by Elle East
“And I want you guys to protect her. She’s falling into the wrong crowd and I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
Alec looks over at Daire who thinks for a moment before giving him a nod.
“Deal,” Alec says.
“Is that it? Can I go now?” I ask.
“Yeah, get out of here,” Daire says.
I begin to walk over to the ladder, before stopping. I have one more question.
“Why are we meeting in a pool?”
Alec smirks. “This is our private space. The doors are all locked and even if someone looks through the windows, no one can read our lips when we are down here.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I murmur and resume walking.
When I get to the ladder, I realize that coming down was easy, but I’m going to have trouble climbing back up. Before I have time to think, I feel hands on my waist. I gasp in terror, but before I can struggle I hear Theo say, “Jump.”
I do, and he picks me up in his terrifyingly strong arms as if I weigh nothing. I’m able to grab the ladder easily and I quickly climb out of the pool. I dash over to the door, unlocking it, and bolt out into the hallway. My heart is still racing as I head to my next class.
I don’t know if that was the right thing to do. I feel like I just made a deal with the devil—four devils, actually.
I’m too hungry to go to sleep so I head downstairs, just hoping against all odds that there’s food in the kitchen this time. After searching the cabinets, I groan when I realize there’s nothing—there is however my foster mom’s gross boyfriend.
“That groan is sexy,” he says as he walks into the room.
I don’t say anything and just try to walk past him. He moves to block my path. I’m getting sick and tired of this shit.
“Move.”
“Oh, come on. Why you so scared of me? I don’t bite—unless you want me to.” He raises his eyebrows, and it makes my stomach turn in revulsion. I’ve had enough of gross, older men hitting on me for one lifetime.
“Never in a million years. Get out of my way.”
He doesn’t. He does the opposite and moves to block my way even more.
“Why not, you sexy little tease? I’m a great lay.” He leans in closer and the rotten beer smell of his breath is overwhelming. “We just have to promise not to tell anyone. It’ll be our little secret. Don’t be such a frigid bitch.” He spits slightly on the word “bitch,” and drool lands on his lip.
Something inside of me just snaps and I’m suddenly more furious than I’ve ever been in my entire life. How dare this disgusting pervert make me feel unsafe in my own home? I’ve had an awful time ever since I got here. I have to live in this hellhole. Everyone at school wants to kick my ass. The terrifying guys that almost killed me, forced me to be a part of a murder, and now they are forcing me to hang out with them so that I don’t go to the cops. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, how fucking dare this man make it worse.
Without thinking, I reach over by instinct and grab a kitchen knife that’s laying on the counter. I hold it up to him and the lecherous look is suddenly replaced with wariness and anger.
“I’m not interested in you, you gross old man. Stay the fuck away from me.” I don’t know what I’m doing because I’ve never done anything like this before. I suddenly have another terrifying thought and add, “And if you ever come close to my sister—” I move forward with the knife and he steps back cautiously. “I’ll cut your balls off.”
His eyes widen in surprise and he quickly steps aside.
“You’re fucking crazy,” he mumbles as he retreats back to his bedroom which is a side room attached to the kitchen.
I take the knife with me and head upstairs. I’ve been stupid not to keep any kind of protection with me until now.
Who is this person? I wonder. What’s happening to me? I barely recognize myself anymore.
10
At school the next day I can feel the difference. Wherever I go, I can feel them watching me. Even when I’m alone in the basement, I know that they know where I am. I just try to keep my head down and ignore it.
I barely have one day to myself. That evening when I’m hanging out in bed, editing photos on my laptop, I hear the front door open. The sounds of their now familiar voices reach my ears and my blood runs cold.
I live with Brax but usually he’s barely home so I don’t see them much when I’m not at school. Uncharacteristically, Brax has been staying home the last couple nights and I think it’s to keep an eye on me, but I’ve just been hiding in my room and avoiding him.
A short time later there’s a knock on my door.
“Your Highness?” I recognize Brax’s husky voice. “We have some food downstairs if you’re hungry. We’re all hanging out here tonight so you should come join us.”
“No thanks,” I call through the door.
Yeah, right. As if I’d ever voluntarily hang out with those four psychos.
“Ok, suit yourself. If you change your mind, we’ll be here.”
I hear his footsteps retreat down the hall and then down the stairs.
I shake my head. I can’t believe they thought I’d hang out with them of my own free will. If they told me I have to then I would, but there’s no way I’d ever go down if they give me the choice.
My stomach takes this moment to growl loudly. I put my hand on it as if that’ll stop it from hurting. I’m starving. It’s been a couple days since I’ve had a proper meal. The food at the school cafeteria is inedible—even if I could safely show my face in there long enough to buy anything.
I’ve been getting food from the convenience store on the corner with the little money that I have left. I’m running out though so I haven’t been buying much lately, and there’s only so many times you can eat packaged nuts and protein bars.
The smell of burgers is seeping in under my door, making my mouth water. I want a burger and fries so badly that I would do almost anything for one—anything? Like hang out with the four devils themselves?
I shake my head to get rid of the thoughts. There’s no way I’d ever go down there.
