Chapter 6

Chapter Six

SERAFINA

I wake the next morning, so groggy it takes me a few seconds to remember where I am. I’ve slept on top of the covers in my regular clothes. As I look around the room I tell myself this cannot be my home. Only it is my home.

I don’t know why but I have this sense that someone has been in my room. There’s zero evidence of it. But I just feel…

I hear a gentle knock at my door.

“You awake?”

It’s Lia’s voice.

“Yeah,” I call out.

I walk to the door and unlock it. When I open the door, Lia has coffee for me. I can practically kiss her.

“You look ragged,” she says. “How much did you take?”

“Like a droplet,” I say.

“You’re a lightweight.”

“What is that stuff?”

“ GHB ,” Lia says casually.

For some reason I know those letters. I think about the way it made me feel. So tired. So loopy. The way I just crashed on the bed, over the covers, not moving for anything. Or anyone.

“Is that…”

“Yeah,” Lia says. “It’s okay.”

“That’s the stuff people warn us about. Guys slip that into drinks.”

“You drank it on your own,” Lia says.

“Please, call me when you wake up naked and don’t remember how you got that way!” Naya’s voice calls out from the kitchen.

I smell eggs. And bacon. Lia motions with her head and I walk to the kitchen where breakfast has already been prepared. Naya didn’t cook. Neither did Lia. I’m getting the sense that the kitchen is just for show.

“Eat up, new arrival ,” Naya says.

She flicks her wrist and a blob of tinfoil flies toward me. It’s a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a bagel. That and the coffee bring me back to life. Back to the reality that just hours ago I was kidnapped from my bed and brought to Sinners Academy .

“So what did you do?” Naya asks. “No dancing around it. Just tell us. It’s no big deal.”

“Truthfully? My horrid stepmother has probably wanted to send me away since my father died. She found her opening. I got drunk and lit some stuff on fire.”

Lia and Naya look at each other. I can tell my story isn’t the most thrilling. I open my mouth wanting to know what they’re here for but there’s a knock at the apartment door. We all look at each other.

“Not for me,” Naya says.

“Same,” Lia says.

I rise up from the couch and walk to the door. By the time I open it, whoever had been there is gone, but there is a box waiting. With my name on it. I see Olivia’s name in the upper left corner. The box is a little heavy.

I drag it into the apartment and open it to find some stuff from my now old bedroom. Pictures that I took. A few old notebooks of thoughts and poems when I would write stuff down. Not exactly diaries, but close enough. Some of my favorite clothes too.

“That’s your only package,” Lia says. “Nothing else is allowed.”

“Then I guess I’ll cherish this forever,” I say. “I don’t get any of this right now. Are we being punished? Are we prisoners or something? What is this?”

Naya finishes her coffee. “Want to know how I ended up here?”

I nod.

“I lit someone on fire. The guy took my virginity. Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly ready to give that up. I wasn’t a willing participant.”

“Fuck,” I say. “That sounds…”

Lia touches her finger to her lips in a way that only I can see. I shut my mouth. I wait for Naya to walk away before closing in on Lia. “She didn’t really light someone on fire, did she?”

I make sure to whisper.

“She totally did,” Lia whispers back. “He survived. Covered in burn scars.”

Chills move through my body. This place is fucking insane. And terrifying.

Even if the coffee and breakfast was delicious.

Lia opts to give me a tour of parts of the grounds. The grounds . That’s what she calls it. Naya has no problem in proclaiming she’s showering and then going to get tied up—literally—and fucked while blindfolded. Her ace demanded it and she’s complying.

“This term… ace …” I say.

Lia nods. She’s in a hoodie and shorts and I’m in a long-sleeve shirt and jeans. She stuffs her hands into the hoodie pocket.

“Look, Serafina, it’s just—”

“You can call me Sera,” I say.

Lia looks at me. “ Sera . This is our destiny. Our fate. We’re here for a purpose. We don’t belong anywhere else. We’re the chosen ones. That’s how you have to play it out in your head. We’re chosen to be here. Maybe we did some bad stuff, but oh well. The guys around here are powerful. They’re the sons of men who control the world. It’s hard to grasp when you think about it. And all these guys here need one thing.”

“Sex,” I blurt out.

