by Bella King
I clenched the straps to my bookbag, furious but seriously considering his offer. I needed to make a stand before this went too far. “I’ll go with you if you promise to leave me alone once we talk.”
Jacob laughed. “I’m the one who makes the rules, little Elise. You don’t have a choice, but I’ll keep my word. One talk and we’re done. On god,” he said, crossing a hand over his heart.
I seriously doubted he was religious, but I took his promise in good faith. If he lied to me, I was going to acquire a cannonball and shoot it through his torso. “Okay,” I replied finally. “Let’s go.”
Jacob placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. “You’re not half bad, goth girl.”
I jerked away. “Stop calling me that.”
“Fine.” Jacob waved a hand in the air and suddenly the surrounding people parted like the red sea. We walked out of the school together as the final bell rang, side by side. This was as close to equals as we would ever be. After this, it was over.
Chapter 14
You’ll never reach the sun by following the light of the moon.
“Do you have a light?” Jacob asked, tearing open the pack of cigarettes I had given him like it was a bag of chips and pulling a slender white tube out.
“I thought you didn’t smoke?” I said, fishing around in my pockets for a lighter. I usually kept one on me, even if I didn’t smoke. You never knew who was going to ask you for one.
“I don’t smoke,” Jacob replied, slipping the cigarettes between two slim lips. “But these are menthols. They’re rare around here.”
It figured that Jacob had exceptions to every rule. The more I got to know him, the more I doubted he had any rules at all. He was a madman in the body of a tall handsome stud. There was no reasoning with him, because he didn’t think the way that everyone else did. He was his own man, a rebel, and a terrible person in my eyes.
I pulled the lighter out of my pocket. It was black with some girl’s name etched into the plastic on the side. That was probably the name of the girl that owned it before I stole it. To be fair, it was left on the table too long for me not to take it.
I held the lighter out to Jacob as we walked but he held up a hand. “Light it for me,” he said, leaning down.
I rolled my eyes, flicking the wheel of the lighter to cause a small eruption of fire. Jacob puffed three times and pulled away from the flame.
“Thanks,” he said, taking a long drag in. “Stress is a terrible thing. It’ll eat you up. It’ll have you sleeping in the woods instead of in your bed,” he rambled, winking at me knowingly.
So, he had intended to pay me a visit on Sunday night, but he also knew that I had slept in the woods instead of my bed. How did he know that? Was he watching me?
I felt trapped and uncomfortable in my own skin as Jacob and I walked down the road toward the housing complex. I wondered if that’s where we were going. I looked around to see if anyone was following us.
“They’re not watching you now,” Jacob said. “I told them to go.” He waved his cigarette in the air like he could control the weather with it. “They’ll be back, though.”
He must have been talking about his men. Everything I did, he noticed. He wasn’t even looking at me and he seemed to be peering into my thoughts. How the fuck did he do that? It was like he had eyes peering out of every pore of his body.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“The woods,” Jacob said as he finished his cigarette. “I would like to show you something.”
“Don’t you think that it would be easier if you were more direct? Why do you have to act like this is a game?” I asked. I was irritated by his attitude.
Jacob flicked his cigarette into the road and veered off to the side, waving at me to come with him. I followed him, careful not to get caught on the sharp thorns that adorned the entrance to the woods.
“You haven’t answered my question,” I reminded him once we were walking between trees.
Jacob’s tone was casual and oddly calm. He seemed gentle, yet mysterious in the way that he spoke, choosing his words playfully, as though this was, indeed, all a game for him. “You must have not realized that life is all a game. Where do we go when we die?”
I shrugged. “You’re probably going to hell.”
Jacob threw his head back and laughed, but his laughter seemed off. The only thing more frightening than seeing him angry, was seeing him like he was now. He could go off the rails at any moment.
Jacob grew serious again. “I don’t know where we go, but either way, life is a trip to the end. How could that be anything but a game?”
“Yeah, but people suffer. It’s not fun,” I replied.
“Suffering is a state of mind. Simply put, it’s an illusion.”
I didn’t need a philosophy lecture from a lunatic. I was starting to grow distrustful of his intentions of bringing me out here into the woods alone. I should have been more careful coming out with him like this, but his offer to leave me alone after was too good to resist. I wanted to think that he was able to keep his word.
I heard the sound of water and realized that we were close to the river. I guess Jacob liked to come down here just like I did. Maybe he needed alone time to relax as well. That would certainly humanize him in my eyes.
“Are you familiar with this place?” Jacob asked, coming upon the riverbank.
“I know the river, yes,” I replied.
Jacob nodded, seeming content with my answer. “Do you know what that is?” He asked, pointing to a tree stump.
“Um, a tree stump?” I didn’t know what he was getting at.
“Do you know that it was used to hide some things, and that those things are now missing?” Jacob asked, his voice growing dark as his jaw clenched.
“Are you accusing me of something?” I asked, looking at him as he stood beside me. I was worried that he might push me into the water. He was very close beside me, his hands awkwardly straight at his sides.
“You were here before, watching me,” Jacob said, staring into the water.
