by Elle East
As we walk to the room, I look around for Daire’s car, but I don’t see it anymore. Norman isn’t very big. I’m five five and in my platform boots we are about the same size, but I don’t know if he has a gun on him or anything and I don’t want to be trapped in a room alone with him.
“After you,” he says as he holds open the door to the room.
I glance around nervously. I know I look suspicious but I don’t care anymore.
“I just…” I can’t think of anything to say to stall and I can tell he’s getting impatient.
“Come on,” he says gruffly. “Get your little ass inside. Don’t be a tease.”
“It’s just that—” I look down at my phone and see a text on the screen. It’s from an anonymous number and says, “Go inside. We got your back”.
I look back at Norman, who isn’t even trying to be nice anymore, and decide to go in. I don’t have much to lose anyway and if things go really south I think I can take him.
We walk into the dingy room and the second the door closes he’s on me. I try shoving him off but he’s stronger than he looks. He keeps grabbing and pawing at me as I push him back.
“Stop!” I yell.
“Don’t be a tease! You’ve been asking for it all night.”
We struggle for a bit and he manages to pull down my halter top and starts trying to pull up my skirt. I pull back on my clothes and he takes the opportunity to push me on the bed. Things are getting out of control—and that’s when I knee him in the balls.
I’ve never done it before and I don’t even realize what I’m doing until it’s done. He stops immediately and doubles over to grab his crotch, writhing in pain.
That is the moment when the Vicious Crew kicks down the door and bursts into the room. Daire and Theo rush forward to grab the guy, but seem confused that he’s not attacking me and I’m just standing there adjusting my clothes. They expected to find a damsel in distress.
“What the fuck is this?” Norman asks through teeth that are gritted in pain.
“Don’t speak,” Daire says and Theo kicks him in the stomach.
Norman moans in even more pain and falls forward. Theo and Brax grab his arms roughly to keep him on his feet, and also to keep him from running away.
“I didn’t do it!” Norman starts yelling at Daire. “It wasn’t me! Your asshole father has the wrong guy. I didn’t do nothing to screw him over, it was the Mayor! He’s the one who screwed both of us! He’s the one who made me do it.”
Daire delivers the next kick personally and Norman finally shuts up.
“Take her to the car,” Daire commands.
Alec grabs my arm and leads me outside. I want to know what the hell is going on, but I’m also relieved to get out of there. There’s a lot of violent, manly energy in that gross motel room and it feels amazing to be away from it and breathing in the fresh night air again. Alec takes me to the passenger’s side of Daire’s car and helps me in, before going over and getting into the driver’s side.
“Is that what this is about? Did that guy do something to Daire’s father?” I ask as we both stare forward towards the motel.
They shut the door behind us so I can’t see anything, but I can hear muffled yells from Norman and I wince. I’m pretty sure they are beating him up. I know that he just tried to assault me so he deserves it, but I don’t like hearing it.
“Yeah, he stole a bunch of product from Daire’s dad.” Alec is staring intently at the closed motel door. I can tell he wants to be in there with his boys and he hates that he’s not.
“What kind of product?”
Alec suddenly looks at me like he didn’t realize I was in the car, like he is seeing me for the first time. I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean to say what he just said.
“Uh… could you just pretend I didn’t say that?”
“Only if you tell me what’s going on, otherwise I’m telling Daire what you said.” Who is this girl and what have you done with Addison?
Alec sighs. “You promise you won’t say anything if I tell you?”
I drag my fingers across my lips like I’m locking them and throwing away the key.
He sighs again, before turning back to stare at the motel door while he says, “I know you aren’t dumb. You know how much danger you’re in and I think you’re smart enough to keep your mouth shut, so I’ll tell you. Daire’s dad is in the mafia, mine too.”
My mouth drops open. I shouldn’t be surprised though. It was always obvious that the Vicious Crew are into some dark and dangerous stuff.
“That guy in there stole a shipment coming in from Denver and then hid the product. We think he’s taken it to another state to sell it off without raising suspicions. He’s denying the whole thing but we have our sources and we know he did it. Daire’s dad hired us to set this whole thing up so that we’d get him away from his crew, get him alone.”
I don’t know what to say to that. This situation is absolutely insane. All I can think to do is whisper, “I won’t tell.”
“I know.”
And we go back to staring at the motel in silence. The sounds of Norman yelling have stopped and it’s eerily quiet.
“They won’t kill him, will they?” I ask softly, but I don’t really know if I want to know the answer.
“No. They are just roughing him up a bit while waiting for our dads. They won’t kill him.”
I’m only a little bit relieved.
Soon we see another car pull up. It looks very similar to the SUV that we are currently sitting in. Out of the backseat a distinguished, tall, older man gets out and I immediately know from the way he carries himself that it’s Daire’s dad. When he walks closer to the motel, I can see in the light that he looks just like an older version of Daire. Same cocksure walk, same defined jaw, same thick chestnut hair—though his is graying in the corners.
