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Tori
“T ori?” Penny’s voice is low, but there’s an urgent edge to it. “Tori, wake up.”
Sleepily, I roll over, rubbing at my eyes and the massive pile of dry gunk that seems to be pasting my eyelids shut. “I’m awake,” I mumble.
After I left Denali House, I started walking to Payne’s office. He said to call him if I was in trouble, but after I left and realized no one was following me, I took a moment to think.
Calling Payne felt like the nuclear option. Like I was on a secret mission, and my cover had been blown, so I needed extracting. If I left, I wasn’t coming back.
I should leave.
At this point, getting out is the sane and safe option.
And something I’m actually going to do…
Maybe there is something hidden on Syn’s computer, but after our conversation, I doubt it. He not only seems to genuinely have no clue, but also didn’t seem to want to know. As far as Syn was concerned, my brother killed his, and that was the end of it.
But, while I hadn’t brought much to college with me, I did still have a few personal possessions that I wanted to at least try to get before I left. My phone, with the shitty battery, was still plugged in on my bedside table, filled with pictures of Cole. And although it’s probably useless now, there’s still a folder on my laptop of all the information I’ve gathered.
Both may be backed up to the Cloud, but I don’t really want to leave them with Syn. He’s probably vindictive enough to work out my passwords and delete everything—just because.
So, instead of calling Payne, I went straight to Penny’s room. She’d taken one look at me, ushered me inside, and wrapped me in her blankets before handing me one of her signature Irish hot chocolates.
“Tori?”
“I said I’m awake. What time is it?” Finally able to see, I frown as I look at her face. “What’s the matter?”
“Where’s your phone?”
“Hopefully, where I left it in Denali House. Why?” I sit up, still trying to work out what’s going on. I can’t tell if she wants to cry, or if she wants to murder someone. I let out a long sigh. “What has Syn done?”
I’ve not told her exactly what happened. After Syn’s thinly veiled threats against her, I’m not sure I ever will. She just went to sleep knowing I was finished.
She takes a deep breath and angles her body to face mine, crossing her legs as she reaches out to take my hands in hers.
“Tori, I want you to know that I love you. You’re my best friend, and nothing is going to change that. I’m here, I’m not going anywhere, and we’re going to get through this together.”
“Has Syn started a rumor that we’re a couple?” I ask her, confused at how sincere she’s being. “I don’t give a damn if everyone thinks we’re a thing. Unless it’s your boyfriend and girlfriend, but we can explain that to them.”
Penny chews at her lip before she reaches for her phone. “As soon as I worked out what it was, I stopped watching.”
My heart stops.
Or at least, it feels like it.
The oxygen seems to have been sucked out of the room, and every inch of my skin is prickling. I don’t need to see what’s on her phone, because I know.
There’s only one thing that would make Penny act like this.
I reach for the phone, taking it. Her large screen is loaded to a paused video. The bar at the bottom really is only a couple of seconds in, but my completely naked body is on screen.
Since the moment Syn accepted my signed contract and NDA, I knew what was happening. I knew I was going to be filmed having sex, drinking and taking drugs. I knew he was going to keep that video and could release it at any time.
There wasn’t a time when I forgot it existed, and even Gemini was good enough to remind me about it the other day.
Maybe I was starting to think it would never see the light of day, despite his threats, but I was still prepared in case it did.
Or, I thought I was prepared.
Imagining how I was going to react versus how I actually feel now aren’t even close.
Penny reaches over and takes the phone from me, killing the screen before she shoves it beneath her pillow. Then she wraps her arms around me and hugs me like it’s her mission to squeeze all the air out of me and make me pass out. “Whatever you need, I’m here.”
All of a sudden, I feel dizzy and lightheaded. I wiggle out of her embrace and stagger off the bed, towards her window. The building is old, but the heating units in the room do a great job of making sure you never feel cold—unless someone has tampered with it. Each room has a large window that opens out, and I hurry to do that with Penny’s.
As a blast of ice-cold air hits my face, Penny joins my side. “If you need to throw up, go in the bathroom.”
I shake my head, as I lean my body against the wall and raise my face to the open window. There hadn’t been much snow on the ground last night, but it’s started snowing again; large snowflakes are swirling through the almost still air.
Our rooms are at the back of the building. With the weather and the time of day, there’s no one out this way. Everything is peaceful. It almost seems like the universe is glitching, because surely there should be a tornado destroying everything in sight.
Closing my eyes, I keep taking deep breaths, focusing on how the icy air feels as it fills my lungs. At some point, Penny leaves my side, returning moments later wearing a coat as she drapes a second over my shoulders. I’m only wearing a pair of pajamas she’s loaned me, but I can’t feel the cold.
“Jake’s pretty good with computers, and I know he has a lot of friends who I swear, he’s said have decent enough skills. I can call him and see if we can get it taken down.”
“Taken down from where?” I guess I’d assumed it was a video in a group chat, but before Penny can answer, I shake my head. “If it’s on the internet, it’s on there forever. Even if you got someone to take it down, there will be far too many people with copies saved to their phones, or whatever.”
That might not be entirely true. I’m still convinced someone—the XXXVII—managed to make a whole bunch of information about James Patrick Keyingham disappear, but I’m not a Keyingham…
Opening my eyes, I reach out and close the window, seeing Penny shiver as I turn back to her. “Sorry. I needed fresh air, and I couldn’t face the idea of leaving the room.”
Penny gives me a weak smile as she nods. “I get it.”
I’m still not feeling the cold, but I’m aware that the room temperature has dropped, even with the heating fighting against the open window. I move back to Penny’s bed, waiting as she dives under the covers.
