by Smyth, R. A
There was so much to discuss. One thing we all seemed to be decided on was that we weren’t going to hide out. We’ve talked to Oliver and we’ve set a plan in place. We just need to stay alert and safe until then.
Since Barrett’s car was wrecked, Preston took him to grab another one from his garage—oh, the life of the rich. Oliver was able to clean up the wreck and it’s basically like it never happened.
This week they’ve been dropping us off on a back road behind the school and Aiden, Ty and I trek through the forest to school. It isn’t the most fun start to my morning, but Oliver’s already warned us my father will be watching the school again, and we’ve seen the bikers at the gate every morning this week. He won’t do anything reckless if he doesn’t know for certain we’re inside, though. So we’re essentially sneaking into school. Can’t say I ever thought I’d be doing that.
We meet Preston and Barrett in the library each morning, when they arrive. They’ve been coming in early too. We’re hoping that between arriving at school before Kirk’s men show up, and the change in car, my father won’t know any of us are here.
So far it seems to be a success. We’ve gone unnoticed all week, and Oliver’s informed us my father’s hosting an auction tonight. We’ve been gearing up for it all week and we’re ready to put our plan into action and take the fucker down once and for all.
It’s the end of the day and Aiden, Ty and I are making our way out of the back entrance to the school. Despite the fact Kurt is no longer enrolled at CWP, I’ve felt that now-familiar paranoid feeling of being watched all week. Every afternoon, I’ve felt eyes on me when the three of us leave the school. Yesterday, I could have sworn I saw movement in one of the upper windows when we were walking across the football field. I haven’t said anything to the guys; I don’t want to worry them any more, and we’re all strung out right now. Hundreds of kids go to this school, any one of them could be doing some after school activity in one of the classrooms overlooking the pitch. I’m most likely just being neurotic.
Feeling the same eyes on me today, I force myself not to turn around. If, somehow, it is Kurt; I don’t want him to think he’s getting to me. I mean, he is. It’s like my skin is revolting against the thought of his eyes on me. I can feel the small hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, the primitive part of myself that functions off survival instinct recognising the danger before it fully registers, and telling me to run. It takes everything in me to not do just that.
Finally crossing over into the tree line, the darkness of the forest immediately cuts off any view someone would have of us from the school. The second I cross that line, I feel the penetrating gaze burrowing into the back of my head fade away and I can finally breathe again.
The three of us are quiet as we make our way toward the main road where Preston and Barrett pick us up. This is the only reason we hear them before they see us.
Two Feral Beast members are leaning against the side of a car, facing into the forest with guns in their hands. There’s no reason they would be parked on this back road in the middle of nowhere if they weren’t waiting for us.
We all stop as soon as we hear their voices. I swear I’m too scared to even breathe. I’ve my gun in my bag, and I know the guys have theirs too, but there’s no way we would reach them in time. We never expected to come across Beasts out here. How the fuck did they know where to find us?
That feeling of someone watching me hits me again. If it is Kurt that’s been watching us, maybe he’s been waiting for this moment. We have been waiting for him to retaliate after all. My stomach threatens to throw up my lunch at the thought that this is his next move. He already outed Aiden and Ty to Kirk. What’s stopping him from reporting every move we make in and out of school?
“Shh, I think I heard something,” one of the men says, pushing himself off the side of the car and staring into the forest, his gun now raised, ready to shoot. His friend does the same thing as the three of us remain frozen, my heart lodged in my throat, once again feeling that overwhelming need to run.
“Man, you probably just heard a fox or something,” his buddy says after a few minutes—the longest fucking minutes of my life.
“Yeah, maybe,” the first guy sighs, looking up and down the road. “I’m fucking sick of waiting. The others will be here in a minute, let's get a head start.”
The other guy looks less sure, glancing up and down the road as well, apparently checking to see if ‘the others’ are on the way. Fuck, the last thing we need is more of them showing up.
