A Hurt So Sweet Volume Four: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Elite of Eden Falls Prep Book 4)

by Isabella Starling

  "Everything in due time," he interrupts, holding up a hand. He doesn't give a shit about what I have to say. In his mind, I'm the culprit, the murderer. He won't change his opinion of me. He just wants me behind bars. "First, let's talk about your relationship with the victim."

  I walk him through my history with Lai. I don't skip on anything. I talk about Pandora, about the other guys, the sick, twisted games we play. The detective watches me with an impassive expression, every so often noting something down in his notepad. There's a camera pointed at me. I know this is being filmed. Once I finish talking, the detective heaves a sigh.

  "So, are you ready to confess?"

  "No," I growl. "I'm ready to tell you about... Lily Anna Oakes."

  He furrows his brows. "Lily Anna Oakes died."

  "No, she didn't," I shake my head vehemently. "She... We... staged her death. She's been living with me, for years. In secret."

  He laughs out loud, staring me down. "Then where is she?"

  I shrug. "That's for you to find out, Detective. All I know, she'll be eager to track down Pandora Oakes."

  He notes something down before returning his attention to me. "Pandora Oakes. Where is she?"

  "Missing," I hiss. "She... we got into a fight. I believe she left to see her biological mother."

  "We'll research this," he mutters. "I'll make some calls. Now, about that confession?"

  "I'm not fucking guilty." I glare at the man. "And I'd like to speak to a lawyer now, please."

  The man sighs, crossing his hands. "And how, pray tell, are you going to afford one?"

  His words make the reality of what's happening dawn on me. I have nothing. Since I bought Pandora's hand in marriage, I've been left penniless. I’ll have to sell the Estate, too.

  "I believe I have the right to a call," I manage.

  "You do. Would you like to make it now?"

  I nod, and am led to a phone in the detective's office. I don't know who to call. Who would even help me. Finally, I dial Pandora's number, the cell I gave her. But the line just rings and rings. Nobody picks up.

  The detective ends my call with a self-satisfied expression. "We'll appoint you a lawyer."

  "But I..."

  "You're being officially held for the murder," he goes on. "We'll bring you to your cell now."

  "Wait a goddamn minute," I hiss. "What about Lily Anna?"

  "Your little story about the dead girl?" He shakes his head. "I don't buy it."

  My nails dig into the palms of my hands. "You have to believe me. She's the one who killed Lai, and she's fucking dangerous. She could, and will, kill again. And I think Pandora is her next victim."

  He ignores me, calling for two security guards to enter the office. They haul me up and I resist them, demanding for my voice to be heard. But the detective makes the officers restrain me. He walks right up to me and smirks in my face.

  "You and your twisted founding family are the reason this town is a fucking trainwreck," he tells me coolly. "And I'll do everything in my power to put you behind bars, where you belong."

  He walks off before I get the chance to reply. The guards usher me into a group shower. I'm forced to stand under the harsh cold water, then given an orange uniform to change into. The handcuffs are back again, and I'm guided into a cell. At least there's only one bed—a small mercy. But it only serves to remind me these people think I'm dangerous. A fucking killer.

  Collapsing on the paper-thin mattress, I stare at the wall where obscene messages have been carved into stone and brick. I feel sick. My life took a turn in a series of events I couldn't have anticipated.

  And yet my main worry is Pandora.

  My stomach twists with the thought of her seeing that photo plastered all over the school. She must have felt so betrayed.

  And now, Lily Anna is out there too, and she's determined to hurt my toy and bring justice to the town that has destroyed us all.

  Life as I knew it is over. The only hope of getting the fuck out of here I have now is Emilian Oakes—and I have a feeling he doesn't give a shit whether I rot in jail or not, especially after finding out Lily Anna is alive and that I've been keeping her locked up for years.

  My mind is filled with memories. Images of Pandora lift me up and bring me crashing down the next second. My own confusing feelings for the girl make me feel sick. I can't love her. I don't love anyone. I can't afford to—not when it would cost me everything.

