The Heavier The Chains...

by M. E. Clayton

  “Kenzlee, you need to give me something before I lose my goddamn mind,” I warned her. “You need to give me something.”

  I could tell from the expression on her face that she knew I was serious. This goddamn girl held my sanity in her hands. “Talon, I-” The first warning bell rang cutting her off. She shook her head. “Look, we’re going to be late for class…”

  “Talon, what?” I prompted, but then I knew I must have been at my wit’s end because that’s the only excuse I have for the words I said next. “Oh, I see. My dick was good enough to make you cum, but my bank account is still lacking too many commas for you to pick up the phone, is that it?”

  The slap echoed throughout the entire hallway.

  You could feel everyone within witnessing distance freeze in shock at Kenzlee’s attack. It was like even the dust particles in the air froze in anticipation of what was going to happen next.

  My face burned like a sonofabitch, but Kenzlee’s face was red with fury. “You bastard!” she raged. “You fucking bastard!” Her hands hit my chest in a weak attempt to push me back. “You sorry sonofabitch!”

  I dropped my arms and grabbed her by her arms. “The truth hurt?”

  “You don’t know anything about me,” she yelled. “After all the time you’ve put into…into stalking me, you still don’t know anything about me!”

  “Is that right?” I growled, pushing back up against the lockers. “Because I can tell you what I do know about you. I know that boyfriend of yours was wearing a watch that costs just as much as a car.”

  Kenzlee got right back in my face, all her polite breeding upbringing gone. “You know what else my boyfriend has? He’s got a nice house, a great car, limitless credit cards, and my virginity,” she spewed as she turned to walk away from me, forgetting all about her book.

  I reached for her, but she evaded my grasp, and I didn’t care who was watching. “Don’t fucking walking away from me, Kenzlee!” I roared down the hallway.

  All pretenses gone, Kenzlee turned around and yelled back, “You don’t get to tell me what to do, Talon! Friday night didn’t make you special,” she taunted, outing us. “All it did was make you second in a long list of many to come!”

  I took off after her, and her eyes widened a split second before she turned around and started running herself. I chased Kenzlee with every muscle in my body working together to get my hands on her, because I was fucking. Going. To. Kill. Her.

  Unfortunately, she made it into the school office before I could catch up with her, and the little sanity I still possessed kept me from rushing in there and just fucking her up.

  But there was always lunchtime.

  ∞∞∞

  Kenzlee~

  I hid in the nurse’s station all first period like a coward.

  Alexandria had texted me with a demand to know what the hell was going on because my run in with Talon had been recorded and already making the rounds throughout campus. I texted back that I was okay and that I was taking a breather in the nurse’s station, but I assured her I’d tell her all about it during lunch.

  If I survived that long.

  Turns out, life went from high school teenage drama to Mafia style threats of terror. I had managed to get through second and third period without seeing Talon, and to my surprise, he wasn’t in fourth period. I figured he was so livid he must have gone home.

  I was wrong.

  So very, very wrong.

  The second I met Alexandria at her locker, Lars and Hunter showed up, and I watched stunned as Lars threw her over his shoulder and kidnapped her. When I finally managed to get my bearings, Talon had come around the corner and dragged me into an empty janitor closet.

  Struggling didn’t work, but the second I heard the door lock, Talon let go of me and I was able to take a step back and face him.

  He. Looked. Incensed.

  “Now, would you like to repeat what you told me earlier, White?” he asked darkly; his voice low and lethal.

  I did my best to be brave, but it was hard. Talon was intimidating, and I was no longer fuming with outrage. I’d lost my fire somewhere in the nurse’s station. “If you’re going to talk to me like I’m a whore, well…then, I might as well make the most of the reputation you’re giving me,” I replied anyway.

