Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
A TWISTED GAME
NASH
Everything hurts, especially my head.
All I want to do is stay asleep, but my muscles are screaming at me, sore from being forced into an uncomfortable position.
After a few attempts to get my vision to focus, I realize that the situation is worse than I thought.
I’m in a relatively small utility room. My arms are extended high over my head, and I’m cuffed to the pipes that run along the walls.
It’s high enough that my arms are supporting my body weight; this is why it hurts so much.
My feet are bound with rope, just shy of touching the floor. I try several times to relieve the soreness in my arms, but to no avail.
The dull pain in the back of my head gets worse if I strain, so against my instincts, I relax my muscles as much as I can.
That helps the throbbing in my head but puts my full weight on my arms.
Why the fuck am I here?
The answer to that question comes in the form of a memory. The last thing I remember before waking up here was a text message. A photo of Taryn bound and gagged in this very room.
“Taryn…” I groan, my voice a hoarse rasp.
I force myself to keep my eyes open and to look around the room. Nothing.
“She isn’t here.” Jodie confirms.
Her situation looks only slightly better than mine. Taryn’s best friend is bound next to me, but she managed to swing her legs and propped her bound feet onto an empty chair beneath her.
“I don’t understand. Where is she?” Panic seeps into my voice.
“I have no clue. Maybe she was here, but she has been moved?”
The thought is terrifying. Did the stalker do something bad to her? “Fuck.” I cry out.
“Keep your cool, Nash.” Jodie’s tone is sympathetic. “If we want to help her, we need to find a way to get out of here.”
I know she’s right, but it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. What if it’s too late? What if Tim’s killer has already hurt her?
The metal door opens and my heart almost stops.
The good news is that Taryn isn’t dead, at least not yet. The bad news is that someone tall, in dark clothing and a black hoodie, is dragging an unconscious Taryn into the room.
“Taryn!” I yell, yanking on my constraints. My muscles tense up, sending pain to all my nerve endings as the metal cuffs around my wrists dig into my flesh.
The stalker dumps Taryn onto the concrete floor of the utility room to grab the chair under Jodie’s feet.
Jodie moans in pain as her weight is now dangling from her arms, just like me.
As our kidnapper secures Taryn to the chair with a length of rope, I grind my jaw so hard that I’m surprised my teeth don’t shatter.
Seeing her bound with her arms behind her back is terrifying. I’m more scared for her than for myself.
Whatever happens today, I’ll do my best to make sure that Taryn walks away from here in one piece. Even though I don’t know how I’m gonna help her since I can barely move.
“Let her go.” I bite out, struggling to hide the pain that radiates all over my body with every word.
The stalker turns around and tilts his head in my direction, as if he didn’t hear or understand what I said.
Under the hoodie, his face is covered by a black balaclava, so I can’t make out any features except for his dark eyes.
Now that I can take a closer look, I’m one hundred percent sure it’s a man.
A part of me is disappointed that it isn’t Gen. Deep down I’m convinced that if it were Gen, we could talk our way out of this room alive. But if this is really the person who killed Tim and hacked his head off, we’re in really huge trouble.
“Let her go.” I repeat. “Let Taryn go. Please.”
He chuckles.
Fuck. I know who Taryn’s mystery stalker is. I would know that obnoxious laugh anywhere.
“Andy?” I gasp.
My team captain and frat brother from Hemlock Beach lowers the hood covering his head and pulls the balaclava off his face. “Hey Nash.” He grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m surprised you figured it out so quickly.”
“Why is that? Your laugh is as pleasant as the fire alarm in our old science building at school.”
He laughs again. “Whatever. I’m surprised because it was super easy to lure you and Jodie here.
You’re as smart as each other. You two idiots would be perfect for each other if your hours weren’t numbered.
All it took to make you run here, right into my arms, was a deep fake of Taryn bound in this room.
Easier than stealing candy from a baby. But I needed Jodie’s phone to text Taryn and lure her here too. You were an unexpected bonus, Nash.”
Jodie has been looking at her ex-boyfriend with shock written all over her face. “So you’re the asshole who’s been blackmailing me and stalking Taryn all this time? Why aren’t you in D.C.? Didn’t you have a job lined up straight after graduation?”
Andy moves with the same speed he had on the ice. He punches Jodie’s face.
She groans in pain, gurgling as blood trickles out of her mouth.
