I'm so ready to get the fuck out of here and away from all these toxic people. I step backward and crash into someone's large body. When I glance over my shoulder, I realize that with Josslyn's distraction, Noah has managed to catch up to me. His scent overwhelms my senses, and the look on his face is hard to read. Is that pride shining in his eyes? Why would he be enjoying this? Is he such a sadistic monster that he's receiving pleasure from us fighting over him?Of course he is. Haven't you been paying attention, you idiot? He thrives on your pain and suffering that he causes. It’s dessert for him, sweet and tasty.
He invades my space, his fingers splaying over my ribcage, as his deep voice rolls over me, causing a shiver to race down my spine. "Well done, sweet baby girl. I like this new version of you." He raises his other hand and makes a show of rubbing his lips with the fingers that had been inside of me, and my face flushes hot. "I'll be dreaming of your sweet pussy tonight, Cordelie, as I stroke my cock. Will you dream of me too?" I can't believe he just said that, with Josslyn just a few feet away from us. He's such a cold-hearted prick that he doesn't care who he's hurting, me, her, or himself, it's all one and the same to him. Now I'm ashamed of myself for giving him what he obviously craves.
"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!" A scream rips through the room, and people push off to the side as someone stumbles to the ground. My spat with Josslyn, and Noah's crude words, are momentarily forgotten as I dart forward to try to help, knowing I have first-aid training. I push through the crowd of drunken partygoers until I reach a guy down on the floor who's convulsing, his eyes rolled back into his head,and struggling to breathe. Jesus fuck, that's Tyler, one of Sly's football teammates.
"What did Tyler take?" I demand of the guy down on the floor with him, and his frightened brown eyes meet mine as I drop to my knees. The hardwood is sticky under my palms, my dress riding up my thighs, and I'm painfully aware of how exposed I am and how everyone can see me.
Someone screams his name. Someone else is shouting to call nine-one-one, but no one seems to move. It's as if they're all frozen in this horrible state. Tyler's skin has a slight bluish tinge, and I'm almost positive his chest isn't rising. I reach forward, my hand trembling as I press my fingers to his neck, and nearly sob with relief when I feel something faint, and barely there. My stomach flips, and my ears start ringing.Okay. Okay, I can do this. I just need to tune everything else out.
"I don't know, I just got here. He was drinking beer and took a couple of shots of vodka with me, but I didn't see him take anything else!" The guy on the floor panics as Tyler continues to struggle to breathe. There's no way that just the alcohol is causing this. I check his mouth to see if he's choking on anything, but I don't see anything. "Fuck! Is he going to be okay?"
"I... I don't know. We need to start CPR. He's not breathing." I place my hands over each other and on his chest, right where they taught us in the class I took in my first year. I press the heel of my hand in the center of his chest. I hesitate, panic flowing viciously through me. What if I do it wrong? What if I hurt him? What if everyone remembers this as the moment I cracked his ribs at a party?So worthless, you're going to let him die. You can't do anything right!
I push anyway, not with as much force as I think I should apply, but enough to feel his chest depress as terror whips through me.One, two, three.Please, oh my God, please! I do itagain and again as my arms shake, adding a little more strength behind my attempt. I count too fast, then slow myself down because I know that matters. I think I feel something crack, and bile races up the back of my throat.Fuck, come on!His skin looks clammy, and colder than it should be beneath my hands, and I try not to think about what that means. People are staring without offering any assistance. I can feel it without looking. I catch someone from my peripheral vision with their phone out, but they're not calling for help; they're filming us, and whispers suddenly fill the space around us, along with someone crying behind me. I feel a scream trapped in my throat, choking me. Why is no one doing anything to help? I can't do this alone!
Someone drops to the floor next to me, and it scares me out of my counting, and I lose where I am. A quick glance has me meeting Noah's tense face before I tear my gaze back to Tyler's prone form. I swallow hard and refocus on the rhythm because if I stop, I'll lose it. My breath comes out in little gasps I don't remember taking. "Please," I whisper, not sure who I'm talking to, him or myself. God, where the hell is the ambulance? I'm not equipped to do this, I'm not even sure if I'm doing it correctly.
"Cordelie," Noah's voice rips my attention away from Tyler once more, and I have to bite down on my lip to stop from crying. "You're doing so well, sweet baby girl. Keep going."
Okay, yeah, I can do this.I try desperately to convince myself as I tilt Tyler's head back, lean forward, seal my mouth over his, and blow two breaths past his lips, feeling stupid and terrified as I taste the liquor on his breath. I pull away and go back to compressions, his chest feeling like it's a brick wall as I push down. My shoulders and back are burning, and my arms are already aching. Where is the help? Oh my God, is he going to die?
My mind is divided, thinking about how I must look, kneeling on a beer-soaked floor, hair in my face, hands shakingas Noah kneels next to me, and Tyler's friend sobs. I don't stop, I can't. If I stop, it's no longer panic; it becomes something far worse.Failure.So I count and press, and hope that someone else who knows what they're doing takes over before I run out of strength.
Someone's hand is rubbing my shoulder, but I don't dare look away from Tyler. The crowd suddenly parts again as two large men push their way through and drop to the floor. "We've got it, miss, you've done so well," a male's voice tries to reach me. I keep counting and pressing, and as I lean forward, someone yanks me back by my shoulder. "It's okay now, Cordelie, the EMTs have got it from here, baby."
