by Erin Trejo
“Mr. Alder, we already knew you could dance. Showing off with the new girl isn’t helping your grade at all.” I turn my head to look at his face but all I see is that perfect grin.
“Mrs. Anderson, with all due respect, I’m your best dancer. The new chick has nothing on me.” Asshole!
“We will see won’t we, Knox.” With that she walks away and leaves us standing in the middle of the room while she addresses the rest of the class.
“Don’t get a big head. She only likes you because you’re new,” the man I know as Knox smarts off.
“There are few things about myself that I’m positive about and my dance skills are one of them. Watch your back, pretty boy,” I tell him with a smirk. I turn to walk back to my bag, bending down to grab my water when large hands grip my waist. Before I can move, a hard cock is being thrust against my ass. The room erupts in laughter as the teacher tries to calm them. Knox leans over my back, brushing my hair over my shoulder with one hand and whispering in my ear, “They will all hate you soon. Then what will you do? You don’t belong here, Miss Sullens and we will make sure you run as far from here as possible.” As soon as he moves, I’m upright and ready for a fight but Knox is already halfway across the room heading for the door.
“Asshole,” I grumble when the guy next to me laughs.
“You’re not wrong. The Triple A’s are all assholes.” I bring my water to my lips and take another drink when I look over at him.
“What’s the Triple A’s?”
“The Alders. That was Knox, Callan is the youngest and then there’s the oldest, Steele. They run this place. Or so they like to think. Stay out of their way and they won’t bother you.”
“And you are?” I ask raising an eyebrow.
“I’m Luke. Sorry,” he adds holding his hand out to me.
“Whisper.”
“That’s your name?” a girl’s voice sounds behind me. I glance over my shoulder and nod once. “Wow. And here I thought they didn’t let trash in here.”
“Excuse me?” I whirl around, squeezing the now empty water bottle in my hand.
“That could only be a name from a trailer park. We don’t like trash, trailer girl.” The words ring through my head but so does the thought of snapping her neck. I start to take a step toward her, ready to throw down if that’s what I need to do when Luke grabs my wrist. He pulls me back and tosses his arm around my shoulder as he glares at her.
“Why don’t you run along and find your kneepads, Tricia. I’m sure Steele is ready to be sucked off once again.” I crack a smile. Maybe I’m going to like Luke.
“Oh, Luke. You should know better than to fuck with me. Steele will handle you,” she says flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking away.
“Well, I would say that made a great first impression,” Luke says as he pulls his arm away from me.
“I didn’t mean to get you involved.”
“Don’t worry about it. Steele won’t do shit. At least not to me. He knows Tricia is a web of lies.”
“Don’t like her much, huh?” I ask as I pick my bag up. I heard Mrs. Anderson dismiss the class early.
“She’s one of those bitches you love to hate. She has a big crew here though, so once you piss her off her whole crew will hate you,” he adds shrugging his bag over his shoulder.
“I’m not here to be liked. I don’t really care if anyone likes me or not.” We walk into the hallway when I spot Knox with the other asshole, then one more walks up. Jesus, they all look so similar.
“That’s Steele and Callan. You met Knox,” Luke adds.
“I met Steele too. Asshole stole my cigarette,” I grumble.
“Yeah, there’s no smoking on campus. Unless you’re them,” he chuckles.
“Good to know. I’ll see you later, Luke.”
“Where are you going?”
“To smoke a cigarette,” I tell him with a smirk of my own. He chuckles and shakes his head before walking away. I stroll down the hall past the brothers from hell and out the side door, pulling a smoke free from the pack and lighting it up. Fuck the Triple A’s. They don’t scare me.
4
Steele
I glance around the table at my brothers before bringing my eyes back to meet my dad’s. I don’t know why he’s here and frankly I don’t care.
“Why are your grades so low, Callan?” My eyes move to my brothers as I listen to the angry tone my dad uses.
