by Liv Reid
“Dammit,” I mumble and lean back in my seat. I lean back too hard, and it smacks loudly against the wall behind me.
Two people in the row in front of me turn around and shush me. Oh, so now you turn around?
Objectively, I’ve always realized Logan was attractive. He’s tall and muscular with pouty lips, a strong, handsome face and expressive eyes. But I was never really attracted to him. He was always an asshole to me. It always seemed like he hated me, so that kind of killed any lingering feelings of attraction I may have had.
But seeing him like that, writhing in the seat close to me, looking at me while he was getting off, I’ve never been more turned on in my life. Fuck. No. No. No.
I can’t be attracted to Logan Aston. There’s no way.
Please, no. I silently beg, but I can’t lie to myself when my core is tingling just thinking about watching him come.
I spend the rest of the lecture in agony, trying desperately to pay attention and get my mind off that asshole. But I barely absorb any of the course material. When the professor dismisses us, I rush out of class and back to my dorm room, hoping that Everly isn’t there.
A few days later, there’s another Dark Society meeting. I’m dreading it, as Everly and I get ready. She’s letting me borrow another one of her dresses, and I’ll have to think of a way to pay her back. She’s been so nice to me.
This event is an annual party for Dark Society alumni, so it’s more formal. I’m wearing a long silver gown that hugs my curves and shows off the little bit of cleavage that I do have. Everly convinced me to wear heels, which I know I’m going to regret in about an hour. She’s wearing a short, dark blue cocktail dress and sky-high stilettos, and she looks amazing.
We make our way across campus, both of us leaning on each other for support with our heels this time. We don’t go through the mausoleum entrance but just walk straight up to the front door of the house. Everly says the creepy entrance is just for special occasions.
I didn’t get the chance to properly look at the house before—since I was too busy running away, but I look now and realize I walk by it almost everyday on my way to class. It’s a huge old mansion right in the center of campus. I remember thinking how beautiful it was before I knew it was the Dark Society’s headquarters, now it’s taken on a sinister taint.
We’re greeted at the door by someone who I assume is a butler based on the way he’s dressed. He takes our coats and leads us inside. This club really goes all out on decorations, I think, as I look around in awe. It looks nothing like it did when I was here for the masquerade. Now it looks like a formal, modern, very expensive party. There are dozens of people mingling over glasses of champagne and dressed in clothes that cost more than a year of my rent.
“Drink?” Everly asks the second we get inside.
“Please,” I say desperately. I’m going to need to drink heavily to get through this night.
After quickly downing our first drinks, we grab another and start walking around. It’s the same situation as last time where a bunch of people start talking to Everly and I’m left out. I just drink and stand next to her awkwardly.
“Hello.”
I look around and realize someone is speaking to me.
“Oh, hi,” I answer, a bit surprised.
He’s an older man in his early sixties, with almost no hair and a very large gut that sticks out in front of him and keeps brushing against me as we talk. I keep moving so he won’t touch me, but that just encourages him to keep coming closer.
He makes small talk with me, asking about my studies and how long I’ve been a member of this group. I’m not really sure how to answer these questions. Do I tell him I’m just at this school because of charity? Should I be honest and say I’m forced to attend these meetings and that I’d rather be back in my room studying for the millions of assignments and tests I have coming up? That I think all of this is a waste of time?
I end up just giving him very vague answers, and that seems to satisfy him. He wants to talk about himself anyway, so he quickly changes the subject to that, and I’m relieved.
“And you’re such a beautiful girl,” he says, and I do a double take. Ohhhh, so this is that kind of conversation.
“My studies are more important to me than my looks.” I try to deflect without being rude.
“But you can’t deny your physical beauty. It’s a gift, dear. You should be grateful. With a body like that you must have all the boys chasing after your skirt.” He winks and looks me up and down.
I open my mouth to tell him off, but then think better of it. I’m not going to risk my scholarship just to put some gross old pervert in his place.
I close my mouth, spin on my heel and walk away before I say something rude back. He deserves it, but I’m not fucking up my future for him. He’s not worth it.
I find Everly and tell her what happened. I point him out, and she makes a face when she sees who it is.
“That’s Byron Ruster. He’s the president of the largest bank in the country, and he’s also known to creep on young women. Stay as far away from him as possible.”
“Will do.” Just as I say it, my attention is immediately drawn to another man in the room.
Logan just walked in.
He’s wearing a dark grey suit, black shirt and burgundy tie. It’s a departure from the normal casual clothes he wears around campus—black jeans, black shirt and black leather jacket. And I can’t help but begrudgingly admit the asshole looks good. I haven’t seen him since I saw him come in Psych class, and I can’t get that image out of my mind.
His eyes instantly land on me, and narrow into hazel laser beams. But I’m not backing down. I keep my gaze steady and that just seems to piss him off even more. A silent war wages between us.
I don’t know why he hates me so much. His father killed mine, I should be the angry one. He probably hates me because he believes the lies his brother told about me. He also probably believes his father is innocent—if he thinks that then he’s an idiot. There’s nothing innocent about the Astons.
