tank top with a white rib cage design on the front, leopard print shorts, and a pair of all black high-top Chuck Taylor All Star Converse shoes. My long dark brown hair hangs in beachy waves that just barely touch my waist and my makeup consists of a dark smoky eye that makes my icy blue eyes pop.
“You ready to go, Daisy?” My best friend Ella asks as she walks into my closest, bumping my hip so she can also check over her appearance in my mirror. She has on a tight floral pattern tank top, black shorts, and a pair of black Canvas KVD Vans shoes. Her blonde hair that hangs just past her shoulders is pulled up into a messy ponytail and her makeup, which looks a lot like mine, makes her deep brown eyes almost look strikingly black. I watch as she grabs a tube of lipstick out of her purse and applies a thin layer of bright pink to her lips.
I take a few more minutes to make sure I’m satisfied with my appearance and double check my curling iron is turned off and candles are blown out before grabbing my phone, shoving it into my back pocket, and telling Ella I’m ready to go.
“We look hot!” She squeals as she practically skips out of my house.
“Where is this party at anyway?” I question after we get into her sterling gray metallic Ford Escape.
“Over at the college. It’s some frat party.” She answers, pulling out of my driveway. “Put on some music.”
I plug my iPod into the AUX cord connected to her radio and pick an upbeat song to get us into the mood for the party. After about twenty minutes of screaming at the top of our lungs to each song that’s blaring through her speakers, we have picked up our other friends Zoie and Taylor, who are fraternal twin sisters, and are finally on our way to the party.
“I heard this frat house always throws the craziest parties!” Zoie informs us with an excited smile plastered to her face.
“How did you guys find out about this?” I ask, slightly turning around in my seat to look at the girls in the backseat.
“Do you remember our cousin Clair?” Zoie responds.
“You mean the slutty one?” I question, trying to picture her face.
“Yeah!” She exclaims with a chuckle. “She told me about it. I guess she goes to these parties all the time since she’s in college now.”
“They still throw parties even though everyone is on summer vacation now?”
“Yeah, of course!” Taylor answers, nodding her head. “Not everyone who lives in fraternity or sorority houses go home for the summer and for a lot of them this is their home now.”
I nod my head in understanding, taking in their appearances before I turn back around. Both of them are wearing tight floral pattern dresses and heels. Zoie’s nearly black hair is down and pin-straight, whereas Taylor’s chocolate brown hair is up in a sock-bun. Their identical hazel colored eyes, along with the rest of their faces, are covered with elaborate amounts of makeup that take much longer than necessary to apply, but always end up looking absolutely flawless. They’re both very beautiful girls with very striking features that never seize to catch any guy’s attention.
“I’m so excited!” Taylor squeals as we climb out of the car and make our way up to the large, white pillared frat house.
I can tell that the inside of the house is going to be packed just by the amount of people standing around on the front lawn talking. As we walk up the path to the front door, a few guys whistle and call our way, but we only laugh and ignore them. When we walk inside, I’m momentarily dazed by the fact that the house looks even bigger from the inside. I’m pulled back to reality when I feel Taylor and Ella take ahold of my hands as we push our way through the crowds of people, Zoie leading us.
Before I can even comprehend what’s happening, Taylor’s hand is ripped from mine and Ella is wrapping her arm around my waist, firmly holding me against her. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, a guy goes flying through the space between Taylor and me. My eyes widen as I watch his large body crash to the ground, knowing that if I had still been standing there he definitely would’ve taken me out. I let out a deep breath before turning to Ella and thanking her. She nods her head with a smile, still holding onto me, and I grab ahold of Taylor’s hand again.
Ella, Zoie, and Taylor have always been like an extra set of eyes, and practically mothers, to me because not only am I the youngest of our group, just turning 18 a few weeks ago whereas the rest of them are already 19, I am also the shortest. I’m only 5’4” and have been since we were in fifth grade; the rest of the girls range between 5’8” to 5’10”. Being so short has some of its advantages though; like I can fit into small spaces, I am easy to pick up, and I can wear heels without worrying about looking ridiculously tall.
After we enter the kitchen and start pouring drinks into plastic cups, Ella leans down a little so she can talk into my ear. “Always stay by one of us, okay? There are a lot of people here, so it’ll be rea
lly hard for us to find you if you walk off.”
I nod my head, looking down at my sneakers and instantly regretting not wearing shoes that have some type of heel on them.
