Chapter 9
I slammed the door of the Courts house behind me and leaned against it, panting. I practically sprint walked all the way back, or attempted to in my drunken state. I was sure that there was someone following me. It was probably one of those three dickheads, or maybe I was just being too paranoid. But at least I was back home now. if this could be counted as home. I looked up at the grand hallway with the sweeping stairs. From this point I could see into the kitchen and the main living room. Despite all the lights being on and the place being brightly lit, there was an unsettling feeling caused by the lack of noise and activity that even in the last few days I had gotten used to. But all the girls were still at the party, and it was like time stood still in the house.
I shook my head at my thoughts. Clearly, I was too jumpy and seeing shit that wasn't there. But who could blame me? My first party of the year, and it was awful. Starting with Damien. I was going to have to do something about him. I wasn't exactly going to tell Cole anytime soon, but I was actually pretty relieved when he interrupted us. Damien was being really aggressive, and it was beginning to scare me. I would like to think that being threatened by the guys would be enough, but I knew Damien pretty well, and his hatred for the elite was like a vicious worm in his brain. He had been infuriated when he said he found out I was a member of the Courts. Don't let me be wrong about you, I don't like being made to look like a fool. Those words had chilled me the moment they left his mouth, like it was my fault that he had gotten the wrong idea or something.
Urg, I groaned inwardly and pushed myself away from the front door, wobbling a bit on these stupidly high heels before heading up the stairs to my bedroom. I flipped the light switch on as I walked in and shut the door behind me, pulling off the heels and leaving them by the door before stripping out of the tight black dress and discarding that to the floor as well.
I headed over to the full length mirror and began to remove the pins from the, not meant to look complicated but really fucking was, updo that Melody had subjected me too. As I appraised myself in the mirror, I frowned at the way my hips pushed out too far, and my thighs rubbed painfully against each other. I had tried to tell Melody that I needed tights or something, but she had insisted on my legs looking better bare, and the dress was so short that even my usual chub rub shorts would be too long.
I sighed and grabbed a brush, pulling it through my hair, hoping I had got all the pins out. To be fair to Melody, she had worked bloody wonders tonight. I had barely recognised myself from the beautiful girl in the mirror when she had finished using me as her own personal living Barbie doll. Although I drew the line when she suggested putting some pink highlights in with my purple hair when I got around to re-dying it. I put down the brush, undid my bra, grabbed my night t-shirt off my bed and slipped it on. The soft worn fabric was like a breath of fresh air on my skin. It was an old band t-shirt from a gig I went to with my granddad years ago. There had only been triple XL size left, but it was a perfect comfy reminder of home.
I switched on my bedside lamp and switched off the big light before climbing into bed, settling down, feeling relieved that the room didn't spin when I closed my eyes. I didn't know if it was the excessive alcohol or just being exhausted, but I found myself falling asleep almost straight away.
My eyes flew open as I was startled awake, my heart slamming against my chest. Something wasn’t right. The room was pitch black, so dark that it felt like a heavy weight pressing down on me. Panic clawed at the edges of my awareness as I blinked rapidly, trying to adjust. I was sure I had left the lamp on before falling asleep, yet darkness swallowed everything around me. Confused, I reached for the lamp, but when I flipped the switch, nothing happened.
That’s when I noticed that the red display of my bedside clock was blank. No numbers, no glow. The realisation hit me: a power cut. The thought that one of the girls might have blown a fuse flashed through my mind, making me chuckle inwardly in frustration. Knowing how many beauty tools they all packed into this house, I couldn’t say I was surprised if the power had shorted out. Maybe that's what had woken me up. Taking a deep breath, I tugged back the layers of blankets, preparing to find the fuse box and restore light to this place. I patted the space beside me, searching instinctively for my phone to use as a flashlight. But it wasn’t there. Damn, I must’ve left it in my bag across the room. I had a little too much to drink at the party, and the lingering remnants of wine in my system made my head swim a little as I started to fumble my way out of bed in the darkness. Then, I heard it.
At first, it was subtle, a creak, almost too soft to register, like wood shifting under weight. I froze, holding my breath. My ears strained against the quiet, every sense on high alert. Whoever or whatever had made that sound was in my room. I couldn’t wrap my head around it at first. I wildly tried to rationalise, maybe one of the girls was being weird, playing some stupid prank. But no, this didn’t feel right. Everything felt wrong.
Then it came again. Another creak. Followed by a low thud… and someone grunted. My blood ran cold. No, no, no. My breath hitched as full-blown panic kicked in. Someone wasn’t just in the room. There were multiple people in the room. Suddenly, adrenaline surged, and I moved to leap out of bed, to do anything. In the same moment, something thick and rough was wrenched over my eyes.
“No!” The scream tore out of me as I kicked furiously into the open air. Someone’s hands, more than one set of hands, latched onto my legs, my arms, yanking me from the bed. “Help! Hel—!” I barely got the words out before I found my mouth clamped tightly shut by a sweaty, dirt-covered hand. The taste of grime filled my senses as I bit down, attempting to free myself. They didn’t flinch. Instead, the hand pressed even harder, stifling me further.
