Kings of Quarantine: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  He raised a hand and clicked the lighter and everyone in the doorway behind us seemed to hold their breath.

  I smirked as I caught Saint’s eye and Punch raised the lighter above the toilet paper cock. I started my phone up to record it, wanting the image of that burning cock on camera so that I could look back on it and laugh every time Brown pissed me off.

  Punch stepped forward, his hand shaking a little as the flame licked the closest roll of toilet paper and a laugh tumbled from my lips. Saint slung his arm around my shoulders, grinning as the fire quickly took hold and started to spread, blackening the rolls of toilet paper and causing smoke to pour from them.

  “No!” Freeloader shrieked, bursting between me and Kyan as she raced towards the desk. At first I thought she wanted to save Punch from getting into trouble by following our orders or something, but she charged straight past him and grabbed an armful of toilet paper from the head of the cock instead, rescuing it from the flames like it was a new born babe.

  “Looks like someone’s been desperate to wipe,” Kyan joked. “Maybe we should change your name to Skids now, huh?”

  Freeloader didn’t answer, seeming to think the new nickname would be worth it if she could just keep hold of her prize as she raced for the door with her haul. Several of the footballers followed after her, clearly intent on relieving her of them and I snorted a laugh.

  “And so, the great toilet paper wars began,” I joked.

  Punch scrambled back towards us as the flames billowed higher, looking equally horrified and thrilled as he glanced at me expectantly.

  “Nice work, Toby,” I conceded.

  “Now go catch that runaway Unspeakable and teach her a lesson in respect for us,” Saint added.

  Punch’s face dropped as Saint set him on his former friend and the other Unspeakables glared at him like he was a traitor. The footballers would still see him as lesser than them too for at least a while, so it looked like he was fresh out of friends even if he was back off of the shit heap. Life’s a bitch and all that.

  The fire alarm blared out above our heads and Kyan instantly swung his new baseball bat at it, shattering the thing and buying the fire some more time to run free. Hopefully it wouldn’t spread too far before the sprinklers kicked in. Toby really might get expelled if he burned down Aspen Halls. But oh well, that was his problem really. Should have thought about that before he used the lighter.

  The crowd parted for us as we headed down the corridor back to the main doors. We needed to hurry if we were going to intercept Tatum and retrieve our watches before Monroe realised we’d cheated our way out of detention.

  We stepped out into the dark, laughing as the light of the flames showed through Brown’s window and lit up the old, red Ford Mustang which was parked outside it. It was some great classic that had been donated to the school by some rich asshole who used to go here and seemed to think it would look good parked up by the gates forevermore. I didn’t really get it, but the school board had obviously decided to keep it.

  As I looked beyond the flames, movement caught my eye again and I fell still as I spotted some douchebag in a plaid shirt pushing his way through the gate which was unlocked for some unknown reason.

  “Hey!” I yelled, pointing him out and drawing the others’ attention to him.

  Another guy was running up the drive towards us too and beyond them I spotted the guard on duty laying still on the gravel.

  “Just give us your food and toilet paper and we’ll be gone!” the asshole yelled back.

  “Fuck that,” Kyan snarled, swinging his baseball bat as he took a step closer.

  “There’s more of them heading into campus!” Mila shrieked behind us and I turned to see that she was right. These assholes must have been the tail end of their crew and at least twenty more fuckers were already racing away from us.

  “You’ll get the fuck out of here if you know what’s good for you,” Saint growled, striding forward just as the dickhead leapt through the gate in front of him.

  “I’m not fooling around kid, go hide somewhere until we’re done here,” he snarled. “I’ve got a church full of food to clear out.”

  “What do you mean a church full?” I demanded but the guy was clearly done talking, he lunged at Saint but before he could get close to him, Kyan swung the baseball bat as hard as he could.

  There was a sickening crunch and blood splattered over my shit a second before the asshole fell to the ground, shrieking in pain as he clutched his shattered elbow.