For the next half hour we stay in the kitchen throwing back shots and having a good time. I somehow go from being squished between Taylor and Ella to being on the end. I don’t really mind though - at least I can breathe a little better now. I take a deep breath before throwing back another shot of something Taylor hands to me and then bite into a lime. After I set the lime down I look up to see a really cute guy staring at me. He is pretty tall, well anyone seems tall compared to me, but he has to be around 5’11”. He has on a plain white t-shirt, dark jeans, and a pair of white Skytop Supra shoes. He’s also wearing a blue snap-back hat on his head, but I can still tell he has blonde hair from the little bits sticking out. I blush a little when I see him lean over and whisper something to his friends before walking over to me.
“Hey.” I smile when he’s finally standing in front of me. “I’m Daisy.”
“I’m…” He trails off, his hazel eyes growing wide as they spot something behind me.
“What?” I ask, leaning closer to him.
“Uhh… Nothing. Sorry.” He responds quickly before motioning to his friends and they all rush to exit the kitchen.
I scrunch my face up in confusion and turn around to see what he was looking at. Being so short, I can’t really see anything, so I prop myself up onto the counter behind me and scan the room. My eyes widen when I realize there is a guy I don’t recognize staring intently at me, his lips twisted in a small smirk. Slowly he stands up from his leaning position on the windowsill behind him and starts walking towards me. I quickly try to take in as much of his appearance as I can before he blends in too much with the crowd of people between us. His hair is a milk chocolate color with baby-like curls at the ends. The sides are cut just barely above his ears and sweeps messily across his forehead. It looks so silky soft; my fingers itch to feel it. He has on a dark gray v-neck shirt that hugs his upper body in all the right places, showing off the muscles in his arms and chest. He’s also wearing dark jeans with a pair of white high-top Chuck Taylor All Star Converse shoes tucked underneath them.
When he finally works his way through the crowd and is standing in front of me, I can see he has tattoos poking out from underneath the sleeve of his shirt and some scattered around his wrist on his left arm. After doing a double check, I note he also has a tattoo on each of his upper forearms that seem to go together. Even though I’m sitting on the counter, I still have to tilt my head back a little to look at his face. There is no doubt in my mind that he has to be at least 6 feet tall; most likely a couple inches taller. I don’t know what it is, but the way his nearly sparkling emerald green eyes scan my body up and down makes me feel extremely nervous. Before I can say anything, he takes another quick step forward and pushes my legs apart so he’s now standing in between them. I suddenly feel like I’m paralyzed from head to toe when he places his hands just above my knees.
“What’s your name?” He asks, his voice a deep raspy sound that I’m not expecting at all.
“Dai – Daisy.” I stutter, trying my best to remember how to breathe.
“It’s nice to meet you, Daisy.” He says while gently squeezing my thighs. “I’m Liam.”
I audibly gulp and stay completely still as he slides his hands farther up my thighs, stopping at my waist.
“Dance with me.” He demands before picking up my 120 pound body off the counter like it’s nothing at all.
After Liam sets me back down on the ground, he grabs my hand and starts pulling me towards a room that has been transformed into a makeshift dance floor. I turn my head to yell for one of the girls, but it’s already too late; we are too far into the crowd. When we make it to the room, it takes me a second to get used to how much louder the music is compared to in the kitchen. In here, it’s like standing next to the speakers at a concert. I can feel the bass of the upbeat hip-pop song pounding through my body. Once Liam is finally satisfied with a spot he’s found in the middle of the crowd for us to dance, he turns around and faces me.
“Sorry, but I don’t dance.” I shout over the music while pulling my hand from his and turning to walk away. My eyes widen when I feel an arm wrap around my waist and pull me till my back is pressed firmly against their front.
“That’s okay.” Liam whispers in my ear, making me shudder. “I don’t either.”
My eyes grow even wider at his words and my mind starts to race. Why did he ask me to dance then? What does he want from me? Who does this guy even think he is? How am I supposed to get away from him? Speaking of getting away, where the hell are my friends and why hasn’t one of them come looking for me already? This definitely isn’t their first rodeo, so shouldn’t they be paying better attention and helping me out a little bit more?
