Chapter 19
A ringingnext to my head slices through me as I slowly peel my eyes open. I look over at my phone ringing and vibrating off my nightstand. I pick it up and see it’s Dekker.
“Dude, this better be important to wake me up at whatever the fuck time it is.” My voice is hoarse from last night’s shenanigans and the partying.
“I can’t find her.” His voice sounds panicked. And Dekker is rarely ever panicked.
I immediately shoot up in bed. “What do you mean? Can’t find who?”
“Rory.”
My mouth goes dry. I throw him on speaker and see that it’s only eight in the morning.
“What do you mean? Did you check her dorm? I thought you were following her?” I fire off.
“I was. She left on her date to the drive-in, but when I went to start my bike, it wouldn’t start,” he breathes out.
“What the fuck?” I jump out of bed and immediately start getting dressed, throwing on the nearest pair of pants and shirt. I grab my gym shoes and slide them on, not even bothering with socks.
“When I finally did get it started, I got pulled over on the way there. Cop held me up for bullshit reasons. Said I had a suspended license. Had me cuffed up and in the back of the car for an hour. Only to let me go and tell me it was a mistake.”
“Did you go to the drive-in? She was supposed to be there.” I run down the hall to Seven’s room and bang on his door.
“She wasn’t there, and neither was his Chevelle. I searched everywhere. I tried to call her, but it went right to voicemail,” Dek huffs out.
“Hey, what’s with the banging?” Seven asks as his door swings open, using a hand to rub his eyes.
“She’s missing. Rory is missing,” I tell him frantically.
He gapes at me. “Did you check the dorm?” he presses.
“Dek, did you check her dorm?” I ask him.
“Not yet. I’ve been scouring everywhere out here. Can you two go run there and see if her roommate has heard from her?” Dekker’s voice is pained, and I know he is blaming himself for losing sight of her after we found those pictures.
We have no idea why someone would be interested in her, but it can’t be a good thing. I may have to confront my father about this.
Shit, my father.
How do I even begin to deal with this with my father?
Or her mother? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I need to really find her.
“Okay, we’re getting dressed and heading over to her dorm room.” I nod to Seven as he disappears back into his room and closet to throw on some clothes.
“Let me know as soon as you know something. I’m going to keep looking,” Dekker says before hanging up.
“What the fuck is going on?” Seven demands as he shuts his door behind him.
I fill him in on the way to the car. My foot presses the pedal to the floor as I race through the streets to get to the dorms. While they aren’t far from us, every minute feels like an hour.
When we finally reach her dorm, we race up the stairs to her floor and then begin banging on the door.
“Rory! Open up! It’s Xayden and Seven!” I yell through the door. The noise is catching the attention of the rooms around us, with doors opening up and eyes peering out.
“Have any of you seen Rory or her roommate?” Seven asks the onlookers. But they all shake their heads no.
“Shit,” I mutter as I continue to pound on the door. “Go get the RA and see if she can get us in here. Do you have Addy’s number?”
Seven pulls out his phone. “I can get her number in a few seconds. Let me go get the RA.”
I nod as I return my attention to the door. Placing my ear next to it, I listen to see if I can hear anything. But the room is silent. Moments later, I hear Seven making his way back to me, the RA in tow and him talking to who I assume is her roommate.
“Hi, um, have you tried calling her?” the RA asks me, and I lean down and level my eyes with her.
“What the fuck do you think? Do you think we didn’t try that?” I seethe.
Without saying a word, she unlocks the door and goes to open it. I grab the handle and keep her from doing so.
“We can handle it from here.” Seven advises her.
“But I can’t just let you go in there?” she pushes back, gaping at us in disbelief.
“I’m her stepbrother. So, as he said, we can handle it.” I narrow my eyes at her. “Go.”
She hesitates for a moment before huffing and leaving me and Seven to head into her room. And nothing could prepare me for what my eyes see.
Rory lays on the floor, her clothes torn up and tattered. Her body and the shreds of clothes are covered in dirt and dust. Her black hair is disheveled and filled with dirt and twigs. I can see bruises on her pale skin.