“Practice has been running late. I’ll get them up,” my little brother adds.
“Yes, I know you will. My business doesn’t deal with slackers as you very well know. If you ever want a chance to become the king of all this, you must have the right mindset.”
“Lucky for us no one wants to be the king,” I add.
“Steele! I will not tolerate that type of talk. I have groomed you boys to take over this company, this legacy, since you were born! I will not have you disrespecting it,” he roars. Knox elbows me in the ribs as I sigh.
“Sorry. Can we just get on to what it is you want? You don’t come home unless you need something from us.” That part isn’t a lie. We rarely see our dad and that doesn’t bother me. I can’t stand the man or the men he’s trying to groom us into. I’d prefer to not have to deal with him at all if the choice were up to me.
“I’ve heard news that you’re looking into the Macron family,” he says setting his fork on the table next to his plate.
“And? You mentioned a job not long ago, and I wanted to make sure I had all the information I needed to handle it,” I tell him casually.
“That isn’t your decision to make, Steele. I tell you what you need to know. Now, if I hear one word of you snooping around again, I will make you pay for it.” I ignore his threats. I’ve always ignored his threats because to be honest, I like his punishments. They give me a sick thrill of knowing what I can handle. He just doesn’t know that part.
“What’s the job?” Callan asks taking my dad’s eyes off me.
“We’ve been informed that there is a new girl in the area. We aren’t sure exactly how she fits in but she’s here with the Weatherly’s.” Now that has my interests.
“They don’t have kids and what the hell are they doing back in Rolling Springs?” I nearly growl.
“We don’t know. They returned and have brought a child with them.”
“And that has what to do with us?” Knox asks after being silent for most of the conversation.
“I’m about to tell you that. We have reason to believe that this girl isn’t who they say she is,” my dad says. Now that intrigues me. I sit up a little straighter, listen a little harder. My dad smirks knowing I like the sounds of that.
“And you want us to what? Make nice with her? Get her on our side and see what she knows?” I ask feeling the adrenaline as it rushes my system.
“Not exactly. If she is who we think she may be, we need information from her, not to scare her off.” I shake my head. This doesn’t make sense. Why would we want to get information from her? What information? As if he can read my mind, he continues, “We think she may have ties to the Macron family.”
Callan lets out a long whistle, Knox sighs, and I stare right into my dad’s eyes.
“Then why is it a problem for me to research them?”
“Because you don’t need to! Why are you so damn stubborn, Steele?” I shrug.
“Like father, like son?” Knox chuckles.
“Don’t keep this up. What I need for you to do is get close but not too close. We need to know anything she knows. You will be in charge of finding that out in any manner you see fit.” Now that causes a spark of fire to ignite in my stomach. My lips slowly curl into a grin that both of my brothers understand. They both smile along with me as my dad shakes his head.
“Don’t make me regret this,” he adds.
“Oh, you won’t regret it. If she knows anything, we will find out,” I add. I grab my fork, stab it into a piece of steak and pop it into my mouth as multiple ide
as form in my head.
“If you will excuse me, I have things to do. I’ll be leaving again in the morning. I expect reports on this.” I nod my head as my dad shoves out of his chair and walks off.
“Is it the new girl I saw in the hall? Dark hair?” Callan asks.
“That’s her,” I reply.
“Her name’s Whisper. She’s in dance. Not a bad dancer either. Her body is toned and tight.” I jerk my head in Knox’s direction wondering how exactly he knows that. He laughs. “We had to have partners, so I grabbed her.” He shrugs making no apologies.
“I don’t care what her body is like, we need to start planning out what we’re going to do.”
“Since when do we plan? We always just go with it,” Callan adds with a shrug of his own. I glance over my shoulder to make sure my dad isn’t listening before leaning forward and resting my arms on the table.
“I’m not done looking into the Macron family. There’s a reason this shit is all secretive and I want to know,” I tell them. They both nod.
