19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

S omething wasn't right.

The place was too quiet. Layla didn't know if this was a boarding house of sorts or a hotel, but she had seen more people around when she had been downstairs the first time. Now all she could hear was the sound of her beating heart.

She walked down the last flight of stairs and eyed the front door. She knew she wouldn't get far because of the distance to the front gate and hadn't figured out what sort of security was around.

"This way."

The girl walked towards a different hallway to the one she had gone down that morning. Okay, this definitely had horror movie vibes. It wasn't happening. She stopped in her tracks and turned to walk back to the staircase. She might have been stupid with Jackson, but she wasn't falling for this trick, no matter how much she wanted to get out of this place.

She took only a few steps when someone grabbed her hair from behind.

"What the hell?" she shouted as she fell backwards.

Pain stung her scalp as they dragged her backwards. She had to grab onto the hand that had twisted in her hair to stop the person from ripping her hair out. It couldn't be that little girl who'd lured her from her room. Whoever it was was insanely strong. They used only one hand to pull her body weight and moved quickly.

"What the fuck are you doing?" she screamed.

She used the back of her heels to dig into the floor to slow the person down, but it made no difference. Even thrashing around and clawing at the hand dragging her made no difference. She heard the clang of metal and knew she had lost the knife in her waistband.

"Let me go!" she screamed.

"Shut up, you bitch!" a voice hissed.

It was the girl! She had assumed one of the overly muscular men had ambushed her, not a girl who looked like she would fall over if a strong wind blew.

She opened her mouth to shout again, but something heavy hit her across the side of her face. The next thing she knew, she was opening her eyes in a dark, dank room. She blinked repeatedly to focus and realised she was in a basement. The girl who'd gotten her out of her room stood with two girls in a corner.

What the hell was this? Was the girl on some sort of drugs? She'd had to fight her way out of many things in her life, and a little girl like this shouldn't have been a challenge at all. She stayed as still as possible to avoid drawing attention to herself while trying to figure out what was happening. She needed her head to stop spinning so she could defend herself.

The girls weren't talking, just looking at each other awkwardly. It was too dark for her to see much of their expressions, but she saw a slither of light behind them. It was the doorway and appeared to be her only way out.

Jackson had warned her he was locking her in for her protection. She understood now. The people here were clearly insane and doped up.

Without making a sound, she pushed herself up and felt for the second knife in her pocket.

She thought she hadn't made a sound. The three girls turned to look at her at the same time as if she had just yelled their names. The petite girl who'd dragged her sneered as she walked towards her.

"Look who's awake," she chuckled.

"What do you want?"

She tried to sound calm, but there was something off with all the girls. It wasn't just the girl's strength; it was how the light hit their eyes, even though there was hardly any light in the room. What sort of drugs did that to someone?

"You've been here one night and already fallen into the Alpha's bed. Have you no shame?" the taller girl said as she came forward.

Alpha? Did they call Jackson Alpha? So she had been right. This place was some sort of cult, and it appeared Jackson was their leader. No wonder he felt so entitled. She hoped these girls were not sexually involved with him, too. They were still children.

She pushed herself back while putting herself in a better position to bolt as soon as she saw the chance.

"You shouldn't even be here, never mind being in the Alpha's bed," the third girl hissed.

She looked more upset than the others.

"I'll be eighteen soon, and Alpha will realise I'm meant for him. I won't have him soiled by something as vile as you," she continued.

Oh, the poor girls. This was getting worse by the second.

"Listen, I don't know what you think happened, but you kids need to worry about growing up first before you try to mess with a man like Jackso—"

"Don't speak his name!" the small girl who had dragged her snapped before she landed another hard blow across her face.

Holy shit. She saw stars, and tears stung her eyes as she was knocked several feet to the side.

What did they feed these kids? She'd never taken a punch that hard before.

Instead of staying down, she rolled, jumped to her feet and ran towards the door. But the girls were fast. One dragged her by her hair again, and the others laughed as she was thrown away from the door.

"We don't allow your kind here. That's a rule we've always lived by," the small girl said. "In a matter of weeks, we'll have a Queen, but all they will be talking about will be the filthy whore who ruined our Alpha's name."

Even though she was the one thrown around, she felt sorry for the girls. They looked like they genuinely believed what they said, that they were somehow superior. She'd read about cults like that even though she hadn't followed many news stories. Jackson should have been behind bars, not running around staying in expensive hotels. No wonder he stayed in the middle of the forest. This was more depraved than what she had imagined. She bet these girls had never set foot outside their gates.

The moment of pity passed when the little girl kicked her with such force she felt the pain in her ribs.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she screamed. "Keep your Alpha. I don't want him!"

She staggered back to her feet because she realised how dangerous it was to remain vulnerable. This situation was more volatile than she had imagined. No one knew she was here, and judging by how quiet it had been, there wasn't anyone around to hear her.

"You don't want him? The whole house heard you scream his name!"

"You've made our Alpha look weak, and it will be up to me to redeem his name," the angrier girl hissed.

Maybe Jackson had promised she would be his girlfriend or Queen once she was of age. This wasn't the time to judge the morality of that situation; she had to concentrate on getting out of this alive. That felt like where the whole thing was heading. There was so much malice in the young girls that something told her this wouldn't be just a beat down. They were unstable and wanted to seriously hurt her.

"Once you're gone, Alpha will be free to concentrate on the things that matter. Like keeping us safe and being with his mate."

And that statement confirmed it.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the pocket knife Jackson had used to free her from the truck. Instead of showing any fear that she had evened the playing field, the girls laughed and advanced on her at the same time.

She'd had a lesson like this in her self-defence class about what to do when a group ganged up on her. She punched at one, elbowed another and then kicked the third, but the girls barely staggered back. She swung again, making sure to hit the solar plexus and then a swift punch in the throat of the girl who had dragged her there. The girl doubled over, but it didn't give her much of an opening before her friend wrapped her arm around her neck. Her powerful arm.

Panic set in when she realised they could easily put her to sleep and get rid of her while she was defenceless. She gripped the knife and stabbed it downwards as hard as possible. Warm blood seeped between her fingers as she twisted the knife. She didn't know if she hit the girl's thigh or groin, but the girl screamed and let her go, giving her an opening to run to the door again.

"You're dead!" the girl screamed.

She recovered quicker than expected. Only seconds, and all three of them were already on her tail. The door was just within her grip when they reached her again, and this time, when she went down, she banged her head on the concrete floor. Her vision swam before she saw two of each girl.

"You're weak and pathetic. You're not worthy of being here or sharing Jackson's bed," the more vicious girl hissed as she pulled her up by her hair.

Something odd started happening to the girl's face. Her eyes... They looked like they were glowing, but it may have been the millions of stars she saw in her vision as the pain in her skull increased.

One day. She had lasted just a day and was about to die in this cult.

She closed her eyes and waited for the final blow, but the door slammed open a second later. She opened her eyes just as the girl dropped her to the ground and hurried away.

Dylan stood in the doorway. Jackson's boyfriend, or whatever the hell he was. The person who had bruised her and threatened her that morning.

She hadn't been saved; she'd been condemned to a worse fate.