Being screwed and fed upon like some animal.
It was…kind of hot.
His hips thrust harder, his cock sliding in me with a grunt from his chest, my nightgown pushed so far up that my bare backside rammed against the tree bark with each thrust. Payne took me hard and fast, working my body like a master, a maestro conducting his thousandth orchestra.
Heat flooded me, a rising tide I immediately drowned in. Pleasure shot through every nerve in my body, completely downplaying any lingering pain I felt from the bite wound on my neck, and I cried out, my inner core clenching, my nails digging into his back.
Payne’s teeth clamped onto me again, and with a rapid thrust, his balls slapped against my backside. His whole body trembled, a low rumbling coming from his chest as the pleasure of having me, of finally being full, washed over him. He stayed inside of me, no longer thrusting, his cock still hard even after the fast orgasm.
His teeth left me, his tongue cleaning up the wound for about the dozenth time. “You taste different tonight,” Payne murmured, hardly sounding like himself, “but still just as delicious.”
Being called delicious was not something I ever thought I’d add to my compliment belt, but here I was. Me, Felice Fairday, delicious. Seemed a little weird and a whole lot cannibalistic, but I wouldn’t think about that right now.
After holding me for a few minutes more—and after lapping up the oozing blood a dozen more times—Payne let me go, pulling out of me and putting himself away. My eyes were now better adjusted to the darkness, and I saw the red lining Payne’s mouth.
My blood. That was my blood, and maybe a bit from that animal he’d tried before.
Once my feet hit the dirt, I tugged the slip down. I could feel his cum seeping out of me, and I did my best to ignore it. It would be a long walk back to the house to clean myself up, not to mention the wound on my neck.
I touched where he’d bitten, a sting of angry pain zapping through my body as a result. When I brought my fingers off it, I spotted blood.
Great. Definitely needed to bandage that up.
“You’re bleeding,” Payne said, donning the hat of Captain Obvious.
“Yeah, I kind of figured,” I mumbled, holding a hand against my neck, trying to staunch the blood flow. It wasn’t much, but…weirdly enough, I was starting to grow lightheaded. I was seconds from starting the walk back to the house, but Payne stunned me by sweeping me into his arms, hoisting me up as if I weighed not a thing.
Like a man carrying his wife across the threshold. Like a man holding onto his prize. I’d known Payne had some muscles under his thin frame, but to pick me up so effortlessly, like I weighed a mere ten pounds instead of the amount I truly did, gave me pause.
Did my blood affect him that much? Did it give him extra strength?
Ugh. This was getting to be too much like those young adult novels with vampires, minus all the sex I’d been having.
Payne carried me to the house, bringing me to my room. I then held a small hand towel against my neck as he left to find me a bandage. As I watched him go, slowly unzipping my boots, I wondered why, according to him, my blood tasted different tonight.
I didn’t believe in omens, but that…that almost made me wonder.
Chapter Six – Victor
I was a man of many trades. The saying jack of all trades but master of none is better than a master of one was close to my heart. I’d been in Grimmstead for so long, I couldn’t even remember what the outside world was like. I remembered the advent of many things, for the house had changed. Sometimes it grew bigger, other times it grew smaller. Sometimes it took on other monikers, and other times it did not.
But I was always there, always here. I was the one who built the very first Grimmstead Academy.
This place had called out to me, a darkness I could neither fight nor deny. A void of evil, luring me, whispering nothing into my ear and yet still telling me what to do. What to build. How to do it. This place, it was true, had a mind of its own, and it got me with one bargain.
A devil’s bargain.
And, like a king of fools, I’d taken it.
But even a devil’s bargain came to an end. Nothing lasted forever. Nature wouldn’t allow it. The problem was, of course, this place was the very opposite of natural.
An academy, a church, an asylum—and now back to some kind of academy for older students. The men here—and now their children counterparts—were not the only souls Grimmstead had in its arsenal. It could release more, but the more it released, the hungrier it was. The pale one, Payne, had been feeding it in my absence, but then…
Then it had been her turn, and she heeded its call, too.
This was my curse, I knew. Finally, the one thing I wanted, the one person I dreamt of my whole life—from the very moment I set the first stone here—was in my sight, and yet this place had claimed her before I could truly have her. It’d kept me locked away for so long, letting Lucien play headmaster to this little academy.
It was worth a few laughs.
Or it would be, if I didn’t feel like screaming.
Lucien and I were alike, in that way. We both grew angry at the drop of a needle, especially when we did not get our way. He was born of my blood, after all. I’d created him with this place’s help, not knowing that he was my replacement. And now I was here, back, walking these halls as if I’d never left…but I knew my body was long gone. There would be no leaving this place, not for me.
But, perhaps, for her…
Maybe there was still time for her. Perhaps some kind of uniting ritual or something.
My goal was not to get rid of the children. I’d just told that to the others, knowing they’d never help me, regardless of what I was doing. If they knew I sought to force this place to release its hold on Felice, they might stop me.
At this point, I might stop myself. She’d been all I’d ever wanted for so long—how could I let her walk through that gate and disappear?
