Chapter 12
CORDELIE
Irace back into the party, my heart threatening to explode out of my chest. I can feel the tears ready to escape as I scan the room for Faye.
The cold sensation of something being dropped down the front of my dress and splashing onto my feet draws my attention.
"Oops, so sorry!" Josslyn grins with malice at me, her red, plastic cup tipped toward me.
My hands fist at my sides as I catch some of her cheer friends behind her, laughing, and snapping pictures. What. A. Cunt.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" I growl and try to regain my composure, but it's useless between what just occurred in the washroom with Noah, and now this bullshit.
Why is this all happening to me? Why can't both of them just leave me alone?
You know why, it's because you're weak and pathetic.
They smell blood in that water and, like sharks, they're ready to feast.
"You going to burst into tears, Cordie? You know, the poor me sympathy act is getting old.
" She takes a step closer, and I force myself to hold my ground, even though everything within me wants to run away and hide.
How could this woman ever have been my best friend?
She leans forward as if she's telling me something conspiratorially, and it makes my stomach twist. "You know, Noah was just telling me before we arrived here tonight, after he filled my pussy with his cum, how happy he is that he's not with you anymore.
How he was so sick of your whiny bullshit, and having to tiptoe around your dramatic emotions.
He mentioned how boring you are in bed and that he had to force himself to fuck you.
" She drops the cup at my feet and meets my glare.
"How does it feel to know he wanted me more, Cordie?
That he enjoys being in my bed every night?
" Her lips widen into a broad smile, that's all teeth and rage, and I see the satisfaction on her face that hurting me is giving her.
She was never your friend. She was always waiting to shove the blade in your back, and you, like the na?ve twat you are, handed her the knife.
It's on the tip of my tongue to tell her that her boyfriend, who adores and wants her so much, just had his fingers up my pussy, giving me an orgasm, and his tongue in my mouth, but I'm nothing like Josslyn and Noah.
I don't want to hurt them or anyone else, despite these sick games he's playing with me, and how she's attempting to break me.
I try to move around her, but she grabs onto my wrist and digs her nails in, and I flinch before I can stop myself.
"Stay away from my boyfriend, you pathetic skank, or I'll make your life even more miserable. "
A snort exits me as I rip my arm from her grasp, and I feel my blood pressure rising until it feels like my heart will explode, and my eye begins to twitch.
"You should have taken your own advice, Joss.
I'm not the one who steals other people's boyfriends and wrecks relationships.
That honor is all yours." I slam my heeled foot down on hers, and she screeches, but before she can pull away, I grab onto the front of her shirt and drag her close, hearing the sound of material tearing in my grasp.
"If you ever threaten me again, or even so much as approach me, I'm going to beat you at your own games, Josslyn.
We both know that if I give him the opportunity, he'll slither back to me like the venomous snake he is.
You wouldn't be here threatening me and acting the jealous, insecure fool if that wasn't the case.
" I release her, and she goes stumbling backward into her friends.
I'm so ready to get the fuck out of here and away from all these toxic people.
I step backward and crash into someone's large body.
When I glance over my shoulder, I realize that with Josslyn's distraction, Noah has managed to catch up to me.
His scent overwhelms my senses, and the look on his face is hard to read.
Is that pride shining in his eyes? Why would he be enjoying this?
Is he such a sadistic monster that he's receiving pleasure from us fighting over him?
Of course he is. Haven't you been paying attention, you idiot? He thrives on your pain and suffering that he causes. It’s dessert for him, sweet and tasty.
He invades my space, his fingers splaying over my ribcage, as his deep voice rolls over me, causing a shiver to race down my spine.
"Well done, sweet baby girl. I like this new version of you.
" He raises his other hand and makes a show of rubbing his lips with the fingers that had been inside of me, and my face flushes hot.
"I'll be dreaming of your sweet pussy tonight, Cordelie, as I stroke my cock.
Will you dream of me too?" I can't believe he just said that, with Josslyn just a few feet away from us.
He's such a cold-hearted prick that he doesn't care who he's hurting, me, her, or himself, it's all one and the same to him.
Now I'm ashamed of myself for giving him what he obviously craves.
"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!" A scream rips through the room, and people push off to the side as someone stumbles to the ground.
My spat with Josslyn, and Noah's crude words, are momentarily forgotten as I dart forward to try to help, knowing I have first-aid training.
I push through the crowd of drunken partygoers until I reach a guy down on the floor who's convulsing, his eyes rolled back into his head, and struggling to breathe.
Jesus fuck, that's Tyler, one of Sly's football teammates.
"What did Tyler take?" I demand of the guy down on the floor with him, and his frightened brown eyes meet mine as I drop to my knees. The hardwood is sticky under my palms, my dress riding up my thighs, and I'm painfully aware of how exposed I am and how everyone can see me.
Someone screams his name. Someone else is shouting to call nine-one-one, but no one seems to move.
It's as if they're all frozen in this horrible state.
Tyler's skin has a slight bluish tinge, and I'm almost positive his chest isn't rising.
I reach forward, my hand trembling as I press my fingers to his neck, and nearly sob with relief when I feel something faint, and barely there.
