by Lylah James
“If your brain was as big as your ego, maybe you’d been more appealing.”
Maddox grinned harder and then let out a deep chuckle. "I'm not sure about my ego or how big it is, but I can assure you, I got something big here." He cupped his dick and raised a mocking eyebrow.
Annoyed, I pushed away from the wall. He was so goddamn rude, immature and vulgar. "You think every girl wants to fuck you. You really think you're every woman's wet dream, don't you?"
"I know I am."
Maddox moved closer, forcing me to take a step back. He stalked me, coming closer and closer until I was forced to press my back against the wall. I shivered, not because of him I told myself. Because my hair was wet and cold and now that I was plastered against the wall, it only caused my wet blouse to stick onto my back like a second skin.
He leaned forward, bending his head to be level with me. His lips caressed my ear, and it tickled. I went to pull away, but he was quicker. His arms came up, and he caged me against the wall, his palms on either side of my head. He barely touched me, but his body was so close, his heat pressing into me, caressing me and causing a warm flush to spread throughout my body.
My thighs quaked, and my lower stomach tingled with his close proximity. "And you know what? One day I’m going to be your wet dream, too. You'll be alone in bed at night. Picture this, you can’t sleep. My face flashes in front of your eyes and your stomach clenches. Your thighs are spread open and your pussy feels warm and strangely empty. There's an aching need in the pit of your stomach. You won't be able to stop yourself. Your hands find their way into your panties, and you feel how wet you are with your fingers. You bite on your lip to keep from moaning. You touch yourself slowly, a little bit confused. A little frustrated. You'll think: Why can't I stop thinking about him? You’re going to hate it, but you’ll still love it. And you know what you’re going to do?”
My skin was on fire, my body burned, and I couldn’t breathe. My stomach dipped and twisted as the air felt like it was being sucked out of my body.
My heart stuttered when I felt his body pressing into me, finally touching me.
“You’ll finger fuck your pussy while imagining it's me on top of you, pressing against you and it's my cock fucking you. Not your little fingers,” Maddox breathed into my ear, whispering the dirty fantasy as if he was making dirty love to me.
Horrified, I could only blink, trying to remind myself to breathe. He shouldn’t be able to affect me this way, he shouldn’t be able to control my thoughts like this.
I was not weak, no… Maddox… couldn’t…
He pulled away slightly to look into my face. His eyes were so blue, I almost drowned in them. "It won't happen today. Or tomorrow. Or next week. But one day, for sure. And no, I'm not being cocky. Cocky is for boys who don't know what they’re doing. Me? I know exactly what I'm doing. I know for a fact it will happen. Fight it if you can.”
He pushed away from me, and the cold washed over me as if I had been carelessly dunked into the ocean.
I silently gasped for breath as Maddox walked backward, away from me. The look on his face was something I’ve never seen before.
“I dare you, Lila.”
***
I padded barefoot into my room, fresh from my shower and still wrapped in nothing but my fluffy towel. My phone pinged with a message, and I walked over to the nightstand to see it was from Riley.
What time are you leaving?
I typed out a quick message back. I’ll catch the bus in 20 minutes.
The three little dots appeared on my screen, indicating she was typing.
If you want, I can pick you up, and we can go together.
My thumb paused over my phone as I read her sentence. My ears rung with the distant sound of glass shattering and mangled bones. The taste of metallic blood filled every corner of my mouth, and I almost choked on it. Except, there was no blood. I was choking on my own saliva, and the air surrounding me turned heavy, cold…suffocating.
My fingers trembled as I typed back my message to Riley. I can’t. You know I can’t. I’m sorry. I’ll take the bus.
She knew the reason, and I also knew she was only trying to help, but there was no need. I was beyond helping when it came to…
I shook my head, clearing out the blurry flashes in front of my eyes and refusing to think of the night my whole life changed.