Koda was my tail, and if I was honest, it was quite annoying. I did not need to be watched nor kept an eye on like some sniveling child. I was Victor Grimmstead; this place only existed because of me—though I did wonder if, I hadn’t stumbled upon this land all those years ago, someone else would’ve claimed it as their own, made their own legacy.
It was early one morning when I cornered Koda in the hall just outside the library. Koda was…one of the first. Not the first, but…let’s just say religion, especially religion of old, was very against anyone born with abnormalities. Spawn of the devil, and whatever other religious nonsense they spouted.
I liked Koda, but he did not remember what I’d done for him. None of them did. The fact of the matter was, none of them would be here if it wasn’t for me. None of them would be who they were today without my interference. I had touched each and every one of their lives, making a few bargains of my own.
Still, I did not take kindly to being stalked.
“Koda,” I spoke, fixing my suit, tugging down the front of its grey fabric. I’d just left my room—west wing, third floor, in the room directly above Felice’s—and found him waiting for me. “Surely you must need sleep. Why don’t you take a day off?”
Koda wore the typical Grimmstead apparel: a white, long-sleeved shirt, every button on its front done up to his neck, its bottom tucked into dark pants. His black hair was short and shaggy, falling to the side of his face, where those bright, studious green eyes sat. Needless to say, he did not act thrilled at my suggestion.
“I can’t,” Koda spoke.
Right. He couldn’t, because Lucien wanted him to keep an eye on me. Please don’t get me started on how ridiculous that whole thing was. Lucien and I didn’t get along, but underneath it all, we were the same. Of course, that meant he was smart enough to know I was a threat. A threat to everything he’d grown used to all these years while I was away.
“Well,” I told him, moving past him in the hall, heading into the library, “you are in for a boring day, I’m afr
aid.” And that was true—I planned on spending most of today trying to research. I highly doubted this place would carry the secrets of how to beat it, but surely one of the old tomes would give me some idea.
“I’m actually okay with that,” Koda remarked, moving through the library to stand near the windows. The sun was out, and the children were outside with Felice and the others. Felice spent most of her day keeping the children in line, but occasionally she had help in the form of Payne or Ian or Dagen.
Koda, though, was always my shadow.
Where did Lucien spend his time? Alone, probably trying to think up a way to get rid of me permanently. The fool.
But, alas, it took a fool to know one, and like I mentioned before, I was the king of fools.
I stared at Koda for a few moments. I truly had nothing against him; I had nothing against any of the poor souls stuck here. They had all given into Grimmstead’s darkness in a way, but I could not judge them. I would not have been able to help them if they didn’t want to be helped. Some of them were brought or cast off by their parents, having heard about my miracle cures.
The truth of the matter was, there were no miracles here.
I knew what Koda wanted—to live. To live, unburdened by his shadow. To truly live and be free. On the flip side, Bram wanted control, to do what he wanted when he wanted and never feel apologetic for the chaos he brought with him. Neither would ever truly get their wish.
As terrible as it was, it was not my concern. I moved to the left side of the library, running my fingers over the neatly-placed books on the shelves, inhaling the musky scent of old leather and parchment.
I chose a book that was quite thick, a book that had many different volumes, in countless languages, all throughout history. A book that might just shed light on some of the bizarre situations that happen in this house, or the giant crack in the basement, where I’d crawled out of, not too long ago.
Had the children come with me? I couldn’t remember.
Regardless, the book was the bible, a Catholic version of it. I was not the first to call this place hell on earth, and I doubted I would be the last. This place…pure evil coated its walls, sprouted up from the grass outside. This was not normal land.
I had my suspicions, of course, but I refused to voice those suspicions unless I knew, without a doubt, I was right.
A place where the veil was weak. A location on the earth that oozed primordial darkness, evil incarnate. A maw of hell itself.
Religion was not something I ever believed in—I was a man who believed in what he saw, and this place, I’d known instantly, would get me results. As I slaved away and built these halls, laying stone after stone, the locals had called me crazy. No one stepped foot where I chose to build, because terrible things always happened.
I took their warnings, and I ignored them, and now…now I was about to pay the price.
I brought the bible to a seat in the center of the library. An image of Felice flashed in the recesses of my mind, a perfect vision of her wearing the dark grey attire of Grimmstead, a matching grey bonnet on her head. Her smile warmed me to my core, and I fought to swallow the immediate feelings she rose inside me.
My body craved hers, as did my mind. That much was obvious.
I often wondered to myself, why would I dream of a woman who might not exist, never actually believing that the woman I loved simply hadn’t been born yet. How could fate have known where it would take us? Of course, I was past the point where I was lost in my own confusion. Now that I knew Felice was real, now that I had her with me, I had to do something.
Not once in my life had I ever done something for another person out of the kindness of my heart. There was always a price to pay, a gain for me.
Heaving a silent sigh, my fingers pried open the cover of the bible, flipping to the first page. Surely reading this giant tome would give me some clue as to how to overcome the darkness of this place.
That was the plan, however, as my eyes fell to its first page, where I should see immediate bible verses, I saw not a thing. Not a single word, nor a picture. Only a blank, smooth page.