  “Well, in my defense, what do you call a girl who lets you fuck her up against a tree, without the benefit of protection, but refuses your calls and texts all weekend long?” he rasped out. “If it walks like a duck, talks like a-”

  “You’re such an insecure asshole, you know that?” I threw at him. “You sneer at my earrings not knowing they were a gift from my brother. You comment on my wardrobe not knowing I have to wear these clothes until they become threadbare. You talk about my boyfriend not knowing that he dumped me over a year ago because I couldn’t get over the death of my brother fast enough for his liking. You make fun of my polite upbringing not knowing that I was raised by the cooks and housekeepers because my parents are self-absorbed assholes. You laugh at my…at me not knowing that my parents lost everything and dropped me off on Alexandria’s doorstep because they didn’t want to deal with me.” Tears were falling by this point, but I didn’t care.

  Fuck Talon Draven.

  “You taunt how I’m trying to hold myself together because I have no idea what I’m supposed to do now that I can’t afford college and I’m a legal adult living off Alexandria’s parents.”

  “Kenz-”

  “No!” I snapped. “Fuck you, Talon. Fuck you for making me some sick game you feel you need to play when my life has fallen apart and I have no direction, but you’re demanding all my attention.”

  “Kenzlee-”

  “Well, you got my attention Friday night,” I said, not letting him stop me from saying what I needed to say to him. “You got it. You got me to spread my legs for you when the only other boy I’ve ever been with I could at least say I was in love with. So, congratulations, Talon. You got me to open my legs and let you fuck me up against a tree like a true slut. And because it was all too much, too fast, and I needed some time to…refocus, you remind me of what I really represent to you.”

  Talon stepped towards me, but I grabbed the nearest object on the shelves and threw it at him. “Fuck, Kenzlee!”

  “Stay away from me, Talon!” I screamed, beyond the point of embarrassment. So what, if someone could hear us outside? We weren’t going to be able to live down that goddamn video from this morning, anyway. “Stay away from me,” I repeated. “This…thing between us? It’s nothing. It’ll go away. It’ll die a nice, quiet death as soon as we start fucking other peo-”

  This time Talon didn’t care about flying objects. He was on me before I could finish my sentence. “Stop it,” he hissed as he bore down on me. “Just fucking stop it, White.”

  I couldn’t stop the sneer on my face. “The truth hurt?”

  “If you’re looking for an apology, you’re not going to get it,” he replied. “I’ve never made it a secret how I feel about you. What did you think ignoring me all weekend was going to do to me?”

  “I didn’t think it’d turn you into an insensitive asshole and treat me like a whore!”

  “I’m not the one who screamed out what we did Friday night for everyone to hear!” he roared. “No one would have ever known had you not lost your shit!”

  “I lost my shit?!” Was he for real?? “I’m not the one who accused you of slumming it!”

  Talon took a step back, and pinching the bridge of his nose, he took a deep breath. I could empathize with his actions. This shitstorm was a mess.

  We were a mess.

  When he was done praying, or doing whatever the hell he was doing, he looked back at me and said, “I’m very aware of the fact that we’re fucking this thing up something fierce, but I’m not letting you walk away from me Kenzlee. I already had plans of never letting you go, but after Friday night, you’re not fucking going anywhere.”

  “What about my boyfriend,” I f
lung at him snidely because I wasn’t ready to face whatever this argument was. “And I’m sure your bank account hasn’t changed any since this morning.”

  Talon’s eyes narrowed as he said, “The only reason I haven’t strangled the life out of you yet, White, is because I know I can’t live without you.” My knees buckled, and I cursed myself for wanting to believe him.

  Weak.

  “What did Lars and Hunter do with Alexandria?” I asked.

  He cocked his head at my change of subject, but answered anyway, “She’s safe. I just…needed her out of the way.”

  I stared at him for a few quiet seconds and the reality of our…association was glaring. “We…we’re not good for each other, Talon,” I said quietly.

  He gave me a tight nod. “You’re probably right,” he agreed. “But it doesn’t matter. You can motherfuck me all you want, but I’m never letting you go, Kenzlee.”

  Chapter 15

  The need to fight or flight.

