“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Caleb says tightly, trying to hold onto his pride, but I can hear the tremor underneath.
“Oh, you will.”
I grab Josh by the hair, wrench his head up, and slap him again. And again. Each hit is deliberate. Precise. I’m not lashing out—I’m delivering pain with intent. Blood sprays from his nose, his lip splits open. His cries blend into the wet smacks of impact.
Caleb twitches beside me.
I sense it before he even moves.
The moment he tries to rise, I backhand him hard, sending him crashing down again.
I crouch in front of him, eyes locked with his.
“You try to get up again,” I whisper, voice low, sharp as a blade, “and I will rip your arms out of your goddamn shoulders with my bare hands.”
He doesn’t move.
I rise again and turn back to Josh, lifting my hand once more.
He breaks before I even touch him.
“Wait! I know. I know what you’re talking about!” he gasps, blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth, eyes wide with panic. “It’s Lucas… It’s about Lucas, isn’t it?”
I pause.
Josh is shaking. His face looks like meat someone forgot on a butcher’s block.
Caleb blinks in confusion, then his face shifts. Realization sinks in, slow and sickening.
“You’re here because of Lucas?”
I tilt my head, letting a cruel smile pull at my lips.
“Nice of you to finally catch up. What gave it away?”
Josh swallows.
“I—I don’t know…” He shakes his head slowly, “I just have this feeling ever since that day we were all going to face the karma for what we did…”
“Alex. Six minutes,” Maksim’s voice crackles through the earbud, calm as always.
I sigh. “Hurts me,” I say, stepping closer, “that I don’t have more time to play.”
Josh is crying now. It’s loud, snot-nosed, pathetic.
“Please… I didn’t mean to. They made me—”
“I wasn’t even there,” Caleb cuts in, breathing hard, eyes darting for an exit that doesn’t exist. “I swear I went home. I didn’t touch him.”
I cock my head, unconvinced. “Oh, you touched him.”
My voice drops lower. “All of you did.”
Their eyes flick to my hand as I pull the knife free. The glint alone is enough to make Caleb flinch, but he still tries to rise.
Bad choice.
He doesn’t make it halfway up before my boot sends him back to the ground. He grunts, and I jam my boots between his legs, hitting his balls and penis so hard. He curls in on himself, but I don’t stop.