  “Fuck me, I can see bone,” Saint said like he was commenting on the weather and a bark of laughter escaped me. It was either that or puke and this fucker had deserved that shit.

  His friend stumbled back on the far side of the gate, raising his hands in surrender as he backed off.

  “Wait!” Saint barked, marching forward and pointing at the screaming guy on the ground. “Take your trash with you. And if you even think about coming back here, the next swing of that bat will be aimed at your skull.”

  “Okay!” the guy gasped, darting forward to drag his friend away from us as he continued to howl with pain.

  My pulse pounded as I looked around and realised how far ahead the rest of those fuckers had gotten. They’d said that they were heading for a church and there was only one of those on campus. But how the fuck did they know about the food we’d stashed there?

  “Danny!” I snapped, pointing at the footballer as he stood staring at us in shock alongside the rest of the team and the lingering Unspeakables. “You stay here and make sure no more of those fuckers get in. And that none of them leave with our shit. If they take our supplies then we’re all fucked.”

  “Okay,” he agreed, though there wasn’t enough fire in his tone to convince me he’d do a good job.

  “Let me rephrase that,” Saint said in a deadly growl. “If any of you do anything less than your absolute best to defend this place then you’ll be turned out of here right alongside those fucking assholes who came to rob us. Do I make myself clear?”

  There was a chorus of agreement to that and I exchanged a glance with my friends as we prepared to go defend our home.

  “Call the rest of the students and the staff too!” Kyan barked at the footballers and Unspeakables alike as we started moving away from them. “Tell them to bring weapons and come defend our school. That’s a fucking order!”

  “And anyone who doesn’t show up will answer to us,” I snarled.

  We turned away from them as one and started running down the hill towards The Temple as fast as we could.

  “What’s the plan?” I asked as we ran.

  “Simple. Those moneyless, trailer-trash pieces of shit are trespassing on our property and we have the right to bear arms and defend ourselves against them,” Saint growled.

  “Basically, we’re going to fuck them up,” Kyan hollered and I gripped onto the excitement in his tone as we raced down the hill, making it my own.

  I’d been waiting for the perfect outlet for all of this rage. One where I wouldn’t be forced to bear the consequences of unleashing the beast within me to its fullest capacity. And it looked like my wish had just been granted.

  The route on my watch took me back towards The Temple, but then it was gonna make me run all the way out to Sycamore Beach and complete an entire lap of the lake. I was here for it though. I wasn’t even pushing myself so I could make the most of the two hour window Monroe had given us and enjoy the time away from the Night Keepers.

  A scream carried to me somewhere across the lake and my breathing quickened for a moment before I remembered it was probably just some girl messing around with her friends. Ah friends. That must have been nice. My plans to live out a normal school year and make life-lasting connections with other students had gone so spectacularly to shit, that it was almost laughable. Like, funny in the way that it made you weep your heart out and bleed on the inside. That kind of funny.

  I beat up the track beside the water, the looming shadow of
The Temple’s steeple peeking through the trees ahead.

  A flash of movement in my periphery made my head whip sideways and a frown pinched my brow as I spotted a line of people racing down the woodland track that joined the main path.

  Ripped denim, leather, too many piercings and body tattoos made me think of the rough crowd from the bar Kyan had taken me to the other night. My heart stalled as I spotted weapons in some of their hands, even a couple of damn guns.

  Holy shit!

  I sprinted away from them as they spilled onto the path behind me, powering down the concrete toward The Temple. My pulse thundered against the inside of skull, my instincts screaming at me to get away.

  “There!” a woman shouted and the stampede of footsteps rushed closer behind me.

  I veered right down the path to The Temple, my heart pounding wildly as I made it to the door and threw it open. I turned fast, slamming it shut behind me and letting the latch fall down. I couldn’t lock it with a master key though, only the guys had those.

  A weight slammed against the door and I gasped, throwing my shoulder against it to keep them out.

  What the hell do they want??

