by Caitlyn Dare
“Perhaps he’s still in class. Text him.”
Relief floods me that she’s on my side.
I pull up a text and type as quickly as I can.
Mouse: Hey, we need to talk… about tonight. Call me when you can.
I hit send and wait.
And wait.
But ten minutes later, he still hasn’t replied.
“Maybe he’s in the shower or something,” Sasha says, her expression betraying her.
Because as the minutes pass and he still doesn’t reply, I know what she’s thinking. Because it’s what I’m thinking.
Bexley isn’t answering because he can’t.
Because they got to him first.
31
Bexley
The Electi have been markedly absent all day, and while I should probably be relieved that they're not down every hallway lording it over everyone, I'm not.
They're not here for a reason, and I know it's got to do with what's coming our way.
They want us on edge. They want us to have noticed.
"There's a weird vibe in the air. Can you feel it?"
"You already on something?" I ask Alex, trying to laugh off his comment. But the truth is, I do feel it.
My entire body is on alert as we make our way out of the building after our last class.
I pull my cell from my pocket to see if I've got anything from Mia. She's been trying to dig for information to give us a heads up for what we might be about to walk into, but she's found nothing yet.
It doesn't fill me with reassurance.
We're halfway across the quad, our building in sight, when I sense movement behind me.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and I twist my head to see who it is—praying it's Mia, but already knowing it's not—when everything goes dark.
"What the fuck?" I bark as something stings my upper arm.
I spin, ready to throw my fist toward whoever just shoved a bag over my head, but my head starts to spin.
Did they just fucking inject me with something?
My arms are pinned behind my back, and I'm marched forward. Everything around me gets hazier with every step I take. The voices from behind me stop making any sense, and my legs feel like jelly.
I'm vaguely aware of being thrown into a van. I feel the vibrations of the engine as my shoulder smarts from the force I'm thrown to the floor with before everything goes black.
When I come to, my entire body is shivering, and my fingers and toes feel numb.
Pressing my hand against the cold floor beneath me, I push myself up so I'm sitting.
Ripping the bag off my head, I throw it down, but when I look up, I find the room I'm in is pitch black. I can see no more than I could when I was bagged.
Motherfuckers.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Or there is for a few seconds, until I hear a groan beside me.
"Alex?"
"Y-yeah. Where the fuck are we, and why is it so cold?"
"No idea. And we're naked."
"W-wha—oh."
He shuffles about beside me, but even with my eyes adjusting to the light, I can't see anything other than a few shadows.
"So this is their game? Kidnap us and make us freeze to death?"
"Nah, that'd be too easy."
As if they're listening—which they probably are—a door creaks open. It sounds like one of those from a creepy horror film, and it sends a shiver of terror racing up my spine.
"Welcome to the party, boys." I have no idea who it is, because they're using something to disguise their voice.
"Here's your first gift. Open wide."
I have no idea how he can see me, but in seconds he’s standing before me, waiting for me to follow orders.
Clearly, they haven’t figured me out yet, because I don't do that.
"Open your fucking mouth."
I press my lips together, but, not deterred at all, whoever it is wraps his hand around my chin and physically pries my lips apart before shoving something on my tongue.
"Cunt," I spit as whatever it is instantly dissolves in my mouth.
I do not have a good feeling about this.
"What the fuck was that?" Alex asks, but the guy just laughs before the door creaks once more and he disappears.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," I admit.
"You're only just getting that now?"
I blow out a breath and rest my head back against the wall, curling my limbs into as tight a ball as I can in an attempt to warm up.
My entire body shudders violently, and it only gets worse the longer we're forced to sit in this cold and dark room, waiting for whatever is going to happen next.
I have no idea how much time passes. It could be ten minutes or ten hours.
I lost all sense of time the second they stabbed me with a fucking needle. All I know is that it's too fucking long.
"Holy fucking shit," Alex shouts.
"What?"
"Something's happening." A frantic scrambling sound hits my ears before he screams. "Get them away from me. Help me, help me." Pure fear fills his voice.
"What the fuck are you talking about? There's no one here." But the second I finish speaking, I realize what he's talking about… because whatever they slipped us starts to take its hold on me too.
"Nooo," I scream as the lights flick on and a broken and beaten Mia is revealed in the corner. "Nooo," I cry again, crawling over to her. "No, please no."
My frantic hands run all over her as the lights continue to flash on and off above and Alex continues to scream, fighting off whoever it is that's chasing him.
The lights flash once more, and I look over my shoulder, but I don't see Alex. Instead, I see Remi. She's sitting in the corner of the freezing cold room with her arms wrapped around her legs, rocking back and forth with tears streaming down her cheeks.
But then Ace Jagger appears, drags her from the floor, and wraps her in his arms.
"He's nothing, Remi. Scum of the earth. He deserves to die."
"No," I cry, as he pins her up against the wall and begins stripping her clothes off her. "No, I'm here. I'm watching. Treat her better than that, you cunt," I warn, but he continues.
