52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

L ayla closed her eyes and waited for that horrible sound of the lock turning.

She was going to lose her mind stuck in the bedroom alone. When Jackson had been close to her, at least she had put all her focus on him.

But now, all she had were her thoughts. Again.

She had been feeling fine before, but she could still feel those cracks starting to form. If anything else happened, she was going to break.

She waited for that sound, but it didn't come.

Instead, Jackson said, "What are you doing up here?" as he closed the door.

She opened her eyes and strained to listen. Who was it? Had someone come to hurt her again? She muted the volume on the television and stood, waiting to see if they would come into the room. When they didn't, she quietly made her way to the door.

She could hear their muffled voices behind the thick wooden door. Without daring to breathe, she placed her ear against the wood to make the voices clearer. They were still faint, but she thought she heard Jackson's cruel friend. Had he come to do what he had threatened to do when he had dressed her wound?

Her hand went up to her forehead. She'd removed the dressing when she'd had a shower but hadn't bothered to look at it. Her skin felt smooth to her touch, as if there was nothing there.

She took a step back from the door and felt her whole face. That had to be a mistake. She had been too shaken up to look at herself when it had happened; maybe it hadn't been as bad as she'd first thought. Or perhaps it was like the time Monica and her friends had attacked her, or when the cut on her lower back had just healed on its own.

A chill went down her spine.

Not the time to be wondering what was real. She would try to make sense of it all later.

She put her ear back against the door and closed her eyes so she could focus. Some of the fuzziness in her head cleared, and the voices became more precise. So clear they could have been right next to her.

"I need you to find Layla's mother."

That had her snapping her head back.

What? Why would Jackson want to find her mother? Not once had he asked about her, and she never talked about her to anyone. Why would he want to know anything about that vile woman? Was this something to do with genetic defects again? Were they still trying to find out if she would pass anything down to the child?

She put her head back to the door quickly.

"We need to get rid of her, Jax. You're not yourself, and it's fucking everything up."

This time she didn't dare take her ear off the door. Her whole body felt cold. That statement should have had her running scared. Her heart should have been pounding and her body shaking, but she was as calm as ever, still on that fluffy cloud she had woken up on.

Dylan was talking about killing her, and she wasn't reacting.

Drugs. They had to have drugged her again but how? She hadn't gone to have another shot because she was trying to wean it out of her system. Why was she feeling okay now when she had been a mess before? When had they got to her again?

"Not yet," Jackson said.

"So when? When will I get to kill her? Waiting for her to get pregnant isn't an option."

She stepped away from the door and walked back to the sofa.

So she had agreed to this deal thinking she was getting a better life for Brit, but she had actually condemned herself to death. Jackson, the man she had welcomed between her legs so many times, was okay with this.

He was okay with having her killed.

She put her hand over her still calm heart and waited for the two men to enter the room. It was the oddest sensation to know she was supposed to feel terrified but feel nothing.

Minutes passed, but no one came in.

And the dreaded sound of the turning key still hadn't come.

Her eyes widened a second before she got up and rushed to the door. There wasn't a sound out there. Slowly, she put her hand on the handle and lowered it. And the door swung open.

As she stepped out, she remembered what had happened the first time she'd tried to escape. She hadn't had a plan then, and she didn't have one now. But what if she never got a chance like this again?

She trod lightly down the hallway until she got to the stairs. There were never any people on Jackson's floor, but she had to be careful once she got to the lobby. There was only one place she could think of going now.

If her counsellor or her dad had been there, they would have told her she wouldn't find her imaginary, talking wolf. They would have told her to try to find her way out of this place instead.

But she ignored that logic as she snuck down the stairs. She was desperate. She didn't want to die, and there were too many crazy things running through her mind.

When she made it down to the lobby, there was no one around again. A breath of relief escaped her lips as she looked towards the door. This was the easy part. She would have to make it unseen out to the woods.

She was almost at the door when it opened, and two men walked in, talking about someone being taken to the hospital. They stopped when they saw her. Huge men, like all of them, in shorts like the security guards she had seen going training. Her escape attempt had been thwarted before she had even tried. Jackson would kill her for this.

But once again, her heart remained calm.

She waited for the men to raise the alert and grab her, but they stood aside and nodded at her. Like normal people.

They were letting her through.

She swallowed and nodded back before she quickly went through the open door. And then she had to stop once she was on the front steps.

The place was swarming with them. Maybe not swarming. There were fewer people than she had seen from her bedroom window the other day. Men and women, boys and girls, dressed in workout gear. They talked quietly among themselves as they walked around the house to the side she had yet to be taken to.

Then once again, like a scene out of a horror movie, they turned their heads to look at her as if they had all known she was there. The man nearest to her sniffed the air. Did she smell? She hadn't showered after her run with Jackson, but she couldn't be that bad.

Unlike the first time in the lobby the night of the dinner when they had looked at her like that, they all turned away and continued walking. Like they didn't give a shit about her at all.

How had they done such a one-eighty after attacking her for daring to be among them and sleeping with their leader?

But this was what she wanted, so she didn't question it. She walked down the front steps and slowly walked past them. They were quiet now as they walked and didn't try to grab her.

When she rounded the house to the side where Jackson had taken her, she started to run. It had been too easy. Had Jackson finally kept his word and made sure it was safe for her? It didn't matter. How could it, when he meant to kill her in the end? Maybe that was why they all didn't care about her anymore. Jackson had already told them she would die.

The moment she reached the woods, she increased her speed. She had no idea where the trail ended and which part of the dangerous forest she would come out in, but she kept running. The red wolf had told her to go there when she needed her, but she had also said she would be safe with Jackson. She couldn't trust her stupid imaginary wolf on that part, but maybe she would help her get out of this place.

She recognised the place they had stopped running earlier and stopped.

"Hello?" she called out quietly.

She didn't want to risk being overheard.

"Hello? I need help," she continued as she walked further down the trail.

How did one summon an imaginary wolf? There wasn't a guidebook for that sort of stuff.

She walked for at least another ten minutes, and the woods were noticeably darker. Was she already in the dangerous forest?

She was about to call out again when she heard a snap sound. Something was hiding in the trees in front of her.

"Hello?" she called again, peering through the trees.

Blue eyes.

Blue, glowing eyes.

She sucked in a breath and stepped back as something huge slowly stepped forward. And when it came out onto the trail, her mind could not process what she saw.

It was a wolf, but it wasn't. Almost as big as her imaginary red wolf, fur all matted, eyes glowing—fucking glowing—an impossibly blue colour. And it had its teeth bared, and head lowered as it snarled at her, ready to attack.