  But the thought of her won't leave me. I imagine her face. Her body. Every nook and cranny of her, explored, claimed in my name. My property. And now she's gone, and I'm behind bars. And yet the only thing I give a fuck about is her safety.

  I make a deal with God then and there, even though I've never been religious. But thinking of the danger my toy is in makes me desperate. I pray then, pray for her safety even if it means me staying behind bars. Forever.

  My cock hardens at the thought of her. The walls here are thin, and I can hear someone screaming down the hallway. A guard is half-asleep at his post a few feet away from me.

  I massage the bulge in my pants. I need her. I need the relief, the distraction, the fucking feeling of Pandora Oakes being mine again. I lay back on the bed and pull my pants down. Guiltily, my hand finds my cock, wrapping around the girthy head, stroking, needing the relief only Pandora has been able to give me.

  Precome bubbles on the tip of my cock, and I use my thumb to spread it all over me. My teeth dig into my lower lip, painfully searing into the skin. I can't help myself.

  Images fill my head. Pandora in Lily Anna's dresses. Pandora in nothing at all.

  My cock grows harder and harder and I massage it with long strokes that bring no satisfaction at all. It's not Pandora's hand doing this to me, and my own palm is a cheap solution to the problem.

  I wonder if I'll ever get to feel her again.

  I groan her name as I touch myself. I bring myself closer and closer, tethering on the verge of an orgasm that I won't let myself have. Not until she's back, safe in my arms—or as safe as she can be when I'm around.

  Bringing myself to the edge, I force myself to stop every time I get too close. My cock is dripping wet, eager to come, desperate to be buried in her silky folds. But she's not here. She's gone.

  Frustrated, I slam my fist into the wall. The pain is blinding. My knuckles burst open, blood pouring down my hand, but I barely notice it, getting close to an orgasm again as I stroke my dick closer and closer.

  Her name is a dying whisper on my lips. Blood drips down my crotch as I jerk with fast, angry motions. Time passes. I spend what must be hours lying on that squeaky mattress, palming my cock to the sound of the other inmates screaming, laughing and groaning in pleasure similar to mine.

  I'm nothing now. I've been reduced to scum. Nobody wants me in their life anymore. With my parents gone, Lily Anna gone, and Pandora gone, I'm nothing.

  I remember a story my mother used to read me when I was a kid, about a boy who would disappear if nobody remembered him. I try desperately to remember the ending. To remember how he solved the problem. But there's nothing there—just the soft, angelic sound of my mother's voice, and her manicured hands touching my forehead as she put me to sleep.

  I try to fall asleep, but it's too loud. The guard wakes up at some point to change shifts with another man. I take my hand off my throbbing cock. I close my eyes and pretend I'm somewhere, anywhere else.

  They don't give me food.

  I use the toilet in the corner of the cell. There's no window. Time passes excruciatingly slowly. I have no way of knowing how many hours have passed. Worry and guilt fuck with my head, making me lose my mind.

  I begin to understand what it was like for Lily Anna, being locked up in a place she couldn't escape. And I can't help but wonder whether this is all my fucking fault.

  For agreeing to her plan.

  For locking her up.

  For fucking her mind up beyond repair.

  But then I remember what she did. That she
killed my parents. She's a monster. And she needs to be brought to justice.

  Two more guard shifts and a dry as fuck sandwich later, a guard approaches my cell. I'm ready to go, standing tall and proud, determined to bring Lily Anna to justice.

  "Someone here to see you, Booth," the guard mutters. I recognize him as the older brother of one of the Prep kids. He seems to know who I am too, and seems almost embarrassed at the role reversal. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

  I follow him down the hallway, my hands still in cuffs.

  We walk to the same questioning room I was in before, and he locks the cuffs to the desk I'm sitting in. I feel like a fucking criminal.

  And the worst part is... I now know I am.

  What I did to Lily Anna is unforgivable.

  And I deserve to be punished for it.

  3

  Pandora

  3 months later

  This is my new normal. Alli is my new best friend. Mother continues to confuse me with her hot-and-cold attitude that changes every five minutes. And as for my life in Eden Falls... it's over. The nightmare is behind me.