Grabbing my blow dryer, I leveled it over my head and made sure to work through every tangled strand of hair with my comb. Once my hair was dry and shining, I made a French styled twin braid on top of my head with twin ponytails. It was cute and made my face look rounder and more symmetrical.
My reflection through the floor length mirror stared back at me. My hand traveled to my chest over my towel, where it was slowly coming undone. The top of my breasts came into view, and my eyes caught the scars. The long, jagged white lines snaked straight down from the middle of my petite breasts.
I let my towel slip through my fingers, the full scar now visible through the mirror. The skin around it was a bit pinker than the rest. It was healed up properly, but I didn’t think it would ever completely fade away. Sometimes it ached, like a ghostly echo of the real agony I went through.
Pain washed over me like a raging storm, and my knees threatened to buckle under me. My eyes burned as tears hung on my lower lashes, and I furiously blinked them away, refusing to cry. My heart wailed, but I refused to shed any tears.
I slowly brought my hand up and lightly brushed it down the scar, tracing the pink-white lines. The tips of my fingers barely touched my skin, and I clenched my hand into a fist, holding back my tremors.
They said I stopped breathing on the operating table – I died for a moment before they brought me back.
I wondered… if maybe, it would have been easier if I really was dead.
But then I remembered… I was alive for them – my parents.
I averted my gaze from the mirror. It has been four years since I got the scars, but I still couldn’t look at them for longer than two minutes. They were a beautiful reminder that I was alive… but also an ugly reminder of that night.
Grabbing my ripped jeans and a matching sweater, I quickly got dressed, so I wouldn’t miss my bus. My grandparents were still at their grocery store, so before locking the door behind me, I made sure to turn on the alarm.
The moment I stepped out, I was thankful the sweater was my first option when the cold air hit me. It was mid-October; the sun was already at the horizon, and the Haunted House opened in less than an hour.
The bus ride was short, and Riley was waiting for me outside the main gate of Berkshire. This year, they used the gymnasium and the outer field as the haunted house. Apparently, it was a big project, and I could see that. Everything looked expensive and… creepy.
Creepy and scary things were not my forte. Hell, I didn’t even watch horror movies because they give me nightmares for months.
Shit.
“I’m not sure I like this haunted house idea, Riley.”
She pulled at my arm, dragging me across the field and toward the fake mausoleum. “Don’t be a scaredy cat. Let’s go. I already paid for our tickets, and it’ll be fun!”
I dug my feet into the grass right before we could pass through the creepy, wooden door. “Wait, Ri–”
With one harsh tug, she pulled me forward before I could contemplate my decision. Okay, that’s it. I’m going to die.
The moment we stepped inside, we were swallowed by darkness, and the screams of previous victims who have entered this dark place. “And if I die?”
“You’re exaggerating,” Riley muttered under her breath.
She wrapped her arm around me and guided us through the darkness. “I can’t even see anything!”
“That’s the point, Lila! It’s called a haunted house for a reason, smartass.”
She was laughing now, but there was nothing funny about this situation. A loud growling sound came from behind us, and I jumped at least two f
eet high. Someone was close, way too close to us. I could feel them stalking us in the darkness, their hot breaths on our neck.
“They’re behind us,” I whispered, my heart taking a dive into the pit of my stomach. The temperature was cold, but I had stress sweats. The air was thick and almost suffocating, or maybe that was just me. My hands were clammy, and I clenched onto Riley’s arm.
She let out a shaky breath. “I can feel them, too. Just keep walking.”
We walked further into the labyrinth looking path. Metal chains clanged close to us, as if someone had been tied to them and they were restlessly pulling at the chains. None of it was real, I reminded myself. They were live humans with costumes and wickedly good make-up.
I peeked to my left and wished I hadn’t.
One very vile zombie man, his face bloodied and disfigured with his eyes pure white, walked out of the shadow, a mere inch away from me, His mouth was opened, and he snarled right into my face.
My lips parted with an ear-splitting scream. Riley jumped, and she let out a shriek, too. Grabbing my hand in hers, we made a run for it.