“Holy fuck,” Seven exclaims next to me. I turn to him to see his eyes wide and his face paled.
Immediately, I drop down to my knees and hover over her. I move my ear over her nose and mouth to see if I can hear her breathing. I cup her face and slightly tap it with my hand.
“Hey, Rory, wake up. Come on and wake up for me.”
“Should we call 9-1-1?” Seven walks over to the other side of her, his brow creased with worry.
“I don’t know.” I look up at him for a moment before refocusing my attention on her. “Come on, Rory, wake up for me. I need you to open your eyes.”
I shake her a bit before I tap her face again.
She lets out a groan before her eyes start to flutter open. Her face contorts in pain, and she twists from her position.
“Rory, come on, we’re right here. Come back,” Seven calls to her.
Her eyes fly open at his voice, and fear takes over her features. “No!” she screams.
“Shh. It’s just Seven and me. You’re in your dorm, Rory.” I watch as she continues to take in her surroundings. Her head snaps to me and then to Seven, her breaths coming out fast.
“W-What…” Her bottom lip starts to wobble.
“We have no idea what happened. We just found you like this. Let’s get you off this floor and onto your bed.” I nod to Seven, and he reaches down to offer her a hand.
For a moment, she stares at it and I think is still questioning reality.
When she finally reaches out to him, I sigh a breath of relief. We both help her to her bed and sit her down.
I walk over to her mini fridge and pull out a bottle of water I find inside. I crack it open and bring it over to her.
She takes it from me and quickly brings it to her lips, then starts to guzzle it down.
Seven scolds, “Slow down, Rory. You don’t want to get sick.” He takes hold of the bottle and lowers it.
For a moment she merely sits there, and then her face pales. “Too late.” She gets up and finds the nearest garbage can, drops to her knees, and heaves up all the water she just downed.
I rush to her side and immediately grab her hair.
“That’s it. Get it out of your system.” I rub her back as she continues to dry heave.
Once she’s done, she sits up and Seven hands her a towel to wipe her mouth with. For a couple minutes she just sits there, no doubt trying to decide if she is done with the vomiting.
As she slowly tries to stand, I jump up and help her back over to the bed. Seven takes the puke can out of the room to get rid of the bag inside of it.
“Rory, do you want to go get checked out by a hospital? I think it would be wise to do. You are pretty bruised up.”
She looks at me and shakes her head. “No.” She purses her lips as she goes back to staring at the floor.
“Rory, I really think you should. Do you even know what happened? Do you know who did this to you?” I ask, my voice soft and my hand still on her lower back.
She shakes her head slowly. “I-I don’t know what happened.”
“Do you remember anything?”
She stares at me for a moment before frowning. Her mouth slightly parts. “I-I remember getting to the drive in.”
“Who were you with?” I ask as Seven comes back in with a cleaned out garbage can.
Rory clears her throat. “Damien.”
“And who is that?” I ask.
She hesitates for a moment. “A guy I went on a date with.”
Something stirs inside of me at that answer. A jealously. A hatred that she went out with another guy. But I quickly push it down and ignore the red I see.
Right now, I just need to make sure she’s okay.
“How did you meet him?” I ask slowly, trying not to let my rage take over my vocal cords.
“H-He’s in my s-studio.”
“Okay, did he do this to you?” Seven asks as he takes a seat on her roommate’s bed.
She sits, still staring at the floor. We patiently wait for her to say something. Seconds feel like hours, and I can feel myself wanting to shred every inch of skin off Damien.
Her lips part slowly, and she lets out a breath. “No. I-I don’t think it was.”
“You don’t think?” Seven questions.
She shakes her head.
“Did something happen with Damien at the drive-in?” I press, narrowing my eyes.
She curls her fists into her lap and closes her eyes. “Y-Yes.” Rory visibly swallows.
I look up at Seven, and I see his lips thin into a line. Turning back toward her, I try to get more out of her. “Rory, I need you to tell me what happened.”
Her mouth turns down as tears slip down her cheeks. “We…we started doing things.” She pauses and wipes away the wetness in her eyes. “I asked him to stop. And he didn’t.”
