"Hold up, I'm coming too! If Olly is in danger, I need to save her," Sim roars as he and Cross quickly catch up to us. Jesus fuck, he thinks he's Prince Charming coming to save the princess, what is this a Disney movie? It's on the tip of my tongue to tell him to fuck off, when Cross cuts me off before I can utter a syllable.
"Right now, none of that matters. Finding my stepsister is the priority, and we can use anyone who can shoot and fight." Cross shoves past Sim, River, and me, to lead us in the direction of the school parking lot. Well, fuck me, I guess Sim is temporarily a part of Mayhem. Let's hope he gets shot first, but not until we find my unhinged princess. I want her to watch him bleed, and take his last breath.
What's that line? Oh yeah,one for all, and all for one,and all that fucked up jazz. We're coming, little monster, just hold on.
CHAPTER 48
OLLY
After my encounter with River, I'm out of sorts, and my mind is reeling as I walk aimlessly around campus. I should be focused on Rawdon, and getting my revenge for Cheyanne and me, and all the helpless girls he's probably abused over the years. Instead, I'm feeling exposed and fragile, and I'm questioning my damn sanity. How could I have allowed that to happen? The only thing I can come up with is that somehow these men are giving off a pheromone that temporarily disables my cognitive abilities. I know it's far-fetched, but how else can I explain everything that's happened, and how I've allowed them to do things to me that a sensible person would never?
I come to a stop when I realize that I've walked so far across campus, in a distracted daze, that I'm now close to the deserted football stadium, and there are no other students in sight. The air feels cooler here, with the lack of sunlight breaking through the thick aspen trees, and a shiver wracks my body at the memory of being recently in a different woods. Birds squawk overhead as they fly away, but other than that, the only sound filling my ears is my rapid heartbeat. I don't know what has me spooked, but I'm going to trust my intuition: something isn'tright here. I glance around with apprehension, but I don't see anything but trees, bushes, and the stadium parking lot just ahead. Still, the hairs on my arms are standing on end, so I need to be wary.
I'm just about to turn back the way I came from when two large men, all in black, wearing balaclavas, slip out from behind two of the large trees. One is pointing a gun directly at me, and another is gripping a large butcher knife that glints in the meager sunlight.Oh fuck!
My stomach clenches with dread at the realization that I'm in real danger, and these guys are going to hurt me. I don't hesitate to take off at a run, and instantly hear their heavy footfalls behind me as they give chase. My heart pounds fiercely in my chest as I try to take in air, but my lungs and ribs protest the movement. I'm still healing from the shit in the forest with those three assholes, and that makes me slower. I don't bother to scream for help, because no one ever answers that. Instead, I scream, "FIRE! BOMB!" Hoping desperately to catch anyone's attention.Fuck, please, someone help me!
My toe snags on a crack in the concrete sidewalk, and I almost lose my balance, my school bag flying from my shoulder and hitting the ground. It's enough to give the one with the knife an advantage to reach me, and he instantly strikes out, slicing at my arm, and cutting through my hoodie. The sting of pain notifies me that he's managed to get through the thick fabric, and reach my skin, wetness slipping down my arm.Fight back, Olly! Strike him in the nuts, punch anywhere, get in your defensive stance!
"You shouldn't have run, bitch!" He growls as he slices again, and misses my face by millimeters. I try to use my legs to attack him, and to gain some distance between us, but before I can do more than kick his hip, the other one is on me and punches me hard in the back of the head. My body crumples forward, theworld spinning in my vision, as a pained cry explodes from my lips, and my knees and palms meet the rough ground.Get up, get on your feet now!
"Get her hands!" A gruff voice demands, and my arms are stretched backward until I feel like they'll pop from their sockets, and I'm forced to my knees as my back bows. "It's time to have a little nap, princess. If I were you, I would hope I don't wake up."
The other one laughs like a monster as I try to fight his strangling hold on my arms, and regain my feet, only to be shoved back down harshly with a knee in my back. "Whatever she did to piss him off, she's going to wish she had never been born. I almost feel sorry for her."
I feel a sharp sting in my neck, and out of the corner of my eye, I spot a syringe in the gunman's hands. "No! FUCK, NO! HELP!" I scream, but he slams his meaty paw across my face, blocking my nostrils, and sealing over my lips. I try to use my teeth to bite at its surface, and get a punch to the side of the head when I bite down on his sweaty flesh.
"Hey, he said she had to be alive! Be careful, fucker, or we're going to be the ones in trouble!" The guy behind me snarls, as my vision starts to dim and I lose all ability to hold myself up.
"He never said she had to be in one piece, or conscious now, did he?" The other one growls with annoyance.
Rawdon,my mind supplies, he must have figured out it was me somehow, and sent these two goons to grab me. Of course, the fucker wouldn't do his own dirty work. I attempt one last effort of trying to bash my head into the one behind me, but it fails, hitting nothing but air, and my head lolls on my neck like a wet noodle. The hand is removed from my face, and I force myself to suck in a ragged breath of clean air, as the world begins to darken, and my head slumps forward. In this moment, I wish any of the guys were here with me. They wouldn't let these two fuckers hurt me. No, that pleasure is solely reserved for them."Crosss... Ri... ver... Dam... on... Siiimmm," I slur, in hopes that it will somehow summon them.
