by Beck, J. L.
Easton appears shocked, his mouth popping open and then snapping closed a moment later. “I… I don’t know how to handle that.”
“You don’t have to handle it. They are my feelings.”
“Whatever,” he shakes his head. “She’s nothing, just a girl who saw us do some bad shit.” He gives me his back and walks into the kitchen. “We did this to keep her quiet. That’s all it will ever be.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” I mumble under my breath, hoping and praying that he can come out on the other side and see this for what it is.
This might’ve started as revenge, as a way to keep her mouth shut, but it’s turned into way more than I could’ve ever imagined. Stella is past being the girl we need to keep quiet. She’s now the one and only person to ever get inside our hearts.
23
Stella
When you put something under too much pressure, it snaps, and I guess that’s what happened to me. Something inside my mind snapped and cracked straight down the middle.
“You know what we’ll do if you try to leave, right?” Cameron’s voice cuts through my mind, interrupting my thought process.
“What?” I question, trying to act like I wasn’t ignoring him.
“Don’t do anything stupid while we’re gone. We’re going to lock you in here, and you are going to stay here. Be a good girl, and we’ll give you more freedom again.”
I nod, my throat throbbing as emotions I can’t fully explain ripple through me. I’m falling for these men, falling helplessly for them, but they don’t see me the same way. They just see me as the girl who caught them killing someone. The girl they own and can do whatever they want with.
That’s why I need to leave, I need to get away from them. In the last few days, I’ve been on my best behavior, playing the role of the good little prisoner, waiting for a chance just like this. I was hoping they would leave me alone, and now that they are doing it, I’m going to use that time to make a run for it.
I just wish this wasn’t so hard. I wish they meant nothing to me. I should hate them, but instead, I’m falling deeper every day. Maybe I’m wrong about all of this, maybe I just have Stockholm syndrome. Let’s be real, I don’t know what love is. This all might be a fucked up mind game to them, and I just think I love them.
Either way, they clearly don’t feel the same for me, and I refuse to stick around and be made a fool off. I won’t wait for them to take the hint. I’ll take Grams and go somewhere else. I’ll figure it out.
“When will you be back?” I push off the mattress. Easton stands in the doorway staring at me. His mood swings are giving me whiplash. One moment he looks at me like I’m the most important thing in the world, the next, he glares at me like he wants to kill me. The only time I feel as if I’m truly connected to him is when we have sex, and I can’t take it anymore. I want, no… I need more from him.
“Doesn’t matter, all that matters is that you stay in this room. Don’t give us another reason to punish you.” I stop myself from rolling my eyes at Cam.
“Of course, you seemed to enjoy the last punishment, so I wouldn’t be all that surprised if you disobeyed just for the fun of it,” Easton chimes in.
This time I do roll my eyes, “I’ll be here when you get back.” The lie rolls off my tongue so easily, I worry they might not believe me with how fast I reply.
“Better be, because next time we won’t take it so easy on you,” Cam whispers as he leans in to press a kiss to my forehead.
“Got it. I’ll be here,” I tell them both and pretend to be interested in the stack of paperbacks that they bought me, that rest on the nightstand.
Cam moves toward the door, gripping the handle in his hands. I catch Easton’s dark gaze glittering with excitement, almost as if he’s waiting for me to screw up just so he has a reason to punish me. He’s fucked up. Actually, all of this is fucked up because while he wears his arousal and excitement on the outside, my own bubbles just beneath the surface.
It’s hard for me to admit that I liked what they did to me, that I didn’t just like it but that I’ve wanted it to happen again since that night.
“Be good,” Cam says, closing the door. The door clicks shut, and then the lock is engaged. I wait, listening as their footsteps recede away from the bedroom. I wait for about ten more minutes after I hear the car leave to make certain that they are actually gone. Then I get out my phone and call Katie.
“Hello?” She answers on the third ring.
