by L A Cotton
“Have you seen Becca?”
“No, man, why? What’s up?”
“Nothing. If you see her, call me, okay?”
“Sure thing.” He paused. “Are you sure everything is okay?”
“Actually, do you have Lilly’s number?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Can you text it to me?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled. “Catch you later.”
While I waited for the text to come through, something pricked at my thoughts.
Lilly and Jay.
Peters.
Now Becca.
Jay hadn’t cheated on Lilly—they were the real deal. Everyone knew that. He’d been set up. It was the only explanation. And there was no way on earth that Peters would drop her shit for someone to find. Now Becca was MIA after fleeing school and receiving a bunch of mystery flowers.
What was I missing?
I closed my eyes, going over everything again. Jay and Lilly. Peters. Becca. Flowers. My eyes flew open. Shit. Why hadn’t I put two and two together before? Probably because I was too busy trying to balance all the spinning plates in my own life. My cell bleeped, and I copied Lilly’s number. Pick up, pick up.
“Hello?”
“Lilly, it’s Evan,” I rushed out.
“Evan?”
“Is Becca with you?”
“Becca? No, I haven’t seen her since this morning. Why? What’s happened?”
“Nothing. I have to go.” I hung up.
I hadn’t really expected for Becca to be with her, but I needed to hear it with my own ears. It all made perfect sense. Someone was going after them and picking them off, one by one.
And I knew the person crazy enough to do it.
~
“Evan?” Elaina smiled failing to hide the surprise on her face. I didn’t stop by for social visits. Ever.
“Hey, is Kendall here?”
“She’s in her room. Is everything okay?”
“I, hmm, I need to talk to her about some schoolwork.” It was as good a lie as any.
“Sure. Come in, sweetie.” Her saccharine sweet voice grated on me. “Go straight up.”
Adrenaline pumped through me, and my hands slicked against my jeans. It all pointed to Kendall. But one thing didn’t quite add up—why go after Lilly and Scarlett? They’d had beef in the past, sure, but this seemed out of character even for her brand of crazy.
I didn’t bother knocking, walking straight into her room.
“Evan?” She sat up straight, tugging the buds out of her ears. “What the hell?”
“What did you do?”
“I … I didn’t … you don’t understand.” Her head bowed, and something pricked again. Kendall didn’t shy away from confrontation; she thrived on it. Lived for it. What the hell wasn’t I seeing here?
“We had a deal,” I ground out, barely in control. “You stay away from Becca, and I keep my mouth shut.”
Her eyes met mine, widening to saucers. “Shh, you can’t say that shit in here. Dad is downstairs.”
“You’d better start talking, or maybe me and Darryl will have a little talk.”
Kendall sighed, but it wasn’t out of frustration or irritation; it was a small sound filled with vulnerability. She sounded defeated, and I didn’t get it. What was going on?
“It was supposed to be a game.”
“A game?”
“Shake her up a little, scare her.” She tugged at the coverlet underneath her. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she seemed nervous. But that was impossible. Kendall O’Hare didn’t get nervous.
“You’re talking about Becca?” My fists clenched when she nodded slowly. “The shit with Lilly and Peters?”
“It was a game.”
“A game? Are you fucking kidding me? You’re sick, Kendall. You know that, right?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Her shoulders shrugged like it wasn’t important. Like it wasn’t people’s lives she was toying with. Their feelings. Their futures. “It’s not like they all didn’t deserve it. It’s been a long time coming.”
Her eyes blazed with indignation as her mask slid back into place. This was the Kendall I knew.
“You set them up, didn’t you? Lilly and Jay? Peters?”
“You should be careful asking questions you might not want the answers to,” she snarled. “Think about it … you know it’s in there somewhere. You just don’t want to believe it.”
Did she mean …? No, it wasn’t possible. Becca wouldn’t. She was their friend.
“She wouldn’t.”
“Oh, but she would. Everyone has a price, Evan, even your precious little Becca.”
