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“Yeah,” I say simply. I take one last drag of my cigarette before turning around and pressing it against the ashtray on the table behind me. I grab a bottle of vodka from there too.
Then I disappear into the crowd, finding my way back to the front door and leaving my stepsister’s house.
I don’t want to be at this party if Alex isn’t. I also don’t want Harper to go back to her house anytime soon. Not while I’ll be busy putting Alex in her place.
I grab my lighter and another cigarette and walk to the only expensive-looking car parked on the street. A chauffeur is sleeping in there. I knock on the window and smile at him. He lowers it, and I grab him by the tie, dragging him out of the car through the window.
“What the hell,” he screams.
I let him settle on his two feet and take a step back to not appear too threatening. I know the image I give. “Go for a walk,” I tell him. “I don’t want to hurt an honest working man, but I’m also going to fuck up your car.”
His eyes widen as he shakes his head in panic. “I can’t…I can’t…”
“I can fuck you up with it if you want,” I add casually.
He takes a step back, putting his hands in front of him.
“How does that walk sound now?”
He turns around and sprints away from me. I guess he really needed the exercise.
Sliding my hand through the open window, I open the car from the inside. I spill the vodka all over the front and back seats and leave the bottle in there. Taking a step back onto the street, I reach for my lighter and light my cigarette. I take a drag before I throw it inside the car. It takes a few seconds for the first spark to come, and I feel myself relax when a flame comes to life.
Zara and Tamar say I have a fire issue. That I’m dangerous. My friend Logan calls me a pyromaniac.
I find it soothing. Watching flames lick at something and turn it into dust makes me feel like the freest motherfucker alive.
I might not be able to leave this town behind, but there’s nothing in it that stays if I decide it must go. Like Harper’s car.
I watch with a sick smile as the flames grow more prominent, melting everything in the car, and a certain peace comes over me.
Time to find my little cupcake now.
12
ALEXANDRA
Manipulate – Mxze, Clarei
My knees and wrists are killing me. The moment Harper got me away from Xi, she had a go at me for talking. She’s the one who asked me to get us into that North Shore party, yet she punished me for opening my mouth. Apparently, it was against the rules, and I should have known not to talk.
I didn’t do much talking. No, I mainly did some kissing.
Just thinking of Xi’s lips against mine makes me tremble. That kiss was so controlling I could have drowned in it all night.
Harper made sure to punish me the same way she had everyone else, resulting in her putting tape all over my mouth for talking to someone. She said I could still come to the North Shore party.
I couldn’t. Especially not in the humiliating position I was in.
I didn’t want to go anyway. I don’t want to be on the North Shore and be plagued with memories of that night. Who knows how many people at that party are part of a gang. Who knows if the men who kidnapped me that night are there, roaming free.
Xi’s promise almost made me change my mind. He has a way of making me want to do things I shouldn’t. There’s that controlling part of him that pushes me to submit to every single one of his orders. The promise of being his for one night makes my insides twist with pleasure.
The sound of my bedroom door opening brings me back to reality. Harper must be back from the party. I’ve been on my hands and knees beside the paddle for hours. My skirt is flipped up as she had requested, and the tape is still on my mouth. I’m exhausted. My joints are killing me, and I’m incredibly thirsty. However, I won’t let the sisters of Xi Ep find another excuse to punish me. This is all part of the initiation process, and I will put up with it just like anyone else.
Her steps resonate behind me, heavy in the dark room. I don’t dare turn around when I feel her stop right by me. I expect her to taunt me about the punishment, but she doesn’t say anything.
A hand skims along my spine until it wraps at the back of my neck.