  Kenzlee~

  The only reason Talon had let me out of that Janitor closet was because a teacher had started banging on the door. Apparently, someone had seen Alex getting kidnapped and Talon dragging me into the closet, and after the video this morning, the anonymous student had feared for my wellbeing.

  And now I was heading towards gym with Lars and Hunter in attendance and I was just not up to dealing with those two. Once I found Alexandria being held captive by them at their lunch table, she was a furious mess, ranting about how they kidnapped her.

  Hunter and Lars just laughed at her.

  I was going to have to apologize to her all through sixth period, even though I had already apologized profusely for involving her in Talon’s drama. She had eventually calmed down and was mad at the Mob brothers more than she was at Talon. She argued that all they had to do was ask her to go with them. Lars hadn’t needed to throw her over his shoulder and cause a scene.

  She was now a social media video clip, and she was not happy about it.

  After I spilled my guts last night, Alex was very understanding and told me she didn’t blame me for keeping it from her. She imagined any experience involving Talon Draven would be a little overwhelming. She also gave me her blessing, and I had to laugh at that; her blessing implied a choice.

  If she only knew.

  I walked out of the gymnasium locker area and headed towards gym class. However, I hadn’t made it ten steps before the Finley brothers were both flanking my sides.

  Great.

  Just friggin’ great.

  “What are you doing to our boy, girl,” Hunter whistled. “You got that dude losing his mind.”

  I kept walking towards where the girls were gathered, trying my best to ignore the two buffoons walking beside me. I had nothing against these two personally, but knowing they backed Talon unconditionally made me wary of them.

  Ignoring Hunter’s comment about Talon, I said, “If you guys ever manhandle my cousin again, I will extract a revenge, so brutal, the whole lot of us will end up on Investigation Discovery.”

  This time, Lars was the one who let out a low whistle. “A little bloodthirsty there, are we?”

  I stopped walking and turned to face Lars. “Alexandria has nothing to do with whatever is going on between me and Talon,” I told him.

  Playful Lars was gone. He stepped to me and his voice was low and dark as he said, “That’s where you’re wrong, Kenzlee. If she has anything to do with you, then she’s involved in all of this.”

  “You guys can’t do this,” I hissed.

  “Wrong again, babe,” Hunter said from behind me, and his voice was just as serious as Lars’. I whipped around to look at him. “No one’s going to come to your rescue, Kenzlee.”

  I stepped back so I could look at both of them. “I’m not scared of you guys,” I bluffed.

  It only took me a second to realize why they were Talon’s best friends. They all three had the same violent undercurrent. I felt it strongly around Talon, but these two exuded that same vibe. However, something told me Hunter was the more brutal than his brother. Lars struck me as having a long fuse, where Hunter struck me as having a very short one. And Talon? Talon didn’t have one, at all.

  “I’m not going to let you guys terrorize Alexandria,” I bit out, upset that they had upset her.

  Lars laughed. “Calm your tits, Kenz,” he chuckled, the seriousness and anger instantly gone. “We didn’t terrorize your cousin. She sat with us at lunch.”

  “For Christ’s sake, we even bought her lunch,” Hunter added. “I’d hardly call that terrorizing the females of Lakeside.”

  I shook my head. I was at a complete loss here. The earlier scene with Talon, the kidnapping…all of it was making me someone I wasn’t. I didn’t engage in public spectacles. I didn’t slap people. I didn’t get violent. I didn’t let guys I hardly knew screw me in public up against trees.

  Jesus.

  Even when Kaden had died, I hadn’t acted out like this. After his funeral, I had cried in private. I had raged and bargain with God in private. My depression was hidden behind a polite smile and a million ‘I’m fine’s. When Patrice had followed him soon after, it was more of the same thing. I grieved for her in private. All my emotions were always expressed privately.

  Mitchells didn’t cause scenes.

  And, now, here I was, about to cause another one.

  “Look, no matter what happens between me and Talon, leave Alexandria the hell alone,” I snapped, tired of everyone’s bullshit.

