He smirks, not a single ounce of sympathy within his amused stare.
The metal around my wrists loosens, drawing my attention. Severenquickly retightens one cuff around my wrist then swings it toward the flagpole.
“Severen, stop,” I rush out, jerking on my arm.
He doesn’t. Of course, he doesn’t.
Instead, he fastens the other cuff to the pole, effectively chaining me to it.
“Sorry, sweet cheeks,” Rogue drawls lazily. “That dummy up there went through some pretty brutal torture, and I’d hate for all my hard work to go to waste.”
My wild gaze darts around, hopelessly searching for someone to help me. But we’re alone out here, and despite the girls’ curiosity in the dorm, none of them come out to check on me. No police cars pull up from one of them calling, so they must’ve realized the body was fake, that it was yet another cruel trick being played on me.
I’m sure they’re all used to my torment after nearly four fucking years of it.
I keep shaking my head, clinging to my denial that they’re actually going to leave me out here.
“It’s like five fucking degrees outside, Rogue,” I snap. My lungs feel tight, as if the chill has reached the depths of my body, shriveling my organs. It’s getting harder to breathe, and I’m once again overdosing on adrenaline. “Please, guys! You got me, okay? I absolutely panicked and thought this whole thing was real. Dread wins. You don’t have to chain me up outside to prove that point!”
Rogue rests a hand on my shoulder, his stare condescending as he speaks. “Look, babe. There are consequences to accusing our swim team captain of sexual assault in a classroom full of people. What did you expect? You could've cost him the next Olympics Games if they had taken you seriously.”
“But no one fucking does!” I argue heatedly, a humorless laugh sneaking out. “No one has ever taken me fucking seriously, and you know it.”
“Sorry, babe.”
He doesn't sound sorry at all.
I grit my teeth and glower at him, my nostrils flaring as I shove down the tears burning the backs of my eyes. They won’t see me cry again.
With one last smile, Rogue turns to walk away without a backward glance. Severen spares me one, though his expression is as blank as thesheet of snow beneath my feet. Then, he turns away, too.
Just like that, they disappear into the parking lot. Within minutes, they’re driving away in Rogue’s car, leaving me standing here alone, completely helpless to the unforgiving elements.
Now that they’re gone, I let the tears well, once more blurring my vision. My chin trembles as I slide the handcuff down the pole and settle on the cold, hard ground. I slump against the icy metal, bringing my knees to my chest and tucking my free hand between my thighs and stomach. Instantly, the snow soaks through my jeans, turning my ass numb. My shoulder throbs, but the discomfort is nothing compared to the howling wind seeping beneath my clothing into my pores, goosebumps rising and shivers racking my body. My teeth chatter, and I rest my forehead on my bent knees, letting loose a single sob before forcing myself to suck the rest back in.
He wants to break me, but I won’t let him.
I didn’t survive all these years for nothing.
Iwillget back at Dread for this. As long as I survive the night, he’s going to fucking pay. I just might make a liar out of myself and commit real murder. Lord knows he’d fucking deserve it.
But instead of leaving him to freeze, the fucker will burn.
CHAPTER 3
DREAD
Aping on my phone jerks me out of the restless sleep I forced myself into. Only thirty minutes after Rogue confirmed Reverie came back from her shift, he sent another text recounting how she damn near lost her mind when she discovered the mutilated dummy—even more so when they faked her arrest and then cuffed her to the flagpole for extra measure.
Three hours have passed since, and I haven’t been able to settle. My bed is incredibly fucking comfortable, so there’s no excuse for the restlessness clinging to my bones.
I slap my hand over the phone on my bedside table, the bright light piercing my eyes. Squinting, I find a deluge of texts waiting for me. I get them all fucking day, and it doesn’t matter how many times I change my number, it somehow always gets leaked. Which is why I’m terrible about checking them and often avoid them.
Most are from other students inviting me to parties or girls asking to hang out. However, one from my lawyer, Mark, catches my eye. Hesent it earlier today, and I’d forgotten about it.
Mark: I’m here if you need to talk.
I don’t have the capacity to contemplate that message right now, so I find the most recent text from Severen.