“So, we keep looking. We just do it on the down low. Dad won’t find out anymore,” Knox says. I nod as a smile crosses my face.
“Let’s go pay our new girl a visit.”
5
Whisper
I’ve never had much luck with sleep. With sleep comes bad dreams. With bad dreams comes another sleepless night. I toss and turn trying to get comfortable in this plush bed. I don’t think I’ve ever slept on anything so soft in my life. The Weatherly’s made sure to go all out for me, but the way they sat at the dinner table tonight gave me chills. I didn’t like how they looked at me, watched me. I think I was right. Psychos.
Throwing my legs over the edge of the bed, I stand and head for the door. I check to make sure their door is closed, which it is, before I walk down the steps. Making my way to the back door, I slip outside and inhale the cool night air. When I look up, I can see the stars. That’s not something I’m used to either. Back home, I was in a big city, bounced from place to place. I was never in a place like this. As we were coming through town, Rolling Springs looked like a picturesque town that you would see on a TV show or in a magazine. Not a place I ever thought I’d be living. I take a deep breath and sit on the porch swing, closing my eyes as it sways. The swing dips and I can feel someone sitting next to me but I’m afraid to open my eyes.
“What do you want?” I ask softly, not knowing who it could be, but I assume it’s Nathan or Debra.
“I’m not sure yet,” a deep, dark voice says. I open my mouth to say more, my eyes snapping open, but before I can move or make a sound, a hand covers my mouth and an arm snakes around my body. I start to thrash, fight, but I’m lifted easily. I can make out two more shadows in the distance near the pool house as I’m manhandled and carried in that direction. I claw at the hands that hold onto me, kicking my feet but it does no good.
“Stop fighting,” the man hisses into my ear. Yeah, that won’t happen. It only makes me want to fight harder, and I try too.
In a few more long strides, we’re in the pool house followed by the other two shadows. One of them slips something over my eyes before I’m being tossed onto a hard surface and my arms and legs tied down.
“You son of a bitch! I will kick your ass!” I scream before I’m being gagged. Well this isn’t good.
“Calm down and I might take that off,” one says in a hushed tone. I mouth around the gag when I feel hands on my body. They are tugging and ripping my clothes off. This isn’t happening. Not again. Please, God, don’t let this happen again! Tears burn the back of my eyes but I don’t let them fall. I won’t give them what they want. Instead, I remain perfectly still as my naked body is exposed to the cool air. Then there are hands on me. Roaming slowly over my flesh. Electric currents run from those hands and straight over my skin. What the hell is going on?
“I’m going to remove the gag and if you scream you aren’t going to like what we do to you,” one whispers in my ear. “Understand?” I nod my head rapidly when the gag is pulled free. Fingertips skate across the flesh of my stomach, bumps forming in their wake. I shouldn’t be feeling this should I? They are basically going to rape me, and I feel like I’m high.
“Who are you?”
“Whisper,” I say softly. Another hand comes to rest on my ankle, slowly rising up my leg to my thigh. I suck in a breath as another hand comes to my chest, slowly circling it.
“Who are your parents, Whisper?”
“I don’t have any.” That’s the truth. My nipple is twisted and tugged as I moan. They think I’m lying? I don’t have parents. Never have.
“Who do you live with?”
“Foster parents. They aren’t my real parents.” I gasp when another set of hands start slowly creeping over my stomach. If they were going to hurt me, why would they be asking these questions? Why aren’t they just doing what they want?
“What’s your last name?”
“Sullens,” I say softly, feeling warm breath dance over my cheek. A warm tongue slips out, sliding up my cheek to my lips. Heat burns inside of me when lips cover mine. A kiss so hot I want to squeeze my thighs together. A dark chuckle sounds from down toward my legs as they’re spread wider.
“Don’t do this, please.”
“Do what? Have a taste? We’re not going to hurt you,” the man says. I swallow hard when I feel hands move up my inner thighs and a man hum.