Two other men get out of the car and follow him. I can see a fourth is staying in the driver’s seat to wait for them. One of the guys walking towards the building looks vaguely familiar and then I realize it’s because it’s Alec’s dad. They aren’t as similar in appearance as Daire and his father, but there’s no denying that they are related.
The three men walk up to the correct door and walk right in without a word, closing it behind them again. I can tell Alec is on edge. His hands are gripping the steering wheel and his jaw is clenched.
There’s a couple minutes of silence and my adrenaline starts to dissipate slightly. I just want to get out of here. I take my eyes off the motel door for just a second to look around—and that’s when a loud gunshot pierces through the night.
“Oh my god! What was that?!!” I scream.
“Fuck,” Alec curses.
Should I run? I wonder, but I don’t have much time to think about it because in the next second the motel door is thrown open and out rushes Daire, Brax and Theo. They run over and pile into our car.
“Drive,” Daire commands and Alec starts the car up at lightening speed.
We shoot out of the parking lot and drive down the empty streets, putting distance between us and that motel as quickly as possible.
“What happened??” I ask desperately.
I’m so scared and shaking so badly that I don’t feel in complete control of myself.
“Nothing,” Daire says as he pulls out his phone. “Someone’s gun went off by accident, but nothing happened.”
From the way everyone’s acting, I know he’s lying, but I’m not going to push the issue. I’m just going to pray they take me home and don’t hurt me. I’ll pretend I don’t know anything and try to stay safe. I just want to be home and in my bedroom so badly—actually, what I really want is to be at my real home, in my real bedroom, but that life is gone forever and I have to accept it. This is my new life now.
I just helped murder a man.
I feel like I can’t breathe. The car is closing in around me and everything is going a fuzzy shade of brown. My head is swimming and I feel like I’m drowning. I de
sperately reach out to feel something, anything, so that I can ground myself in reality as I’m slowly loosing my grip and being swept away.
My hand touches something solid and I grab on to it. It’s Alec’s hand and I realize that he must be steering with just the other one as he holds mine. I grip on to it for dear life. It’s warm and solid and reassuring, but I’m still spinning.
Then I hear soothing words being whispered in my ear. There’s hot breath and low vibrations against my skin and I focus on that. I soon realize that it’s Brax’s voice, smokey and comforting.
“Take a deep breath,” he whispers, and I do.
He keeps talking to me and I start to calm down. I feel the world slowly stop spinning. The colors go back to normal and my breathing slows. I’m back in my body and sitting in the car. I’m back in control.
I quickly pull my hand back from Alec. I hear Brax shift back in his seat.
Why the hell did Alec hold my hand? And why the hell did Brax try to comfort me? They hate me. They must have been trying to stop me from having a full-blown freak out. I’m a liability now and they have to keep me from going to the cops—and if they can’t keep me sane, so that they can be sure I won’t tell, they’ll have to kill me…
I stare out the window and count down the seconds until I can get out of this car. Until I can get away from these dangerous guys and this insane night.
I finally recognize my foster mother’s street as we turn the corner. I breathe out a sigh of relief because it’s almost over. We pull into the driveway and I’m about to run out of the car but Theo’s quicker. He slams my door shut from the outside, trapping me inside with the rest of the Vicious Crew.
“I promise I won’t say anything,” I whisper. It feels like the right thing to say at this moment and I’d say anything to be able to get out of the car.
No one speaks for a bit and I finally glance at them. Theo is still outside. Alec looks like he’s deep in conflicted thought. Brax is looking seriously at Daire, who looks angry and also like he’s thinking. Their silence is scaring me more than anything else.
Finally, Daire speaks.
“You know you’re already in danger.”
He looks at me suddenly, for one of the few times that night, and the intensity in his emerald eyes startles me.
“We didn’t mean for this to happen.” He looks away like he can’t finish.
“She won’t go to the cops,” Alec adds from the front seat.
Daire thinks for a moment then nods. “If you tell anyone, they’ll kill you. No one knew you were there but us.”
“That guy did. Norman.”
Daire looks me in the eye again as he says, “He’s dead.”
Even though I already knew, him confirming it makes it real. I feel like my world is shattering, but I just nod.
“We’ll make sure no one finds out that you were involved—but only if you keep your mouth shut. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
He stares at me for another long moment before giving one final nod.
“Brax, take her inside and keep watch. I’ll text you later.”
Brax quickly jumps out of the car to come around to my door. Theo steps back without a word and Brax opens it.
I get out and stand on shaky legs that feel like they can’t support my body weight. We walk inside and I don’t look back. I can hear the car doors slam and the car pull out of the driveway.
The house is dark. It’s late and everyone must be asleep. I start to walk up the stairs to my room in a daze, but a hand on my arm stops me and I jump a mile into the air.
“Sorry,” Brax says apologetically. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Little late not to scare me.” I laugh but there’s no humor in it.
