Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
“You need to be quieter,” I whisper-yell, throwing a pointed glance at Grace. She’s huffing and puffing, her hands resting on her knees while she’s trying to catch her breath. Her eyes narrow at me suspiciously.
“They’re all knocked out cold,” she responds, still a little breathless. “Besides, I just brought three grown ass men into my car, whilst they were half-asleep. It takes physical strength to do something like that.”
“I helped…” I defend while slowly lowering Soren onto the bed of the cabin.
The original plan was for Grace to bring me all of the equipment to the cabin, just so I’d have it on me at all times. Neither of us could’ve anticipated that Soren and I would end up being roommates, and it worked out perfectly in our favor.
We didn’t get into strip poker too much, since Grace generously spiked the alcohol.
Just enough to knock them out cold and make sure nothing can wake them up for the next couple of hours, yet not too much to harm them.
Having Kenzo, Aiden, and Elias wasn’t in the plans, but since they were here already, they had to take a little of the sleeping pills, too.
I couldn’t have anyone ruin this for me.
“How do you plan to do this?” Grace asks, sitting on the floor next to the bed. She’s still recovering, because I do believe this is the most exercise she’s gotten in years. “Do you need any help?”
“Not right now, no,” I shake my head, then open the bag she brought.
Firstly, I sanitize the chair we brought from the main area.
It’s a wooden chair, and it will serve as a desk.
I put down paper towels on the chair, then put on a pair of latex gloves, and numbing cream. “Are you going to watch me do it?”
Grace nods eagerly. Her face splits into a wide grin. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss this for the world, and I truly mean that quite literally. If you do have any questions, ask. I have more experience with that.”
Slowly, and very carefully, I straddle Soren’s hips. My eyes squeeze shut when he stirs a little beneath me, but after a moment of silence, I breathe out deeply, relaxing because he’s not waking up.
My fingers tremble as I unbutton his shirt, going button by button, then pushing the black material away, staring at his chest. The stomach area is filled with ink, in red and black shades.
The designs don’t make any sense, but then again, I don’t care.
However, what I care about is the fact that the spot below his collarbone and just above his chest is nearly empty, a blank canvas to be used.
I open the numbing cream, warming it on my gloved hands, before gently applying it all over his chest. His heart thumps beneath my palm, the beating steady and low. This is perfect.
“I cannot wait to tell Avalon about this,” Grace grins, slowly approaching the bed. “I also cannot believe you’re actually going through with it.”
“It was your idea, Grace.”
“Yeah, but I thought you’d chicken out.”
I frown. “Your opinion of me is too low.”
She snickers. “But hey, at least you proved me wrong.”
“That’s true.”
“On a scale from one to ten, how pissed do you think he’ll be when he sees this?”
“I’d say a million,” I wince immediately. “But this is payback.”
“For what, exactly?”
“For everything,” I shrug. “For breaking my nose, for trying to drown me in this very lake when we were teens, for sending that goddamned picture to Sinners and Saints. Take your pick, I don’t care anymore.”
Grace lifts a brow. “Is everything alright? Because something feels odd about this situation. You know he will be extremely angry. Who knows what he’ll do to you once he wakes up?”
“Let me repeat, this was your idea.”
“Yeah, but I’ve never been the sanest one of the bunch. Besides, this will literally mean war between you two.”
“We’ve been at war for years. I genuinely don’t care what he’ll do.”
“Alright, if you say so,” she shrugs, then pulls out her phone. At the same time, mine buzzes, and my heart sinks to my feet.
“Don’t tell me it’s Sinners and Saints?”
“No, no,” she says, and I sigh out in relief. “It’s Lila, in the group chat. She sent us a screenshot of the priest’s Facebook page. She’s basically salivating.”
The Saint Valley Academy values religion a lot. There are quite a few religious students, Lila being one of them. There’s a little church built around two decades ago, just behind the school, and every Sunday, one of the priests will come.
“Oh, that again?” I groan. “He’s a priest! He won’t look at her twice!”
“But he is very handsome,” Grace points out. “I mean, for a forty-year-old?”
“Forty?! As if Avalon wasn’t enough.”
“What? Do you know something?” Grace asks, and I realize my mistake. However, judging by the way she’s looking at me, it seems as though she’s aware of something, too.
“I might know something,” I shrug. “Do you know something?”
“I might know something, too,” she responds, then smirks. “We’ll talk about that tomorrow. Start before the numbing cream wears off.”
With a deep breath, I shift a little and try to ignore the rapid beating of my heart in my chest. I reach for the gun on the table, and open the ink, trying to remember everything I’ve seen on tutorials.
“Look at me.”
I turn to Grace, and she steps back, pointing her phone at me. I grin widely, sticking my tongue out. She snaps a picture, flash blinking into the room. Then, she laughs as she looks at the photo.