My breathing starts to grow heavy from being pushed so close to all of these people. At least in the kitchen I had some breathing room. I feel Liam move my hair away from neck and press a kiss to the area just below my ear. My breath hitches in my throat as I bite down on my bottom lip and try not to give any indication that he’s found a sweet spot. Suddenly Liam spins me around so I’m facing him again. The quick movement makes me feel a little dizzy, causing me to reach out and grab onto the sides of his arms to steady myself. Clearly taking my touch a completely different way, Liam wastes no time connecting his lips back to my neck. Not liking how roughly he’s sucking on my skin, I move my hands to his chest and push him away from me. I watch as he stumbles back a step, obviously surprised by my actions. His soft pink, perfectly bow shaped lips form into a slow smirk as he stares at me, his eyes lighting up with some sort of excitement that I don’t understand. I inhale a quick breath when he reaches out and grabs a hold of my forearm, pulling me firmly against him again.
“You’re feisty.” He practically growls. “I like that.”
Liam shoves my arms behind my back and holds them firmly with one of his large hands. I can feel him running his other hand down my back until he reaches into my back pocket and pulls out my iPhone. I watch him quickly tap his thumb against the screen before sliding it back into my pocket. He eventually releases my hands from his grip and then wraps his arm around my waist again, holding me to him. I gasp when he grinds his hips into mine and an obvious blush creeps up my neck and into my cheeks. This makes him chuckle as he brings his lips back down to my neck and starts sucking hard again. I try to push him off of me like before, but he is more prepared this time and just holds me tighter.
“Liam. Stop.” I beg while gripping his shirt in my hands and squeezing my eyes shut. “Please, stop.”
A few more seconds pass before he pulls his lips from my neck. Another smirk appears on his face while he inspects his handy-work, clearly pleased with himself. He laughs as my eyes grow wide when I touch the sore spot on my neck after he releases me from his grip. I stare at Liam’s eyes and take a stumbling step back when I notice they’ve changed from their earlier sparkling emerald green to a green so dark it could nearly be mistaken for black. His eyes force an unexpected thought on me; I wasn’t nervous when he approached me in the kitchen. No, I was scared. This realization fires a rush of anger through my system. How dare he treat me, a girl he’s never even met before, this way! How dare he make me feel so weak and small! As the anger builds inside of me, I do the only thing I can think to do - I slap him. Liam’s head snaps to the side, obviously not expecting, once again, for me to lash out. I instantly regret my actions as my new found confidence shrinks away due to the expression of anger and rage on Liam’s tight features when he turns his head back to me. I quickly take notice of the way the muscles in his jaw are rapidly flexing and that his left cheek is now branded with a bright pink hand print. When he reaches out and grips my forearms in his large hands again, I become more frightened than before. From the fire igniting in his eyes, I’m almost positive he’s going to throw me through a wall or
maybe something even worse.
“That wasn’t very nice.” He growls in my ear as he bites down on the hickey that has formed on my neck, causing me to wince in pain and a small whimper to fall from my lips.
Liam steps back smirking after I yank my arms from him and place my hand over the now throbbing spot on my neck. I shudder in freight when he steps closer to me again before letting out a chuckle and confidently walking away. I turn and watch him gracefully ease through the crowds of people, his tall frame easy to spot until he disappears around the corner into another room as if this awful exchange between us never happened. I blink a few times, trying to clear my head of any alcohol left in my system. Once I get my breathing under control I hastily elbow my way through everyone, desperate to make my way back to my friends. When I finally reach the kitchen, I’m relieved to see they’re still there.
“There you are!” Ella shouts over the music, worry evident in her voice. “Where did you go? Didn’t I tell you to stay with us?”
“Are you kidding me?” I shout back at her, my voice growing angry. “Did you not see that guy literally pick me up off the counter and drag me out of the room?”
Ella shakes her head no while Taylor points at my neck.
“Holy shit, Daze!” Taylor yells, all of the girl’s eyes growing wide. “What the hell happened to you?”
I instantly flinch away from Ella when she reaches out and tries to touch the hickey on my neck that I’m sure looks absolutely horrid. I turn my head when I hear a group of people in the room connected to the kitchen start laughing. My fearful eyes grow wide when they lock with Liam’s mischievous ones. My friend’s heads curiously turn to see who I’m staring at and we watch while Liam calls goodbye to the people he’s talking to, his stare never breaking from mine, before walking towards the front door of the house. I gasp when he winks at me and then disappears out the door. I stare at the door, half expecting him to come marching back through, as if he forgot something, and steal me away. I pull my phone out of my pocket after I feel it vibrate a few seconds later. My eyes nearly fall out of my head when I see I have a text from Liam and a shiver runs down my spine as I realize what he had been doing with my phone earlier.