  That latch wasn’t gonna hold long and there was no way I was strong enough to hold it myself. I fumbled for my phone in my pocket, taking it out with trembling fingers as I brought up Monroe’s number and dialled.

  I wedged the phone between my ear and shoulder as I pressed myself against the door and another loud thud sounded against it, making the latch shudder.

  He answered on the fifth ring. “If you’re calling to try and sweet talk your way out of this run, princess, then-”

  “Nash! I need your help,” I cut over him.

  “What? Why, what’s happened?” His tone became deadly serious and that reassured me a fraction.

  “I’m in The Temple, but there’s some crazy fucking people trying to get in. I can’t hold the door much longer!”

  “Crazy people? What the hell are you talking about?”

  “They’ve broken into the school!” I cried.

  “Aren’t the Night Keepers with you?” he ask frantically.

  “No, they gave me their stupid watches to wear and ran off. I’m on my own-”

  More bodies slammed into the door and I was thrown backwards onto the ground as the latch broke, bruising my arms and back as I hit the ground with a scream of terror. My phone went skittering across the floor and I screamed as the crowd surged toward me. I scrambled backwards but wasn’t fast enough as boots slammed into my gut, my legs, sending pain splintering through my body.

  “Stop!” I begged, throwing up a hand to shield my face as terror gnawed at my insides. I couldn’t get up, there were too many of them. Every time I made a move, another foot knocked me down.

  A large hand suddenly closed around my wrist and yanked me upright and I released a ragged breath. My relief was short lived as I took in the huge man who had hold of me; he had dark sideburns and a thick moustache. A scar ran over his right eye, his teeth were yellow and he had on a stained wife beater with sweat patches under the arms. Disgust wound its way around my heart as I recognised the ass-pincher, Merl, from the fight club.

  His mouth curled up into a smile as his gaze fixed on my cleavage. “Hey there sugar, aren’t you gonna show a little gratitude to your saviour? Or are you just gonna throat punch me again like a high and mighty whore?”

  I tried to twist my wrist free of him, but his grip was iron.

  “Let go,” I demanded, but he shook his head, puckering his lips up like a cartoon character. “Get the fuck away from me!”

  Panic slid into my veins and I threw my fist out, delivering on his second guess as I caught him in the throat. He choked, releasing me as he stumbled back and I darted around him to try and get to the door. His fist slammed into my side and I was thrown into the couch from the sheer force of it, gasping for breath as pain ricocheted through my body.

  Holy fuck.

  “I’m gonna cut off pieces of you for that, you little whore,” he rasped, coming at me again as the crowd swept around him, grabbing as many packs of toilet paper from the throne as they could carry while others raided the fridge and the kitchen cupboards.

  With a bolt of adrenaline, I jumped over the couch and he came for me, a manic rage filling his eyes as he followed. I grabbed one of Saint’s pretentious pieces of abstract art that was nothing but twisted metal and threw it at him with a yell of defiance. He ducked it, coming at me faster as the smile on his face fell away and a grimace took its place.

  I gazed over his shoulder to the door, my hopes failing as he continued to block my path.

  “I’ll teach you how to show gratitude,” he growled, cupping his junk at me and fear crashed through my body. He hounded forward and I threw another punch as he got too close, one to the gut and a second to his side. He caught my wrist on the third blow and twisted until I screamed.

  He threw a meaty fist at me and I was too slow to escape it as it slammed into my chest and knocked me down into Saint’s armchair beneath him. Pain blossomed through my skin and it took several seconds to catch my breath.

  Merl leered over me, laughing as he reached out to get a hold of me, but there was no chance I was going to let him touch me with his greasy hands. I threw the heel of my palm into his chin with a shout of rage and his head snapped backwards.

  I scrambled over the back of the chair as fast as I could then raced down the hallway as his footsteps came after me again.

  He was like the fucking terminator.