“Do you have anything in mind?”
I test the tattoo gun, then shake my head. “I was thinking of writing something. I have pretty handwriting, but I’m no artist. That’s the only thing that could look at least presentable, if not good.”
“Alright. I’ll be off now to drive those morons back to campus. You send me a picture of the tattoo once you’re done, got it?”
I nod and turn back to Soren’s sleeping form.
His black hair is messy, falling over his face.
It’s the first time I’m able to pay attention to his face without him staring right back at me.
His lashes are very thick, long, and curled to perfection.
He has small beauty marks scattered all over his face, and his lips are plump, in such a pretty shade of light pink.
His jaw is defined, and even in his sleep, he looks on guard. It’s as though this man has never known peace. Truth be told — I’m the reason he will never know peace, and that makes the feeling of satisfaction flutter in my chest.
Memories of two nights ago come rushing back to me, my cheeks heating up. We haven’t spoken of it, and that’s for the better. I don’t know where he was last night, but he didn’t sleep in the same bed as me, and in some way, I’m disappointed.
It shouldn’t be disappointing. I should be happy that he’s not willing to share the bed with me, and that I can rest. Yet, I barely slept last night.
Given the hard work I did yesterday and the sore muscles, I thought I’d knock right out.
But the thoughts of Soren, of the way he made me come by using me as a way to get himself off.
“Get a grip, Sophia,” I mutter to myself, shaking my head.
Then, I close my eyes briefly, take a deep breath, and steel myself for what I’m about to do. The trembling of my hands stops when I start tattooing Soren’s chest, and the more I do it, the more confident I get.
I spend two minutes, then take a one-minute break. He’s not stirring, but his breathing is even, and I’m glad he’s not dead. Well, mainly because I don’t want to be sent to prison for murder.
The first two letters come together quite nicely, and I decide to make it thicker, just so the bastard wouldn’t be able to get a removal easily. I should’ve made a stencil, but I didn’t know how soon I’d come to use all of this, and I only just now thought of what to tattoo.
After another forty minutes, I pull back.
The skin around the tattoo is red, a little swollen, and I make sure to wipe everything often, add more vaseline, and at one point, I took a ten-minute break just to add more numbing cream. Him waking up would be the worst-case scenario right now.
The name Sophia Sloane is written across his chest. The letters are quite bold, in a cursive font. It looks fancy, and although it’s definitely not the work of a professional, it doesn’t look too bad.
The spot above his chest is bothering me. It’s too empty, and that’s when the most evil and wicked thought comes to mind. With a smirk, I lean back down, continuing on my first and only art piece.
It takes me a solid three hours to finish it all. Maybe a professional tattoo artist would’ve done it in a shorter amount of time, but I didn’t want to rush it too much. It still needed to be as clean as possible, and not to toot my own horn, but it doesn’t look half bad.
Property of Sophia Sloane.
A wicked grin tugs on the corners of my lips as I wipe the tattoo down, then apply some of the ointment that Grace brought. It’s the one she uses for all of her tattoos, so I trust her word on it not being harmful.
The latex gloves come off, and I toss them to the floor, taking my phone. I snap a couple of pictures of Soren asleep, with his shirt wide open, and the new tattoo written all across his chest. When I’m satisfied with my work, I send the images to the group chat, then glance at the clock.
It’s almost three in the morning, and the crushed sleeping pills that were in the whiskey should start wearing off soon. I start buttoning his shirt back up, my fingertips grazing his skin.
I ignore the tingling sensation that spreads all through my body, and swallow a knot that forms in my chest. There’s no regret, only pure satisfaction because whatever Soren does next will not be as permanent as a tattoo, especially one as humiliating as this.
When I’m done, I get off him and quickly toss everything into the bag, then walk outside the cabin, getting rid of the evidence by putting the entire bag into the big trash can. Tomorrow morning, someone will clear the can out, and there won’t be any proof of me doing this.
A small giggle escapes my lips as I return to the cabin, setting my alarm for seven in the morning. I want to be out of his eye sight when the rage starts coming to him, and what better way than to be surrounded by witnesses to avoid the anger that’s inevitably coming my way?
The couch is small and very uncomfortable. But as I drift off to sleep, the images of the tattoo flash behind my eyes. I’m filled with satisfaction, happiness, and a foreign emotion I can’t quite name.
I’m excited.
It’s Soren’s turn.
And I don’t have any doubts he’ll go all out. Unfortunately for him, tomorrow’s our last day here. Once I get back to campus, I’ll be there for the weekend and go home for the holiday season. He won’t have the chance to get back at me before the second semester starts.
In the meantime, I’ll figure out a way to do something even worse.
Don’t worry, Soren. I’ll come up with something that’ll make you lose your fucking mind, far worse than anything I’ve attempted to do so far.