Chapter Nine
Amelie
Dinner is a tame affair. There’s some whispering to begin with, but it soon settles down after Baxter throws out some warning glares. Elsie and I talk quietly amongst ourselves, but Baxter barely joins in. After we’ve finished, he checks his watch.
“Are you ladies done? I have somewhere I need to be.”
“Seeing a man about a dog again?”
“Something like that.” He gives me an enigmatic smile.
“You can go, I’m sure Elsie and I can manage a walk back to our rooms after your alpha display of protection.”
“No.”
“No?” I frown at him.
“I’m seeing you back to your dorm.” There’s a stubborn set to his brow that means it would be pointless to argue.
“Fine, let’s go,” I say, standing up and making my chair scrape noisily across the floor. Elsie copies, far more elegantly and less noisily though.
Together, we all walk back across campus to where the girls’ dorms are. At the entrance to the block, we attempt to say our goodbyes.
“We can take it from here,” I tell him.
“No.”
“Yes.” I huff. I almost stamp my foot, but I manage to refrain from giving him the satisfaction.
“You’re not allowed in the dorms, technically, Baxter,” Elsie carefully points out. She’s relaxed a lot around him this evening, but I can tell she’s still a little fearful of him.
“That didn’t bother you earlier.” He smirks, raising an eyebrow.
“Well…” Elsie trails off, her argument weak.
“That was before you terrified the entire school, including my friend here, Branson,” I tease with a smile.
“Fine. Give me your phones.” He holds his hand out and snaps his fingers impatiently. “Both of you.”
Elsie immediately complies, and when he hands her phone back, he looks at me expectantly. Sighing, I drop it into his outstretched palm. A couple of seconds later he hands it back.
“You have any trouble, you press the button on the side three times. That will send me an emergency message and will ping me your location.” I open my mouth to protest and he glares at me. “No arguments.”
“Fine.” I sigh, again. It’s easier to just give in.
Baxter nods and then disappears off into the dark.
It’s not too late, but being the middle of winter it seems to get dark around 4 o’clock here.
It’s a stark contrast to the summer I was enjoying back home less than a week ago.
I’ll admit, Elsie’s clothing choices were plenty warm enough for me and stopped me from looking like a marshmallow.
I say goodbye to Elsie at the juncture where our rooms head off in opposite directions, and make my way along the deserted corridors back to my own bed.
I’m surprised by how tired I am. I might just have to get an early night and finish sorting all my stuff out tomorrow.
Maybe Elsie will come over and do it for me. I hate unpacking.
My door is in sight, the key in my hand, when I sense someone behind me.
It takes effort, but I don’t turn around or speed up, I just keep pace along the corridor.
I'm about two metres away from the lock when firm hands plant against my back and I’m shoved with a force that surprises me.
I doubt one of the girls would have the strength to push me like that.
A second shove sends me sprawling into my own bedroom door, but I manage to turn my head to the side to avoid a broken nose.
A second later a hard body presses into mine. It isn’t thrilling or sexy, but it does make my heart race a little faster in fear.
“You’re gonna pay for what you did, bitch,” he hisses in my ear. I don’t recognise the voice and I have to bite my tongue not to get snarky with him. Not until I at least assess the situation first.
Rough hands grab the top of my arms, hard enough to bruise, and spin me round to face my assailant.
I’m shoved back against the door, my head bouncing hard enough to make me see stars.
I blink and try to clear my vision but before I can, his huge hand wraps around my throat and squeezes.
Even though I can’t, I still attempt to draw in a desperate panicked breath as he lifts me up so that my toes barely skim the floor and I scrabble for purchase.
This guy is huge and strong. I don’t recognise him at all, and all I can see is the malicious intent in his eyes.
“Where to start?” He leans in and murmurs into my ear, his breath hot and rancid on my cheek. My stomach roils and I gag. Frantically, I claw at his hands around my throat with my free hand.
Over his shoulder my eyes lock onto someone else’s.
We have a spectator. Is it a friend of his, lying in wait for their turn?
I fight harder, unwilling to go down without a fight.
I bring my other hand – the one holding my damn room key that I had forgotten about – up and using as much force as I can, I jam the key into his cheek.
I was aiming for his eye but he still howls in pain and drops me.
“You fucking bitch!” he cries. “You’re going to pay for that too.”
Unfortunately, he dropped me so quickly that I landed in a heap. I’m too concerned with gasping in lungfuls of air, like a fish out of water, to bother with getting up. I’ve dropped my key anyway and I just don’t have the energy needed to get to safety.
A brutal kick to my ribs has all the air rushing from my body again and suddenly my body is telling my brain that I’m drowning. Terror seizes me and my eyes widen in fear as my panic-stricken body desperately tries to save itself. I just gasp and pray that it makes it.
My attacker grunts and walks away, his heavy boots sounding loud along the corridor, even though it’s carpeted.
My eyes seek out the voyeur who just watched shit go down.
If he attacks too, I won’t stand a chance.
He’s still there, standing in the shadows, watching me.
I can’t work out who it is, but after a few moments stare off with one another, he turns his back on me and punches the wall.
Then he walks away with silent steps. What the fuck?
I let out a sigh of relief and allow my body to relax on the rough carpet. I will get up, I just need a moment. I reach for my key and slowly get to my feet. Everything hurts. It’s agony to swallow and I already know that I’m going to be covered in bruises by morning.
I let myself into my room, locking the door behind me.
It doesn’t feel like a safe haven, but at least there’s a locked door between me and anyone else that wishes to make their displeasure at my return known.
I limp over to the bed and have to sit down to remove my boots and socks.
Bending over is way more painful than it should be, and once I’m fully naked, I can see why.
A massive angry purple bruise is already forming on my ribs where he kicked me.
Tentatively, I touch the mark and hiss in pain.
Frowning, I try to work out why I’m bruised so badly.
The only conclusion I can reach is that the assailant was wearing some sort of reinforced footwear.
Like workers’ steel toe capped boots or something.
Fuck, it hurts so bad. I gently reach for some of the clothing I discarded earlier in favour of Elsie’s suggestions, and carefully pull on some leggings and a long-sleeved shirt to sleep in.
I hobble over to the bathroom to get freshened up, then back to bed. Just as I fall into bed, my phone buzzes on the nightstand. Cursing, I roll over to check it and see that it’s a message from my least favourite Knox brother.
Onyx
You have pepper spray for a reason...FUCKING USE IT!!!
His timing is suspect. Was it him watching in the shadows? I can’t bring myself to care or question why he would. Grunting, I drop the phone, roll over and fall into a pained, fitful sleep.