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Athelia tenses, but she doesn’t try anything as we drag her through the yard. The property borders on a large forest, and we have a ways to go before we get to where we’re headed.
Once we’re in the woods, I pull out my phone and turn on the flashlight. Athelia has already stumbled and almost fallen twice, and it’s pissing Kellan off. I have no desire to deal with his grumpy ass, so if I have to light the way, so be it.
The farther into the forest we go, the more jumpy Athelia gets. Still, I don’t think she knows just how scared she should be. No one will find her out here.
“You gonna fuck her?” Kellan asks me.
Athelia makes a terrified noise.
“I can wait. I’d prefer to get back to the party.”
“Whatever.”
We walk in silence for a little longer until we find the tree we marked earlier. Kellan drops his backpack onto the ground, unzips it, and pulls out some rope. I shove Athelia against the tree, careful that she doesn’t hit her head too hard.
Maybe I am going too easy on her.
“Keep her just like that,” Kellan tells me.
It’s not that hard to keep her still. She’s small, and we’re slowly draining the will out of her. It doesn’t help that as Kellan starts wrapping the rope around both her and the tree, she begins sobbing uncontrollably.
Fuck.Crying can come with a lot of snot, which means her nose is gonna get all clogged up. We love watching her suffer, but I don’t want to kill her.
Once Kellan has looped around the tree a couple times, securing her to it and trapping her arms against her body, I reach behind her head. The relieved sound that leaves her throat tugs at my heartstrings—or what’s left of them, I suppose.
When this all started freshman year, I didn’t think it’d last this long or get so intense. But with every prank, every cruel word, every rumor, our obsession with Athelia grew. It’s especially true for Wes, but I can’t deny the way I feel about her. Same with Kellan.
Athelia Harper may have hurt us, but we still can’t get enough of her.
When I get the buckle undone, I let the ball gag fall from her mouth. She tries to breathe at the same time she tries to cough, dropping her head as tears fall from her cheeks.
“What the hell are you doing?” Kellan snaps.
“We were gonna take it off in a couple minutes anyway,” I say.
“Yeah, butnot yet.”
“Come on, man. She’s crying.”
Kellan stops, and I can just make out his hard look in the dark.
“I’m just trying to make sure we don’t kill her,” I insist.
“Oh, shut up,” Athelia seethes. “Stop acting like you care.”
Kellan mutters something under his breath before he continues tying her to the tree. I step back to let him work.
So much for keeping him from getting grumpy.
“Why are you doing this?” Athelia demands. “I didn’t do anything! You three have ruined my reputation on campus, you constantly harass me, and sometimes I think youdowant to kill me. Fucking why, Cal?”
“Do you really not know?” I ask, my voice softer than I mean for it to be.
“Shut up,” Kellan snaps. “Wes warned you about this. She’s getting under your skin. Don’t let her manipulate you.”
“I’m not,” Athelia whispers.
“What did I say?” he shouts.
