Chapter 2
OLLY
Ibolt upright on the soft, plush mattress, tangled in the expensive, foreign thread count sheets with a cold sweat dripping from my body, and my bladder close to releasing.
Nothing but silence, and my ragged breathing, greets me, as my clenched fist thrusts out to defend myself from whatever wants to hurt me, and meets nothing but cool air.
My chest heaves as I suck in giant gasps of air, and tears slide down from the corners of my eyes.
My whole body is trembling fiercely, my teeth are rattling, and I swear I can taste blood in my mouth.
“It was just a fucking dream,” I mumble, trying to get my breathing under control, as I drag my shaking fingers along my face and down my neck, where my pulse is still beating like a hummingbird's wings.
It felt so real. I was positive that I was actually being chased in the woods by some unseen force.
I loosen the strangling hold the crisp, white sheets have on me, ripping them quickly off my legs, and stare down at my knee, believing that a bloody gash will be present, but my knee is intact.
As my breathing finally begins to calm down, and the terror releases my mind from its merciless hold, a loud cackle escapes from my lips.
"Jesus fuck. No more cheese before bed."
I drag my sweaty body up and out of the king-size bed, switching on the bedside table lamp, and letting the warm, amber glow instantly vanquish the shadows, further confirming that I'm a lunatic with a vivid, disturbing imagination.
My eyes track over every corner of the large, opulent room, confirming I'm indeed alone, not in the woods, and certainly not being chased.
I'm just one slightly unhinged, terrified woman in a new, large room, which would have no trouble fitting more than half of her old Muay Thai training team back home.
I rake my hands through my sweaty, waist-length hair.
The messy bun I went to sleep with must have dislodged sometime during my night terror, and now it's a rat's nest of tangles, that are practically strangling me.
Great. With one last look around the room, I make my way to one of the two doors on the farthest wall, and into one of the largest and most opulent bathrooms I have ever seen.
"Unreal. We are definitely not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.
Fucking rich people," I grumble, reaching into the massive glass-enclosed shower, that you could throw a rave inside, and turn it on.
As I start to strip out of my sweaty cami and boxer shorts, my eyes quickly glance at the only other door in the room.
The door was locked when I came in here earlier to get ready for bed.
My hand finds the long stainless steel lever, and I tug on it, reassuring myself that it still is.
I'm uneasy in this new space, in this immense, unknown home, and the nightmare still clings to me, making my body shiver at its memory.
A hot shower should help clear my head, and get me back to sleep.
I get into the shower, letting the giant, ceiling-mounted rain head, and the various jets protruding from the walls, spray and work out the stress and kinks in my tense muscles.
Well, at least this is an enjoyable benefit of living in this monstrosity of a house.
A moan escapes my lips, as the hot water pelts down on my tight limbs.
Fuck, so good. Rich people might not be so bad after all.
My eyes take in all of the various body washes on the stone ledge, all of them expensive brands, except for mine.
I bring one to my nose, take a whiff, and am immediately transported back to the woods by the smell of cypress, cedarwood, and hints of musk.
Panic rises at the scent, and I launch it onto the ledge with a rattle in my haste, and reach for my own body wash, with the soothing aroma of lavender, blueberries, and lemons.
Much better. At least mine doesn't remind me of a serial killer chasing me through the goddamn woods.
Fucking cheese, and too many 'Purge' movies.
Maybe I should stop watching serial killer documentaries when I'm sad and bored.
Even as I think it, I know I never will.
They're my guilty pleasure, along with a few other naughty things it's best not to think about, if I want to get back to sleep tonight.
I get to work, lathering up and washing my long hair, my eyes closing as I enjoy the almost blistering heat of the water, as it pelts over my head and body.
Just as I place my head under the spray to rinse out my shampoo, all the lights in the room go off, instantly plunging me into thick darkness.
I quickly push the water away from my face, and reach for the glass door, but it doesn’t budge.
"What the fuck?" I shove harder, putting all my strength into it, and the glass rattles loudly over the sound of the running water, but it’s as if the thing is jammed from the other side. FUCK! Panic starts to fill my body, and a scream threatens to rise from my throat. Fucking great, now I’m trapped in the dark in this thing, and I know for a fact no one is home in this over-priced museum.
All of sudden the darkness begins to eerily glow in shades of blue, pink and green. “What the fuck?!”
Just as I’m preparing to launch myself as hard as I can at the door, the lights suddenly turn back on, temporarily blinding me with their intense brightness.
When my eyes are finally able to adjust to the change, I look straight ahead at the glass door that wouldn’t budge, and terror instantly fills me.
I feel my mouth dropping open as my eyes bug out of my head.
What the actual fuck? I drag my fingers over my face, trying to determine if I’m actually seeing what I am, or if I'm still trapped in a fucked up dream.
"Wake the fuck up now, Olly!" I whisper to myself out loud as I slap my wet cheek, and realize I am, in fact, awake. Jesus fuck.
Right in front of the door, holding the handle firmly, is a huge male dressed all in black, with only the skin of his hands visible.
He's wearing one of those LED masks with the eyes crossed out, and a grotesque smile in bright neon pink.
His head is covered by a dark hood that obscures the rest of his features, and he tilts it to the side as he watches me through the mask.
I take a step back, and then another one, until I feel the slick tiled wall at my back, and there are no more steps left to take.