But the ache in my empty stomach is strong and painful. It feels like it’s pulling at my insides and I’m practically drooling at just the slightest smell of food.
I can’t take it any longer, my stomach wins over my brain and I get up angrily and storm downstairs. The four of them are in the living room with the cracked TV on. They all seem too large to be comfortable on the small couch and chairs they are sitting on. In the middle of them spread out on the coffee table is about a dozen burgers and orders of fries.
When I walk into the room, they all stop and turn to stare at me. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the power in those four gazes looking at me all at once. I can’t help but sweat under their attention.
“Can I have some food?” I ask in a not very polite way. My etiquette teacher would be horrified if she could see me now.
“Sure,” Alec says.
I quickly step forward and grab two burgers and an order of fries. I’m about to scurry back to my room when Brax says, “But you have to eat it with us.”
Even though I don’t want to, I say, “Fine.” And I sit down in the only empty seat in the room which is an uncomfortable stool. None of the furniture in the room matches. I rip off the wrapper on my first burger and bite into it like I haven’t eaten in years—which is what it feels like. The second that food hits my tongue is pure heaven. I have to stifle a moan, because it’s so. Fucking. Good.
We are watching some cop show on TV and the guys go back to joking around with each other, though there’s a noticeable tension in the room now—or maybe it’s in my head and I’m the only one feeling it.
Daire is noticeably quiet. His eyes are glued to the TV and the muscle in his jaw keeps jumping. He’s taking deep swigs of his beer and looks clearly irritated but trying not to show it.
I try to eat as fast as possible and get back to my room, back to what li
ttle safety I have—even though they could break down my door in two seconds flat and we all know it.
Just as I swallow my last bite, my sister comes down the stairs.
“Hey, I thought I heard you guys.” She smiles at them. She’s wearing a miniskirt and an extremely tight and low-cut t-shirt. “You guys are all hanging out?” she asks as she sees me and looks a bit surprised.
She walks into the room and sits on the armrest of the couch, so close to Theo that I think they are touching.
“Get lost,” he tells her and her eyes widen.
“What?” she asks.
“Head back to your room or something.” He waves her off, and she stands up indignantly.
“You can’t hang out with us so piss off,” Brax adds.
Olivia looks surprised, insulted, and also a bit hurt. I don’t like seeing her like that but at the same time I can’t help but be happy. They are doing what I asked and making sure she stays away from them. I wasn’t sure they’d keep up their end of the agreement, but it looks like they are.
She looks at me for support and I just shrug. She turns on her heel and heads upstairs. I hear her door slam a second later.
The guys act like nothing happened and continue joking around and watching TV. They’ve put on a war movie and Theo and Brax are passing a joint back and forth. Brax leans over to offer it to me.
“No thanks,” I say.
“You’re a good girl, I get it,” he laughs and leans back to take a deep drag. “Ever smoked before?”
“Yeah, but there’s no way I’m doing it with you guys.”
“Smart girl,” Theo says as he takes the blunt from Brax and takes a drag.
Ok, that was enough time with them. I stand up.
“Well, thanks for the food. I have to go study now.”
They scoff.
“Study? What for?” Brax says. “No one from Marter High goes to college. Around here there’s no point in trying in school.”
“I’m going to do anything in my power to get away. There’s no way I want to spend the rest of my life here. This place is hell,” I can’t help but say.
I can see the unmistakable wince on Brax’s face and it almost makes me wish I hadn’t said it—almost. He grew up here. His family is here. This horrible house, with its alcoholic mom and her alcoholic boyfriends, is his home. He can’t imagine ever escaping this town because this is his life.
“Must be nice to have dreams,” he says bitterly. “Must be nice to have choices.”
“Everyone has choices, even if they aren’t easy or obvious at first.” I need to leave before I get anymore philosophical and I head back upstairs.
The truth was that I wasn’t going to study. My life, my plans for the future, everything had fallen apart the second my parents left. The truth was that I wasn’t thinking very much about my future anymore—I’m not even sure I’m going to survive high school. All I care about now is protecting my sister.
I can hear loud music coming from her room; she always does this when she’s mad. It used to not be much of a problem when we each had a separate wing of the house to ourselves, but now, since there’s only a thin wall separating us, I feel like she’s blasting it right into my ear.
I don’t think she’s handling this whole thing well—but hell, neither am I.
Later in the night when I go to the washroom, I can see the four of them gathered around a fire in the backyard. Seeing how close they are, how in sync they are with one another, makes me miss having friends.
I had a couple close friends back in Sheltered Glen—or at least I thought we were close friends. We’d sent some text back and forth since I came here but I could tell they were trying to distance themselves from me and it hurt. Guess we’d never been real friends in the first place if they could abandon me so easily when I really needed them.
My boyfriend also broke up with me when I came to Marter. He said that it wasn’t fair to me to keep dating since I was now so far below his financial means I would feel like I wasn’t bringing anything to the relationship anymore. He was kind of a dick.
We’d been dating for about six months and I wasn’t in love with him yet but he was cute and I enjoyed hanging out with him. Still, he broke up with me by a fucking text message. And I had been there for him through his parent’s divorce. Asshole.