“Hey, Katie… it’s Stella.” I stutter, trying to remain calm. I can’t believe I’m going to do this, but then again, what other options do I have? I need to think for myself and decide if this is really what I want. I need to see if my absence will change anything.
“Hey, girl, what’s up? You doing okay?”
“No, actually, I could really use your help.”
“What is it?”
“Could you come pick me up from Cam and Easton’s house?”
“Yes, of course. When? Now?”
“Ah… yes, can you? If it’s not too much trouble?”
“No, boo, don’t be ridiculous. I’ll be right there.” She hangs up before I can give her directions, and for a moment, I’m not sure if I should call her back. Then I wonder if she knows where they live already, it’s then, I remember that they know each other from the strip club.
Shit, maybe they used to date? Could that be why the guys got so mad at me for meeting up with her? I didn’t even think of that, maybe they didn’t want us hanging out, maybe they were worried she would tell me something about them? As if knowing they murdered someone, didn’t deter me enough.
I grab the chair from the far corner of the room and pull it across the floor, stopping once I reach the window. Opening it slowly, I press against the wire screen. My fingers shake as I push on the two bottom corners, yet it doesn’t take much effort to get the screen popped out. I tug it out of the frame and release it, watching as it falls to the ground.
It’s not a far drop, and thankfully so, because I’m not about to break my bones getting out of here. I swing my leg over the ledge and let my body hang out, lowering myself slowly until I’m hanging from the windowsill by my fingertips.
Sucking in a deep breath, I let myself fall. Even with me bending my knees when my feet touch the ground, there is a sharp pain that shoots through my legs, and I groan as I land on my ass with a thud. Ugh, that hurt.
Getting up, I rub my hands over the front of my jeans to wipe the dirt off of them before I walk toward the road. I’m almost to the side street when my phone starts to ring. I pull it out and look at the screen, seeing Katie’s name flash across it.
Answering it, I try not to sound as winded as I feel, “Hey.”
“I’m parked one street over; do you want me to drive to the house?”
“No, I… I’ll walk.” I force air into my lungs, “I’ll see you in a second or two.” I end the call and shove the phone back into my pants pocket. My gaze sweeps up and down the street, paranoia trickling into my mind. My heart thunders in my chest as I start walking, each step feels like it takes an eternity. As I appear on the street, Katie rolls up in a white car. She stops directly in front of me and waves for me to get in. For one single second, I consider turning around and going back to the house. Call it a sixth sense or gut feeling, but it feels wrong to be getting into this car.
Knowing that if I don’t leave now, I never will, I grab the door handle and pull the door open. Hunkering down in the seat, I close the door behind me, and Katie hits the gas, and we zoom off down the street.
“Where do you want to go?” She questions as she turns out of the subdivision.
“I don’t know. I don’t have anywhere to go.” I hadn’t thought this far ahead. I don’t have a place for Grams yet, so she has to stay where she is for now. I know Cam and Easton won’t go after her. They might be crazy, but they don’t hurt little old ladies.
Katie taps on her chin with her finger, her lips pursed
, and her eyes narrowed as if she’s thinking. “Oh, I know a place you could stay for a while. Don’t worry, girl. I’ve got you.”
Glee fills my veins. “Thanks, seriously… thank you. You have no reason to help me, yet you always do.”
“Yup, that’s me. Here to help,” Katie smiles as we drive further out of town. My stomach rolls with nervous energy.
“Where are we going?”
“My place,” she answers without looking away from the road.
“You don’t live in the city?”
“No, not quite. Just a little bit out. We’ll be there shortly.”
“Okay,” I nod, looking out of the window as houses and trees whoosh by me. A short while later, I realize that there are almost no houses on the road anymore. Only a few houses scattered here and there but all far apart from each other. I wonder how far she lives out.
“You must have like no neighbors,” I try to joke, breaking the awkward silence.
