Chapter 14

Ithink I’ve been lying here for days. Or maybe it’s only been an hour. I’m in shock… I think? The floor smells like dirt, and it tickles my nose, but I don’t want to move yet. The carpet is painful against my skin, and I know it won’t be long before my arm goes numb under me.

If I close my eyes, can I pretend this was just a nightmare?

A dark laugh, his dark laugh, fills my thoughts. I gasp, and my eyes fly back open.

I’m a confusing combination of terrified and numb. Do I fight for my life, or do I give up and let him hurt me again?

Do I have any chance of figuring out who the fuck he really is? Do I even want to know?

He said he caught me with Victor. Does that mean he goes to my school too? Is he a student? Another teacher? He was taller than Victor, but Victor wasn’t exactly a large man. At least not height wise.

What do I know about the man in the mask? He’s tall. Maybe six four or taller. He had white skin, maybe slightly tanned from what I could see between his black high necked top and the bottom of the mask. No visible tattoos, but he was more or less covered from head to toe, so how would I know. He muffled his voice well. Maybe he had a voice changer under the mask? Or maybe I was just too scared to try and tell if I recognized it.

I don’t want to get off this floor, or go back to the party, or go home. I don’t want to face Lizzy or my mother. How am I going to go back to school after this?

The school where the masked man might find me again. The school he’s already seen me in. He could be anyone there.

I squeeze my eyes shut and visions of the masked man flash through my mind, but I let them.

I let the fear fill me and embrace it. I know this feeling isn’t just going to go away. So I might as well deal with it…in a minute.

I force myself to take several deep breaths and then I sit up and look around the room I was just assaulted in.

I once read something that said people with childhood trauma often spend most of their lives in fight or flight mode. Maybe that’s why I’m handling this so well, because I’ve already been through something horrible.

I wonder if I’ll forget this moment twenty years from now, or will it haunt me forever?

I shake my head. No. He can’t have any more of me than he’s already taken. He can’t have my future. He can take what he wants from me for now, but one day I’ll be free from this. I’ll be free from this memory.

I hear a knock on the door, and look up with wide eyes as it’s pushed open.

“Bethany— Oh, hi, Cora,” Jessy says as he steps into the room and sees me on the floor. I immediately adjust how I’m sitting so he can’t see up my skirt. I’m painfully aware of the damp between my thighs – my own confusing arousal – and the fact that I’m bare.

I don’t say anything, just stare at Jessy, wondering if he can tell what I just went through. Can he tell I was just forced to suck a stranger’s dick? A stranger with a gun…

“What are you doing on the floor?” His words are slightly slurred, and when he takes a step toward me, he seems wobbly. He’s drunk.

When he slams the door, I flinch.

“Oh, oops. I didn’t mean to do that…” He chuckles, before moving to sit beside me on the floor. He practically falls on top of me, and I cringe and push him away.

He flops down beside me.

“Want a drink?” he asks, holding up a bottle.

I stare at it and then at him. Seems like he’s been drinking out of it himself. It’s a half-filled beer, and I nod. I could use a drink to calm down.

“Sure, thanks.” I reach out, grab the offered bottle, and bring it to my lips. I take a breath, so I can chug it when I catch a weird scent. Why does it smell funky?

I’ll admit I’ve not drunk much beer, but it doesn’t smell appealing at all.

“Oh, can you smell the lime? I added some to make it taste better.” Jessy smiles, and I shrug. I press the bottle to my lips, and the bedroom door flies open, slamming into the opposite wall.

I scream, already shaken up, and the loud bang sends sharp spikes of adrenaline coursing through me. My heart pounds and my limbs tingle.

Slater stalks in, his whole body seeming to vibrate with rage.

He’s fucking fuming.

“Give me the bottle, Cora,” Slater demands, eyes fixed on Jessy. “I knew you were a stupid piece of shit, but trying to drug someone? Very unwise.”

Slater takes a step forward as I hold the beer bottle out to him. Behind Slater, Andrew steps into the room, arms crossed over his chest and a dark look in his eyes. Lizzy rushes in next and comes right to me.

“Oh, hell, are you okay?” Her words come out in a panicked rush. “Andrew told Slater that he saw Jessy acting suspiciously. They thought he came up here to drug Beth from English lit – he’s always had a thing for her – but —”

“I guess he settled for you,” Andrew finishes.

“Come here…” Lizzy helps me to my feet, and I let her touch me, even though I still feel raw. I don’t want to be touched.

“Drink it,” Slater snaps, handing the bottle to Jessy. Jessy shakes his head, taking a step back. I didn’t see him stand, but he looks a lot less drunk than he did when he came in here.

“No, that’s okay, I’ve already had a lot to drink.” Jessy puts his hands up, but Andrew shakes his head.

“I haven’t seen you drink anything all night.”

“You’ve been a bit distracted, don’t you think? Just because you didn’t see it?—”

“Drink. It.” Slater moves quickly, grabbing Jessy by the neck and pressing the bottle to his lips, forcing it into his mouth. “Or I’ll shove the whole fucking bottle down your throat!”

His loud voice startles me, but it works, and Jessy starts chugging what’s left of the drink. He coughs some of it up because Slater’s holding the bottle to his mouth, not letting him pull his head away to breathe.

“The next time you think about drugging someone, remember this moment and what’s about to happen to you.”

I watch with wide eyes as Slater pulls the bottle back and slams it against Jessy’s head, knocking him out cold. He tosses Jessy’s body to the ground, stepping back and turning to me.

“Are you okay? Did you drink any of that?” he asks with so much concern in his voice it catches me off guard.

“No, I didn’t drink any of it. You burst through the door just before I could,” I admit, but my body is still shaking.

Slater seems to notice and pulls me away from Lizzy, who protests until he gives her a dark look.

“Come on, I’ll take you home.” He pauses in the doorway to look back at Lizzy and Andrew, then points to Jessy’s body crumpled on the floor. “Find someone to take him to the hospital. Or don’t. But if anyone rats, I’ll fucking kill them.”