Corrupt

The place was uninhabitable.

Old furniture, stained and ripped, was strewn about, while piles of wooden debris, looking like it had once been chairs and other furniture, sat in corners. Probably waiting to be used as firewood.

All the windows I could see were broken, and I dropped my eyes, seeing garbage and puddles on the floor among small glass vials, pipes, and needles.

I twisted up my lips, hating this place already.

Why would Michael want to come here? I couldn’t deny that dark and dangerous held a lot of allure, but old filthy mattresses on the floor, stained with fuck-knows-what, and dirty needles strewn about?

This place was ugly. I didn’t want to be here.

I cocked my head, peering in front of me and seeing an open door ahead. When one of the guys’ flashlights danced across the room, I vaguely made out spray paint on a white wall inside the door. It looked like the entry to a basement.

I definitely didn’t want to go down there, either.

But then I lurched forward, a body passing mine, shoving my shoulder.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Will warned, walking past and looking over his shoulder at me. “This house isn’t safe. A girl got violated here a few months ago.”

“Raped,” Damon taunted, whipping around to stand in front of me and getting in my face. I immediately reared back.

“She was drugged and taken downstairs.” He jerked his head behind him, gesturing to the basement, with thrill in his eyes.

My breath shook as I swallowed the lump in my throat.

A girl got attacked here? I pinched my eyebrows together, fear speeding up my breathing.

“Yeah,” I heard Kai’s voice at my back, “she was tied up, stripped naked...Can’t tell you how many guys went at her. They were lining up for their turns.”

I spun around, backing up in the other direction as Kai inched toward me with a look in his eyes.

But then I ran into another body at my back and stopped. This time it was Will, his green eyes heated as he cocked his head down at me like a challenge.

What the hell were they doing?

I whipped my head around, seeing Damon close in, too, his black eyes looking like a void in the darkness of his mask.

Kai looked up, asking Will in a light voice, “I don’t even think they caught them all, did they?”

“No,” Will said playfully, “I think there’s still a few running around loose.”

“Like four.”

I heard Michael’s threat, and I jerked my head, widening my eyes as he closed in on my side, completing the cage.

Shit. My lungs emptied, my heart jackhammered in my chest, and I caught sight of the dirty mattress sitting on the floor.

Bile rose in my throat.

But then all of a sudden, laughter broke out, and I jerked my eyes up, seeing their bodies shaking with amusement as they backed away from me.

“It’s just a crack house, Rika,” Michael assured. “Not a rape site. Relax.”

They were kidding? I crossed my arms over my chest, scowling.

Assholes.

My stomach was tight with knots, and I inhaled a few deep breaths to get my nerves under control.

I watched as they all squeezed kerosene on the walls, floors, and around the debris, and even though it didn’t take a genius to guess what they were doing, I kept my concerns quiet. I wasn’t sure if I was having fun yet, but I didn’t want to argue or try to stop them and lose the foot in the door I’d somehow gained.

Not yet, anyway.

“Fire up!” Michael called out. ”Time to clean out the garbage.”

They all came to stand next to me, all of us facing into the house, and I watched as they lit matches, the glow of the small fires lighting up their masks.

Michael’s hazel eyes flickered in the light, and my heart skipped.

Digging into my middle pocket, I pulled out my matchbox and lit a match, the burst of flame consuming the tip.

I smiled to myself, looking around at all the shit on the floor and thinking about all the bad stuff that had probably happened in this house. Given the amount of drug debris laying around, I guessed violence had come with it, too. People had probably been abused here.

Maybe even children.

I turned my head right, seeing Michael watching me. Looking to my left, I saw Kai and Damon staring at me as well. Will held up a cell phone, clearly recording what was about to happen.

I stared ahead, knowing what they were waiting for.

I tossed the match, the small ember bursting into a four-foot flame against the wall, and I let out a breath, feeling the heat against my body.

All of the guys then tossed their matches, the small house turning into an inferno of yellow and red. Heat flooded my veins, and I smiled.

“Woohoo,” Will praised in a low howl, filming every inch of the living room going up in flames.

Slowly, we all turned and walked out of the house, Damon carrying the duffel that Will had carried in, his hands too busy recording the spectacle now.

Should he be doing that? You didn’t really want evidence floating about when you broke the law, after all.

“Make the call.”

I looked up to see Michael tossing Kai a phone as we all pounded down the stairs.

Kai took the phone and walked off, while I quickly glanced around, keep my head down to make sure there were no witnesses.

The neighborhood still looked dead.

I watched Kai as he walked about twenty feet away and lifted up his mask, talking into the phone.

“Do you know what you’re doing yet?” Michael asked Will.

He turned off the phone, stopping the recording, and stuck it in his pocket. “Not yet,” he answered as Damon walked past him and stuffed the duffel into the back of Michael’s car.