“Tonight… That didn’t go to plan. He wasn’t supposed to die, and you weren’t supposed to be in the room alone with him for more than a couple seconds. We got tangled up on each other because there was a misunderstanding about who was supposed to be where. By the time we figured it out, you’d been in there for about a minute. Daire is going to chew us out for it.” He took a deep breath. “Sorry about that.”
I’m taken aback that he is actually apologizing to me, but I’m not going to forgive him. I will never forgive any of them for what they’ve done to me.
“Just know, we’re being serious when we say you can’t go to the police. They won’t protect you. All the cops around here are crooked as hell and the mob has them in their pockets. No one knows you have anything to do with it, and we’ll keep it that way if you keep up your end of the bargain.”
I’m suddenly so tired that all I want to do is get away from him and go to sleep. It’s taking all my strength to stand upright at the moment.
“Ok, I won’t go to the police. Can I go now?”
“Yes. Goodnight, Addison.”
I head up the stairs without another word.
When I reach the top, I go over to my sister’s door. There’s no light coming from underneath it so I assume she’s asleep. I don’t want to wake her so I just go to my room and lock the door behind me.
I sit on my bed, not even bothering to get undressed from the crazy hooker goth clothes I’m still wearing. As exhausted as I was a couple seconds ago, I’m suddenly wide awake and know I won’t be able to sleep tonight.
I am so fucked. I keep re-playing everything over-and-over in my head until the sun comes up over the horizon.
9
After a hellish night, I know I’m in for a hellish day at school.
I drag myself into the washroom before anyone else wakes up, to wash the smeared makeup off my face in the shower. I change out of the punk clothes and into an understated, but expensive—I can’t help it, they are the only clothes I own—outfit.
I knock on Olivia’s door, but she’s still in bed and tells me she’ll talk to me later. I don’t have it in me right now to argue so I leave. Shockingly, I find Brax at the bottom of the stairs. He’s never on time for anything, I don’t even think he goes to his morning classes, so to see him up this early is a bit unnerving.
“I’ll drive you to school,” he says.
I can tell he’s tired. There are dark circles under his eyes and his voice is raspier than normal.
I scoff before saying, “No way. I would never ride with you, especially on that bike. Never again.”
I push past him and out the door.
They find me at lunch. I’m hiding in my usual spot in the basement but they still find me somehow.
“How did you know I was here?” I ask.
“We always know where you are,” Alec says. “Come on.”
The five of us walk out of the abandoned janitor’s closet and down the hall. We head to a part of the school I’ve never been in before. I’m scared being in their presence, and I don’t want to be alone with them, but I don’t feel like I have a choice. I don’t have much to lose anymore, anyway.
Theo pushes open a large swinging door and flicks on the lights. We file into the room and I see that it’s a large indoor pool—only it’s been abandoned a long time ago. There’s no water and the tiles are cracked with age. Half of the bleachers have collapsed.
Theo locks the door behind him and I give him a look which I know makes me look scared and weak, but I can’t help it. They all walk over to the pool and hop down effortlessly. I go over to the ladder.
When we are all standing together, Alec starts it off. “We understand you might have questions, and we are willing to answer some of them. We need to know where your head is at.”
I look at them all. Daire has his arms crossed and looks like he’d rather be anywhere but here at this moment.
I’ve thought about this all night, I’ve thought about nothing but this situation and I do have so many questions. I can’t believe they are willing to answer them. These aren’t the guys I’ve come to know—though to be fair, I’ve only known them for a very brief
period of time.
“Why did you guys have me be a part of that? You could have found another way—or some other girl—you didn’t need me. You don’t even know me so why would you trust me with a mission like that?”
“We wanted you to be a part of something illegal,” Alec states matter-of-factly. “You have dirt on us—the thing at the pond—and we wanted to make you dirty too so that if you told on us, we’d tell on you. Collateral.”
I can’t help but nod subtly. I’d been trying to think of the reason all night, but that made more sense than anything I could come up with.
“I remember that the guy mentioned something about the Mayor.”
They all shift uncomfortably, but I wait them out until finally Alec speaks again. “The corruption in this town goes all the way to the top. That guy in the motel works—worked—for the Mayor, who is one of the dirtiest ones of all.”
“So when I said you couldn’t go to the police because they are corrupt, I meant it. He runs the police,” Brax adds.
“You’re already our ‘property’ because of the Threesome Pact,” Alec says with quotation marks.
I see Daire sneer in disgust out of the corner of my eye.
“So you’re under our protection, but because of what happened, from now on we are going to be keeping you close to us. We can’t risk you running off or telling anyone,” Alec continues.
I stare at the cracked, pale blue tiles under my leather and satin boots.
“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” I ask sadly.
“No,” Daire says with finality. His word echos around the empty pool.
If I have to do this, I might as well try to get something out of it. It’s too late for me now, but it’s not too late for Olivia.
“I’ll agree to it on one condition.”
They all visibly stiffen—Daire more than anyone. “You’re not really in a position to bargain,” he says in a dark but calm voice.
I don’t let him intimidate me and I continue, “I want you to stay away from my sister.”
Alec shrugs. “Deal.”