My only friend now is the housekeeper’s daughter, Adalee, but she’s in college on a basketball scholarship in another state so she can’t do more than send supportive texts. As awful as the Vicious Crew are, I envy them. They have each other in this horrible place while I have no one, not even my sister. A deep part of me wishes I could go out there and join. What the hell is wrong with me?
11
The next morning I walk sleepily to the bathroom, yawning. The door opens and out pours steam and then a very naked guy struts out.
“Oh my god!” I hold my hands out in front of me in surprise. “Cover up!”
Seeing Brax first thing in the morning is jarring enough—even when he’s wearing clothes. He just laughs and walks down the other side of the hall to his room. I can smell his shampoo and see every part of his ripped body. He’s all lean muscle and dark ink.
“Douchebag,” I mumble before heading into the washroom.
“I’ll drive you to school,” he calls back and turns around.
He’s completely unselfconscious—and with good reason. He walks around like he has no inhibitions, like he’s as comfortable in clothes as out of them. I kind of envy that type of freedom. The freedom of not caring what others think of you.
—or maybe he just knows he’s super hot and doesn’t mind showing it off.
“I’m good, thanks,” I answer.
“I wasn’t giving you an option,” he says it lightly, playfully, but there’s an underlying message that’s clear. It was a command, not a question.
I finish getting ready and head downstairs. Theo is asleep, arms crossed over his big chest and his long legs hanging far off the end of the couch. He looks comically large. He’s probably the scariest member of the Vicious Crew—physically, because Daire is probably the scariest mentally, the guy is twisted and evil.
Theo is built like a tank and looks like he wrestles bears for fun. The cold gray eyes, the shaved head, the scars, the thick lines of ink—he’s undeniably scary, but looking at him sleeping all that is stripped away. His face is calm and relaxed. He looks almost… innocent? I’m seeing the guy who I got a brief glimpse of when he was hugging his sister, the guy who was capable of caring, of loving—before he turned back into an intimidating beast the second we left her place.
“Ready?” Brax asks as he comes out of the kitchen, eating a leftover burger. His silver hair is damp, and it looks at odds with all the black he’s wearing. “Wake up, man.” He kicks the back of the couch lightly with his combat boot and Theo opens his eyes groggily, but then springs up.
“Everything good?” Theo asks, clearly ready for a fight. His huge arms are on full display because of the sleeveless shirt he’s wearing.
“Yeah, it’s just time for school,” Brax laughs and takes another mouthful of burger.
“Oh.” Theo looks confused for a split second before he runs his hand over his face and seems to calm down a bit. He’s clearly used to having to be ready to fight at all times. Must be stressful, I imagine. “All right, I’ll meet you there.”
Brax nods then looks at me. “Let’s go, Highness.”
“I hate that nickname.”
Brax just laughs his raspy laugh and we walk out the front door.
I cling on to his muscular body for dear life as we race through the streets on his motorcycle. At first it’s absolutely terrifying, but then I relax slightly when I realize he’s not trying to kill us and it starts to become a bit fun—a very little bit. I’m almost disappointed when we pull into the school parking lot.
I hop off quickly and walk to the building. I can still smell him and realize that because I was gripping on to him so tight
ly, I’ll be smelling his clove and ginger scent on me for the rest of the day.
I walk into school and head to class. As I’m walking down the hall, a girl falls in step with me. I internally groan. Nothing good will come of this.
“Hi, I’m Cherry,” she says pleasantly.
“Nice to meet you,” I say instinctively. Even though I’m sure she’s going to insult me or try to kick my ass, I can’t help but be polite—seventeen years of etiquette training ingrained in me. “I’m Addison.”
I don’t recognize her, she’s not in any of my classes, so I’m guessing she’s in a lower grade. She’s very pretty with a round face, pouty red lips, bright green eyes and hair that’s the same length as mine and dyed a deep, dark red.
“I saw you ride in with Brax,” she starts and I can’t help but groan internally. Is she going to try to beat me up for “stealing” her man?—I want to tell her I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want to get on the back of his bike, I was forced to. And I hate myself when I realize I’m not that upset about it.
“I just want to warn you about him. I know he looks hot and stuff—”
“It’s ok,” I interrupt her. “I already know that he’s dangerous and I have to be careful. Thanks though.”
“No, I just wanted to warn you about how pathetic he is.”
I stop dead in my tracks. That was not what I was expecting. “What?”
“Yeah.” She shakes her head. “We dated for a bit last year and when we broke up he just couldn’t get over it. I moved on to someone else but he didn’t. It was really sad actually. I felt sorry for him, I still do.”
I think my mouth is hanging open. I can’t imagine a guy like Brax caring about anyone but himself. I can’t imagine him actually being sweet or romantic, he’s mean and violent, but here’s this girl telling me he liked her so much he couldn’t get over her.
“Alec had a thing for me too,” she continues and my mouth opens even wider. “But I just wanted someone who was more at my level, you know? Someone who was better for me. They fought over me.” I can see the slight smile she’s trying to suppress when she says it. “It was all just a mess and I felt so bad about the whole thing. I hope they can both move on eventually and that it didn’t hurt their friendship too badly.”