Fury rages through me. “Did he rape you? Fuck, he’s a dead man. I will fucking kill him.”
“No! No.” Her eyes meet mine. “He just tried to push me to do things I didn’t want to, and I eventually got away, but I fell backward out of the car.”
“Still a fucking dead man,” I bite out.
“Xay, calm down. Not the time.” Seven nods to me. He knows I am ready to murder the bastard, but he’s right. We need to focus on Rory.
“I went to the bathroom. To try and clean up. I realized I didn’t have my phone or anything on me,” she says quietly. Her eyes turn back to the floor. She wrings her hands together, and her breaths pick up. “I…I figured I could just walk back. It’s not like I had anyone’s number on me. But I don’t remember what happened after that. It’s all cloudy.”
Rory breaks down, tears streaming from her face.
“So you have no idea what happened or how you ended up back here?” Seven’s face is pale. And I understand why.
She has no recollection of what happened, so who knows how she got back into her room? But someone with access was able to sneak her in without anyone noticing.
And they have access to her dorm room. I look around and see her purse and phone sitting on top of her desk.
“Xayden, I-I’m so freaked the fuck out.” She sobs.
“Dekker is on his way.” Seven glances up from his phone.
“No.” Rory pushes back farther into her bed, her eyes panicked. “No, fucking way. You both need to leave.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Rory.” I try to calm my need to just drag her back to me.
“I don’t give a flying fuck! Dekker is an asshole who…” She doesn’t finish that sentence, but I know what she’s going to say. He fucked with her at the party. And everything since then.
He’s been a giant dickhead to her.
Of course, it’s because I told him to.
Fuck.
“You all are assholes. Get the fuck out.” I watch as she curls into herself. And it breaks me this time.
“Maybe you should come back with us,” Seven offers.
She doesn’t say anything, just sits there with her legs pulled into herself and her head dropped down into them.
I look over at Seven. There is no way we can leave her here alone, but we may not have a choice.
“Can we just go take you to get checked out? Then we will bring you back here.” I place a hand on her leg, but she pushes it away.
“I’m not going anywhere. So, I will tell you again before I call campus security, get out.”
I look at Seven as he bites his lip. It’s evident he doesn’t want to leave, but we don’t have a choice. She wants us gone. And we really don’t have any right to stay.
“Okay. We will go. But you need to promise me something.” I place my fingers under her chin and lift her head up so her eyes meet mine. “If something happens or you need anything, you call me. Promise me, Rory.”
She purses her lips and gives me a slight nod. And that’s all I know I will get from her.
Tilting my head toward the door, Seven and I get up and head on out. Once we are outside the room, I make sure the door clicks closed, and we head over to the stairwell.
After we’re inside, I turn to Seven, who is running a hand down his face.
“What the fuck?” He blows out a breath.
“I don’t know. I have no fucking clue what the fuck we’re going to do. But what we need to do is find that Damien guy and kill him. Because if he wasn’t such a cocksucker to begin with, she wouldn’t have been left alone.”
I curl my hands into fists, wishing I had his face to break.
“Do you think it was the girls maybe messing with her?”
“It’s possible. But it’s also possible that it was the unknown. Whoever has been sending stuff to my father.” I rub the back of my neck with a grimace. The tension and stress have me in knots.
“So, what do we do now?” Seven leans against the wall, crossing his arms as he gives me an expectant look.
I look back at the door leading to the hall. What I want to do is go in there and throw her over my shoulder and bring her back to our house where I can keep her safe.
Where maybe she would hate me less.
Where I know I could protect her.
Maybe chain her to my bed…
I shake my head at the thought. Not the time. Not the place. And not with my stepsister.
I sigh, “We glue ourselves to her as much as we can. Try to make up for the shit we’ve pulled and keep her safe. Then I’ll try to talk to my dad to see what the fuck is going on.”
If she doesn’t hate us now, she may after we become her shadow. But if it keeps her safe, I’ll take every ounce of hate she gives me.
Because if she hates me, it means she’s still on this earth.