"Let's go, he's waiting," one of the goons utters, and the world goes black, as I feel one of them picking me up and throwing me over their shoulder in a fireman’s hold. My head bounces against his broad back, and drool slides up my face toward my eyes due to my inability to control my lips.
Fuck, I'm going to die. I'm sorry, Cheyanne, I failed.
I awake groggy, to the sound of some sort of horn blowing nearby, my eyes refusing to open wider than a slit, and my body trembling with cold. My shoulder cramps, causing pain to shoot up my sore neck, and when I try to adjust myself to get into a more comfortable position, I'm instantly alerted to the fact that I can't move; something is preventing me. I force my eyes open wider, swallowing a moan, and other sounds reach my ears. Men's voices are low and angry, arguing with each other. The wind howls against whatever I'm in, and what I think might be the sound of water somewhere close by.Where the hell am I?
Dimness greets my vision. The space I'm in lacks any windows or natural light. Just dark, rough walls, and a dirty concrete floor present themselves, adding to my confusion. Up ahead, there seems to be a spotlight of some kind, and shadows, but when I try to focus on it, my stomach lurches, and bile rises up the back of my throat. I try to lift my hands to swipe away the sour drool that's running down from the corner of my mouth and coating my chin, but I quickly realize why my shoulder hurts. My arms are strapped behind my body tightly, attached to the metal chair I'm sitting on. I try to kick my legs out, onlyto see that they, too, are tied to the chair legs. No, this can't be happening, not fucking again.
At least this time you're not running naked through the woods,my mind supplies, and I quickly do an inventory of my clothes situation, and focus on my lower regions, to determine if I've been raped. A deep, relieved sigh fills me when I discover I'm still wearing my clothes, and although my body is filled with aches and pains, I don't think I've been violated, at least not yet.
The moments before blacking out replay themselves in high definition in my mind, and panic instantly assails me. The two masked men in black attacked and drugged me. They kidnapped me from campus, and now I have no idea where I am, or who has me.Rawdon,this has to be that fucker's doing. Somehow, he found out that I was behind all the social media posts, and everything else that has been happening to him, and this is his revenge. Forget getting my vengeance on that monster when I get loose from here, I'm going straight to murder. He wants to play these games with me. Let's see what he does when I rip his heart out and make him eat it.
"Ah, finally the stupid bitch is awake, now we can proceed," a male voice I don't recognize calls out from farther away, and the sounds of multiple footsteps approaching get my attention. A stocky man with a large, round, protruding stomach, in an ill-fitting, ugly brown suit with a plaid tie, steps forward into the meager light, and instantly, more lights turn on, pointed at us, forcing me to squint, and swallow the groan of pain that tries to flee my lips. I force myself to take a look around at where they’re holding me, and discover that it's some dingy and empty warehouse. I stare up at him, taking in his sweaty, pale complexion, round face, and barely there chin, small, dark blues that are too close together, and the ridiculous porn mustache he has on his face.Who the fuck is this guy? Where the hell is Jacob?
Another man steps into the light, and all the oxygen in my lungs flees, until a gasp sounds loud in the air around us. "Hello, Olivia, I wish we weren't meeting like this. I did warn you, stepdaughter, to behave yourself respectably, and abide by my rules." Gerald Weyburn, my asshole stepfather, stands next to the man in the ugly suit, a look of rage and disappointment across his features, as his dark brown eyes bore holes into me. He leans down until he's at eye level with me, and I notice the lines of strain around his mouth and eyes. I once thought this man handsome, like his son, but now I see him for what he truly is, a disgusting monster.
"I did warn you, Olivia, more than once, that there would be consequences to your actions. You reap what you sow, daughter, and it's now time to pay up for what you've done."What I've done?I'm so confused. Is he talking about Jacob, or me fighting and humiliating Cross and his friends? He can't be doing this just ‘cause I slept with Sim, can he? “I’m disappointed in you, Olivia. We could have been a family, but you had to ruin it with your violent ways.”
A high-pitched noise catches my attention, and I force myself to look away from my stepfather and to the shadowed side. Without the bright lights, I would never have noticed a second person, closer to the metal wall, strapped to another chair. It's a large male, but his face is so covered in blood, and swelling, that there's no way for me to tell who he is from this angle. For a moment, I worry it's one of the guys, but the body size is wrong, and doesn't fit any of their physiques. "Who... is... that," I croak, my lips dry and cracking with my efforts, until I can taste a hint of copper.
The same large man chuckles, as if my question amuses him. "Surely, girl, you recognize my useless son, after all, you've caused me so much trouble because of him."What? What son? Who is that?Dread slides up and down my spine, and I'mno longer sure I want to know the answer. I wiggle in the chair, desperately trying to loosen the restraints, and my actions receive a raised eyebrow from Gerald, who watches me intently as I struggle.
"Let... me... go," a pained voice begs from the other chair, and I instantly recognize it as Jacob Rawdon's.
"You see, Olivia, with your mission to destroy Jacob here, you've caused Governor Rawdon a lot of trouble. I'm not saying your actions were unwarranted, but that can't continue. We can't allow you to stir up messes, and bring to light things that are best left in the dark, and forgotten." Gerald reaches out and swipes at the blood on my lip, wiping it on my pants as if somehow the sight of it offends him.