I suddenly recognized where we were. This was where the shoeless man came to make a deal with Jacob. He had hidden stuff in the tree stump. Jacob must have used it again later and had something stolen.
I looked at Jacob with the most honest eyes I could muster. “I swear I didn’t take anything from you.”
Jacob chuckled. “You were here by the river over the weekend. I knew it was you because of your perfume. I like it, by the way. It reminds me of fall.” He had an unnerving way of switching topics and throwing me off guard.
“I didn’t take anything,” I said.
“You tried to before as well,” Jacob continued, not acknowledging my protest. “You broke into my locker before. It first, I didn’t know who it was, but your smell lingers. I knew it when I finally met you. What were you searching for?”
I shook my head. I was boggled at how much he knew about me. His senses were sharp, and I knew that I was playing a dangerous game with him now. I needed to cover myself somehow. “Okay, so maybe I broke into your locker. That’s nothing new for me. I came to Lakeshaw for stealing, but I didn’t steal anything from your stump. I don’t want problems with you.”
“But you have problems with me now,” Jacob stated dryly. “You have big fucking problems.” He turned his head to me, Satan himself dancing within his pupils. “You stole twenty thousand dollars from me.”
“What?!” I nearly jumped back. “I didn’t!”
Jacob tutted at me. “And I never beat the shit out of anyone before. Come on now, Elise. We both know the truth.”
I stepped back, afraid now what he would do to me if he really did think I was the one to steal twenty thousand dollars from him. “I didn’t do anything. Really. A bunch of people already knew about that stump, right?”
Jacob shrugged. “You’re my first suspect, because nobody else would be stupid enough to cross me. Bodies float, and this river leads into the water proce
ssing facility ten miles from here. You know, they grind up anything that flows inside. It’s actually a good way of getting rid of stuff.”
“I’m not stupid enough to steal from you either,” I said, my heart making a hell of a lot of noise beneath my ribs. My back was drenched with sweat underneath my bookbag, but most of that was from fear. The heat didn’t make you sweat like I was, droplets dripping from my nose like a raging fever was poisoning my bloodstream.
“You tried to before,” Jacob reminded me.
“Before I knew you,” I tried to reason.
Jacob sighed. “Elise, you’re too beautiful to kill, but you’re also too much of a problem to let run loose around Lakeshaw with twenty thousand bucks. Money like that puts a lot of power in your hands around here.”
“I don’t have any money. I’m not a threat,” I said.
Jacob rubbed the bridge of his nose as though he was beginning to get a headache. “Listen, Elise. The money is missing and I need it back, so either you’re going to give it back to me, or you’re going to find out who has it and get it back. Either way, I don’t care. You’re responsible for it now.”
“That’s not fair,” I said, wrinkling my eyebrows and pouting at him. He was pinning this on me without knowing if I was behind it. He wanted someone to do his investigatory work for him, and he had chosen me to be that person.
“You’re going to get money or I will make your life miserable,” Jacob said simply.
“It already is,” I grumbled.
Jacob’s hand shot out, and he grabbed my arm tightly. Too tightly. It was painful. I tried to pull away, but his grip was like an iron-clad cuff around my small bicep. His eyes were on fire, angrily glimmering in the dead summer heat. “I can make it much worse for you. I promise.”
I wanted to cry, but I held back the tears. There was a lump in my throat and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I took in a sharp breath through my nose and pursed my lips, trying to fight the tears from spilling from my eyes.
Jacob studied my face, his eyes darting from iris to iris. He was waiting for it. I knew he was waiting for me to burst into tears at his actions against me. He wanted more power, but I wouldn’t give it to him.
“Let me go,” I demanded.
“Get me my money,” Jacob said.
“Let me go!” I jerked my body as hard as I could, but it did nothing to combat his tight grip. He acted like a thousand-pound anchor, weighing me into my grim fate of servitude.
“Get me the money,” Jacob repeated.
“Okay, fine. I’ll get your fucking money,” I spat, still struggling against his grip.
Jacob let go, stepping back and relaxing his posture. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
I looked at him in disgust. “Fuck off, creep.”
Jacob chuckled as I took off into the woods, running as fast as my tired feet would carry me back to the housing complex.
He was using me, and I had fallen into another one of his traps. I knew that this wouldn’t end with the cigarettes. Even if I did manage to find his stupid twenty thousand dollars, I wouldn’t be let off the hook. I should have chucked that steel ball through his fucking head when I had the chance.
Either one of his goons took his money, or it was the nasally no-shoes guy looking for revenge. I probably wouldn’t be able to intimidate any of Jacob’s guys, but Mr. no-shoes was going to get the shit kicked out of him at school tomorrow. I wasn’t going to be held responsible for someone else’s mistake.
Chapter 15
Brute force isn’t always the best way to get what you want, but it does help.
My eyes scanned the hallway for some sign of the nasal-voiced man that could be my ticket out of Jacob’s web of tricks. I had a shard of glass tucked into my sock that I had dug out of the garbage when I had gotten home the previous evening.
