Serena
The weeks have been passing by slowly. We are only days away from Christmas, and I am beyond excited. Evie and I went out last weekend to get all of our shopping done. Shopping for Mom was easy. I had already had her gifts planned for months. Shopping for the guys, on the other hand, was trickier than I thought.
After what felt like a thousand stores, I finally found gifts that I hoped all of them would like. I found a classic acoustic guitar for Odin. I got Zeus a new set of tools to work on his car and bike. For Dante, I found this gold watch that reminds me of the one he always wears.
Midas was the hardest to shop for. I spent days trying to find the right thing, but nothing screamed… him. Yesterday I was walking down Main Street and decided to go into the pawn shop for fun. I wasn’t expecting to find anything, but when I saw it, I knew it was for him. A solid twenty-four karat gold skull ring. But the best part was the inscription on the inside. My King. When I saw that, I knew he needed to have it.
I have never had to shop for a boyfriend before, let alone four of them. Though I don’t know if I can call them that. Nothing has ever been defined between us, but I like that. I don’t want the title on anything. The idea of being tied down again freaks me out more than I want to admit. Right now, I want to feel free and able to do what I want.
It's the last day before Christmas break, and school has been relatively boring. No teacher wants to do any work, so the day has been spent watching movies or goofing around in class.
I haven’t seen the Kings today. I tried calling and texting them, but there was never any answer. As the day wore on, my nerves skyrocketed. I hate them being a part of the MC. I hate that their dads have so much control over them.
I have spent too much time today staring at my phone. Hoping and praying that one of them will finally send me a text to let me know they are still alive. I lean against my locker, internally groaning. The warning bell starts to ring, signaling that class starts in five minutes.
I open my locker to get my books for math class. I know we more than likely won’t be doing any work, but the last thing I want is to walk in there unprepared and have more of Mr. Lebeau’s attention.
The door swings open, and sitting inside my locker is a large white box with my name scrawled across it in red. Alarm bells start ringing in my ears, knowing this can only be from one person. With a shaky hand, I reach forward to open the lid.
I fling the lid off and stare blankly at the contents of the box. White tissue paper sealed with a bridal salon sticker from Daytona, and a card with my name.
I pull the card out, scared to read it but needing to know what it says. I take a steadying breath before opening the envelope and pulling the note out.
Little one,
I saw this and thought of you. I can imagine you walking down the aisle to me in this. I promise that day will come soon.
xoxo
What the actual fuck?
I throw the note back in my locker and take the box out. I rip the tissue paper out of the way and finally see what is underneath. A white tulle princess wedding ball gown. A scream leaves my lips as I toss the whole box back into my locker and take a few steps back.
There is no way that he left a fucking wedding dress in my locker. There is no way that this is real. It has to be a sick dream that I can’t wake up from.
“Are you ok?” Evie taps my shoulder, making me jump again.
My face must be as white as a ghost, and my expression shows my horror because Evie instantly starts asking me a million questions that I can’t answer. I want to reassure you that I am fine, but the words are locked in my throat. They are stuck there and refuse to leave.
All I can do is raise a shaky hand towards my locker. Evie walks towards it and pulls out the white box. She pulls back the tissue paper and sees the dress. She looks confused before something clicks in her head. She takes the lid out of my locker, shoves it on the box, and throws it in the trash. She walks back to my locker, grabs the note next, and reads it. Her eyebrows hit her hairline, and she looked up at me.
“What is this?” Her voice is gentle, like she is talking to a timid animal.
I shake my head, not wanting to talk about it in school. “After. Let’s just finish up the last period of the day.”
Evie looks like she wants to argue with me, but when she sees my frightened expression, she drops it for now. But not before giving me a look that screams “We are going to be discussing this later, whether I want to or not”.
The bell rings, and the start of class is beginning. Evie wraps her arm around my shoulders and leads me down the hall to class. I didn’t even get a chance to grab any books that I might need, but I don’t care. I won’t be able to pay attention anyway.
We walk into class. Mr. Labeau is sitting behind his desk, and the rest of the class is talking amongst themselves. A TV sits at the front of the room with some random movie playing. I stare at the screen, knowing I should recognize whatever action movie is playing, but the name isn’t coming to me.
We take our seats at the back of the class. I place my water bottle on the corner of my desk, but don’t bother taking anything else out of my bag. We won’t be doing any work in the class today.
Evie grabs my hand. Holding me into reality so I don’t slip into the horrors that would play in my mind. I give her hand a squeeze, thankful for her being there for me.