Some blonde girl I don’t recognize walks up to him and starts flirting. She’s tall and her head gets in between us to break off the staring battle we are having. I’m relieved. I know it’s childish to have a staring contest, but that’s what happens when you have two people who won’t back down.
I hear a gong from across the room. I spin around to see Rogan by the fireplace, a mallet in his hand and a big smile on his face.
Everly grabs my arm. “Come on. It’s time for the rituals to start.”
“I don’t like the sound of that. This is how horror movies start—and it’s always the poor girl who gets killed in these situations.”
She laughs and drags me along. “Don’t worry, it’s just a dumb tradition. You probably won’t have to do anything, and even if you do, you won’t actually get hurt… Did you notice Logan is staring at you?”
“Hard not to notice.”
I glance back, and, sure enough, he’s flirting shamelessly with the blonde while looking right at me. I turn away pointedly. We are not having a repeat of what happened in our Psych class.
Rogan bangs the gong again, and we all crowd around him. I suddenly notice there are animal skulls painted gold on the mantle over the fireplace.
“Are those real?” I whisper to Everly. She shrugs.
I’m starting to feel uneasy about all of this.
“It’s time to begin,” Rogan announces, and the lights in the room dim.
I look around warily. Everyone is acting like this is normal, and it makes me even more uncomfortable. There are candles everywhere, and they cast the room in a flickering glow. It’s now that I suddenly notice what’s in the paintings on the wall. They are full of creepy hooded figures in dark forests.
It’s completely silent as Rogan starts his speech. “We want to welcome all alumni to witness the new class of the New Fall. We value your wisdom and experience, as we embark on another year in service of t
he Dark Society.”
Despite how uncomfortable I am, I can’t help but recognize how ridiculous this all is. All these important people dressed in beautiful formalwear are listening to Rogan give a cheesy Halloween speech, and everyone is taking it so seriously.
“We welcome the spirits to the celebration.”
Four dark hooded figures step out of the shadows. They look like the one that greeted Everly and I that first meeting when we knocked on the mausoleum door. I take a step back. No one else seems to be surprised by them, and I think that’s a bad sign.
“Who do you sacrifice to the spirits tonight?” A deep voice drifts out from under the hood of one of the figures.
“Her.” Logan’s voice booms out across the room, commanding and leaving no room for argument.
I spin around and see he’s pointing directly at me.
“No!” I shout, but it’s too late.
11
V
Four pairs of strong hands grab my arms.
“What the fuck!” My voice becomes muffled as they put a cloth bag over my head.
I start struggling with all my might, but they are too strong, and I’m at a disadvantage now that I’m blind.
“Rogan, come on. Can’t we pick someone else? She’s new and never done anything like this before.” I hear Everly try to reason with her brother.
“You know it has to be someone new, Everly. And it’s the vice president’s choice. Those are the rules. My hands are tied.”
I hear her sigh, but it sounds far away through the cloth.
“Violet, you’ll be fine. It’s not going to last very long, and it’s just a couple of stupid traditions meant to be scary, but nothing bad is actually going to happen to you… sorry!” she calls to me, as I feel the hooded figures start dragging me away.
I struggle a bit, but I know I can’t escape right now. An ugly thought flashes through my mind that this was all an elaborate set up by the Aston’s to kill me. I then realize how ridiculous that sounds. There’s no way they’d ever murder me. That kind of stuff only happens in movies. And if they really wanted me dead, there were much easier and less incriminating ways to do it.
I hear a door open, and the air is suddenly cooler.
“Down the stairs,” one of my captors says.
I realize with dread we are heading down into the stone hallway. I try to turn back, but I can’t.
I resign myself to the situation. I don’t have a choice. I’m going to have to go down. I start taking the steps one at a time, which is hard because I can’t see, but the people holding on to my arms help me, and we quickly reach the bottom. I realize they aren’t hurting me and are just stopping me from running away. They guide me down the cool corridor.
We stop about halfway, though it’s hard to tell when I’m completely in the dark. I hear the sounds of another door opening then I’m being shoved inside. The hands on my arms are holding me tight, and then I feel a new sensation. They are tying my hands together.
“No, no, no,” I mutter and try to fight against the restraints. “That’s too much.”
“Hey, don’t worry. You’ll be fine,” a British male voice whispers. “This is all for show. You’ll be back to eating canapés and drinking champagne in no time.”
I don’t have much of a choice, so I let it happen, but I flex my fists so they can’t tie it too tight, and if I get lucky, they’ll tie it loose enough for me to be able to slip out. They then force me to sit down in a hard chair and wrap a rope around my waist to tie me to it. Everything is being filtered through the cloth so they sound far away and muffled, but I can hear footsteps and realize my captors are leaving.
The door slams shut and I’m alone. I immediately start trying to wriggle out of my restraints. I think I can trust Everly, so I’m probably not in any real danger, but I still want to get the hell out of here.
It’s just like rich people to have stupid rituals like this. When you don’t have to worry about money, you have to find other dumb things to keep you from being bored.