  I haven't been in contact with anyone from the town. Begrudginly, I've followed the news of Dexter's arrest after Lai's murder. I didn't want to believe it was true, but everything pointed to it—Dex had killed his best friend, and now he was going to serve a long, long sentence. The judge presiding over his trial was determined to make an example out of Dexter. To bring Eden Falls to its knees. To end the town's Firstborn supremacy once and for all.

  And then there's the matter of the baby. The life growing inside me. I knew, from the moment I found out I was pregnant, that I couldn't possibly get rid of the baby. Not even knowing I had no idea who the father was. Not even with the possibility the baby's father is a killer.

  "I just don't understand," I mutter as Alli flips between the Netflix suggestions on the TV. "Why has nobody come after me? Don't any of them care?"

  "I thought you didn't want to go back to Eden Falls," Alli mutters, finally settling on an episode of Charmed. "I thought you wanted to run away once and for all."

  I don't answer, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth. She's right. I never belonged in Eden Falls. It was never home—not like Wildwood.

  With an exasperated sigh, Alli pauses the TV show.

  "Maybe you should go back there," she says, making my head snap up and my heart beat faster.

  "Why do you say that?"

  "Those men who ruined your life... and their sons. Don't you think they deserve to pay for what they did to you?"

  "It's over now," I mutter, protectively resting a palm on my growing bump.

  "But aren't you worried they'll hurt someone else?" Alli's stare is aimed right at me, and I feel shame burning my cheeks. "Don't you think they'll do it all over again? They just need a new victim..."

  She's right. If I walk away from Eden Falls and its inhabitants, I've achieved nothing. What I need to do is change the way that town is run. I need to find a way to regain my power. And the only way to do that is to go back to where it all began.

  "I'll think about it," I say, and Alli gives me a self-satisfied smile, nodding, and returning her attention to the TV.

  I do my best to focus on the show, but my mind is elsewhere. I need to talk to someone who's been in the same situation as me. Someone who broke free. And there's only one person I know who's successfully escaped Eden Falls.

  I make an excuse and leave the room. I need to speak to my mother. Because she's always hopped up on something, I've been delaying this conversation for too long. But it's time we finally spoke about it all—my father, Lily Anna, and the wicked town I've wanted to escape for months.

  But there's something about Eden Falls, something that's calling out to me like a siren's call, demanding I come back. I know the moment I step foot in town again, I'll be dragged down by the drama and hierarchy of the place. It's been refreshing not to be treated as anyone's bitch in Stormcliff. To be able to live my life the way I want. But I also know my conscience won't leave me alone until I change things for the next newcomer in town.

  I find my mother sprawled on a pink velvet chaise in the lounge area. She's eating chocolate pralines while a short-haired woman works on her talons, and her eyes light up when I walk into the room.

  "Lily... Err, Pandora!" She beams, and my heart beats with rejection as she motions for me to come closer. "I've been wondering where you were."

  "Why?" I sit down on the quilted leather sofa next to her.

  "You wanted to speak to me, didn't you?" Her smile is beatific, making me wonder yet again how she can be so observant for someone so utterly careless. "Well, here I am, darling. Shoo."

  She motions at the nail technician who makes a face at me before leaving the room with her equipment. Mother blows on her blood red nails and gives me a big grin.

  "Did you want to talk about the baby?" she asks candidly. "I know it's a little late, but there are still ways to get rid of it, you know."

  "No." I don't even attempt to hide the horrified tone in my voice. "I'm not getting rid of it, mother."

  "Oh." She appears dumbfounded by my statement, as if she doesn't quite understand. But her expression changes the next instant. "Well, what is it then, dear? Spit it out. I don't have all day."

  Her change in mood is instant and terrifying, but I try not to let it get to me. I knead the fabric of my flowy dress between my fingers, avoiding her gaze.

  "I... I wanted to talk to you about Eden Falls," I finally manage.

