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I didn’t know what she meant by that, but I knew it was haunting her.
“And you made it past them. You got out of here, all on your own,” Shai pointed out, reminding Aria that she’d been stronger than those men who’d tried to steal her freedom.
Aria took in a breath. “Yeah. Except only two of them chased after me. Right before I escaped, I heard a bunch of guys running. I thought they were coming for me, but they went right past my door. I didn’t realize at the time that almost everyone had left. Thank goodness they left me with just those two.”
“I agree it ended up being lucky. But knowing you, you would have made your way out no matter what you came up against. Like you said, you didn’t know. Aria, you had no idea what you were up against and you still fought your way to freedom. You did that. No one can take it away from you,” Shai reiterated.
Aria stood still, taking in Shai’s words. Finally she blinked and nodded, seeming to accept that she really had done something incredible.
“I wonder why they left like that?” Nadia mused, tapping her toe on the concrete floor as she gazed around the nearly empty room.
“I don’t know. Super villain club meeting?” Shai joked. “They were supposed to bring the drinks?”
Even Aria cracked a smile. We would probably never know why the majority of them had left. It was a miracle that it had happened at all. Who knows if we would have ever found Aria, had she not escaped herself. I hated that. We should have found her.
“I forgot something,” Aria said as she looked around the space. “I heard female voices when I left. At least, I could’ve sworn they were female. That was why I decided to come this way instead of the other. I was worried they had someone else in here with me.”
She turned to us, her eyes wide and horrified. As if she couldn’t believe she’d forgotten she left people behind.
“Did the voices sound terrified? In fear for their lives?” I asked immediately. She could not spiral into guilt. She was already dealing with so much. I wasn’t a therapist, but my job was close enough in some ways that I knew some strategies. I needed to stop Aria before her newly regained confidence could crumble.
Aria’s nose scrunched as she thought. She looked so young, not even her barely twenty years. Just a girl trying to navigate a too adult situation—a situation that no one should have to live, much less one so innocent and full of life.
“No,” Aria said as her nose relaxed. “No,” she said again, more loudly, as if to reassure herself.
“So they likely work for the Beast Boys of their own free will,” I said, even as my stomach turned. To know men treated women in this despicable manner was hard enough, but for women to join them, to turn on their fellow females like this, was appalling.
Aria rubbed her arms as she tried to wrap her mind around that. Women had assisted in her nightmare as well.
I could imagine this was another level of betrayal she’d have to deal with at some point.
“Well, I couldn’t find anything,” Nadia said, lightening the mood in the way only she could.
Aria chuckled. “Total waste of time,” she said, but we all knew it was a lie. We’d all needed this, to see this place. Aria in particular had needed to roam the halls and know that she had conquered not only this tunnel but the Beast Boys—at least in this moment. I had a feeling our run-ins with the Beast Boys were just beginning.
NINE
aria
Susie had sent us home.I understood why. There had been no new developments on the case. Ella was at the hospital, questioning the guys we’d beat up. Did it make me a terrible person that I was glad they were still in the hospital?
Because in the end, they hadn’t hurt me. Not that they hadn’t tried. And they had drugged me . . . okay, I really shouldn’t feel badly.
But now that I was at home, I had all the time in the world. I stared up at my white ceiling, ignoring my walls still full of pictures from my high school days. I’d trained so hard during the years after high school that redecorating my room had been the last thing on my mind. So everything from my photos to that very embarrassing poster of One Direction stayed as if stuck in some time warp where I was still fifteen and had one dream: to be an Aurora’s Girl.
My family had gone to church and were now playing games in the living room. Everything wholesome and good. They’d asked me to join them, but I’d lied and said I was too tired. As I sat in my room, alone on my bed, I wondered if I could ever really be a part of family life again. These last twenty-four hours had changed what felt like the very fabric of my soul. I hated that I was giving the Beast Boys that power, but it had happened. I wasn’t the same, and I had a feeling I never would be again.
My mouth went dry as panic seized me. I focused on the ropes tying my arms tightly behind me. I wasn’t going to get out. How the hell was I going to get out? I didn’t know where I was. And then, far worse than the scratch of the ropes, I felt a warm wetness on my cheek. The sliminess of his tongue made me want to scream.
I jolted and sat straight up, realizing that at some point I’d fallen into my pillows and sleep had claimed me, along with that horrific nightmare.
I had to find them. Every last one. I didn’t think I’d sleep soundly until I made sure they could never get to me—or anyone else—again.
Having that plan made me feel marginally better, but my mouth felt disgusting. How long had I been asleep?
Judging by the reddish-orange, slanted sunlight that was coming through my window, I’d slept for a good amount of time. Maybe a couple of hours.
I looked at my bedside clock. Sure enough, it was five-thirty.
