Chapter 17
Seventeen
Blair
A violent tug ripped me from my bed.
My eyes flashed open in panic as I saw the low light filtering through my dorm. I cried out when rough hands seized me and dragged me across the floor.
I writhed in their hold as they jerked me upright.
I’d stupidly thought I’d prepared for this. I tried to stay awake, but my body betrayed me. Daphne had given me a heads-up that with Clarissa, the Sons hadn’t waited until morning to collect her. They had come in the middle of the night.
That was why I was still dressed in my uniform and loafers and not in my pajamas.
When I started to scream for Daphne, a callous hand clamped over my mouth, forcing the words back down as someone stepped in front of me.
Enzo—my devil, my tormentor—stood tall, like the darkest omen that existed in the world.
A skull mask covered his face, and all I could see through the hollow circles around his eyes were two dark pinpoints.
The hand over my mouth disappeared when he stepped closer.
I dragged in air as I readied to scream, but my body relaxed when he reached forward and touched me.
His chilly hand cupped my chin to tilt it upward until I couldn’t look at anything but him.
“It’s time, Blair,” he said, his voice almost sounding soulless.
Like there was no human behind that mask.
It’s time.
The words settled over me like a death sentence.
My Initiation had started.
Someone moved behind me before I could react. I heard the sound of tape tearing before they smacked it against my mouth.
Before I could even attempt to fight, the person behind me grabbed my arms and hauled me backward.
Everything happened so fast that my mind could barely keep up.
They dragged me out of the room, their steps so rushed that they were nearly running. The walls and dorms blurred past me before they cut that view off by placing a cloth over my head.
Something slammed, and a frigid gust tore across my body. The sudden drop in temperature told me we were outside.
My mind snapped clear, jolting me fully awake, and I fought to awaken every survival instinct I had.
They stopped to bound my wrists and ankles together before moving me again. I heard a loud click, then the sound of scuffling broke through the silence.
My stomach dropped as they held me sideways to swing my body back, as if preparing to launch me across the damn state. I twisted, my muffled cries spilling into the tape across my mouth as I struggled to break myself free.
A second later, they let go.
I crashed down onto a solid surface. The slam reverberated through whatever space they’d thrown me into.
I smelled that new-car smell and chemical cleaner. My elbows brushed rough carpet. The bastards had put me in a goddamn trunk.
I curled myself tight into the fetal position, fighting against the bindings, but I couldn’t break free.
All the air left my lungs when I heard the low rumble of an engine starting. The floor beneath me vibrated, the movement traveling through my bones as I felt the vehicle speed forward.
I rolled helplessly with the motion, landing on my back and trying to drive my knees into the trunk lid, but that didn’t work. I was trapped, and I could do nothing but wait for their next act of torment.
The car whipped through turns so hard that my body slammed against the sides of the trunk. Nausea crept up my throat as the vehicle spun again.
Are they doing fucking doughnuts?
My head swirled, and I struggled to keep myself from vomiting.
The vehicle stopped, and my face slammed into something hard. I heard another click, then voices nearby, but couldn’t make out their words or who they belonged to.
My head was still dizzy when they hauled me out of the trunk and dumped me onto the ground. I hit the soil hard, pain flaring through my arm as my elbow struck the dirt. Broken branches scraped against my skin.
Fear shot through me like a drug in my veins when someone hoisted me up and slung me over their shoulders, as if I were a bride on her wedding day, but instead of a honeymoon, they were carrying me to say my vows to the devil.
My body bounced with every step whoever was carrying me took before he stopped abruptly. When he dropped me, our heads knocked together before I hit the ground again.
Pain exploded through my body as I caught myself on my palms, feeling the cold, damp earth against my skin.
My world tilted, the vomit still threatening to come up.
I needed to see. To move.
Two large hands seized my arms and pulled me upright, but my bound legs refused to cooperate, so they held most of my weight as my shoes sank into the dirt.
Something sharp and icy slowly traced along my clenched jaw.
The wind carried his evil chuckle through the trees, the sound bending around the branches before slamming into me like another warning.
“Try to run from us, little Fawn,” a voice said in my ear.
Whoever it was cut my hands free and roughly shoved me back to my knees.
Trembling, I forced myself to my feet and ripped the blindfold from my eyes. The tape came off next, tearing painfully from my lips. My heart battered against my ribs as I shook out my stiff arms.