“You’re wet,” one whispers.
“Is she? I would think she likes this,” another says right before I feel a tongue slip over my clit. I gasp and arch my back as much as I can, pressing into him. What is wrong with me? I’ve been in this position before, but I sure as hell didn’t feel like this.
“All we want to know is who your real parents are, Whisper, and why you’re here,” the one near my head says.
“I don’t know my real parents. I’m here for school.” Soft lips wrap around my nipple, a wet tongue dancing and circling it. Hard sucks follow before a set of lips are back on mine. My body is buzzing. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this high before. The three of them work me over until I’m trembling and on edge then it all just stops. I whimper and I hear a chuckle.
“You’re lying. Who are you real parents?” I’m asked again. Don’t I wish I knew? I never knew them. They dumped me off when I was just a baby. I was never adopted but no one ever knew why. I was tossed from place to place my whole life.
“I’m not. I don’t know them.”
“Why do you want to lie? We didn’t want to hurt you, Whisper.” My heart leaps into my throat when I hear the unmistakable sound of a switchblade being opened.
“I don’t know anything!” The sharp tip of the blade rests on my inner thigh. Tears beg to be free but I blink them back. I won’t let anyone else break me. I let it happen once but never again!
“You do know,” the one by my legs says.
“You don’t scare me,” I say through gritted teeth. I hear them all chuckle around me as the tip slowly moves up between my legs. It barely touches my clit and I’m arching again. Fingers roughly spread me and the tongue is back. Flicking and lapping at me until I nearly combust.
“We aren’t even done with you yet,” the one by my head growls before devouring my lips once more. Another hand grabs my breast while lips suction over the other. Teeth bite down as I come in a swirl of lights blasting behind my eyes and tears rolling down my cheeks. The knife scrapes over my flesh causing a burning sting but it only intensifies what I’m already feeling. I hear the one by my head groan as he breaks the kiss and moves away from me. The hands and lips leave my chest but the one that just licked me is still breathing heavily against my thigh.
“This isn’t how you were supposed to play but now that you’ve moved the pieces around the board, we will win.” With that, my hands and legs are cut free. I’m still trembling from the orgasm when I try to shove myself up but it’s too late. The door slams to the pool house and they are gone. I slowly push up once more in a daze t
rying to figure out what just happened here. My body is still tingling as I climb up and stand. Grabbing a towel that’s hanging nearby, I wrap it around my body and move toward the door. Peeking out, I want to make sure they’re gone before I step foot outside. When I’m satisfied that they are, I run toward the house and in the back door. I’m up the stairs and locked in the safety of my room before I let the waterworks start. Each hot tear that slips down my cheek hurts. I know what my life was like before and I never want to go back to that. This was supposed to be my chance at a new life. A new town.
Walking into the bathroom, I flip the light on and then the shower. As I stare at myself in the mirror, I wonder who they were. Why would they think I was lying about who I am? Don’t they think that I’d love to know who my parents were? That I would love to have some kind of family that was actually mine? I close my eyes and fight the urge to cry once more. I’ve shed enough tears throughout my life that I don’t have many left to spare. Instead of letting them fall, I climb in the shower and wash away what happened tonight. What I let happen. How could I have been so stupid? What was I thinking? The burn on my thigh causes me to look down. There, right where the blade was is a small cut that has since stopped bleeding.
“How did he know that I would like that?” I whisper to myself.
6
Steele
“This is all bullshit,” I hiss as I fling another file at my brothers. Knox grabs it up and flips through the contents as Callan sits back with a joint between his lips.
“You know what’s bullshit? Being up this early. We don’t have school for another hour, Steele,” he whines.
“Do I look like I give a shit? Take a fucking nap, slacker.” He rolls his eyes and inhales before passing the joint to Knox.
“There is no way that this is everything there is on the Macron family. There has to be more somewhere,” Knox chimes in.