I can't help but get turned on as he nails her against the wall, my cock jutting out from my body, ready for some action of my own.
But my girl is…
I spin to where Mia was in a pile on the floor, but she's gone.
In her place is my mother. Blood oozing from the deep slash across her throat and the word ‘traitor’ carved across her bare torso.
I back up until I hit the wall, only it's not the wall—it's the door, and it swings wide open.
The flashing above me continues, but down the dark hall, I see a light.
The way out.
With one final glance down at my mother, I find her now standing with Mia beside her. Their eyes are dark and their bodies covered in blood and bruises.
"Kill him," Mia says, both of them taking a step toward me. "Kill him. Kill him. Kill him," she chants.
"No, no. It's me. It's Bexley. I'll keep you safe. Let me look after you."
"Kill him. Kill him," Mom adds.
Holy shit.
They both pull knives from behind their backs and run at me.
I stumble on the rough ground beneath me. Glancing down, I find I'm running over rocks, but I have no time to hesitate. I can hear their chants getting louder.
I take off, scrambling over the larger rocks.
Finally, I get over to the other side, but all that greets me is a giant red lake.
I look over my shoulder, not seeing them behind me.
But I know I can't go back.
I prepare to jump, and it's then I see the bodies lying face down in the water… and I realize it's not water, it's blood.
I retch as the chant hits my ears once more, and I know that I can either jump or I let them kill me.
Or I could push them…
<
br /> Standing tall, I wait for them to approach me with their knives raised, ready to plunge them into my chest.
Mom lunges first, and I manage to grab her arm and throw her over the side, into the pool of death beneath us.
"This was always how it was meant to end, Bexley. It's all a game."
Her final words echo around me.
All a game.
All a game.
The second she moves toward me, I act on instinct, and she follows Mom over the edge. But the second I realize what I've just done, I dive in after her.
Not Mia. Not my Mia.
I finally find her lying face down amongst all the other bodies, and I carry her from the lake and lay her down on a bed in a room I find.
"It's okay, little mouse. You're safe. Come back to me, please. I'm sorry."
Footsteps approach from behind me, and when I look back I find the Electi walking toward us.
"Help her, Cade, please. You can't let her die."
"You killed her. You killed my prosapia," he roars, throwing me to the floor so he can tend to her.
My head bounces off the floor, and I have to blink a few times to get my vision to focus. When I do, I find Mia alive and awake, straddling Cade's naked body as he thrusts up into her, sucking her nipples into his mouth. Ashton walks up behind her, wraps his fists around her hair and rips her head back to him as he forces his cock into her ass.
I expect her to cry out in pain, but when a scream rips from her throat, it's with pleasure.
She sucks Brandon off while wrapping her fist around Channing’s cock, taking everything they give to her.
"No," I scream. "Get off her."
Cade's hooded eyes turn to me. "Mia is exactly where she belongs. And you love it, too, don't you, babe?"
"Harder," she cries, and I recognize her tells. She's close.
She's going to come for them.
"Nooo." My heart shatters in my chest as I watch her fall apart and they continue using her.
Dropping into the corner, I close my eyes and will it all away.
When I wake again, I'm in my dorm room.
Holy fuck, it was just a dream.
My chest heaves, my skin dripping with sweat, but when I look down at my hands, they're covered in blood.
What the—
A knock sounds out at the door, and I quickly go to it, hoping it's Mia and that none of that really happened.
I need to see with my own two eyes that she's okay. That I didn't kill her, that they didn't— My stomach turns over at the thought of them all taking her like that.
Swinging the door open, my heart drops into my feet, because it's Mom and Mia again… only their skin is hanging off their bodies, blood dripping everywhere, and they're still wielding their knives.
I back up into my dorm room, but I never hit the wall. Instead, I fall over the edge, and I just keep falling… until I land in a dark room with a person strapped to a chair in the center. There’s a bag over their head, and their limbs are restrained to the legs.
"This is your final test, Easton. You do this, and you join us as Electi. You become a part of everything we and this town have.
"You'll be legendary and go down in history as we take over this town and show everyone how it should be run."
Cade steps up beside me and hands me a knife.
"W-what do I have to do?"
"I want her heart. I want what you have. Then, and only then will this end."
He moves, stands behind the person, and pulls the bag off.
Mia's eyes are wide as she stares at me. She's trying to scream, but she's gagged, and I can't make out what she's trying to say.
"No, I can't. I can't."
"This won't end until you do."
Others step into the room—the Electi, Mom, Dad, Alex and Remi.
"You do it, or I kill them." He raises a gun along with the rest of the Electi, and they aim them right at those I love.
It's her or them.
“What's it going to be?"
"Holy fucking shit," I pant. "Oh my God." I drop my head into my hands, feeling the tears streaming down my face.
When I finally look up, I find Alex curled in a ball in the corner of the room that's now fully illuminated, shaking and sobbing his heart out.
"Alex," I say, but he doesn't stir. "ALEX," I shout as loud as I can.