The metal detector stood no chance against my new weapon of choice, but the cameras around the school were the biggest detriment to my plan. Being a woman, I knew that sniveling losers like my target weren’t capable of handling themselves in the presence of an attractive woman like me and would act unreasonably if asked to for a chance to stick their cock between my legs.
I had to find the guy first. I leaned back against my locker with arms crossed as I scanned the throngs of students rushing out of their class for lunch. He would be here somewhere, and since it was lunchtime, he wouldn’t be in a hurry to get to his next class. It was the perfect opportunity for me to strike.
I saw Jacob weaving through the crowd, but I ignored him. He wouldn’t threaten me again unless I failed to get his money back, but I had already promised to do that. I was safe until Jacob decided that I had taken too long. I wasn’t going to let things get that far, though.
There he was. My target walked like he was afraid someone might steal the contents of his front pockets, hunched over with his thin hands stuffed deep in his jeans. He was a gross guy, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
I slunk over to him, my pleated black skirt pulled up higher than normal to show off my pale thighs. I swung my hips as I walked, like a hooker looking for her next client. I may not have been the sexiest woman in the school, but I knew how to use my charm to manipulate. That’s all it was good for, anyway.
I darted out in front of the lanky man, tripping over his feet and toppling sideways against him. “Oh fuck,” I said, planting my face in his shoulder.
“Sorry,” he said quickly, sidestepping me and trying to rush from the scene.
“Hey,” I said, angry that he didn’t stop.
He kept moving, his long legs taking him far across the hallway. Ugh, did he have to be this socially awkward? It was going to be impossible to get him to talk to me.
I took off after him, unwilling to let him loose. Now wasn’t the time to pussyfoot around things. I had a mission to accomplish by the end of the day. I rushed up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
He twirled around, swinging his bookbag into my face.
“Oof,” I exclaimed, meeting with a hundred pounds of textbooks. I shielded my face with my hands. “Calm down there, honey.”
“What do you want?” The guy asked in his signature nasal tone.
“I just wanted to say hey back there, but you couldn’t take a hint,” I said, puffing my lips up like they had been stung by bees. I looked like a fucking idiot, but men like that couldn’t tell the difference between true love and an erection inducing bitch.
“Hi,” he replied, waving his hand quickly into the air.
“What’s your name?” I asked, thumbing the straps to my bookbag.
“John,” he answered dumbly.
“John? My name is Candy,” I lied, tossing my jet black hair for extra effect.
He snickered. “Sounds like a stripper name.”
I frowned, but quickly remember my act and forced the side of my mouth back into a seductive smile. “I never said I wasn’t one.”
John’s eyes popped from his head, and I could see him trying to figure out if I was telling the truth or pulling his leg.
I didn’t let him get that far. “Do you want me to show you some of my routine?”
John nodded vigorously. “Sure,” he responded, no doubt trying to sound casual.
My smile widened. “Come to the women’s locker room and I’ll show you,” I said.
“Guys aren’t allowed in there,” John said, stating the obvious.
I was growing impatient, but I stuck to the script. “Well I can’t take my clothes off in the hallway,” I said. “That would be silly.”
John nodded, frowning as he processed the lies that I fed him. I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me, leading him into the empty women’s locker room. Nobody was there during lunch. John pulled back a little right before we crossed the threshold into privacy, but I yanked him inside.
Once we were in, I pointed to the bench. “Sit down,” I demanded, my fake smile starting to slip as I came closer to my true intentions.
John obediently sat down on the bench. I could see his erection poking through his slacks. Disgusting. I strode over to him, the smile having left my face, and I bent down, making eye contact with him until I had fished the shard of glass from my sock.
I whipped it up to his neck so fast that he had no time to react. “Did you take Jacob’s money?” I shouted. “Did you?!”
John looked like he was about to faint. There was already sweat pouring from his brow. “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered.
“Oh, so you want me to slit your fucking throat,” I said, pressing the glass against his neck. My blood was boiling. Part of me wanted to kill him just to get some tension out of me. I could sympathize with Jacob a little in this case.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” John said.
“You stole twenty thousand dollars from Jacob, and if you don’t give it to me right now, I’m going to bathe in your blood right here, right now,” I warned. My eyes were daggers through John, and he knew he was in deep trouble.
His hands were shaking. “I don’t have it anymore,” he squeaked.
“Who does?” I demanded, relief washing over me that I had indeed caught the thief.
“I don’t know,” Johns said, unwilling to rat out whoever he had gotten the money for.
My eyes became narrow slits as I dug the glass into his neck hard enough to draw blood. “Tell me or I will kill you,” I said through gritted teeth.
“You wouldn’t,” John said meekly, searching my face for mercy.
I took the shard of glass from his neck and stabbed it into his hand. “Give me a name,” I shrieked, my voice shrill and crazy. I had it in me to kill him and I didn’t want to be pushed.
“Jonathan! It was Jonathan,” John yelped, clutching his bleeding hand.
“That’s you fucking name,” I growled, raising the glass shard up high.
“It’s one of Jacob’s friends. He wanted it. He said it was for Jacob,” John blurted, shielding himself with his bloody hands.
I lowered my weapon. “If you’re lying to me, I am going to cut your eye out,” I said coldly.