Somewhere in the distance, a fox screamed.
Before I could fully recover my senses, a shove knocked me back to the ground.
I looked up and around the woods they’d brought me to, but saw nothing but staggering trees and tangled branches. I heard nothing but the restless wind moving through them. Somehow, they’d all just, poof, disappeared.
Seconds ticked by as I spun in a circle, waiting, and stopped when I heard a crunch from somewhere.
My heart caved in, ready to hide itself in my chest, as I tried to find the source of the noise, but couldn’t.
“You’ll never escape us,” a voice echoed from somewhere to my right.
Or was it my left? In front of me?
I spun in all directions, searching the darkness for them.
The trees towered above me, their branches like a canopy covering the stars. I had no idea where in the woods we were. The last time Enzo had left me out here, I could see the glow from the university in the distance.
This time, there was nothing that could lead the way.
“Over here, little Fawn.”
I whipped around. My chest heaved as voices bounced through the woods.
“Over here, Blair!”
I pivoted again, only for another voice to call out from deeper in the trees, “Time to hunt us, little Fawn.”
A faint glow flickered in the distance. At first, I thought it was the moon, but that light began moving.
Closer and brighter.
I froze, my feet rooted to the earth and unwilling to move, as the light approached me. Slowly, I saw the outline of a neon light.
The mask wasn’t like the one Enzo had worn the night he forced me to watch him torture Jett or the one he had worn in my dorm earlier.
I jammed my hands beneath my arms, hugging myself against the cold, and hesitated.
Do I run?
Do I stay?
The wind whispered like it wanted to answer.
Or is that someone’s voice?
I was so close to hyperventilating. If I didn’t do something now, I’d pass out.
“Fuck this,” I said to myself.
I turned and bolted in the opposite direction. My lungs burned like they’d been stung by a thousand bees as I sprinted as fast as I could.
My vision blurred, confusing my thoughts, and I hoped I was running in the right direction. Hoped that I was headed toward safety and not deeper trouble.
I didn’t make it far.
A shadow with a ray of neon burst from behind a tree ahead of me. It slammed into me, kicking me sideways before disappearing just as fast. I hit the dirt hard, the impact rattling my entire body.
Heart pounding, I stood and ran in another direction.
Another masked man stepped in front of me. He didn’t shove me down like the last one. He simply shoved my shoulder to send me off course before disappearing.
No matter which direction I turned or which way I tried to run, another masked figure appeared.
Sometimes there was one. Sometimes two or three circled me like coyotes pushing me toward a trap.
“Blair … we see you.”
Their fucking voices made everything just as creepy.
“Blair, we’ll catch you.”
My head whipped in every direction as I tried to track them, but they were everywhere, like a thousand demons spilled from the depths of hell for the sole reason to torture me.
All that surrounded me were trees, flickers of neon masks, and terror.
It was like the forest had come alive with its worst inhabitants.
Another shove struck me, sending me sprawling back.
Before I could fully stand, a hand gripped my collar from behind and forced me ahead. Then it released me.
Laughter circled me.
“Blair! We see you!”
“How long do you think you’ll last?”
“Run, little Fawn!”
I staggered forward, my heart screaming for me to keep running. My legs trembled with exhaustion, telling me to do the opposite, but I ignored them and ran again.
I ran, almost feeling like I was moving in circles, until my legs failed on me. I collapsed onto my hands and knees. My lungs strained for air while I tried to keep my head up to search for them.
I crawled toward the closest tree and pressed my back against the trunk.
Something moved on the other side of the tree. I slammed my hand over my mouth to silence myself. My heart thumped so hard that I wouldn’t be surprised if whoever was on the other side had heard it.
They hadn’t just dropped me off in the woods.
They’d taken me to a hunting ground.
“Got you,” was all I heard before someone grabbed me.
“Please,” I whimpered, my fingers scraping desperately against the tree’s rough bark as I tried to twist myself free.
Before another plea could escape my lips, something sharp pierced the side of my neck. Pain flared beneath my skin.
I gasped as the sting burned hot inside me.
Everything grew fuzzy, and my legs felt weaker as I collapsed to the dirt.
And that was when I saw her.
A lone doe stood in the distance, half hidden between the trees.
For a moment, she watched me.