  Hunter stepped to me and confirmed my suspicions. If someone ever told me that they’d seen Hunter burying a body somewhere, I’d believe them. “If you want us to leave Alexandria alone, then I suggest you stop being difficult and just give. The. Fuck. In. Kenzlee.” See? The Mob all the way. “If Talon ends up expelled or in jail because of your bullshit, us buying lunch for Alex is going to be the least of your concerns.”

  Whether he was serious or not, I wasn’t going to gamble with them messing with Alex. She didn’t deserve it and I wouldn’t repay all her kindness like that. “Well, in case he hasn’t informed you, I already gave in, Hunter,” I admitted. “I gave in and he treated me like a slut making my way through Lakeside.” Hunter straightened to his full height, and as he crossed his arms over his chest, I knew he didn’t care about my arguments. “So, don’t accuse me of being difficult when it’s obvious that Talon’s doing nothing but playing games with me.”

  “Next time don’t ignore him all weekend long,” Lars chimed in.

  “Why are you guys doing this?” I had a fair idea, but I still asked.

  “Because it’s no less than what Talon would do for us if we ever lost our minds over some pussy,” Lars smirked, and I reached out before I found myself trapped inside Hunter’s strong arms.

  “Whoa, hellcat,” he chuckled.

  “Miss Mitchell, is there a problem?” Coach Hiller hollered from where all the girls were gathered.

  Hunter immediately let me go, and as I righted myself, I hollered back, “No, Coach Hiller. There’s no problem.” Turning my back on the Finley brothers, I headed towards my gym class.

  “This isn’t over Snow White,” Hunter warned, and my feet faltered at the name. I wondered just how much Talon’s told them about us, because even Alexandria didn’t know Talon called me Snow White.

  Gym class sucked.

  ∞∞∞

  Talon~

  Hunter told me all about gym class during sixth period and, in hindsight, kidnapping Alexandria might have been a bit extreme. I was going to have to remember that in the future. But I was hoping there wouldn’t be incidences like these in the future.

  After Kenzlee had poured her soul out in the janitor closet, I had spent most of the day ignoring what the good teachers of Lakeside High were trying to teach me and I stalked her like a certified creeper on social media.

  It was during my stalking spree that I found out the brother that Kenzlee lost was Kaden Mitchell; her twin.

&nbs
p; I knew Kaden from the fights. He didn’t fight, but he would bet heavy and he was always the king of the party. He had been very charismatic and easy going. It wasn’t until the last couple of years before his death that he had taken his partying ways up a few notches. He was always drunk or high, and that girlfriend of his had always been by his side; protecting him.

  As a matter of fact, I’d only seen shit go sour one time during my association with him, and that was when some guy had grabbed his girl’s ass and Kaden had gone knuckle strong on the dude. It was how we officially met. I had to stop Kaden from killing the guy and risking the longevity of the underground fights. After that, we had a casual passing acquaintance every time Kaden attended the fights.

  When the rumors spread that he had overdosed, I hadn’t been shocked because he hadn’t kept his addictions or partying ways a secret, but I had been saddened. Kaden Mitchell had been a good dude even on drugs or drunk, I couldn’t imagine what an extraordinary guy he could be sober.

  And, Jesus, when the rumors had spread that his girl had killed herself a couple of weeks later, that had really been like a punch to the gut. Seeing them together, anyone could tell they were in love and she adored him. Kaden hadn’t been bashful or overly macho about his attentions towards her. Wherever they went, everyone knew they were together. I had always assumed knowing she couldn’t have helped him is what did her in. That kind of guilt was crippling. Hell, love was crippling. I ought to know, because Kenzlee had me all fucked up.

  Kenzlee.

  Armed with all the shit she threw at me, I had made significant progress in my online stalking of the girl, and that’s when I learned about Kaden and about her parents losing everything. Her father had made headlines among the wealthy newsfeeds and the articles had been scathing. But any sympathy I might have felt for what they were going through died a quick death when I came across a couple of small articles where they blamed Kaden’s girlfriend for his overdose.

  What fucking assholes.