“What do you want to do about it? I will pay for a lawyer. Hell, I’ll—”
“Nothing,” I tell her.
“Nothing?” Penny wrinkles her nose. “You mean… nothing?”
Syn… Gemini… Even Royal, if it was him… they all have money and power. And from Syn’s threats last night, even if I thought there was something I could do about this, I’m not dragging Penny into it.
“I told you last night that I’m done. Regardless of whether that video was posted without my consent, what I did in the video—it’s clear I’m enjoying it. Weird as it sounds, at least I had blue hair, so maybe, I might be able to find a job and have no one recognize me.” I run my hand through the offending hair in question. “It’s embarrassing, and there’s a part of me that wants to go back home and never leave my apartment again, but I’m not giving him that satisfaction.”
“People make sex seem so dirty, especially if the woman is daring to enjoy herself,” Penny says, then frowns. “But you weren’t alone in that video.”
“Can I see it?” I hold my hand out.
Penny shifts her weight to use her body as a physical blocker between me and her pillow. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“I’m in it, Pen. I know exactly what happens.”
“So why do you want to see it?”
“Why did you let me watch it before but not now?”
Turning, Penny reaches for her phone, but she hesitates before handing it over. “You didn’t know what to expect before. I figure the shock will have made it a little less traumatic, but watching it now? You’re going to remember it all.”
“I know you said you didn’t watch much of it, but even wearing masks and cloaks, Syn, Royal and Gemini are pretty distinctive, right? Surely, you’d be able to see it’s them, and I know I said their names a few times. It just felt like releasing it was mutually assured destruction, so why…?”
Penny clutches the phone to her chest, frowning again. “When I said I didn’t watch it, I saw maybe a few seconds before I realized what it was, but there was no sound in those few seconds. I mean, there is, but it’s not you.”
I haven’t lowered my hand since I asked for the phone, and I wave it slightly. “Penny?”
She purses her lips before raising her phone to unlock it. “Look, I’ve seen you in your full naked glory, and let me assure you, that you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, but any more of this is crossing into a whole new friendship zone. So if I was wrong, and that is you, I think we’d both appreciate it if you hit mute the second that happens, okay?”
Taking the phone from her, I nod. “Deal.”
After Penny purposely turns her head so she’s staring resolutely at the bathroom door, I hit play.
Almost at once, the sound of a woman moaning escapes the speaker. Penny, to her credit, had the volume low, but I know that’s not me. Aside from the fact I’m still just kneeling there, not saying anything, the woman, who sounds like she’s actually being fucked, starts crying “fuck baby, fill my pussy with your gorgeous cock.”
I hit pause. “That’s not me, I promise you.”
“Thank fuck.” Penny sighs as she visibly deflates. She doesn’t look back to me, though.
Down in the Crypt, I was aware of several cameras. I’d seen at least six angles when I watched the other initiates in the security room. The one I’m watching now isn’t the same one Gemini was watching. His, like this one, didn’t cut between the different cameras, but his had been more from my side. From that angle, it was a little easier to see everyone.
The one in this video was almost straight on. Occasionally, someone’s body blocks me, but it’s only through a process of elimination that I’m able to work out who it is in the shot. Even when you can see one or more dicks, you can’t tell who it belongs to.
I stop the video and then rotate the phone. The video isn’t playing through a group chat, but on one of the most recognizable porn sites. It’s already racked up a painful view count, and if I was holding out any hope for a vague semblance of anonymity before, it’s obliterated by the video’s title.
COLLEGE STUDENT VICTORIA REYNALDS FUCKED IN ALL 3 HOLES AT ONCE! WATCH THE SISTER OF MURDERER COLE REYNALDS BEG TO BE PUNISHED AND COVERED IN CUM.
The video is nearly forty minutes long, which means Syn uploaded the whole thing. He’s not held back on the tags, either.
I refrain from going to the comment section—of which there are already plenty. I saw enough comment sections after Cole was arrested to know I don’t want to read them. Besides, I’m sure the moment I leave this room, people here will say them to my face anyway.
Face burning, I lower the phone.
But I’m not embarrassed.
At the silence, Penny glances at me, doing a double take. “Tori…” she says, slowly. “Why do you look like I’m about to help you bury a body? Which I’m totally here for, although I do think the ground is going to be a bitch to dig up. But why do you look like you’re about to go stab Syn?”
“I’m not going to stab him.”
Tilting her head, Penny stares intently at my face. “I’m not saying we can’t go murder Syn, but we’re going to have to be creative about this, because right now, you’ve really got the motive.”
“I’m just going to level the playing field.”
Penny wrinkles her nose. “If that is a metaphor for burying a body, Imma stop you there. We’re going to need to go full Dexter on his ass and chop him up.”
Much as I absolutely adore Penny for what she’s saying—even if, if it came down to it, she’d be talking me out of doing anything—this one has to be all me.
Until now, I’ve put up with a lot of shit from Syn—and even Royal and Gemini. I’ve held my tongue and done as they’ve said like a good little initiate. But releasing the video was not only the last straw, it’s also the last thing they have that has any power over me.
I’m going to leave this college, quietly. Just like Syn wants.
Only, before I do, I’m going back to Denali House, getting onto his computer, and I’m taking a copy of every video I can find. Not just mine, but every single one of them.
Because not only do I intend on releasing the version where everyone can hear every sound that comes out of our mouths—including their names—but I’m also going to release the version where you can see their bodies. Even if they’re wearing cloaks and masks, with the right audio, it won’t leave much doubt in people’s minds.
It might even be enough to stop him from being elected as president in a few years.
And if not, hopefully, there’s a copy of Syn’s initiation video…
I have nothing left to lose now, so Synclair Keyingham is about to lose everything.