Hearts of Darkness: A Valentine's Day Bully Romance Collection

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  I start to get an inkling some major faux pas has been made when the administrator’s hand comes down sharply on Jaeger's shoulder, the fingers gripping, claw-like and indenting the fabric of his uniform blazer. Glancing back at the girl, she looks absolutely petrified from the side profile that I can see.

  "Miss Bream, you'll be attending and assisting at the next meeting. Master Jager here will instruct you on where and when it will be held."

  Lip trembling, the girl tries to apologize, but the administrator only continues to glare stonily at her until she nods and scurries away with her tray gripped in her trembling hands.

  Jag stiffly introduces me to the intimidating man. "Cora, this is Professor Clendon. He's on the Board of Directors for the university. Professor, Cora."

  So this is one of the illustrious board members that had a hand in crafting my contract and one of the senior professors for Mythological Studies as well as the advanced Arcane Practices. I don't know what is up with these people and their obsession with the occult, but I dip my head in acknowledgment and hold up my empty tray with a small forced smile, using it as an excuse to get away from the guy.

  Jaeger excuses himself as well, letting the professor know that he's my escort this evening and has to stay close. The whole exchange was odd, and Jaeger's stilted behavior continues while we fill our trays and escape back to the dorm room with them to eat.

  I take mine to my room, closing the door behind me and making plans to find out what this meeting is about and why the girl will be attending.

  MY SNEAKINESS PAYS off later when the guys start discussing it. I'd managed to leave my phone under the edge of the couch on the floor when I’d crept through the empty living room to put my tray in the kitchenette. It's on and attached to the Bluetooth in my room where the guys’ conversation is streamed directly to my earbuds.

  "Olivia insulted her directly in front of Professor Clendon. There wasn't anything I could do to prevent it. She came up while I was talking to him, and he overheard it. She's been designated as the vessel for tonight's meeting." Jaeger explains what happened in the cafeteria, but I don't know what vessel he's talking about.

  Drake fills the silence. " Can't we get her out of it? And do we really have to do this tonight? I don't know if I can handle this every week. It seems like they're continuously ramping up the schedule."

  I hear Riggs answer him with, "Don't be a fucking pussy, Drake. This is what we're being groomed for after all. Or do you want to be next on the list of vessels? Don't forget where they'll start if they run out of the lower tiers. As it stands, we lucked out by getting Cora."

  Ash cuts in next. "Shut your mouth, Riggs, we're not discussing any more here. The meeting's at ten tonight at the old gatehouse on the unused side of campus. Everything is being held there until further notice. We're to keep our new roommate close and unaware until further orders."

  At this point, the guys switch the subject onto mundane topics, and I pull the earbuds out, letting them dangle around my neck as my head reels with all the information. I make sure to go out and ask about which one will be escorting me to my physical therapy tomorrow, and Ash volunteers, giving a sharp look to Drake when he goes to protest that he can take me.

  Frankly, I'm way more comfortable with Ash doing it, than having to make small talk with Drake on the drive. Before I make my way back to my room, I go to the kitchen to get a glass of juice and purposely drop my earbuds in front of the couch. Surreptitiously, I slip my phone out from under it and into my hoodie pocket, quickly telling the guys goodnight as I shut myself back in my room.

  I WAIT TO DRESS IN dark clothing until it's about time for the guys to get ready to leave. It's nine-thirty before I hear the soft noises of them leaving, and I slip into my chenille robe over the dark clothing. Leaving my tennis shoes in my room, I open the door and yell for the guys, but none of them answer. To be sure, I knock on each door quietly, using the lack of answer to confirm they’re gone.

  Now to figure out how to get out of here without triggering any contingency they may have in place to know if I leave. I try their doors, and the only ones I find open are Drake and Ash's, but I don't want to go into Drake's unless it's necessary and enter Ash's instead. I quickly search his desk and finally hit pay dirt on top of his dresser where he's left his extra key card on a lanyard. I'm guessing his other one is in his wallet, and thankfully he's the more trusting one of the group. As I grab it, I notice one of those tri-fold picture frames folded up, facedown, and out of curiosity, I open it. In two of the pictures, it's Ash and the others, but the third one is of me and him during the short time we'd dated. The fact that he has it out brings up all sorts of questions that I don't have time for right now, so I shelve them for later.

  Sneaking out of the building was fairly easy, and I creep around the campus, trying to stay to the shadows. Checking the map of the school grounds one last time with the glow from my phone while I'm still hidden in an alcove, I make sure I'm headed for the old gatehouse. I'm going to have to get across a stretch without much cover and hope I can go well around the area and come back at it from the side. It's going to add quite a bit of time to my trip, but it's probably the safest route.

  As I continue to creep through the fringes of the wooded area, I stick to the trees where I can avoid stepping on any fallen sticks whose telltale snaps would give me away. I finally come upon the gatehouse, a smallish building with an enclosed courtyard constructed from old brick and wrought iron bars.

  Through the gate facing the woods, I can see there are already men gathered on the weathered flagstones, dressed in black hooded robes. I sneak up behind a shrub and find a chink large enough in the masonry to hunker down in and be able to watch the proceedings. At least they're outside, so I don't have to try to find a way into the building.