My eyebrows furrowed, and I flipped to the second page. It was, unsurprisingly, much the same. What in the world… I flipped more pages, finding not a single word written on them. Nothing at all to show that this was indeed a bible and not just a fancy set of papers with a nice binding.
Frustration growing inside me, I flipped all throughout the book, quickly scanning the pages for something, anything that would tell me what was going on—but I found nothing. There was nothing. The entire book was as blank as a new sheet of paper.
I must’ve been making too huge a commotion, for Koda’s eyes had moved away from the window, turning to watch me. I got up, dropping the bible to the floor as I returned to the bookshelf, picking a random one out of the row.
The same thing. No words. Only paper.
Over and over, I went through book after book, trying to find something—at this point, I’d settle for a single word—but there was nothing. Nothing but empty pages and maddening thoughts. Was this Grimmstead toying with me still, even after all this time? Felice’s blood had helped me, had saved me and brought me out; she’d been my salvation, but she’d brought me back to this? It was madness. Sick, twisted madness.
There must’ve been at least fifteen books on the floor in various states of disarray when Koda appeared at my side, frowning gently at me. “What are you doing?” he asked, as if he couldn’t see that I wanted to pull my own hair out.
I ran a hand down my face. “The books. I can’t—there’s nothing in them.”
Koda bent to pick one of the books off the floor, his brows coming together. He opened it randomly in the middle, glancing at me before saying, “What are you talking about?”
Annoyance ticked through me. “You can see words?”
He nodded. “You…don’t?”
I snatched the book from his hand, turning it toward myself. Nothing but a blank page. My skin felt hot, and I bared my teeth as I threw the book across the library. The book landed on the floor, sliding a bit before it stopped. “This place doesn’t want me researching how to beat it, of course.” I wasn’t sure why it had taken me so long to realize it. This place would do everything in its power to stop me from figuring it out.
Koda studied me, his head tilting a bit. “Payne was trying to discover the truths of this place, before…”
I looked at him. “Before what?”
“Before he became obsessed with blood.” He shook his head, adding a whisper, “And, yes, before you killed him, Bram.” Talking to his other half. Right.
“Payne,” I repeated his name, nodding along. “Perhaps you’re right. Maybe I’ll converse with him.” Then Koda asked me something that made me do a double-take, mostly because I wasn’t expecting it.
“Are you really trying to get rid of Lucien?”
I stared at him, my jaw setting. I did not like speaking about Lucien, regardless of the reason why his name was brought up in the first place. I didn’t particularly like thinking about him, nor did I want to picture that smug face in my head ever again.
“This isn’t about Lucien,” I muttered, folding my arms over my chest.
All Koda did was shake his head, though it looked as if he wasn’t shaking it at me. More like the voice in his head. “Bram says he knows what it’s about.” Koda’s green eyes snapped to me, his gaze ten times more intense than it was mere moments ago. “Her.” When I said nothing, he asked, “Is this about Felice?”
“What this is about,” I started, taking a step towards him. I had a bit of height on him, though I knew his other half could break through and attack in an instant. Still, even knowing that, I wasn’t too overly concerned. “Is none of your business, Koda. Keep your nose out of it.” I said nothing more, turning and walking away, out of the library.
He was on my heel, though, my shadow and all.
I should have known right then that Koda would not keep hi
s nose to himself.
A few days later, I stood outside near the front door to the house, my hands behind my back as I watched Felice with the children. The kids sat cross-legged on the grass, small musical instruments in front of each of them. Recorders. Grimmstead provided, when necessary, as it did meals and water and electricity. Anyway, Felice was currently teaching them how to play something called Hot Cross Buns.
The children absolutely hated it, but it seemed a simple enough tune. Bram smacked Koda with his recorder every time he thought Felice wasn’t looking, which she was—and then she yelled at him and caused the other boys to laugh.
And so it went on repeat.
Ian and Dagen stood thirty feet in the grass behind Felice, watching over them. Or, more accurately, her. They seemed to have conflicting personalities, so it surprised me to see them acting so friendly toward each other. Perhaps a lot had changed while I was away; I was away for quite a while, after all.
Felice, I noticed, had a bandage on her neck. It seemed to change each day, and I knew it was because of Payne. Payne was somewhere in the house—I did not like that he put his hands on her, let alone other body parts, and yet I could not lift a finger to stop it from happening. This was my curse: forbidden to act, forbidden to save the one person I wanted to save above all others.
I would have to talk to Payne, though I did go back and forth on it. Hence the underlying issue of living under this roof: time did not matter. Time was eternal here. You simultaneously always felt like you were running out of time and had all the time in the world to do what you wanted.
It truly was madness.
The door behind me opened, and the one person I did not want to see stuck his head out. “Victor,” Lucien spoke my name with utmost distaste, “you and I need to talk.” He said nothing else, leaving the door open as he disappeared inside the house.
I heaved a sigh. I did wonder why Koda wasn’t currently breathing down my neck, and I supposed I had my answer: he ran along to daddy.
Grimmstead Academy: Defiant Rebellion Page 6