“Yeah, not really. You know being with a bunch of people at work, I enjoy my peace and quiet when I’m home. Plus, a house outside the city was much cheaper. I was able to get a bigger, newer house for half of the money.”
“That makes sense.”
“You know if you decided to work at Night Shift, you could afford a house on your own too.” I swallow thickly, it feels like the weight of the world is resting on my shoulders. Get a job, find a place to live, take care of Grams, and figure out what the hell is going on inside my head.
“I just don’t know if I can. Plus, Cam and Easton would find me there in a heartbeat.”
“What’s up with you and them anyway? I’ve never seen them take a girl home. I mean other than for… you know? A quick fuck.”
Jealousy burns hot in my veins at her mentioning my guys sleeping with other girls. My guys? No, that’s wrong, they will never be mine, just as I will never be theirs.
“That’s all I am to them.” I frown out the window.
“I doubt that. I’ve seen the way they look at you.” She presses on the breaks, and the car slows before she turns into the driveway leading up to an older looking farmhouse. The yard is unkempt, and the porch is filled with clutter, which gives the place a creepy feel.
“This is it, home sweet home,” Katie says, cutting the engine. She gets out of the car, and I follow her to the porch. Wrapping my arms around myself, I wait as she unlocks the front door.
The same uneasy feeling I felt when I got into her car creeps up on me again, and for a moment, I think about running the other way and calling Easton and Cam.
“I’m starving!” Katie interrupts my thoughts. “Have you eaten yet? I have some leftover pasta in the fridge, do you want some?”
“Ah, sure…” I’ve eaten already, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat a lot for lunch. My mind was too busy thinking about my escape. Katie pushes the front door open and I follow her inside. The moment I step foot in the house, the bad feeling I’ve been having overwhelms me.
I scan the inside, realizing that it’s even dirtier and more cluttered than the outside. Old pizza cartons and crushed up beer cans are scattered around the living room. Dirty clothes and trash are on the floor, and the whole place smells of dust and dirt. But what is most unnerving is the pictures on the wall, they’re of a family… a family that doesn’t look anything like Katie.
“This isn’t your house…”
“No, it’s not,” Katie confirms, her voice clipped, and all the blood drains from my face. I try to step away from her, turning back toward the door when I hear someone moving behind me. I twist around, but before I can see who it is, a sharp pain erupts at the back of my head.
My knees buckle, and the last thing I think about before hitting the floor is how I should have stayed with Easton and Cameron.
* * *
When I come to, my head is throbbing, and for a brief second, I think I’m dreaming. Then I realize the ground beneath my body is hard, cold, and that this isn’t a dream at all. No, this is a true living nightmare.
“Welcome back,” a familiar male voice calls out to me. I look up, and the blood in my veins turns to ice. Paul.
I try to get up from the floor just to realize that I am tied up, my arms are numb from being pulled behind my back so tightly. Paul starts laughing as he walks toward me. His face is still black and blue in some spots from where the guys beat him up for touching me. Apparently, he hasn’t learned his lesson.
Fear… real fear floods my body. It’s a feeling, unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. Even when Cameron and Easton threatened me, I never felt this kind of terror.
Maybe part of me always knew that they wouldn’t hurt me, but Paul, he definitely will. He will tear me apart if he gets the chance, and unfortunately for me, he does now. Helplessly, I wiggle around on the floor, trying to get away from him, but he is on me the next moment.
His meaty fingers digging into my arms as he pulls me up to my feet. I cry out in pain as he pushes me onto the nearby bed, and my head bounces against the headboard.
“Hey, this wasn’t part of the plan!” Katie’s voice booms through the room, and I pry my eyes open to find her standing in the doorway. She doesn’t look at me, but the expression on her face tells me that she feels ashamed, maybe even sorry.
“I told you, I want my revenge,” Paul growls. “Her boyfriends got me fired. This is how I get back at them. I’m gonna fuck their little toy and send it back to them broken.”