No! No, I have to save Tyler, I have to do something right. I fight against the hold and try to reach Tyler again, even as my mind tries to work out that I'm seeing someone else already there in my place. Thick arms band around me, forcefully lifting me from the floor and pushing me through the crowd. "NO! I have to save him!" I scream and fight the hold, the panic overtaking me until my breath is wheezing out of me and my heart is galloping in my chest. Faces and the room flash past me as I'm dragged away. I think I can hear Faye's terrified voice screaming for me, but it's as if I'm lost in a tunnel. My chest feels so tight, and I'm starting to get lightheaded as I'm jostled in the arms holding me. My head turns as if in slow motion to look at whose arms I'm in, and I meet Noah's determined features.
One moment, we're inside the party house, and the next, we are outside in the frigid night air, a shiver racing through me as the cold hits my exposed skin. I realize with a start that Noah's been speaking to me this whole time, but until now I haven't heard him. "It's okay, sweet baby girl. You did so well. I'm so proud of you."
No, I can't be here with him. I don't want him to touch me. "Release me!" I scream and push against his hold, forcing himto slow down from wherever he's taking me. The flashing lights from the ambulance and police cruisers get my attention, and my mouth hangs open in shock.
"Never, Cordelie. Do you hear me? I will never fucking let you go," Noah growls, but he's forced to put me down as my fists wail on him. I stumble and almost crash to the ground, and his grip on my bicep is the only thing that is preventing my fall.
"You have to, you have to let me go," I plead, the desperation in my voice evident as I take a few steps away from him and hear Faye screaming for me.
"I'd rather we both take our last breaths together, sweet baby girl, than allow you to live without me." I stare in shock at his features, and realize he's not joking in the slightest. He really would kill us both rather than allow me to be finally free from him.
Fuck, he's insane.
CHAPTER 13
NOAH
I'm watching her take shot after shot from across the club, while the few friends she still speaks with dance around her like drunken sluts. My anger and anxiety are rising at how reckless she's being with herself. She's lucky she has me here watching over her, instead of counting on that stupid, useless cunt of a roommate, who's also trashed. My sweet baby girl is too trusting, believing that humans are inherently good when they're not. You would think she would have learnt her lesson with me, but apparently, she hasn't. It's fine, it gives me a reason to protect her, even if it's from herself.
The music pounds in my ears, and vibrates through my bones, as the strobing neon lights distract me from my target and reason for being here. My friend Will hands me another beer, and I almost down the whole bottle in one gulp as I observe another asshole approaching Cordelie on the dance floor, wrapping his lecherous arm around her small waist, and pushing her into his body as she dances seductively to the music in her skimpy, black, lace dress. The one I want to rip off her, 'cause it's nothing she should be wearing. She fucking belongs to me, and other men don't need to look at her. Everything in mewants to jump over this railing, smash this beer bottle over his head, and thrust it into his throat, so I can see him bleed out before me. Fortunately for him, there are too many witnesses, and unfortunately for me, he wouldn't be the only guy I have to kill here tonight for touching my sweet baby girl.
What the fuck is she thinking? She's making herself vulnerable, and any of these assholes could attempt to take advantage of that. Is she drinking to this excess because that fuckface Tyler died? Like, come on, she barely knew him, why would she let that affect her this way?Um, how about 'cause she's an empathic, decent human and tried to save him, you fucking monster, unlike you, who drugged him.
"Hey, man, where's Joss tonight? You flying solo?" Will yells over the music with a naughty grin. He's no doubt heard from the others about what I've allowed to happen, and is hoping for his shot at the same. People always talk about best friends having your back. I don't have any, and never felt the need to. The closest I ever got was with Cordelie. At best, I have acquaintances I wouldn't murder, but I also wouldn't readily stick my neck out for them either.
A smirk lifts the corner of my lips at his question, as I take another sip. "Yeah, she's indisposed at the moment. She stayed home." More like she could barely walk with how sore she was, so there was no way she was coming out dancing, and that was just fine with me. I needed a night away from her toxic ass. It's getting harder and harder to control my urges to hurt her, and I would hate for her to end up dead one of these nights.
I watch as the creep from the dance floor grabs Cordelie's hand and leads her to the bar area for a drink. I have to crane my neck and lean over the balcony railing to keep her in my sightline, and that frustrates the hell out of me. I know I'm not doing much to disguise the fact that I'm watching her from others, but I don't care. Let them notice. Who's going tosay anything to me? Not even Josslyn would dare at this point, especially after what I made her do after the party where Tyler overdosed.
She thought she was so smug, going after Cordelie, embarrassing her, and trying to make her feel small. She was singing another tune, or more like sobbing, after I was done with her.
"Open, Joss." I shove the gag in her mouth and tightly fasten it behind her head, ensuring I pull on strands of her hair when I do. The sound of the little cry she makes causes my cock to harden once more, and a shiver to slide down my back. She doesn't even bother to protest, not after the tongue lashing I've already given her, and the marks she's sporting on her neck from where I choked her out. She's lucky I had the foresight to pull back from the darkness that wanted me to end her once and for all. Stupid bitch deserved it after hurting Cordelie. Everything in me wants to see her blood painting the walls, but I hold on to my restraint. Killing Josslyn in a fit of rage won't help get Cordelie back, and that's my priority.
