Chapter 36 #2
Did I yell that I’m a virgin? Or would that entice him more?
Shit. What I did know was that he was crazy.
I threw my jacket at him to block his view as I kicked him hard in the knee, making him yell as my shoe connected.
But he didn’t go down like in the videos, and as the jacket fell to the floor, I turned and sprinted for the bathroom at the far end of the shop.
It was the only room in here with a lock on the door.
A scream of sheer terror ripped from my mouth as Axel grabbed me from behind.
“Where do you think you’re going,” he asked, laughing as he licked the side of my neck like a dog. My stomach rolled with his touch, his hands roughly groping me.
“Get off of me,” I yelled and struggled harder, even though he was holding me high enough off the floor that I could no longer feel the concrete.
I tried to recall all the self-defense videos I’d ever seen.
I threw my head back as hard as I could, and Axel swore as I got him in the chin.
He dropped me just enough that I could stand on my tiptoes and wiggled around in his arms. With a scream that could wake the dead, I brought my knee up hard and nailed him in the balls.
“Ugh,” he hollered and let go of me to grab his dick.
Bolting around him, I ran the way I’d just come. I forgot that the door was locked and slammed into it, bouncing off.
“Shit, shit, shit, work fingers.” Hands shaking with adrenaline, I grabbed at the lock and almost got the deadbolt flipped when I was rammed from behind like I’d been standing in a line of scrimmage.
“Ah!” I screamed as I collided with the door.
The full weight and strength of Axel drove the air from my lungs, and my head smashed against the cold metal.
“You bitch,” he growled, and I screamed and clawed at his arms, but he easily pulled me away from the door by my hair and slammed me into it again.
Stars exploded behind my eyes, and my limbs went weak as confusion set in.
I continued to scream at the top of my lungs.
He pulled on my hair again and ignoring the pain, I turned and kicked at his dick again, but he caught my leg, and I yelled in pain as he flipped me onto my back on the floor.
It felt like all my bones broke as I was slammed into the concrete, and tears sprang to my eyes.
I could hardly breathe, but I wouldn’t give up.
“Not so tough without your guard dog to fight for you, are you?” Axel laughed.
“I can’t wait to see the look on their faces,” he said.
Fight or flight was in full effect, and I fought as hard as I could.
He slapped me across the face, which was like getting hit with a brick.
Tears blurred my vision, but until I was dead, I’d never give in.
I screamed in pain as Axel twisted my leg hard and flipped me onto my stomach. My knee felt like it had been dislocated, and I expected him to continue to beat me until I looked like Myles, but instead, he dragged me away from the door and my only escape route.
“Let go of me,” I yelled and nailed him in the ankle with my free leg.
“Keep it up. Gives me all the more reason to be rough with you,” Axel growled, but it wasn’t sexy or sensual like when it came from Myles. The sound was terrifying, and even with his threat loud in my ears, I wouldn’t stop trying to get free.
“Help! Help me! Myles!” I screamed, my nails scraping along the concrete floor.
Please, someone help me.
M yles
Fucking alarm was giving me a headache. The blaring got louder as I stepped out of the doctor’s office and hunted down everyone in the foyer. They certainly made the fire alarm louder with the last year’s renovations. My brain felt like it was the one screaming.
It was packed as I weaved in between the groups of people to find Snowflake and the guys. I spotted Ivy and Chantry with some gamer standing together and redirected myself toward them.
“Hey, have you seen Ren,” I yelled over the persistent noise. Ivy and Chantry both shook their heads no. There was no point in yelling again, and I nodded as I stepped around more groups to find everyone.
I figured that they would be near the window since Nash hated being in the middle of a crowd.
No telling what sort of shit Lawrence did to instill that paranoia, but who the hell was I to talk at this point.
The doctor said that my stomach would eventually look mostly normal, but a few white lines would always remain where the cut was deepest. That meant no modeling career for me.
My dick had healed the quickest, but I was still out of commission for another seven to ten days.
When the day came, I was going to feed Da the gun, and I’d smile when I pulled the trigger.