  I rushed into Blake’s room, throwing the door shut behind me but there was no fucking key in the lock. It flew open the second I made it to the bathroom and I raced across the pristine tiles as the creep chased after me. I threw the next door wide, rushing into Kyan’s room, my gaze set on the window.

  My heart thumped madly as I jumped onto the bed, hurrying over it and hopping down on the other side, reaching the window. I fumbled with the catch, my fingers shaky and it cost me too much time. Merl wrapped a hand in my hair and yanked me backwards, tossing me onto the bed. I screamed as he dropped over me, the scent of tobacco and body odour filling my nose. His hand latched around my throat and he pressed his full weight down to keep me in place as I thrashed wildly beneath him.

  “Does Kyan Roscoe know how to fuck as well as he fights?” he purred as I thumped and kicked and scratched, his grip so tight, my vision was already fading. “I made a pretty penny on you two that night at the pit. But I’ve been fighting since you and your boyfriend were just a babe, sweet girl. You can’t win this bout.” He curled a finger in my hair, admiring it.

  Sickness swirled in my stomach as I started to black out. But I couldn’t give up. If darkness claimed me, this man was going to do unspeakable things to me. And I couldn’t – no, I fucking wouldn’t let that happen.

  An answer came to me and I stuffed my hand under Kyan’s pillow, my fist closing around the huge ass hunting knife he kept there.

  I slashed it toward my attacker, slicing it into his side and he roared in pain, releasing me in an instant as he reared back.

  I was up like lightning, dragging down lungfuls of air as I slid off the bed, stumbling into the nightstand as I fought the dizziness his attack had brought on.

  Come on, move, Tatum, move!

  “You fucking bitch!” Merl’s voice carried to me as my ears rang and everything faded in and out of focus.

  I have to move.

  Have to run.

  The world started to sharpen again and I ran for the door just as he got off the bed, clutching his side. I just saw the flash of murder in his eyes before I fled out of sight, sprinting down the hall as fast as I could and tearing back into the lounge.

  My eyes locked on the exit, but before I got there, a fight broke out. Punches were thrown and toilet paper went flying as an all-out riot filled the doorway, shouts of rage and desperation tearing through the air.

  “I’m coming for you, whore!” the booming voi
ce of my attacker turned my blood to ice.

  There was no way out. No fucking way.

  Except…shit!

  I turned towards the crypt, powering across the room and taking the steps two at a time as I threw the door open and ran down down down, tearing through the gym as my lungs laboured in my chest.

  Just keep moving. Never stop moving.

  I sped through the archway, passing the prayer rooms where all of the food had been stockpiled, sprinting past them to the gate on the other side of the space. Saint had said the tunnels would lead me all the way out to Sycamore Beach. It was my only hope.

  The keys hung on the wall and I snatched them from the hook, trying the first one in the gate. I jiggled it in the lock, but it didn’t give and I swore as my hands shook even harder.

  Yanking the key out, I tried the other one, knowing I was wasting precious seconds.

  “Well lookee here. I’ll kill some time with you, blondie, then keep all this food for myself.”

  I glanced back at Merl as he strode toward me with a hungry glint in his eyes.

  With my hands shaking like crazy, I forced the key to turn.

  The gate swung inwards and I leapt forward, turning back to shut it with a yell of hope. His huge body barrelled into the metal gate and I was forced back as I couldn’t hold it.

  I fled, terror bouncing through my limbs as I tore off into the darkness, hearing his boots thumping along behind me.

  I ran harder and faster than I ever had in my life, but he kept coming after me.

  I clutched the knife tighter in my grip and sprinted into the pitch black, praying I wouldn’t stumble or fall or find myself at a dead end. Because if I did, I was going to have to fight for my damn life.

  I ran uphill as fast as I could, sprinting flat out towards the church spire I could see poking out above the trees beyond the lake.

  My heart was thrashing with panic and my muscles burned with an electric energy which begged to be set loose on these fuckers who had come to destroy our bubble of sanctuary.