“Dude, how happy will the Bossman be if we kill Aiden and Ty?” the first guy tries to convince his friend, who’s still looking unsure. “Think he’d give me a go on his daughter before he kills her?” The sicko laughs.
Someone pulls on my arm. I tilt my head slightly and find a small measure of comfort in Aiden’s steady gaze. He’s calm and collected, despite how bad this situation is right now. Taking a page out of his book, I take a calming breath.
“Move,” he mouths, gesturing with his head back towards the school. The three of us creep as quietly as we can back through the forest, but it's impossible with all the leaves and twigs beneath our feet. We don’t get far before I hear the dreaded words being shouted behind me.
“Man over here! I hear them.”
Shit. We’re so fucked.
“Run,” Aiden whispers urgently, grabbing my hand as we take off through the forest. I can hear the two guys behind us as they sprint after us, the sounds of branches snapping under their feet signalling their pursuit.
Fuck. Even if we get back to the school, we have to cross the football field. We’d be easy targets out in the open like that. We’re so fucking screwed.
Bursting out through the trees, panting heavily, I pause, unsure of our next move.
“Come on,” Ty urges, running for the small shed at the edge of the field where Preston and Barrett once locked me in. It’s the only building nearby and the first place the guys chasing us will search. I’m about to say as much to Ty when he confuses me by running past the shed door and around the side of the small building.
Aiden and I are right on his tail and, as we round the corner, Ty interlinks his fingers, bending over and looking at me expectantly. “Put your foot in my hands and I’ll give you a boost up.”
“What? Why?” The words come out in a hurried panic as I glance up to the roof. Is he saying what I think he is? We’re going to hide on the roof? I mean, the chances are they won’t check the roof, but if they do, we’re done for. There would be nowhere for us to run.
“Love,” he growls, his face abnormally serious. “We don’t have time, just do it!’
I steady my foot in his linked hands, and he uses the leverage to push me up until I can rest my elbows on the roof and use my upper strength to swing my legs up. I’m totally flashing them right now and damn, I don’t even think I put on sexy panties today. We’ve all been in a bit of a funk this week, so I didn’t even pay attention to what I grabbed out of the dresser this morning.
Maybe not something to be too concerned with right now though, considering we might all be about to die.
Rolling until I’m flat on my stomach, I glance back over the edge. We’re high enough off the ground that, if we stay low, no one will know we’re here. Hopefully, no one will think to check.
Ty boosts Aiden up next and as soon as he’s flattened himself against the roof, he reaches out his hand for Ty to grab, helping to haul him up the side of the building.
It takes Ty longer to get up, but he collapses onto the roof beside Aiden and I as the two men come running out from the trees and the three of us drop our heads to the roof. Talk about close timing. My heart is pounding a mile a minute.
“Stay low,” Aiden whispers. His eyes are on mine and I latch on to the steadiness in his mossy green irises. His ability to remain collected and unperturbed in these situations astounds me, but in times like this, seeing him so calm helps to quell the panic threatening to overcome me.
&n
bsp; Staring into his eyes, I steady my breathing, refusing to let my fear overcome rational thought. We might be safe for now, but we still have to get out of here and freaking out isn’t going to do any of us any good.
I know Ty and Aiden can look after themselves. No doubt they’ve been in sticky situations like this before, but I refuse to be the weak link in our group. They need to know I can look after myself so they don’t have to worry about me when things are going sideways. That’s why they’ve been teaching me self defense, and how to shoot and hold a knife.
“Where the fuck did they go?” One of the men says from somewhere below us. I don’t dare lift my head to see what they’re doing.
“There,” the other responds, most likely pointing in our direction.
Feeling something against my leg, I glance down and notice, while he was trying to stop me from spiralling, he was also slowly undoing the zip on his backpack, careful not to make any noise and give away our position.
Having successfully got it open enough to reach inside, he pulls out his gun from an inner pocket. Looking past Aiden, I notice Ty also has his gun in his hand. Damn, that’s a smart move.