  "Oh, that hellhole." She laughs out loud melodically. "Best decision I ever made was leaving that place, my dear."

  "But don't you ever miss it?" Guiltily, I chuckle. "Emilian, your ex-husband... Don't you wonder what your life would have been like if you'd never left?"

  Her face becomes more serious and she reaches forward, grasping my palm between freshly manicured hands.

  "I couldn't have stayed there. I had to leave."

  "I understand."

  "He would have ruined me," she goes on, shaking her head. "You don't know Emilian Oakes like I do."

  "You loved him once," I remind her.

  "That was a long time ago..."

  "But still." I know I'm pushing, but I can't help myself. It's as if I'm looking for a reason—for someone to tell me I should go back and face the music, with my growing belly and everything I now know about the town. "You loved him. Enough to have a child with him. Enough to build a life in Eden Falls. Don't you regret not going back?"

  She pulls away then, fiddling with a ring on her finger. It has an enormous diamond, and I speak up softly to break the tension. "That's a beautiful ring."

  She laughs bitterly. "My engagement ring."

  "You still wear it?"

  She nods. "I can't help it. I did love him, you know."

  Now it's my turn to nod. "I get it."

  "He was a bad person," she mutters. "But I couldn't stay away, not even when people warned me to keep away from him. Have you ever felt that way?"

  I swallow the lump in my throat, nodding. I don't trust myself to speak.

  "Then you know." Mother seems more lucid than she has since I met her, and we share a rare moment of understanding as our eyes meet. "These men are bad for us... but we can't resist them. Maybe we were meant to be with them... Maybe I shouldn't have resisted as hard as I did. Sometimes I wonder if this is my punishment."

  "What do you mean?"

  She shrugs. "The pills. The alcohol. Maybe I'm doing all this to forget that... I'm not his anymore."

  Her bottom lip wobbles and I blink away tears in my eyes. I understand better than she could possibly know. Her situation with Father sounds similar to what I'm going through with Dex. And yet I still don't know which one of us made the right choice—her, for leaving, or me, for going back.

  I already know I'm going back now.

  There's no avoiding it.

  Dexter—and the rest of the Firstborns, along with Father—deserve
to know about the baby.

  "I think I have to go back," I admit in a trembling voice.

  "I know." Mother pats my hand. "Whenever you're ready, darling. And you're always welcome here, you know that."

  I pick myself up from the sofa, grateful for the rare moment of companionship. I feel her gaze on my back as I leave the room, heading back upstairs where Alli's eyes are still glued to the TV screen. The moment I walk in, she turns it off, turning to face me with a concerned expression.

  "How many Xanies today?" she asks, and I shrug, sitting down on the bed with a sigh.

  "Believe it or not, she seemed pretty lucid. We had a good talk."

  "I'm glad," Alli smiles. "So, what's the plan? Are we going back to Eden Falls?"

  "Yes," I nod, watching her beam. She's heard so many stories about the town now. She's eager to see it for herself, though I don't quite understand why she wants to visit so badly. Most of what I've told her is terrible, and yet I've never met someone so eager to walk right into the snake's den.

  "That's good," she nods. "It's time, I think. Aren't you excited?"

  I ponder her answer. God knows what awaits me when I return. I'll have to visit Dexter in jail, tell him about the baby. I'll have to face all the Firstborns as well as Father. Dread settles in the pit of my stomach, mixing with excitement to form a peculiar mix.

  "I suppose," I finally mutter. "Are you?"

  "Yes," she beams. "I get to meet the elusive Dexter Booth..."

  I laugh, but can't help the pang of jealousy her words send through my body. Alli's pretty. Like, way prettier than me. And I can't help but wonder what Dex would think of her.

  "But there's something else you should know," Alli mutters then, looking away to hide the guilt in her eyes. "I found something."

  "What is it?"

  She won't meet my eyes. Instead, she just passes over a slip torn out of a checkbook. My eyes widen as I take in what it says.

  The check is for two-hundred thousand dollars. And it's addressed to my mother. The check is embossed with a name I know all too well—my father's.