But again, no reaction.
He's still lost. Still living out his worst nightmares and being chased by his demons.
Assuming that this right now is real, and he's not about to come at me with a knife.
The creak of the door startles me, and my head snaps over to find a dark, hooded figure in the doorway. Their hood is so low that I have no way of telling who it is.
But I know it's one of them.
When he speaks, it's that weird voice again.
"You need to escape. If you don't, you die, and this is all over."
Without another word, he slams the door closed and we're plunged into darkness once more.
32
Mia
The party goes on around me, but I can’t relax. I haven’t been able to ever since I sent Bexley that text and he didn’t reply.
Sasha insisted I attend the party, so as not to alert Cade to anything.
But I don’t want to be here, smiling, pretending. It’s too much. Especially when I know Bexley and Alex could be in some kind of trouble.
“You need to relax,” Sasha hisses, swaying her hips to the beat. She hasn’t left my side, and I’m thankful. Especially since Brook is here, working the room like she thinks she owns the place. Like she thinks she’s Cade’s prosapia. I want to tell her she’s welcome to him. That she can take my place. But I know it doesn’t work like that. Everyone likes to remind me enough.
“You should take some Xanax, it’ll help you loosen up.”
“No, I’ll be okay.”
“I get it, Mia. You don’t want to break your moral code or whatever. But sometimes, to play with the devil you have to become a sinner.”
“This is enough.” I shake my drink at her, and Sasha rolls her eyes.
“I envy you. So fucking naïve.” She slips a small tin out of her pocket and plucks a small white pill from it. “Last chance.”
I shake my head.
“Suit yourself.” She pops it on her tongue and chases it down with her drink. “Showtime.” Her eyes go to the front door right as Cade enters the house, followed by the other Electi.
A chill goes through me, but no one else seems to feel the ripple in the air. They’re too enamored with their king. Too eager to party with the Electi and live in their world. It’s pathetic really, how quickly people will shed their integrity if they think it’ll help their social status.
The sea of bodies part as Cade makes a beeline for us. “There you are.” He wraps a hand around my waist and pulls me into his side.
“Did you miss me?” His lips graze my neck, and I force down the urge to retch.
“Looking good, Sash,” Ashton says with a lazy smile. “Maybe I’ll break a rule or two tonight and let you ride my dick.”
“Dude, that’s my sister,” Brandon protests, snagging the hand of a passing blonde. He pulls her into his chest and whispers something to her.
“And what did your momma teach you, Brandy boy?” Ashton taps his face. “It’s good to share your toys. What do you say, Sasha?”
“Go fuck yourself, asshole.”
“Ooof, I think she likes me.” He explodes with laughter.
“I’ll be back,” Sasha whispers to me. I want to go after her, but when I catch Channing’s stare he shakes his head. He looks murderous, watching Sasha as she melts into the crowd.
“Hey Cade.” Brook saunters over to us and leans in to kiss his cheek. “You’re looking good.”
“What can I do for you, Brook?”
“Come on, babe. Don’t be like that. It’s been too long since you came over and—"
In one second flat, Cade has
his hand wrapped around her throat.
“What did I tell you about coming around to cause trouble? Mia is my girl now… it would serve you right to fucking remember that.”
She claws at his fingers, but he lets her go, shoving her gently.
“What the fuck, Cade?”
“Like you don’t love being choked.”
“Yeah, when she’s sucking dick,” Ashton snorts.
“Nice, Ash. Real fucking nice.”
“You know where my loyalties lie, Sis, and it’s not with you.”
Brook glowers at him. “It’s all her fault.” She sets her sights on me, but Cade pushes me behind him.
“Mia is off limits. I mean it, Brook. Back. The. Fuck. Down.”
“But—"
Cade mouths something, but I can’t make out what it is. Whatever he says has Brook spinning on her heel and disappearing down the hall.
“She’s becoming a nuisance,” Brandon says.
“But even pests have their uses.” Ashton shrugs.
I sip my drink and pretend to be paying them no attention. Cade has me tucked into his arm, furthest away from them.
“Are you sure about this?” Channing asks. “Maybe one of us should…” The music drowns out his voice.
“You need to relax, Chan,” Ashton says. “Everything is under control. For us at least. Man, I’d kill to see—"
“Ash,” Cade barks, and silence falls over them.
“Where the fuck is Tim, anyway?”
“Fawn had an episode again.”
“Fuck.” A heavy sigh leaves his lips. He catches me watching and smirks. “Sorry, babe, are we neglecting you?” His lips graze mine, but then his tongue licks the seam of my mouth, demanding entrance.
I kiss him, hoping if he lets his guard down enough, I’ll find out what they’ve done with Bexley and Alex.
But twenty minutes later, I know nothing… except whatever it is, it’s bad.
Bad enough that Channing and Brandon both seem uneasy. Even if Brandon is dry fucking the blonde against the wall right now.
“I’m going to find Sasha,” I eventually say, hoping he’ll release me from his possession long enough to find her or Annabel.