“Shut up, you stupid, useless bitch.” Andy snarls. “You had one job. You had to get Taryn to break up with those three assholes. But you can’t be trusted to do anything properly. My grandmother was right that if you want a job well done, you might as well do it yourself.”
Jodie spits out a mixture of blood and saliva. “I’m glad she didn’t break up with them. They’re ten times better boyfriends than you ever were for me.”
I brace myself for another burst of violence. But rather than hitting Jodie again, Andy turns around to look into a black rucksack tucked away in the closet, next to Taryn.
He extracts a big knife. A hunting knife, I think. “That big mouth of yours will be the end of you, Jodie.” He says, tucking the blade under her chin to force her to look at him. “I hope you know that this is all your fault.”
“My fault? How?”
“If you hadn’t gotten involved back in South Carolina and you hadn’t convinced Taryn to run away, we wouldn’t be here. I would have gotten what I wanted, and you could have gone on with your sad, pathetic life. But no. Ride or die.” He parrots in a poor imitation of Jodie’s voice.
TARYN
This is bad. So, so bad.
“Taryn is my best friend.” Jodie’s voice is trembling. “What did you expect? I couldn’t leave her in trouble.”
Andy chuckles. “How moving. Now you’ll get to prove to her the die part of the equation.”
My head is pounding, but I strain against the ropes that tie my wrists. Too tight.
The rickety chair I’m on wobbles with my movement, and that attracts Andy’s attention.
He turns to look at me. His smile is scarier than if he were glaring at me.
Unhinged is the best way to describe the look in his eyes.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty.” He cackles. “We were just waiting for you to wake up to begin the party. It’s long overdue, if you ask me.”
I do my best to hide the fear in my voice. “Andy. If you wanted to talk, you could have just called.”
He takes one step closer. “Really? You aren’t just a filthy slut; you’re a liar, too.”
His tone makes me break out in goosebumps. “Why do you say that? I’ve never lied to you.”
Andy advances, stopping close enough that when he bends down to look in my eyes, I feel his warm breath on my face. “So if you aren’t a liar, I assume Jodie knows that I had asked you out and you turned me down?”
“You asked out my best friend?” Jodie sounds hurt. I wish I could see her, but Andy is standing in the way.
“I asked her to the end of the year party at the Gamma house.” He offers. “But she said no. Some bullshit about girl code.”
He moves to the side just enough that I can meet Jodie’s gaze.
“Of course she did. She knew how heartbroken I was over the end of our relationship. And that I still loved you.” Jodie’s voice breaks.
“Nice way to show your undying love. Is that why the second we broke up you started fucking all my frat brothers?” He turns to look at Nash. “You must be the only one she didn’t fuck. She even slept with half the football team and with the entire swim team.”
“You were hooking up with all the girls on the dance team. What did you expect?” Jodie yells. “It’s like breaking my heart wasn’t enough. You had to fuck every friend I had on campus. I had to repay you with the same treatment you gave me.”
This time Andy grabs Jodie’s face between his fingers.
The knife clutched in his other hand. “And did you ask yourself why? Because you were a boring fuck. Dancers are supposed to be flexible and fun in bed. Fucking you was like fucking a hockey stick. Besides, there’s another thing your precious best friend never told you.
You were my second choice. Remember the night we met? ”
Tears are streaming down her face, but Jodie answers, her face pressed between Andy’s fingers. “The first party before fall classes started sophomore year. We hooked up.”
Andy nods. “Do you know why I hooked up with you? I had been trying to chat with Taryn all night. And first you were in the way. You two were joined at the hip. Then Taryn went home. Who the fuck leaves a college party at midnight? I didn’t feel like chasing after her, so I decided you were an ok distraction.
Too bad that it was impossible to shake you after one night together.
And your friend wouldn’t even look at me since she thought I was your boyfriend. ”
“But you were my boyfriend!” Jodie cries. “Have you ever loved me, Andy?”
His laugh is cold and heartless. “I kept you around because having guaranteed pussy was convenient with my heavy course load and the hockey team. It’s not like I didn’t have some fun on the side when you were away on dance competitions.”
I feel sick to my stomach. “Jodie doesn’t deserve this. She’s a wonderful, loyal person. You were lucky to have her.”
It was the wrong thing to say. I know I should have kept my mouth shut when Andy lets go of Jodie and stalks his way to me.
“Wonderful and loyal?” He snarls. “Maybe you were still passed out and missed the big reveal? Those scary, nasty messages? It wasn’t me, sweetheart. It was your ride or die bestie.”