“Just grab her!” a voice hissed, male, sharp, frustrated. My limbs doubled their efforts, thrashing with a wildness I hadn’t known I possessed. I kicked someone square in the side, earning a grunt of pain, but the only response was a painfully tight grip on my body as I felt myself being lifted into the air.
One jarring movement after another, a shoulder dug straight into my stomach as I was slung over someone’s back. A raw cry escaped, the air rushing from my lungs as his bony shoulder jabbed into my ribs. The pain was sharp, but it didn’t matter. My mind was a blur of terror, adrenaline numbing everything but my primal need to escape. I kicked out and connected with a solid body again, a rib, probably, but it didn’t help. The man holding me grunted in response and only held tighter.
“What the fuck is the problem?!” another voice growled, closer this time, rough with irritation. There were more of them.
“This one's a fighter!” someone else spat through clenched teeth. This one? My heart sank as I realised what that meant. This wasn’t random. Were the other girls in danger? Were they being attacked too? My head spun. Desperation surged in burning waves through my veins. I opened my mouth to scream again, but the hand still sealed over my face swallowed the sound, reducing it to nothing but muffled sobs.
Whatever sack or hood they’d thrown over my head stifled my vision and breath. My world was compressing down to darkness, sweat, dirt, fear. My pounding heart thundered against the chaotic swirl of sensations. I couldn’t see anything . The fabric against my skin felt coarse and heavy, suffocating me. It was like every breath I managed to pull in was clogged with dust and terror. I twisted and thrashed, but nothing gave way. They carried me like I weighed nothing. My ears strained, picking up fragments of muffled sounds, footsteps shuffling, clothes brushing together, low whispers traded beneath me. None of the voices made sense. At first, I couldn’t even tell how many of them there were, they moved together like a tightly orchestrated machine. None of them spoke loudly or clearly, but I could hear the tension in the air between them, whispers urgently exchanged. Where were they taking me?
My stomach lurched as I felt them start to descend. They were navigating stairs. Whoever was carrying me jostled me with each drop to the next step downward. The incline told me we were heading down the grand staircase. How the hell was no one awake through all this? How was no one hearing this? Next came the creak of a door opening. The air shifted suddenly. It was colder, chillier than inside the house. My bare legs prickled with goosebumps. We were going outside. I needed to scream, to make a sound, any sound, but the intensity of the hand over my mouth thwarted every attempt. I screamed into the void. It felt like a nightmare, except this was real, too real. Too terrifying. They had me, and I didn’t know what they wanted. If I didn’t get out of this, nothing else would matter.
I could tell they'd been carrying me for a while before I heard new voices around us, this time, they were female. With a grunt, I was dumped unceremoniously onto the ground, cold, slightly damp grass cushioning my fall. My hands hit the earth first, and as I tried to steady myself. The disorientation was crushing, only to be jolted sharper when the hood was ripped off my head.
For a moment, everything was a blur. My vision fought through a dense fog, the cold air cutting through as I coughed and gasped for breath. The sleepiness hadn’t worn off completely, and it felt like the world was tilting under me. I blinked hard, trying to see. My heart pounded against my ribs, and the adrenaline rushing through my body made my hands dig into the grass beneath me. I could sense others around, people, some just as confused as I was. Slowly, the clearing came into focus. I wasn’t alone. Girls. There were other girls scattered around me, all in various states of bewilderment or, randomly, excitement. Some were in pyjamas like me, loose t-shirts, wrinkled nightgowns, shorts, while others wore lacy nightwear that wasn’t meant to see the light of day.
Recognition dawned as I scanned the group. Julia, wearing next to nothing as usual, was sneering at me, unbothered by the cold of the crisp night air. A scowl twisted her lips as she muttered something.
“About bloody time,” she hissed, crossing her arms. I couldn’t help but notice the way her breath puffed into the air like smoke. "It's freezing out here.”
I muttered under my breath as I scrambled up onto my knees. “What the hell is going on?” I asked, looking to Emma, one of the other girls in the Courts house, who was standing nearest. Her brows knitted together, but she didn’t answer. Just a confused shake of the head as she reached out a hand to help me to my feet.
Then, something changed.
"Silence." The word snapped through the trees like a cracking whip, sending shivers up my spine. The voice echoed, rolling through the woods. The trees themselves seemed to resonate with the sound, amplifying it, making it seem as if the entire forest had lined up to listen.
In an icy wave of realisation, I registered that we weren't alone in this place. Past the girls, standing in a wide semi-circle, were figures, fifteen, maybe more, draped in shadow, but illuminated just enough by the faint lights scattered around the clearing to show the outlines of their shapes. Each wore a hooded cloak. Dark, anonymous. Something about them made the world go colder, like we’d just stepped into a space where the rules no longer applied. There was elegance to the way they held themselves, but also seriousness, like they knew something we didn’t. Fear washed over me, making my mouth dry and my chest tighten. I forced myself to look closer, but there was not enough light, or they stood strategically so the light wouldn’t reveal the person under the cloth. Then, one of them stepped forward, deliberately pulling back their hood. As the light hit his face, I gasped. There was no mistaking him.
Angus Williams, headmaster of Regents University.
"Ladies," he grinned broadly, his voice now setting every nerve in my body on edge.
"Welcome to the Regent's Hunt."