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I take a deep swallow and lick my lips that have suddenly gone dry then ask her the only thing that comes to mind. “H-how?”
She rings her hands together and clears her throat. “T-they nailed him to a cross in the church. When I got there, he was already dead.” She gets up from the bed and her hands are shaking a bit. I watch her and it’s clear that she is scared, sad, and relieved all at the same time because he wasn’t a good person. He deserved it in my opinion. I mean, yes, a man lost his life, and they must have tortured the asshole, but Gia’s baby died. She lost the baby, and that piece of shit was smiling and was a fucking creep that night. She was scared when I got there. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Not wanting to force her to tell me something that would probably get her in trouble or worse, killed, I slap my hands on my thighs and get up, leaning on the bed as a wave of dizziness hits me.
Gia moves over to me quickly, but I steady myself. “Woah.”
I let out a laugh, holding myself steady. “I’m good. It’s probably from whatever that asshole gave me.”
“Are you sure?”
I wave her off and nod. “Yeah, Reid had a doctor check me out. It was some medication they give people for depression and anxiety. The asshole gave me more than I should have taken and it kinda made me go in and out of consciousness. I hardly remember some of the things he did.”
“Fucking asshole. I hope they find him even if you can’t tell anyone.”
“Yeah, I doubt that. I’m sure they couldn’t care less and Reid was just being…Reid.”
Gia pinches her brows. “What do you mean? He was just being Reid?”
“He blows hot and cold. You never know what mood he is in or what spills out of his mouth that turns you on or gives you the creeps or worse…insults you.” I roll my eyes dramatically. “Like I said, Reid.”
“I guess. I never know what is up with you two, but please be careful. What I saw, Jess,” she says, lowering her voice. She slides her fingers through her dark, straight hair. I notice her bottom lip quivering and fear grips my spine. Shit. Her eyes are glassy, and I know she’s scared. Whatever she saw was fucked up and I get it. Maybe the crap that is in my system is not allowing it all to sink in. This whole place is fucked up with mentally fucked-up people. The only thing I can figure out that is holding her together is the fact that it was an eye for eye. A way to show Gia that she is protected. Loved in their crazy-ass way and that the twins will not let anyone hurt her. Even the people sworn into their fucked-up society with their archaic rules. “I get it. I know why you don’t want to tell me. You must be scared.”I purse my lips and let out a slow breath. “Are you scared of them, Gia?”
“I’m not scared of them, just the people they have in their circle. I don’t think you have anything to worry about with Reid or Valen, but the rest of them...” She pauses and shakes her head slowly from side to side and then whispers, “Don’t trust them.”
I know she is trying to warn me or whatever, but if I was worried about telling anyone what the deal is with Michael before, I’m better off dealing with my own shit and my own crazy monster. We have that in common at least. A crazy asshole on the loose that is obsessed. Except, for one thing: I don’t have a pair of guys willing to do anything for me, except have sex with me because I allow it. Because I need to forget. But they don’t know that. I took that saying of a girl forgets a man by getting under another one to a whole new level. It’s like a ritual for me. A way to get through the aftermath. A Band-Aid for the wound.
“I won’t,” I say softly.
Here, they say the Prey chooses, but I choose to survive.
CHAPTER4
Jess
The students are filing into class. One after the other they walk in. Some glance at me and others have a knowing fucking grin on their face when they spot the less fortunate. The dorm bunnies I call us. Prey. I used to think that they were curious when I first started here at Kenyan, but I learned quickly.
After everyone is seated, the door swings open and the professor walks in and my chest tightens. My chest begins to rise and fall like I just ran a marathon because he doesn’t walk in alone. Professor Krupp is with the last person I would ever expect. I blink rapidly, hoping it is a trick of the light or that I’m having a fucked-up dream and I’m the joke.
Professor Krupp turns to face the class with a smile, reminding me of the old man with creepy teeth in the movie thePoltergeistthat wears the black hat. Professor Krupp breaks an even wider smile with his coffee-stained teeth when he speaks. “Good morning, everyone, I would like to introduce you to a new student that has decided to transfer from our online school to on-campus for the rest of the year to our economic class. You will most likely see him around. I would like you all to welcome, Mich.
Fuck! He’s here. Out of all the places and schools, why here, but I know the answer. Me.
Michael or Mich gives a slight nod, but when his eyes find mine, his lips curve into a knowing grin. I shrink in my seat under his sharp gaze. The tiny hairs on my forearms stand, due to a mixture of fear and awareness. I feel like a helpless animal trapped in a cage. A cage he created just for me, like a dog chained up against its will, only able to go out so far before it is yanked back inside.
“Thank you for the introduction, Professor Krupp,” he says, but his eyes never leave mine. “I look forward to finishing out my senior year on campus.”
Mich, huh. Why not be addressed as Michael, but then I remember some of his friends called him, Mich. His close friends, from his circle, and the assholes that were with him that night I went to the party my senior year of high school and he drugged me. I always called him Michael because that was what he wrote on his assignments in class and how the teacher addressed him when they called on him.
The professor continues to talk about current events on global currency, while Michael takes a seat behind me to the right, where he has a clear view of the class, including me, but I would have to angle my body to see him. Asshole.
My eyes scan the room and everyone is facing forward, while my head is screaming, not paying one ounce of attention to what the professor is dictating.
Deep down, I know there is something bigger at play here. In Kenyan, you are either Prey or part of the Order. I have the sinking feeling that I know the truth of which one Michael is a part of. And Prey is the last thing that comes to mind because that is what I am and have been since I set foot on campus. A pawn. A challenge.
CHAPTER5
Reid