“Look, I didn’t sign up for this part. All I want to know is what happened to my boyfriend?” Her boyfriend? “She lives with them. She has to know what they did to James. She has to know something.”
Even in my fear clouded mind, I am able to put all the pieces together and see the bigger picture. James was Katie’s boyfriend. She must have found out that the guys had something to do with his disappearance. But how does Paul add into this?
“Well, how about this. You ask her whatever you want to know, and if she is being a good bitch and tells you everything, then I won’t hurt her,” Paul grins, and I already know he is full of shit. He will hurt me either way.
“Just tell us, Stella, what did Easton and Cameron do to James?” Katie asks me, pinning me with a gaze that’s both desperate and apologetic.
“I-I don’t know…” As soon as the words leave my lips, Paul pulls back his hand and swings at me. The palm of his hand makes contact with my face, making my head snap to the side, right before a searing pain erupts across my cheek. The coppery taste of blood fills my mouth, and a whimper escapes my quivering lips.
“Stella,” Katie’s voice cuts through the fog of pain. “Tell me, and this will all be over. We’ll let you go. I promise. I just want to know the truth. I want to know what happened to him.”
I wish I could believe her, but even if she was telling the truth, could I tell them? I already know the answer. No… I couldn’t. I gave Cam and Easton my word, but more than that, I couldn’t bear them going to prison, because that would mean I couldn’t be with them.
I’m so stupid for having that epiphany now, in the worst time and place. Why couldn’t I have realized how much they really mean to me a few hours earlier. I wouldn’t be in this mess. I would be safe and sound in bed, waiting for them to return. I should have stayed, should have fought for them instead of giving up so easily.
Swallowing hard, I say quietly, “I’m sorry, Katie. I just don’t know…”
“You’re a fucking lying bitch!” she yells, hurt dripping like venom from her voice. “Maybe I should leave you two alone for a few hours and see if you remember something then.”
“Katie, please,” I beg. “You know what he’ll do to me.”
“Maybe that’s what you need. Maybe that’s what’s going to get you off your high and mighty horse. Too good to work at the strip club? You think I didn’t see how you looked at all of us girls working there?”
“Katie, that’s not true. I just couldn’t do it. I don’t think I’m better than anyone,” I pl
ead with her, but it falls on deaf ears.
“Lies! You lie! All you do is lie...” She keeps repeating it like she is trying to convince herself. I shake my head, tears falling from the corners of my eyes. “Just do whatever you want to do with her,” Katie says, her voice cracking at the end, giving her emotions away. She might not be okay with this, but she turns around and walks out of the room anyway.
Through my tears, I look at Paul, who is smiling like he just won the lottery. “Now, it’s time for us to have some fun. Don’t you think, Stella?”
Part of me wants to beg, scream, and cry, but I know damn well it won’t do me any good. There weren’t any houses close by, and Katie is not going to help me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I will my mind to go somewhere else because if I don’t, I don’t know if I’ll survive this.
24
Easton
I knew it, I fucking knew it. “I told you she would leave! We shouldn’t have trusted her. It was a fucking mistake, and I told you so!” I yell as I look out the open window of my room.
“Calm down. This is exactly why we uploaded the tracking app to her phone. Plus, she has no money, she can’t have gone far. Pull up the app and find her.” Cam tries to calm me while trying to stay calm himself, but I know him well enough to see that he is struggling.
Getting my phone out, I open the app he is talking about, so I can ping her phone. It only takes a few seconds before the red dot appears on the map, but it might as well have been hours. Every moment I don’t know where she is and that she is safe feels like a fucking eternity.
“Where is she?” Cam asks impatiently. I tilt the phone in his direction so he can see the screen as well.
“I have no clue where that is? But it’s only a twenty-five-minute drive.”
“Let’s go,” Cam says, but we are both already moving. We are out the door and in my car moments later. Cam puts the address into the GPS while I pull out of the driveway and into the road.