I’m just about to get one of my hands out, when I hear the door open and I freeze. A second later, the door closes with a soft click, but I know I’m not alone. The person hasn’t made a sound, but I can sense them in the room.
It feels like an eternity passes, but I’m sure it’s only seconds. Time slows to a crawl when all your senses are taken away from you except for one. I’m focusing with all my might to try to hear the other person in here with me.
There’s the sound of a shoe hitting the stone floor, then another. The person is slowly walking over to me. My breathing starts to speed up. Anxiety is building with the suspense of what’s going to happen next. Everly and that British guy told me I wasn’t going to be hurt, and I want to believe them, but every moment that passes makes it harder and harder to remember what they said.
From the sounds of the footsteps, the person is big. They come to a stop right in front of me, close enough that if I had my hands free, I’m sure I could reach out and touch them.
My chest is heaving, and I try to slow it down so I don’t look so scared, but I can’t help it. If this is meant to scare me, then it’s working. I’m so vulnerable in this position. The person in front of me could do anything they want, and I’d be powerless to stop it. I’m at their mercy, and I hate it.
Suddenly, a deep voice breaks the silence. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
He says it quietly, but there’s the unmistakable edge of a threat.
My insides turn to ice water. It’s Logan.
“I didn’t want to come here. You chose me upstairs,” I spit back defiantly.
Now is probably not the best time to challenge him, I’m completely helpless and at his mercy, but I can’t help it. His arrogance just pisses me off. How does he think he has the right to be mad at me? His father killed mine. I’m the one who deserves to be angry.
His voice takes on an edge that slices through me like a knife. “I meant to this school. You shouldn’t have come back into this world where you clearly don’t belong, Poor Girl.”
I hate that he used my nickname from high school. The one his brother made up that everyone used to bully me. I didn’t realize those wounds were still there, but when he says it, my body reacts to it as if I’ve had scalding water thrown on me. I thought I was over what happened to me back then, I’ve been through so many hard things since, but I guess those wounds are fresher than I thought.
“Screw you. I didn’t want to come to this stupid club in the first place. I don’t want to be in ‘your world’ at all. I just want to work hard, get my degree and then get as far away from your fucked-up family as possible. Live my life as a doctor and never think of you again. That’s what I want.”
He takes a second to think it over. Suddenly, I feel warm breath on the front of the bag over my head. I recoil. His face is right in front of mine.
“Is that what you want?” he breathes out, low and menacing.
“Yes.”
“I don’t believe you.”
I can hear him stand back up and walk over to the other side of the room. He starts moving around and arranging something, but I can’t figure out what it is.
“I think you want my family’s money, that’s all you’ve ever wanted—because girls like you, that’s all they ever want. And when you couldn’t get it through my brother, you decided to ruin my father as revenge.”
“What are you talking about?! Your dad killed mine. Your dad ruined himself!” I’m shouting, and my voice sounds so loud echoing off the stone walls, but I don’t care.
I hate Logan. He pisses me off like no one else, maybe even more than his psychotic brother.
He doesn’t answer, and it makes me uneasy. I can deal with angry Logan better than silent and deadly Logan. When he’s quiet, I don’t know what he’s thinking, and that scares me.
He finishes whatever he was doing on the other side of the room and comes back over to stand behind me. He starts untying the knots t
hat tie my waist to the chair. Internally, I breathe out a tentative sigh of relief. Maybe this is over? Everly said these rituals were just meant to scare me and wouldn’t last very long.
But then he leans in close, his warm breath tickling my shoulder.
“Liar,” he whispers in my ear.
Goosebumps erupt all over my arms, and I shiver. The ropes fall to the floor. He grabs my arms and lifts me roughly so I’m standing in front of him. He rips the bag off my head, and I squint. There’s only dim candle light down here, but it seems bright after being in the blackness of the bag for so long.
Logan holds me, his fingers digging into my arms painfully. His handsome face is intense, and he’s staring at me with hatred in his eyes… but something else too.
Lust.
The realization hits me like a slap in the face. I’m shocked. In a million years, I never would have believed he’d think of me that way. He’s always hated me since we were young. I never imagined he would look at me with eyes that burned with unmistakable desire like they are right now.
“You know, I could do anything to you right now,” he whispers. “No one would know. No one would hear you scream.”
Fuck, what is he implying?
“Wouldn’t last long anyway,” I hiss back venomously.
His strong brow furrows slightly in confusion before realization washes over his face as he figures out what I mean. He figures out I’m making fun of him for his lack of stamina in our psych class. The muscle in his jaw pops out alarmingly, and he grits his teeth so hard it looks like he’ll crack his jaw.
He lets out a furious growl and starts dragging me roughly across the room. I have to jog to keep from losing my footing next to his long strides. His fingers dig deep into my arm. I’ll probably have bruises tomorrow.
That’s when I see the coffin.
“No, no, no!” I furiously start to struggle, but Logan scoops me up in his arms like I weigh nothing. He holds me against his hard body. I try to kick him, but it feels like I’m kicking steel.