I stare out the window and watch as the clouds pass by. I can feel eyes on me every once in a while, but every time I attempt to find whoever it is, the feeling disappears.
I take my phone out of my bag and open the text messages from Dante.
Me: Something weird happened today
Dante: What?
Me: The stalker strikes again.
There was a wedding dress in my locker.
Dante: Where is the dress now?
Me: Evie threw it in the trash by
my locker. Why?
Dante: Michael is coming to get it.
Maybe the moron left some sort of
evidence on it.
I didn’t even think that there could be some DNA or something on it that would be able to point us to who is doing this. I place my phone on my lap and continue to stare out the window.
Fifteen minutes later, Dante texts me again to tell me that Michael got the box, dress, and note and is taking it in to have someone examine it. They are hopeful that there will be some small clue, but the more I think about it, I know there won’t be. I highly doubt that whoever this is would be dumb enough to leave a trace of anything on there.
Maybe I am becoming too cynical, but it’s hard not to.
Class continues around me. People talk about their winter break activities, what they want for Christmas, and more. Everyone walks around the class to be able to talk to their friends. Assigned seating wasn’t mandatory today, so everyone is constantly moving around.
The words all sound so jumbled to me. I can’t decipher who said what to whom, but there is one voice I could hear clearly— little one. I whipped my head around, trying to figure out who that came from, but it was so faint I don’t know who said it.
I have to be going crazy. There is no way that my stalker is in the room right now. My mind is playing tricks on me. The anxiety of the situation is making me delirious. Maybe if I say that a few more times to myself, I will believe it.
I take a deep sip of my water bottle. Hoping the cool water will help rest my overactive nerves. I focus on the cooling feeling down my throat and into my stomach. Weirdly enough, it seems to be helping relax my entire body. The nerves and anxiety I was feeling seemed to slowly melt away the more I drank.
I didn’t even notice the bell ring until I looked around and saw everyone getting up from their seats and exiting the room. When the room was empty, I languidly stood from my chair and walked towards the door. I said goodbye to Mr. Labeau and wished him a merry Christmas, and left the room.
The hallway is busy with everyone grabbing their things from their lockers. It all passed me in a blur. I couldn’t see a single face that passed me or hear the noise that was billowing around.
I stagger to my locker. I don’t know how I got there, it must have just been muscle memory. I open the door, expecting another package to be inside, but thankfully it is empty. I make sure to grab my personal belongings before slamming them shut and walking outside.
People rush past me. Running to the buses or their cars. Wanting to leave as fast as possible. Not that I blame them. I do too, but my body suddenly feels like it is made of lead. Each step felt like I was running a marathon.
I looked around, hoping to see someone who could help me, but my eyes wouldn’t focus enough. I couldn’t make out anyone. I opened my mouth to ask someone for help, but no sound came out.
The walk to my car felt like it took forever, and it might have. Time doesn’t feel real.
“Little one.” A distorted voice said next to me. I whipped around, trying to find the voice, but I couldn’t see anything. “Come with me.”
I wanted to scream for help. Beg anyone to stop this, but I couldn’t. I nodded my head to that voice and started to walk towards it.
“Good girl.” The voice said. “Just follow my voice. Another few steps.”
“Ms. Gold!” I knew that voice. I trusted that voice. I tried to turn around, but my body wouldn’t listen. “Stop!”
I could have cried tears of joy when my body listened to him and stopped. I felt arms wrap around me and pull me behind a large body.
Some words were said that I didn’t understand, then I felt a push. My body instinctively started to move, following the direction I was being led to.
I could hear a door open, and I was escorted in. I don’t know who has me, or where we are going, but the feeling that I was safe took over. I trusted this person, whoever they were. I felt a hand reach around me, pulling the seatbelt tight across me. He made sure it was locked in place before the door closed again.
I watched with foggy vision as the front door opened next and the man slid into the seat. I could faintly hear the engine starting and the feeling of moving.
My head lulled and banged against the window, but I didn’t care or move. The cool glass felt refreshing against my heated skin. Words were spoken, but I couldn’t make them out. I could tell there were two different voices, but I could only see one blobby figure in the front of the car.
I just need to rest my eyes for a moment.
My eyes drifted closed, suddenly feeling immensely heavy. Sleep took me quickly.
I woke in a dark room. My mouth felt like I swallowed cotton balls, and a headache that felt like someone was drilling in there. I looked around, hoping to be able to determine where I was and if anyone was nearby.
