Ground Rules

Ryan stood up, and the shuffling of his feet across the littered floor made my hands shake. “He’s the whole reason we did it.”

I paused my fingers, and I was pretty sure that Cole had stopped breathing. He was awake—fighting sleep, but he was awake. “We?” I asked, standing on wobbling legs.

“We wanted to fuck with him. He was always so secretive about you, and we all knew you two were fucking. You were the golden girl of that school, Mazey, and if Cole wasn’t man enough to claim you…we would.” He paused. “Well, I would.”

“Who?” Cole asked, trying to stay coherent. His eyes fluttered back and forth, and he slowly shook his head, tightening his jaw.

“It doesn't matter. They left the room shortly after you walked in.”

When Cole walked in? Did he see it?

Ryan chuckled, and it rubbed me raw. “You were so fucked up. You didn’t even see Mazey lying on the bed. We were just trying to fuck with you, get you to admit that you and Mazey were together…get a rise out of you. But you stumbled right past us and ran face-first into the fucking wall.” He laughed harder. “It was actually hilarious. Then, you passed out, and Mazey was hardly awake, so we left the room disappointed we didn’t see you lose it.”

They left the room? “Then how did I get the bruises? Why did the doctor say I was sexually assaulted, Ryan?”

Ryan’s eyes flicked to mine, and he ran his gaze down my body slowly. Cole noticed, because he pulled on the rope for half a second before his arms went limp. “You already know the answer to that, Mazey.”

I half-laughed sarcastically, now baiting him. “So, what? You came back to that room and raped me while Cole was passed out in the corner? Was I even awake?”

Silence filled the area, and all I could hear was the rush of blood in my ears. He was sick. My heart thumped, and my vision grew dark. I shut my eyes and placed my hands on Cole’s shoulders and pretended that his palms were covering mine. Breathe, Mazey. Breathe.

“You were awake. You hardly fought me, which was kind of a letdown.”

I wanted to lash out. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and kill him. But instead, I bent down so I could hide my expression and began trying to loosen the knot at Cole’s hands. I wanted to leave. I didn’t want to be near Ryan. Nothing mattered except getting far away from him.

“So…what?” Cole croaked, fingers twitching as I tried to untie him. “You…get off on raping girls? You like the power trip?” Cole grunted and shook his head roughly, likely trying to steady his voice. “That means you’re a fucking psycho…and after I get out of here…” He cleared his throat and took a hefty breath. “I will come for you.”

Ryan threw his head back and cackled like a suicide bomber. It was deranged, and he looked like a lunatic. “After you get out of here?” He held a finger up and disappeared into one of the rooms off to the side.

My heart leapt, and I hurriedly moved to the front of Cole and wrapped my hands around his bloody face. “Hey, hey,” I said, shaking his eyes open. The green within them was too dark to be his. “I’m going to go find something to cut the rope. I’ll be right back.”

I heard Ryan shuffling around, so I ran down the hallway in the opposite direction. The hall grew darker and darker until I got to the very end where there was a single, half-cracked window. I tucked away in the corner and pulled out my phone, seeing that the call had been disconnected. “Fuck!” Air filled my lungs, and I glanced around, trying to find something to cut Cole’s rope with. I dialed 911 again with my blood-caked fingers from Cole’s face and waited for them to pick up again.

“Glass,” I said, seeing the shards of glass on the ground. I bent down, scooped up a shard and began running back toward Ryan and Cole. There was a splashing noise the closer I got, and when my phone finally connected despite the one bar of service I had, I skidded to a complete stop as I watched Ryan throw a red gas can near Cole.

“This is 911, is this Mazey?”

How did they know my name?

The phone fell from my hand as I watched Ryan pull out a lighter from his back pocket. The smell of gasoline was suffocating, and Cole’s eyes found mine from across the lobby, and I panicked. “No!” I yelled, seconds from running over to him. Oh my God!

“Hello? Mazey? Are you still there? We have someone coming to you right now. We got disconnected earlier, but we’re back. What is going on?”

“Ryan! No!”

The flame was bright, and everything seemed to move in slow motion. The sick smile on Ryan’s face as he threw the lighter near Cole. The look of horror on Cole’s face as Ryan landed on me. Ryan’s fist as he stormed me and punched me right in the jaw. The only realization I had that it wasn’t all a bad dream was when my head hit the floor and pain cut me in half.