Liam stuck his arm in the air, and I pushed my way through the last group of bodies standing in my way to reach them. My eyes bounced around at all the faces.
“Where’s Ren?”
“I don’t know. I was doing a make-up test,” Blake said. I knew that but had forgotten.
“She wasn’t in the cafeteria for lunch,” Nash said, leaning against the wall. “My guess is the library.”
“Yeah, but she should be in here by now,” I leaned in and yelled. Jumping up on the low window ledge, I looked around at the swarm of students and didn’t see the flash of shock-white hair anywhere. “I don’t see her,” I said, hopping down, as a worry I couldn’t explain settled in my stomach.
“Why are you concerned,” Blake asked, and I shook my head as I continued to scan the room.
“She follows the rules. Snowflake always follows the rules. The rule is to come here for a fire alarm. She wouldn’t ignore that.”
“Maybe you just can’t see her,” Liam said, but I shook my head no.
“Naw, something’s wrong. I can feel it.”
Nash pushed away from the wall. “What do you think is wrong?”
“I don’t know, it’s just a feelin’.” I stared into his eyes, and he nodded. I didn’t think he’d take me seriously, but he jumped up on the window ledge and looked around.
“Okay, start thinking. If Ren’s not here, where would she go? What class did she have next?”
Theo’s head snapped in my direction. “The shop. We have shop class last today.”
I didn’t wait for him to say anymore and pushed through the crowd, not giving a fuck if anyone fell or not, and earned more than one Hey and Watch out .
“Where do you all think you’re going,” Mr. Sharpe said from his post by the door.
“It’s an emergency.” He raised an eyebrow, but my expression must have convinced him as he stepped out of the way to let the five of us pass.
“I’ll go check the library just in case,” Liam said and peeled off.
It felt like knives stabbing me as I picked up a jog, but I didn’t care.
Nash ran beside me, and even if he thought it was bullshit, I appreciated that he was taking me seriously.
She could’ve fallen on the ice, or if there was a fire, it could’ve been down here, and she was trapped.
Every possible scenario was running through my head, but what I hadn’t been prepared for was to see Axel strolling along the path as we rounded the corner.
He looked up as we got closer, and he smiled and ran his thumb over his bottom lip.
The nagging fear turned into terror. He didn’t say anything, but it was in his eyes.
He’d done something to her. I wanted to stop and pummel the fucking shit out of him, even though I didn’t know a thing, but I needed to find Snowflake first. If he hurt her, he was dead.
Not caring if I tore the last of my stitches, I sprinted along the path, across the driveway, and through the trees to the shop. The door slammed open as I collided with it at top speed and skidded to a stop. The guys fanned out around me, all of us looking for any sign of Ren.
The alarm suddenly stopped, and my ears rang in the dead silence. Nothing moved, and I held my breath to hear better. Maybe I was wrong and overthinking. I turned to look at Nash and opened my mouth when the stifled sob reached my ears and stopped my heart.
“That way.” Nash pointed, and I took the lead, marching down the long aisle, looking into each workstation. I froze when I saw her blue jacket lying in the middle of the floor.
“Oh dear god, no,” I whispered. I closed my eyes for just a moment to regain control.
The urge to chase after Axel was strong as the anger and fear mingled together in my gut.
Moving faster, I looked from side to side to find the sound of the soft crying.
It was so hard to hear, but we were definitely getting closer.
Stopping at the end, I turned in a slow circle, my eyes scanning every shadow, but I still couldn’t see her.
Nash grabbed my arm and pointed. Ren was tucked so far back under one of the last workbenches that you could hardly see her.
I could just make out the white of her hair and the toe of her shoe. My heart plummeted to the floor.
I sprinted the short distance and dropped down to the ground, but Ren whimpered and pulled back further into the corner. My Snowflake didn’t hide from anyone or anything. What had that fucker done to her?
I touched her arm, and she jumped, cowering away from me while burying her head deeper as she cried. Please no. Please, dear God, if you have heart, please no. Not her. She doesn’t deserve any of the darkness that chokes this place or our twisted world.