What the hell?
“She’s not like us, Evan. She doesn’t belong here. Did you know her family had money, a lot of fucking money? They should have never come here.”
Of course, I knew. Everyone knew. Kendall made sure of that when she plastered photos of Becca’s old life all over the hallways at school. But what did this have to do with right now? She was talking in riddles. “You’re not making sense. Her dad lost his job; he had a friend here. They came for work.”
Kendall’s mouth pressed into a thin line as she shook her head from side to side. “It’s a lie, Evan. They came here because they couldn’t stay in Montecito any longer because it wasn’t safe.”
“Safe. What are you talking about?” This was the vindictive bitch I knew Kendall to be, spinning lies and manipulating the truth to work in her favor.
“Becca did something, Evan.”
“Stop.” I didn’t want to hear this. I didn’t want to hear the words. I’d known Becca was running from something, but it never occurred to me that she was running from herself. “I don’t want to hear it. Not from you. Where is she, Kendall? What did you do?”
Her eyes flickered with indecision, her hard mask slipping again, revealing the Kendall I found when I first entered the room. “It wasn’t me. I played her friends and forced her to play the game, but this wasn’t me. You have to believe me, Evan. He’s out of control; I realize that now. He’s sick, and I … and I don’t know what to do.”
He?
Who the fuck was she talking about? The person who sent the flowers? Was there another guy on the scene? Someone chasing after Becca?
“Kendall,” I growled, feeling the muscles in my neck strain against the skin. “What the fuck is going on?”
For the first time in my life, I witnessed Kendall cry. It was just one tear. The lone teardrop slid down her face, landing on her leg. She swiped a thumb over her eye and met my heavy stare. “I fucked up, Evan. I think I really fucked up.”
Becca
My eyes flickered open, straining against the darkness, and I touched a hand to the back of my head. Pain shot through my skull, and I groaned.
“I wondered when you were going to wake up.”
Fear rippled through me, paralyzing me where I sat.
No.
No.
NO!
I was dreaming. This was just a dream—a nightmare. But it didn’t feel like a dream. I could feel the cold air biting into my face. The sickening throb in my head. My heart galloping in my chest. My icy breath every time I inhaled and exhaled.
“I’ve missed you.”
“Kane.” I let out a shaky breath. His name sounded unfamiliar on my tongue because it was a name I promised would never pass my lips again. He was a mistake. An error in my judgment. He was also the guy who was never supposed to live.
“Becca, baby, it’s been a while.” I searched the darkness for him. He was close. I could feel his eyes watching, stalking me. It had always been that way with us. At first, I’d watched him. Lusted after him. Followed him eagerly as he worked on my best friend’s garden and pool.
What I hadn’t realized was he was also watching me.
“Kane, you have to let me go. People will be looking for me.”
Having no idea how long I’d
been gone, I could vaguely remember what had happened. I’d left school after receiving a text from Kendall. At home, there had been flowers. A note.
Another text message from Kendall asking me to meet at Rogues.
“It was you,” I gasped as I remembered arriving at Rogues. I’d walked—it had taken me almost twenty-five minutes. Kendall wasn’t there, no one was. Until a figure emerged from the trees.
“They didn’t have lilies. I wanted to get your favorite, but the roses were pretty, right?”
“Kane.” I forced myself to soften my voice. “I’m hurt. My head, it hurts.”
“I’m sorry. You were surprised to see me; you ran and tripped.”
That would explain why I feel like I had gone ten rounds with a professional boxer. My eyes tracked a shuffling sound, and a bottle of water rolled across the hard floor, stopping at my foot. “Thank you,” I whispered. “Kane, where are we?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He paused. I didn’t know which I preferred—the sound of his voice or the deafening silence. “You weren’t there. When I woke up, you weren’t there, and then my dad told me that you’d left Montecito, and I wanted to strangle him. Do you know what that feels like, Becca? To want to drain the life from someone’s body? I do, baby, because that’s what I wanted when he told me you’d left me.”