A noise from the other side has me turning my terrified gaze behind him, and two more enormous males, all dressed in black, one with a blue mask, and the other with a matching green mask, lean against the massive double-sink counter.
My hands automatically go to cover my nakedness, as an ungodly screech escapes me, and bounces off the glass walls of the shower.
“What the fuck is this?! Who the fuck are you?!”
Complete silence greets my questions. None of them move, but I can feel their eyes sliding across my bare skin, causing goosebumps to erupt all over my body, despite the heat of the water still cascading over me.
The one in the blue mask moves forward, gracefully like a panther, and places both palms of his hands flush against the steamy glass.
The move is not threatening per se, but it makes all my hackles rise.
“Get the fuck out of here, you fucking psychos!” I shout, even as my mind is processing the threat, and I can hear my trainer from back home, Yoongi, in my head, urging me to prepare to defend myself.
“Get into your fighting stance, Olly. Prepare to defend. Don’t let them get their hands on you. ”
I stop trying to cover my body, and place myself in a defensive stance, ready to bash all three of their heads in, if they come in here and try to accost me.
They've picked the wrong bitch to mess with.
If these creeps thought they were going to find a whimpering mess they could play with, and abuse, they have another thing coming to them.
My heart is pounding rapidly in my chest, and my fight or flight response is activated.
This is far scarier than the night terror of being in the woods.
This is fucking real. My legs plant themselves on the wet shower floor, determined to not allow them to yank me out of here without a fight.
I would rather die here, than allow them to take me from this space.
I know what will happen if they manage to get their hands on me, and move me to another location.
Every girl I know has been taught from a young age what will happen to them, when men try to hurt them.
It's why the majority of us would choose the fucking bear.
A bear won't continue to rape you even after you're dead.
I shut down the terrifying thoughts racing through my mind, and focus all my attention on the intruders.
Observe. Prepare. Be ready to defend. They won’t take me without a fight, that’s for fucking sure.
Other than blue’s palms being pressed against the glass, he doesn’t move or make any attempt to speak with me, and neither do his two cohorts.
The silence is even more frightening, because I can hear our combined heavy breathing above the still running water.
The glass starts to fog up with the hot steam, and tiny water droplets condense on the surface of the shower enclosure.
Blue uses his long index finger to draw a happy face with devil's horns on the surface, then steps back.
The guy in the pink mask releases his grip on the glass door, his head still tilted at an odd angle, as if he is observing and taking stock of me, calculating whether I'm a threat to them, or if they can subdue me.
The move is unnerving, and has me ready to commit violence.
Who are these guys, and what do they want from me? Are they going to attack and hurt me?
The one in the green mask opens the previously locked door, gives a final look back, and walks through it silently.
The one in the pink mask nods his head at me, and follows him out without glancing further in my direction, but the one in the blue mask stares at me from behind those unnerving crossed-out eyes.
He pats the glass one final time, smearing the devilish happy face he had drawn, and backs toward the doorway, his attention remaining on me the whole time, and causing shivers to race down my wet skin.
It’s almost as if somehow he was caressing me through the glass.
As he reaches the doorway, and his bare hand tightens on the handle, a sinister, low laugh sounds from behind the mask.
“You’re going to be a lot of fun. Welcome home, sister.
” He closes the door firmly behind him with a heavy thud.
I’m out of the shower as if my body were lit with explosives, rushing for the door, turning the lock from the inside, and wrapping one of the oversized towels around my shaking body.
Sister? The fucker called me sister? Who is this guy?
Was that a threat directed at me? Fun? I’ll show him fucking fun.
No one gets to fucking frighten me like that!
I race back into my room, throwing on the sweatpants and t-shirt I had discarded on the floor earlier, and marching barefoot into the hallway, and toward the next bedroom.
My mind races with all the possible dangers I’m about to face, and it reminds me that I’m a fucking idiot for running toward danger, instead of away from it, like any sane person would do.
Fuck that. They want to play fucked up games with me to scare me.
I’m going to beat all three of their psychotic asses.
I’m distinctly aware of water drenching my shirt from my soaked hair, and the loud, angry sound of my bare feet slapping against the hardwood, as I reach the door of the room next to mine and slam it open, ready to do some serious damage to the fuckers that just scared countless years off my life.
However, once I step further inside the room, I realize it’s completely empty.
No one is inside of it, and the room is in darkness, except for an expanse of moonlight beaming in from the large windows that have their curtains spread wide open. What the hell? Where did they go?
I search every part of the room, under the massive wood bed, behind the fluttering curtains from the ajar window, and even in the gigantic walk-in closet filled with male clothing. Nothing. There is no sign whatsoever of the three large males wearing masks.
Did I imagine them? Did I hallucinate the whole thing? Were they not really here?
Just as I'm seriously considering that I have lost my mind, and fabricated three masked intruders watching me in the shower, a noise from outside the window catches my attention.
I race to look outside, and just barely see the outline of three large males, still wearing those stupid glowing masks, heading toward the side of the house. Fuckers!
By the time I race down the flight of stairs from the second floor, and almost break my neck, to the front door and slam it open, they're gone, and only a trail of dust remains behind in the large driveway, to indicate they were ever there.
I play his words over in my mind, and one thing is for fucking sure, my mom and her new douche of a husband have some explaining to do.