At each corner, there was a different horror waiting for us.
A bloody clown. Mass zombies. Ax murderers. A creepy nun with a white face and black, rotted teeth. They were snarling and quite terrifying. Another loud shriek came from Riley and I when they reached out to touch us.
They weren’t supposed to get this close, right?
Wrong.
Riley forgot to mention this Haunted House was supposed to give us the real experience. As in, the actors were going to be touching us and getting really close.
“Holy shit balls!” Riley screamed as a seven feet man with a bloody chainsaw came forward. I pulled her arm and guided us to the other corner. We moved from room to room, stumbling through tiny dark hallways as dozens of creepy arms reached out to touch us.
“Are you scared?” I whispered again. The exit was near, I could see the fluorescent light ahead.
Riley didn’t respond but I noticed the change in her. Oh yeah, she was freaked out, too.
My heart was pounding like crazy with my whole body trembling. My knees were weak, and I wondered how I was still standing.
We finally walked through the exit and stepped outside through the backdoor. Riley giggled, although I could tell it was forced. She was definitely scared while we were in there. “See, that wasn’t so bad. It was freaky but fun.”
The heavy pressure on my chest was still there, but I finally took a deep breath.
Fun, ha. No.
“You look spooked,” she teased, bumping her elbow into my hip.
“Shut up.” I returned the favor, laying a soft punch on her arm.
We could hear other people screaming from the inside. Poor souls. If I had a choice, I wasn’t going back in there. Once was enough.
“Are you happy now?” I demanded with a smile, turning to face Riley. My heart was still racing a mile an hour, adrenaline and fear still coursing through my veins.
My smile froze and died when I caught sight of what – who was standing behind her. Riley’s gaze went over my shoulder, and her eyes widened, her lips parting as if to let out a scream.
Chills ran down my spine, my heart leaping in my chest.
Someone was standing behind me, just like the creepy mask man was standing behind Riley, too. His arms reached out for her, and my heart thudded so hard in my chest, it hurt.
Bile burned my throat, and I tried to warn Riley. Except, none of that happened.
One second I had my feet planted on the grass and then I felt a pair of hands on my hips, before I was airborne.
He lifted me up, hoisting me over his shoulder. I hung upside down, and I still couldn’t find my voice. My breath stuck in my throat, and my whole body went limp in fear. Riley shrieked and from my position over his shoulder, as he strode away, I found the mask man holding and dragging Riley backward.
No. No. Wait!
The man carrying me marched through the field, taking it toward the back of the Mausoleum.
Oh My God. No one was coming to save her, no one could hear us scream. We were alone and…
My whole body was cold and numb… I couldn’t feel anything, except fear.
I could be molested or… raped.
He was going to kill me.
This was not part of the Haunted House.
This was not an actor.
My pulse thundered in my throat and my vision blurred with black dots as I stayed limp, upside down over his shoulder.
From the distance, I heard Riley scream again, the sound filled with so much terror.
Alarmed, my body started to prickle with awareness, and I began to struggle against my captor. “Let me go. Let. Me. Go.”
He laughed, like a mad man. The laugh sounded right out of a horror movie.
“If… if you think you’re going to rape me… think… again. Let me go, asshole.”
The hiccups between each word made my threat sound less…threatening. Humiliated and panicked, my eyes burned with unshed tears. The lump in my throat made it harder to speak.
My captor kept marching, my head and arms swinging back and forth as I laid heavily over his shoulder.
“Someone… is going… to come and find us.”
He laughed again, his hands clenching over my ass, his fingers digging in my flesh. That did it. I let out a shriek and started to struggle harder. My fists thumped on his back, but he barely even flinched.
Realizing my advantage in this position, I drew my knee back before slamming it forward between his thighs. I missed my target, but he hissed.
His hand came down on my ass, hard. He tsked, taunting me.
I was so close to bursting into tears, dread and horror filling every cell in my body. I continued to wrestle with him.