My stomach flips, and my ears start ringing.
Okay. Okay, I can do this. I just need to tune everything else out.
"I don't know, I just got here. He was drinking beer and took a couple of shots of vodka with me, but I didn't see him take anything else!
" The guy on the floor panics as Tyler continues to struggle to breathe.
There's no way that just the alcohol is causing this.
I check his mouth to see if he's choking on anything, but I don't see anything. "Fuck! Is he going to be okay?"
"I... I don't know. We need to start CPR.
He's not breathing." I place my hands over each other and on his chest, right where they taught us in the class I took in my first year.
I press the heel of my hand in the center of his chest. I hesitate, panic flowing viciously through me.
What if I do it wrong? What if I hurt him?
What if everyone remembers this as the moment I cracked his ribs at a party?
So worthless, you're going to let him die. You can't do anything right!
I push anyway, not with as much force as I think I should apply, but enough to feel his chest depress as terror whips through me.
One, two, three. Please, oh my God, please!
I do it again and again as my arms shake, adding a little more strength behind my attempt.
I count too fast, then slow myself down because I know that matters.
I think I feel something crack, and bile races up the back of my throat.
Fuck, come on! His skin looks clammy, and colder than it should be beneath my hands, and I try not to think about what that means.
People are staring without offering any assistance.
I can feel it without looking. I catch someone from my peripheral vision with their phone out, but they're not calling for help; they're filming us, and whispers suddenly fill the space around us, along with someone crying behind me.
I feel a scream trapped in my throat, choking me.
Why is no one doing anything to help? I can't do this alone!
Someone drops to the floor next to me, and it scares me out of my counting, and I lose where I am.
A quick glance has me meeting Noah's tense face before I tear my gaze back to Tyler's prone form.
I swallow hard and refocus on the rhythm because if I stop, I'll lose it.
My breath comes out in little gasps I don't remember taking.
"Please," I whisper, not sure who I'm talking to, him or myself.
God, where the hell is the ambulance? I'm not equipped to do this, I'm not even sure if I'm doing it correctly.
"Cordelie," Noah's voice rips my attention away from Tyler once more, and I have to bite down on my lip to stop from crying. "You're doing so well, sweet baby girl. Keep going."
Okay, yeah, I can do this. I try desperately to convince myself as I tilt Tyler's head back, lean forward, seal my mouth over his, and blow two breaths past his lips, feeling stupid and terrified as I taste the liquor on his breath.
I pull away and go back to compressions, his chest feeling like it's a brick wall as I push down.
My shoulders and back are burning, and my arms are already aching.
Where is the help? Oh my God, is he going to die?
My mind is divided, thinking about how I must look, kneeling on a beer-soaked floor, hair in my face, hands shaking as Noah kneels next to me, and Tyler's friend sobs.
I don't stop, I can't. If I stop, it's no longer panic; it becomes something far worse.
Failure. So I count and press, and hope that someone else who knows what they're doing takes over before I run out of strength.
Someone's hand is rubbing my shoulder, but I don't dare look away from Tyler.
The crowd suddenly parts again as two large men push their way through and drop to the floor.
"We've got it, miss, you've done so well," a male's voice tries to reach me.
I keep counting and pressing, and as I lean forward, someone yanks me back by my shoulder.
"It's okay now, Cordelie, the EMTs have got it from here, baby. "
No! No, I have to save Tyler, I have to do something right.
I fight against the hold and try to reach Tyler again, even as my mind tries to work out that I'm seeing someone else already there in my place.
Thick arms band around me, forcefully lifting me from the floor and pushing me through the crowd.
"NO! I have to save him!" I scream and fight the hold, the panic overtaking me until my breath is wheezing out of me and my heart is galloping in my chest. Faces and the room flash past me as I'm dragged away.
I think I can hear Faye's terrified voice screaming for me, but it's as if I'm lost in a tunnel.
My chest feels so tight, and I'm starting to get lightheaded as I'm jostled in the arms holding me.
My head turns as if in slow motion to look at whose arms I'm in, and I meet Noah's determined features.
One moment, we're inside the party house, and the next, we are outside in the frigid night air, a shiver racing through me as the cold hits my exposed skin.
I realize with a start that Noah's been speaking to me this whole time, but until now I haven't heard him.
"It's okay, sweet baby girl. You did so well. I'm so proud of you."
No, I can't be here with him. I don't want him to touch me. "Release me!" I scream and push against his hold, forcing him to slow down from wherever he's taking me. The flashing lights from the ambulance and police cruisers get my attention, and my mouth hangs open in shock.
"Never, Cordelie. Do you hear me? I will never fucking let you go," Noah growls, but he's forced to put me down as my fists wail on him. I stumble and almost crash to the ground, and his grip on my bicep is the only thing that is preventing my fall.
"You have to, you have to let me go," I plead, the desperation in my voice evident as I take a few steps away from him and hear Faye screaming for me.
"I'd rather we both take our last breaths together, sweet baby girl, than allow you to live without me." I stare in shock at his features, and realize he's not joking in the slightest. He really would kill us both rather than allow me to be finally free from him.
Fuck, he's insane.