“Well, yeah, there’s that. These guys need appearance. That’s our job. We’re the appearance.”

“You mean like fake or something?”

“The money isn’t fake. The power isn’t fake. You, me, Naya… we’re all going to live in mansions. We’re going to drive six-figure cars and SUVs. We’re going to travel the world and see places that every regular person can only dream about. Think about it this way, Sera.” Lia grins. “If you want to get your clit sucked on at the top of the Eiffel Tower, you can. And will.”

My face turns red. I’m not sure why that particular comment makes me blush.

“My best advice is to learn to accept,” Lia says. “And remember who you are. You were sent here because you’re a badass. There’s power in that for yourself, Sera. You might think Naya and I are crazy for that, but let me ask you something. Something really personal.”

Lia inches closer to me. Really close to me. So close that I feel her right cheek brush up against my left cheek. I feel jumpy but I don’t know why. I’m not attracted to Lia. It’s nothing like that. I just…

“Don’t you have fantasies?” Lia whispers. “Don’t you have wants and needs? Don’t you ever think about exploring? This is where it happens. This is where you get to experience something .”

Lia backs away and her eyes move for a moment away from mine. Then she grabs me and spins me around. We’re a few steps from a paved path that’s lined with old-fashioned crooked looking light posts. There are park benches randomly scattered along the path, but that’s not the true focal point here.

What do I see right now? Four shirtless guys out for a run. If the size of these men weren’t enough, they’re also wearing masks. Basically the same masks the guys wore who kidnapped me.

They’re running at the same pace, same movements, almost in some kind of macabre military style. All I see are large hands, throbbing forearms, vein-filled biceps, broad shoulders, and well-defined chests.

The guy closest to me…? He has his left nipple pierced. My eyes go right to that.

Okay, Lia, you want to talk about fantasy? Fine. I have a thing for guy’s with piercings like that. I used to watch a particular adult video and the guy had his nipple pierced and it was just… hot. Sometimes I fantasize about my…

My thoughts vaporize as the guys begin to pass me by. They’re in black pants with black boots. The one with the nipple piercing suddenly stops and turns to face me. The other guys stop and turn, at the same time, same motion. I stare at the nipple pierced masked man.

He towers over me. I have to tilt my head to make eye contact with his mask. Without speaking to me, he lifts his right hand and touches under my chin. Two fingers. Two rough fingers. A warm touch that sends an itchy chill along my spine.

“New arrival,” he says in a deep voice that instantly has my toes curling. “Serafina. You. Are. Mine. Now get on your fucking knees and thank me.”

My chin quivers. Chills move from my spine throughout my body. My nostrils flare.

“I don’t even know who you are,” I manage to say.

“Do not fucking talk back to me, new arrival ,” he growls. “Do not make me punish you in front of everyone. I said to get on your fucking knees right now.”

His fingers press harder under my chin. He inches closer to me. I can smell his skin. An addictive, intoxicating scent of sweat and a musk that only a man can produce. It’s powerful. He’s powerful.

His hand moves from my chin to my neck. I catch myself tilting my head back even more, as though I’m offering my neck to him. His thumb presses at the center of my throat. I feel pressure inside my throat. A brief sense of panic as though I’m not going to be able to breathe.

“I can’t wait to tighten my grip on your fucking throat soon enough. And you’re going to beg me to do it. But first, you’re going to get down on your fucking knees in front of me and my brood . If you don’t, I will fucking hurt you.”

My heart races like it never has before in my life. It’s racing and thudding at the same time. I want to look to my right at Lia for some kind of guidance but I don’t need any. I know what I have to do. I know my place. There’s no escaping Sinners Academy .

My eyes move to the masked man’s nipple piercing. It turns me on. My inner thighs are warm. Trembling. His hand is still touching my throat. My neck. I… I like this…

Oh fuck .

My knees start to bend and don’t stop until I’m on the ground. On my knees before the masked man. I look up at his cascading muscles. His nipple piercing.

He stares down at me. His mask… The guys behind him…

“You are mine, Serafina,” he says.

I start to breathe heavy. The masked man suddenly starts to grow taller. Wider. He’s… floating…

No.

It’s me.

I’m the one floating…

Oh. Fuck.

I’m passing out.