“Kane, I—”
He didn’t hear my plea because he was too detached from reality. “I tried to escape. Twice, I unhooked my IV and all those fucking wires they had attached to me. The first time, I collapsed, and they had to put me back under. The second time, I hurt a nurse. Clocked her in the eye pretty good. Bitch deserved it for trying to keep me from you. I learned after that. Learned to play their games. Eat my pills and nod in all the right places. Because I knew that one day, we’d be together again.”
Bile rushed up my throat, and I choked on my own vomit. Unscrewing the bottle, I brought it to my lips and took a huge mouthful, washing it down.
“You hurt me bad, baby. They thought I wasn’t going to make it.” You weren’t supposed to, I thought to myself. “But nothing could keep me from you, baby. Not even the claws of death.”
“Kane, I don’t feel so good. I think I need a doctor.”
“You’ve got everything you need right here. Me, baby. I’ll keep you safe. Always.”
A fresh wave of nausea hit me, and it was so strong I doubled over. Pressing my palms flat against the cold floor, I retched into thin air. It was bare cement. The whole place felt damp, and the smell of putrid water lingered in the air. We were underground, maybe?
“They thought they could keep you from me, but your daddy brought you right home for me. It was meant to be, baby. Written in the fucking stars.”
Brought you right home? Did he mean … No. He couldn’t. It made no sense. He was confused, experiencing a break from reality. Nothing about this made sense. How had he found me? How had he gotten here?
“I’m cold,” I said, trying to appeal to his kinder side.
Kane was a complicated guy; I’d learned that quickly. All the different facets of his personality are what made him desirable. He was sweet and sensuous one minute, bossy and dominating the next. He was like the best parts of a sweet guy and bad boy all rolled into one. And I’d fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. But as the weeks went on, I saw a different side of him. His sweetness became an infatuation. His dominance, overbearing. Until he forced himself into parts of my life that were never supposed to be his.
“Here, baby.” A black boot came into the light, and my eyes moved up the jeans-clad leg. Up and up until it landed on the face that haunted my dreams. He was the same Kane I’d known. Sharp, angled cheekbones, a defined jaw, and eyes as dark as night, but he looked different somehow.
“Kane.”
He draped a thick blanket around my shoulder, crouching down to my level. I dropped my eyes away, unable to look at him, but his fingers slid under my jaw, forcing me to meet his fiery gaze. “Becca. Fuck, I’ve missed you.”
There was a time when I’d craved his words. In the beginning, I’d been intoxicated with the idea of Kane. And he’d reciprocated. I felt sexy and grown up and powerful. I felt alive. But most of all, it was fun. The flirting and stolen kisses behind the Rosen’s pool house. Then somewhere along the line, it became more than fun. It twisted into something dangerous. Something all-consuming and poisonous until I couldn’t breathe. It was too much for my seventeen years to handle. I was out of my depth, and I wanted out. But Kane was unwilling to let me walk away.
His calloused hand palmed my cheek as I took in his face, the faded scar across his left brow. The permanent reminder of the demise of our toxic relationship. A shudder worked its way through me, remembering that night.
“Night, Laura.” I waved at my friend as she headed up the winding driveway to her house.
I slipped inside, relieved to find the house bathed in a soft amber glow from the hallway lamp that Mom and Dad left on for me since they knew I’d arrive home to an empty house. After locking up behind me, I set the alarm and headed into the kitchen.
Laura had insisted on dragging me to the party at Joel Farrage’s. I hadn’t wanted to go, not after everything with Kane, but he’d cooled off, even stayed away from the party, and I’d actually had fun. For the first time in weeks, I’d felt like myself again. We’d laughed and danced and had a couple of glasses of champagne to take the edge off.
The faucet whooshed to life, and I filled a glass with water. I wasn’t drunk by any stretch of the imagination, but I didn’t want to wake up tomorrow with a headache. We had plans to spend the day on Laura’s family’s yacht.