  The men in the robes have the hoods pulled up, obscuring their features other than their lower faces, but the dark shadows make it impossible to discern any identifying characteristics. Small LED lamps are hanging around the area, lending an eerie glow to the tableau. It's only a few moments before three more figures with hoods appear from the dark mouth of the building, leading a bound and gagged Olivia. She's dressed in a robe, but this one is red instead of black, and the hood is hanging down around her shoulders. She's blindfolded, but I can tell from her mewling muffled cries behind the gag that she's protesting being there.

  One robed man begins speaking as the young woman is led to a stand of sorts where she's put onto all fours, and her hands are locked into cuffs that are attached to the top of it.

  "Tonight, Olivia Bream serves as our vessel. She willfully defied our covenant of silence and secrecy, directly addressing the Axiom Host and jeopardizing our mission. At least one able member of each coterie will take a turn, leaving the Axiom's to finish." The man gestures a hand toward the semi-circle around him.

  What in the everloving hell are these people smoking? And what the fuck is an Axiom? All the chick did was be a snatch. It's not worth all this.

  Deciding this has to be some insane cult shit, I pull out my phone, making sure the light doesn't come, and start recording. Surely, this counts as grounds to break my contract.

  As the first two that led her there step up to the makeshift altar, because I really don't think it can be anything else, they pull her scarlet robe off, leaving her naked in the cool night air. Despite her unintelligible protests, and my silent ones, one of the men takes a small knife out, carving a shape into her back between her shoulder blades. I can't tell what it is until he rubs a powder in it, and it lights up blue before settling back down into a tattoo of scales.

  I have to muffle my surprised intake of air as I recognize it. It's the same mark that I saw on Kael in the hospital and on Drake’s wrist, but I don’t have time to dwell on it. Olivia shrieks and writhes as it burns into her skin while two more of the robed men break away from the circle. One removes her gag, and the other gets behind her.

  Immediately, she starts yell
ing. "I can't sustain the energy for this, let me up, I'm sorry!" She breaks into sobs when the response she gets is a dark chuckle from one of the hooded figures.

  "That's quite the point of this exercise, my dear. Don't worry, your family will understand when they're compensated and informed you carried out your duties as a vessel."

  Olivia begins to struggle in earnest, and while I don't know what any of this means, I'm sure it can't be good. And I'm right, I discover, as the men drop their robes, revealing two of my professors. The one in front takes advantage of her open mouth as does the other from behind.

  I turn my head in horror, unable to watch what is happening, and try to figure out how to quietly sneak away from here and call the police. My plans are thwarted when several of the group stand in front of my position on the other side of the wall. I'm hidden under the bushes but getting out without alerting them and making my escape feels impossible. And there's no way I want to find out what they'd do if I get caught.

  BY NOW THE TWO MEN are finishing what they were doing, and the scales on Olivia's back are lit up a glowing blue. I'm trying to figure out how they're doing it when matching ones on the inner wrists of the men light up as well. They step away when they're done, and the first man speaks again.

  "Master Drake, you will take your turn as will Master Jaeger."

  So, they are here! Deviant pigs.

  "Uncle, I cannot, as I am bonded." Drake's voice trembles slightly from the recess of his hood as he faces who I now realize is Damien's father.

  Damien Sr. is an asshole, but I'd never thought he was this big of one. And what does Drake mean by bonded?

  "The bond doesn't prevent you from using her mouth, nor Master Jaeger her rear. Bonds only apply to the use of another's cunt." The man is insane as well as beyond vulgar.

  Drake and Jaeger drop their robes, completely nude in the courtyard. Jaeger is still as pale as earlier, his features resigned, and when I focus on Drake's face, he seems much the same. Almost robotically, they approach the girl, and three more come up and drop their robes. One hands off a tube to Drake before he and the other two stand off to the side. I don't get the sense that they'll actively be participating, but now I can see on all their wrists the same scales as the others. Drake rubs whatever liquid was in the tube on his flaccid dick and passes it to Jaeger who does the same, both achieving erections swiftly.

  With a look of distaste, they take their positions, and Drake places his member into Olivia's mouth, holding steady to the sides of her face.

  I feel a pain in my chest that he would try to be friendly and then come here and rape a female on command. One that obviously isn't interested in getting it in this manner, and the same goes for Jaeger even if he's been a dick. I didn't think he would go as far as something like this as I watch him push Drake out of the way to plunge his well-endowed self several times back and forth in Olivia's mouth, getting it wet.

  From my vantage point, I can barely hear him addressing her. It's in a familiar manner, and I wonder if they were an item as I remember her on his lap just a few days ago.

  "This is all the lubricant you're going to get, so make it count. I didn't come prepared for this."

  He pulls out, coated in saliva, and moves around behind her. Spreading her cheeks, he spits down between them while Drake resumes his spot. He holds her head tightly, and Jaeger sinks slowly but steadily into her backside despite her squealing protests. I have my mouth covered in horror and nearly forget to keep the camera in position. I'll need the proof of what they're doing to report them and try to keep that forefront as I count down the minutes to getting out of here.