Glancing around the rooftop until I find my own bag, I spot it just out of arm's reach on my opposite side to Aiden. Stretching as much as I can, trying not to shuffle too much, I manage to grab it with the tip of my fingers and I slowly drag it towards me. Unzipping a small side pocket, I lift out my gun, feeling bolstered now that I have the solid weight in my hand.
The whole building seems to shake as they yank on the locked door beneath us, giving it a good rattle to check if the lock holds.
“Fuck, it’s locked,” one of them growls, banging his fist so hard against the door that the sudden noise makes me jump. My muscles are so tense, ready to move at any moment. I’m going to be sore for days after this. That’s one thing I really miss about the mansion. There’s no tub at the warehouse. God, a bath after today sounds fucking amazing.
“Maybe they never came out of the woods,” someone suggests.
A growled response is all he gets. “I could have sworn I heard them coming this way.”
The sound of a phone ringing cuts through the air, followed by a muttered, ‘fuck’.
“Boss,” one of them says into the phone.
“Yeah, we were on their trail, but we lost them. They must be somewhere in the woods, though. Juan said he took out the rich ones’ tires, so no one is coming to help them.”
They took out Preston’s tires? What does that even mean? Are they okay?
“We’re at the school, but there’s no sign of them.”
I breathe a small sigh of relief at his words.
“Will do,” he finishes, hanging up the phone. “We need to meet the others back at the road, then spread out and search the woods.”
We listen as the two of them move further away, back into the forest. None of us say anything until long after they're gone.
“What now?” I whisper, scared of speaking any louder in case the sound travels and they come back.
“We’ve gotta get back to the school,” Aiden says, lifting his head and checking to make sure the coast is clear before getting up onto his knees. “Then we need to find out what’s happened to Preston and Barrett.”
“Do you think they’re okay?” I ask, worrying my lip.
Aiden, who was about to lower his body over the side of the roof, stops and turns around to look at me. Putting a hand on each of my cheeks, he says, “They’re fine. The Beasts don’t want to draw any more unwanted attention their way so they won’t hurt them.” He continues to stare at me until I nod my head in agreement.
Letting go of my face, he braces himself on his forearms and lowers himself over the side of the building before dropping the remaining distance to the ground.
“You go next, love,” Ty says, giving me a soft smile as I lower myself over the edge, feeling Aiden’s hands as he runs them up over my skirt and around my hips, securing me and lowering me to the ground.
“Normally, I’d love having you pressed up against me like this,” he growls in my ear, giving my earlobe a quick nip and making me flush before pulling away.
Ty drops our school bags down next, before dropping to the ground in a smooth, agile move. As soon as his feet hit the ground, we’re moving again, quickly making our way back to the school, all of us keeping our guns out just in case.
As we’re running across the football field, I glance up to the window on the second floor where I thought I saw someone watching us the other day, but there’s no one there now. Was I just imagining it? Hell, maybe I’m going insane. How else could Kirk have known how we were getting in and out of the school, though?
None of us slow until we’re back in the school, the outer door banging shut behind us.
“Fuck, that was close,” Ty pants, leaning his hands on his thighs as he bends over, trying to regain his breath.
“Come on, let's get to the library,” Aiden says, glancing around him, warily. He’s right to still be tense and on guard. We’re not safe yet. I doubt Kirk will come storming into the school, but we have a whole different set of problems within these walls that we need to keep an eye out for.
We don’t say anything more as we head back to the library. Pulling my phone out of my bag, I find several missed calls from Preston and Barrett. Seeing their names fills me with a sense of relief.
“Holy shit, are you guys okay?” My eyes snap up to the voice, as we round the corner. A grateful smile gracing my lips as I find a stressed out looking Preston and a relieved Barrett running towards us.
“Thank god you’re okay, we were worried when we couldn’t get through to any of you,” Barrett sighs, wrapping his arms around me, enveloping me in his warm embrace. That sense of comfort he exudes settles over me, calming my erratic heartbeat.
