“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?