Slowly, the room became focused, and I recognized it as Dante’s. On the bedside table was a glass of water and some Tylenol. I greedily popped two in my mouth and swallowed every drop of water.
The weird feeling in my body is still present, but it is slowly dissipating. I slowly sit up and swing my legs off the side of the bed. The room spins slightly. I place my hand on my head, praying the feeling vanishes.
I push myself up, stumbling a little before finding my footing. I walk towards the door, needing to find that voice and figure out how I got here. The last thing I remember was math class. The bell rang, and my memory became fuzzy after that. I can remember walking towards my car, then there was this voice. I can’t remember what they were saying, but I started walking towards it. Things become even hazier after that.
Each step I take feels like I am running a marathon. My body doesn’t feel like mine, and everything is harder than it should be. The headache gets worse with each step, but I refuse to let it stop me. I don’t care how much pain I am in right now, I need to find that voice. Something in me is telling me that I need to go to that voice, whoever it was.
I stand at the top of the stairs. My vision starts to tunnel, making the normal-looking staircase seem so much longer and uneven. It’s just a staircase. I can do this. Just one step at a time. I grab the railing and take a step down.
The first few steps are slow, but I made it. Confidence brimming, I let go of the railing and continued my descent. With each step, the feeling of needing to find that voice grows. But there is some part of me that knows I should stay away from it. A war in my head starts waging. That voice is loud in my head, telling me to go to them.
I grab my head as the voice becomes so loud I can’t hear anything else. I close my eyes, begging everything to stop. I should have gone to that voice. No. No, I should have stayed in Dante’s bed. I would be safe there.
A silent scream escapes as I feel my body starting to collapse. Strong hands grab my arms as my legs give out from underneath me. I can feel myself being picked up and carried, but my eyes stay closed as the voice gets even louder.
I used to think hearing Evan’s voice in my head was bad, but this voice is more menacing. More consuming. The weirdest part is that I want to listen to it. I want to please that voice.
I try to fight. To be free of the hands holding me, but they tighten their grip on me. Pulling my head into their warm, hard chest. The smell of expensive cologne starts to push through the haze in my head, and recognition hits me. That’s Dante’s scent. It must be his arms around me.
Slowly, my body relaxes in his arms. The sound of his voice begins to break through the voice in my head. I can’t understand what he is saying, but it soothes me. I can hear the melody in his voice, and as more of the fog lifts from my mind, I finally register what he is saying. Well, singing.
Dante quietly sings Don’t Stop Believin’ as he carries me through his house. I don’t know where he is taking me, but I don’t care. Just knowing that he is here and taking care of me after… whatever that was that happened makes my heart melt.
We finally walk into the kitchen and he gingerly places me in a chair at the table. He pushes my chair in, making sure I am stable enough before getting me another glass of water. He doesn’t even get a chance to place the glass down on the table before I grab it and drink the whole thing.
“What happened?” I ask as I place the glass on the table.
“Michael got the dress you found in your locker. He was going to bring it in, but he said something felt wrong. Instead, he called Rocco to come get the dress so he could stay at the school. Michael stayed until he saw you coming out of the school. He said you were walking like you were drunk. Stumbling over your feet. A glazed look in your eyes. Then you stopped and started walking away, as if you were in a trance. He called out to you, but you didn’t even acknowledge him. He chased you down. Caught up to you before something could happen.”
“Did he see who was there?”
“No. He saw someone running away, but was more concerned with your well-being than chasing him down.”
I nod my head. At least I know that voice belonged to someone. It isn’t all in my head. There was someone there, and they were planning on taking me. Who would be crazy enough to try to kidnap someone in the middle of the day?
“,” Dante starts. “Do you know how you were drugged?”
Drugged? What the hell? The headache I thought was gone comes back with a vengeance. I cradle my head in my hands as I try to think past the pain.
“I… I… I was fine until math class. All I had was water from my bottle.”
“If he was able to put that dress into your locker, we can assume he was able to drug your drink too,” Dante said, looking more concerned than I have ever seen him. He started speaking to himself in Italian, and this is one of the many moments I wished I knew how to speak it.
Note to self. Learn Italian.
Dante started passing the kitchen, deep in thought. I watched for a few minutes before my head started to swim again. Without saying anything, I got up from the chair he had placed me in and walked back towards his room. Maybe a couple more hours of sleep will help.
My foot hits the bottom stair as my phone dings. I pull it out of my back pocket and stare down at the message. It only says one word.
Unknown: Soon.