“What the hell happened?” Preston snaps. “Someone slashed our tires.” Anyone would mistake his tone for anger, but now that I’ve gotten to know him better, I’ve come to recognize that he uses his anger to cover up for his softer feelings. That’s why—although he sounds pissed—he’s not glaring at the guys like he wants to rip their heads off. He was concerned about us.
I open my mouth to explain our eventful afternoon to them, when Aiden cuts me off. “Let’s get into the library first, we can discuss it there,” he says, once again glancing around us to check we’re alone.
Grabbing my hand, he takes off down the hall towards the library, all of us on alert as we follow him. I’m half expecting Kurt to jump out at any moment. Entering the library, Aiden and Ty check the stacks to make sure we’re alone before locking the door and we all sit at one of the tables.
“My father’s men were waiting for us when we got to the road,” I tell them as soon as we’re seated. “They chased us through the forest back to the school.”
Barrett’s eyes widen in shock as Preston grinds his teeth together, his hands clenched into tight fists as he struggles to control his anger.
“How did they know where to find you?” Barrett asks, his brows furrowed as he tries to put the pieces together.
“Isn’t that the question,” Aiden growls. Turning to look at him, that calmness he had in the face of danger is gone. Now he looks just as furious as Preston does.
“Someone from school had to have told them,” Ty supplies. “And there’s only one kid here who knows about The Feral Beasts and would willingly sell us out to them.”
“Kurt,” Preston growls, banging his fist against the tabletop.
“Yup,” I sigh, collapsing back into my chair. Things are seriously getting out of hand now. Every time we take a step forward, we end up taking three more back. We’re being attacked on all sides, and I don’t know how much longer we can keep our heads above water. If we were dealing with just Kurt, or The Beasts, perhaps we would have a fighting chance, but trying to fight both of them at once? It’s exhausting and we aren’t getting anywhere with it.
“How did he even kn
ow our route in and out of the school?” Barrett questions.
“I think the better question,” Aiden snarls, rounding on Preston, “is why the fuck he’s even still in town. You said they’d run off when the video went live!”
“It’s only been a week!” Preston fires back, glaring at Aiden. “You need to give it more time.”
“And give Kurt more opportunities to take one of us out? You’re most likely next on his list, rich boy,” Aiden sneers. “And if he’s working with Kirk now, we’re all fucked up the ass!”
“He won’t be working with Kirk. If anything, the fact he’s even told Kirk we’re here shows us he’s desperate.”
“I don’t understand,” I sigh, exasperated and beyond confused.
“Kurt’s a lone wolf. There’s a reason he didn’t go to Kirk and tell him we were here the first day we stepped back into this school,” he tries to explain. “He doesn’t want to get messed up with Kirk. All he cares about is you. He knows by involving The Feral Beasts that Kirk will want you too.”
“But Kurt isn’t willing to give me up,” I finish, not entirely sure whether or not that’s a good thing.
“No,” Preston confirms.
“But why did he go to my father now?”
“He hasn’t been able to get to you with us around,” Aiden says, taking over, his thoughts running along the same lines as Preston’s. “He’s trying to pick us off so you’re an easy target. That’s why he went to Kirk. He knew The Feral Beasts would come for us. If I had to guess, I’d say Kurt was probably lurking out there in the woods today, ready to grab you when we were down, or if we got separated.”
Fuck, that does not sit well with me.
I knew we were being watched, though. I fucking knew it. Jesus, the lengths this asshole will go to!
“What the hell are we supposed to do now?” I groan. “Hide away in the warehouse?”
“We can’t just lock ourselves up in there and wait for this all to pass,” Barrett says softly, rubbing soothing circles up my back.
“He’s right,” Ty agrees. “We just have to play this smart. We’ll find another way in and out of the school. For now, all of us need to remain on alert, pay attention to our surroundings and stick together.”