28. Zach
Chapter 28
Zach
My mind’s reeling. I don’t know who rattled the door, but thank fuck they did. Shit was about to get out of hand, and in a big way.
I was so close to losing control, I can still taste mint in my mouth. That would always happen back then when I lost myself in the moment.
We all found ways to deal with the shit we went through. I absorbed everything like a sponge. But there was no one to squeeze me out. That shit stayed inside me and festered into something dark and perverse.
I thought I had a handle on it.
Fuck, I think we all thought that until this girl arrived, all pure and innocent and shit.
Like dropping a mouse into a pit of hungry vipers.
“What are you waiting for?” I click my fingers. “Bring her.”
Reuben blinks like he’s coming out of a trance. Then he scoops up Trinity and throws her over his shoulder.
I take my keys out of my pocket and toss them to Apollo. “Make sure the coast is clear.”
He nods and hustles outside with his broken camera under his arm, leaving the door to swing closed behind him. I happen to look at Cass, and we lock eyes for a moment. I don’t expect guilt or remorse. Most of us aren’t capable of expressing those emotions anymore. What I don’t expect is the brief flash of uncertainty.
I give Apollo a few seconds to check the hallway, and then beckon the guys after me as I make for the door.
We don’t encounter anyone else on our way to the exit. Whoever had tried to enter the bathroom had disappeared. Maybe one of the younger guys had wet their bed or something. That kind of shit happens a lot around here.
Apollo’s waiting for us at the door leading to the northern grounds. Soon as I give him a nod, he runs to the crypt.
I wait a few seconds, and then slap Reuben on the shoulder not currently occupied by the bound and gagged girl we’d almost fucked in the showers.
Trinity lifts her head anyway and glares amber daggers at me.
Fuck, but she’s beautiful, even with Reuben’s belt between her teeth. Probably especially because she’s fucking gagged.
In class she’d been meek and submissive—the perfect prey. But she showed me her teeth tonight, if only for a moment. It had roused the animal in all of us. Self-control, morals, revenge—for a few minutes nothing existed except our new toy.
Will I ever get to play with her again?
I grab her chin and brush her skin with my thumb.
Not a chance. It’s too easy to lose control around her. Too easy to make a mistake. We haven’t gotten this far for someone like her to fuck this all up.
Reuben breaks that brief contact as he steps forward and breaks into a trot. Cass and I stay behind, waiting for him to get clear.
“Ever wonder what’ll happen when Rube gets mad?” Cassius murmurs as he squeezes into the doorway beside me. “I mean like really, really mad?”
“Like when he comes face to face with his Ghost?”
Of course I’ve wondered. That imaginary scene of chaotic violence has been the focus of some of my best jerk-off sessions.
“Yeah. Like that,” Cassius says before jogging across the grounds.
I follow after a beat.
Reuben is only a few yards from the crypt entrance when we arrive. When he throws open the door, there’s nothing but pitch black beyond. Apollo hurries forward and holds open the door for me, giving me a mock salute when I step through.
He doesn’t follow us inside.
His job is to make sure we aren’t disturbed.
Reuben’s already halfway down the library’s easternmost aisle when I reach the basement level of the crypt. Cassius trails him, toying with Trinity’s hair as they walk. People come down here so rarely there’s a layer of dust over everything. That’s why we make sure to tread where we least suspect someone will notice our footprints.
Over the months and years we’ve been enrolled at Saint Amos—and especially after I got my first set of keys as a teacher— we’ve managed to carve out a space of our own. Back here, far out of sight, we’ve arranged a few of the bookshelves so it looks as if the library ends a few yards short.
The ground floor of the crypt is for short meetings. This place, on the other hand…it’s our nest. A sacred space no one knows exists. The only way in is through a gap hidden by a drape.
Reuben stands there now, holding Trinity’s upper arm.
Now that she’s back on her feet, Trinity seems to be a touch calmer than before. Or it could be the books. They have a calming effect on us too. The same hush seems to fill every library in the world fills this one too.
“Go ahead,” I tell Reuben as I grasp Trinity’s other arm. “We’re right behind you.”
He shrugs his shoulders, pushes aside the thick drape, and miraculously makes himself disappear into that dark sliver.
Cassius follows, and then sticks out a hand for Trinity. She resists a little at first, and then throws me a furious look when I make the kind of soothing sounds you use to calm a skittish horse. With a chuckle, I feed her through the gap, Cassius pulling her from the other side.
Unlike us, she goes through easily.
Too easily.
If we don’t pay attention, she could escape.
Good thing Apollo’s keeping watch upstairs then.
Reuben turns on the lamp as I slide through the gap. Warm orange light suffuses the nest. From Trinity’s wide eyes and stiff form, I’m guessing she didn’t expect anything like this.
The space is as large as the library is wide, which is about ten yards, give or take. We’ve split our nest into two areas—a pseudo living area with sofas, chairs, and tables, and a makeshift bedroom.
Thankfully, since we all have private rooms in the dormitory, no one notices if we don’t sleep in that wretched building, especially if we make sure we’re back inside before first light.
The bedroom area is separated by another stolen drape. At the moment, it’s tucked off to one side, baring the layers of mattresses and blankets and pillows that make up that side of the room.
A true nest.
And I guess Trinity’s mind comes to the worst possible conclusion when she sees it.
She shrieks through her gag and races straight for the gap in the bookshelves. I catch the first thing I can, and yank her back by a handful of wet curls.
Reuben takes off his shirt, staring at the damp spot she made with no expression. He grabs a fresh shirt from the pile neatly stacked on one of the numerous bookshelves we used to create this space.
We moved out most of the books from this side of the wall and replaced them with bottles of sacramental wine and hard booze, cartons of cigarettes, porn magazines, and whatever else we felt we couldn’t keep in the dorm.
I haven’t been down here in close to a week. I’m not sure when last one of my brothers was either. We’ve been avoiding this space, and each other, so we wouldn’t risk exposing ourselves.
We were so close, too.
I tighten the fist in Trinity’s hair.
So fucking close.
I turn her to face me, and then wrench open the belt keeping her gag in place. For once, she doesn’t spit out her panties immediately. Instead, she watches me with wide, bright eyes as her lips tremble an inch apart.
“The next time you run, I’m taking you over my knee. Do you understand?”
She hesitates, and then nods.
Cassius is close—I can feel his body heat. From the sounds of things, Reuben is pouring us shots.
I could use one.
I could use a blunt even more, but that’s Cass’s department. “Roll us one,” I tell him. He moves away, taking his warmth with him.
I stick a finger in Trinity’s mouth, hook her underwear and yank it out. She licks her lips and grimaces, but then smooths her face.
“You’re hurting me,” she says.
“What’s your point?”
Something flickers in her eyes. Fear? Panic? It’s gone too fast for me to make out.
I can’t imagine what she’s thinking. Luckily for her, she’s not going to be wondering about anything for much longer.