After drinking another glass of water, I grabbed a plate and filled it with leftovers from the refrigerator and hit the light on the way out. Shadows danced on the walls as I approached the staircase.
“Hello, baby.”
The plate clattered to the floor, smashing around my feet. ”Kane?” I gasped as he stepped into the light. “Wh-what are doing here?”
“I missed you, Becca. I missed you so much.”
“Kane.” I let out a shaky breath. “We’ve been through this. I need space. It was fun, but things got too intense. I need to focus on school right now.”
He inched forward, and I stepped back. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”
Forward. Backward. We danced a game of cat and mouse until my back hit the wall beside the staircase, causing me to suck in a sharp breath.
“Don’t be afraid, baby.” Kane’s hand moved to my cheek, and he speared his fingers into my hair. “We’re so good together, Becca. No one gets me like you do.” His warm breath feathered over my face, and I shivered. My body always responded to his touch this way, and at first, it was new and exciting, but when I’d finally let him have all of me, I’d regretted it. He was too intense, too needy, and it frightened me. It was a mistake. I should have waited for someone I loved. Someone my own age.
“Kane,” I said firmly. “I really like you, but now is not a good time.”
His other hand pressed against the wall beside my head, caging me in, but despite the fear coursing through me, I stuffed it down. “You don’t mean that, baby. I remember how much you liked it. Liked the feel of me inside you.”
Champagne and barbecue rushed up my throat, and I choked it back, my stomach roiling. “You’re scaring me.”
His nose nudged my cheek as he pressed kisses down my jaw and the column of my neck. “God, you taste so fucking good. Let me in, baby. Open for me.”
My legs buckled, but his body held me up. “Kane,” I cried. “Please, don’t do this.” But he was already nudging my legs apart with his knee.
“You don’t want everyone to know, do you? Know what a dirty little bitch you are?”
A pained whimper left my lips. “I- I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?”
“You look so fucking hot in the photos and the video.” He growled. “I jerk off every night to that.”
“You …
you filmed us?”
A slow smirk spread across his face, winding me as I realized he wasn’t taunting me. That this wasn’t some sick joke. “I wanted to keep you. Forever.”
“Kane.” I shoved my hands into his chest, pushing him away, but he was so big. So strong.
“I’ll make it good, baby. I’ll make it so good.” His hands were on my body, clawing and grabbing. Tears rolled down my face as his mouth attacked me. My neck. My breasts. I clamped my knees together, resisting, fighting him, but he was overpowering. Feral. His fingers ripped at my panties underneath my skirt. Scratching my flesh, he left a burning pain in their wake.
Ugly sobs filled the air, swirling with his heavy pants and groans. I didn’t want this. Never this. But I was paralyzed with fear—with shame. The sound of his belt buckle unfastening propelled me into action, and I made one last attempt to fight him off. My knee connected hard with his groin, and a pained grunt whooshed from his body. But it wasn’t enough. His free hand wrapped around my throat and held me prisoner against the wall.
“Fuck, I’m so hot for you.” His movements eased, a look of horrifying euphoria washing over him. I wasn’t even sure Kane was in control of himself; it was as if he’d been completely taken over by something.
My hands flattened against the wall, bracing myself for the inevitable, when I felt it. The lamp cord. Without thinking about it, I pulled gently, sliding my hand up, working the cord through my grasp until my fingers grazed the base. It was one of those ugly Art Deco pieces with a long bronze body and stained glass shade. I reached farther; my fingers stretched to their breaking point.
It happened so fast.
I felt Kane’s bare erection against my thigh and then he was staggering back with blood oozing from his head. I hit him again, swinging the lamp high and wide. His body crumpled in a bloody heap, and I slid down the wall, my shredded clothes pooled around my body.
Tears streamed down my face as Kane pressed his lips gingerly against mine and whispered, “I came home for you, baby. We never have to be apart again.”
Evan