If I was going to die, I’d die fighting.
When my knee slammed forward again–missing its target once more–he finally relinquished his hold on me. My captor dumped me on the grass, without a care, like a sack of useless potatoes.
He had taken me away from the mausoleum and the haunted house and deposited me behind the school – where no one could see us, no one could come to my rescue.
I inched back, still on my ass. My whole body shook with tremors, and I finally faced him.
My chin wobbled at the sight of him, a deep sated fear instilled inside of me. I was going to die tonight. This man was going to hurt me. That’s it.
I survived on the operating table only to be left to die in the field behind Berkshire Academy.
His face was covered with a black purge mask, with glowing red LED lights. He had a dark hoodie on, with its hood over his head, and black ripped jeans.
The sight of him was right out of my nightmare.
He moved forward, and I put my hands out, as if to ward him away. “Don’t come near me. Don’t touch me.”
Please.
The pit of my stomach quaked, and I really thought I was going to piss myself in fear.
Purge mask man stalked me as I kept inching back. The cool wet grass soaked through my jeans, but I didn’t care.
He was having fun, feeding on my fear and silently taunting me.
He stopped a foot away and squatted down in front of me. His arm reached out as if to touch me, and I shrank away. “Touch me and I’ll break your dick. I’ll do it.”
He pulled his hand back, tsking again. He shook his head, as if he was disappointed in my threats. Slowly, he brought his hand to his face and pulled the purge mask off.
Uneasiness tickled down my spine, my body filled with apprehension.
The mask came off and dark blue eyes met mine.
Full smirking lips and a face I knew very well.
“Maddox,” I breathed.
“Boo,” he rumbled.
All the horror and confusion slipped away, replaced with anger. My jaw snapped together, and I clenched my teeth.
“Are you fucking serious?”
The pr
evious chill running down my spine disappeared as my blood boiled.
"Why are you so set on terrorizing me?" I snarled. Jesus Christ, he almost gave me a heart attack. Fury rolled off in heated waves. Seething, I curled my legs from underneath me, sitting up. I still couldn’t stand up, since my legs were still shaky and weak.
He grinned, almost boyishly, except I saw the mischief in his eyes. I was dancing on the edge of danger with this boy. Against my better judgement, my gaze traveled the length of his body as he stayed squatting down in front of my kneeling form. He was hard and sculptured everywhere, in all the right places. Definitely not a boy. Man. Fuck. Whatever-he-is.
"It's fun," he finally said, snapping me out of my thoughts and forcing my eyes away from his body. I looked into his icy blue eyes instead.
I was stunned into silence for a second. "It's fun?" I sputtered. "It's fun to scare the shit out of people? Was that your friend who took Riley away, too? This is not funny!"
Maddox shrugged like it was no big deal. I could feel myself glaring at him, my eyes turning into slits as I regarded my nemesis with utter distaste. If I could breathe fire, I would have fumes coming out of my nose.
My jaw clenched at the way he kept grinning. It made me angrier. It unsettled me. "What are you? A fucking psychopath? Because that's the only explanation. No sane person thinks it's fun to scare someone else to the point they thought they were going to die!"
I fought the urge to punch him and claw his beautiful eyes out. What was it about him that make me lose all my control?
Oh right. Maddox Coulter was an asshole.
He cocked his head to the side, the side of his lip turning up slightly. Maddox then released a deep chuckle, his wide chest vibrating with a decadent sound. "That's new," he whispered, his voice raspy. It made the tiny hair on my bare arms stand up.
"What?"
He was still smirking. Fuck you, I mentally slapped him. "I have been called many names before. Been swore at so many times, I lost count about three years ago. But being called a psychopath? That's a first."
I gaped at him. Was this guy joking or seriously just insane?
Maddox brought his head closer to me, his body leaning into mine. He brought warmth with him, and I didn't like that. He wasn't supposed to be warm. He wasn't supposed to smell nice. He wasn't supposed...