  It doesn't take either of them long to get off, and the scales on their wrists, and on the other three who watch with dead stares, light up to match the larger version glowing on Olivia's back. She begins to sag between them until they're all that's holding her up with Jaeger’s hands on her hips and Drake’s on her head.

  The scales glow brighter as their movements culminate in a crescendo of light and they pull out, trailing their fluids. Riggs steps forward with a formerly unseen blade, pulls her head back by her hair, and swipes it across the girl's neck, resulting in a spray of red across the altar and the area under it.

  Olivia slumps down, staring sightlessly when Riggs backs away. All the men silently put their robes back on and, except for my five roommates and Drake's uncle, file into the guardhouse while I try not to have a panic attack and furiously wipe the tears from my face. The guilt is heavy. No matter that I couldn't have known what their endgame was. The girl had been rude, but it didn't warrant this. The guys are rapists and murders, and I'm living with them. And the staff is in on it.

  Drake's uncle addresses the remaining members. "The meeting will commence inside once this is cleaned up."

  He leaves the five, who I'm positive are Drake and company, in the courtyard while he goes into the gatehouse.

  WITH THEM OCCUPIED away from my wall, I very quietly sneak out from behind the bushes and make my way as quickly as possible back to my dorm room. As soon as I'm safely inside my room and Ash's keycard is back on his dresser, I send the video to an email I don't use and delete it from my phone.

  I don't know how I can explain any of what went on to the police, and first I would have to get off campus as I'm positive being here when it went down wouldn't go well. But surely something of this magnitude would break my contract and put away all of them involved. Except I don't know who several of them were as they never took their robes.

  While I debate the morality of waiting and trying to find out more, I shower, trying to scrub the feelings from my skin. A niggling voice is telling me that these men are powerful, and the police could very well have been there tonight for all I know. The reach of the university is no secret, and I'm directly under their thumb. I don't understand what went down tonight, but I know it involved me.

  I go to bed where I have a hard time falling asleep, but I don't dare take any medication in case something else happens. I'm beginning to connect the dots, but I don't yet have a full picture, and I'm not sure exactly where I fit into this other than I'm determined not to end up like Olivia had tonight.

  THE NEXT DAY I'M ON autopilot, feeling much like a zombie after my restless night. I'd heard the guys come in sometime around 1 a.m., and even though their manner is subdued, they're radiant. Their hair and skin glow, almost luminously, and I somehow know that they hold that girl's life force in them, that it's her energy they stole. And with those scales on her and them and on Kael, I know there's something they're hiding. I act as normal as possible while I make plans to find out what they've done.

  After classes are over for the day, Ash drives me to my appointment back in the city. I have my therapy, and while I'm doing better, I'm not getting a full release yet. I hadn't expected one, and it gives me more opportunities to get off the school grounds.

  When I'm done setting up my next several appointments, I go up to the third floor where they have rehab for long-term in-patients. I sometimes volunteer my time here, and I know I won't be able to stay with Ash waiting on me, but I can still go up and say hello at least.

  Debbie at the front counter smiles and waves at me.

  "Go right on ahead, Cora. We've been wondering when you were coming back."

  "Thanks, Debbie!" I return her wave and walk into the room at the end of the hall. Sitting down in the chair next to the bed, I smooth the hair back off the occupant’s forehead; it's grown out quite a bit.

  "Don't worry, baby. I'll find out what they did to you, and I'll make them pay," I promise Kael as I place a soft kiss on his sleeping face.

  The End. For now...

  Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review.

  Hit and Run- Part Two is available now on pre-order! Hit and Run: Part Two

  About the Author

  EMMA COLE IS AN INDIE author that writes across the genre board. Nothing is off limits, so that means mature audiences only.
From light and fluffy to down and dirty—if it strikes her fancy and has a story to tell she’s on it.

  Want to stalk the author? You can catch her on most platforms here: Stalk Emma

  Other Works by Emma Cole

  Remington Carter Series

  Echoes and Entanglements

  Requiem

  Clarity

  (coming soon)

  The Dark Duet

  Lark

  Nightingale

  (coming soon)

  Death Dealers- Serial

  Episode One

  Episode Two

  Episode Three

  (coming soon)

  Wicked Reform School Series

  Avarice

  Bound to Change: Limited Edition Shifter Spring Collection

  (Darkfyre by Emma Cole)

  Purr-fect Portrait: A Pet Play Short Story

  GHOSTED BY YOU

  Tiegan Clyne

  About Ghosted by You

  Miller College's Parapsychology Department has a student-run ghost hunting group that's all the rage on basic cable. The third season is about to begin filming, and the producers want to up the ante. The three macho, pseudoscience brosephs are about to be joined by a very female psychic, Emma Ray.

  The team is instantly resentful of her presence on their show, and they've made it very clear that they don't believe in psychics. They're going to give Emma the hardest of hard times until they can expose her as a phony.

  They're going to learn that Emma is the real deal, and that it's not always wise to bully a psychic when you don't know how many ghosts are in her posse...