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‘What do you mean take her early?’ he questions, raising his brows.
I grin, forcing the shovel into the dirt again and heave another shovel full to the side.
“Journey West is ours. She is meant to be by our side. No matter what. We could wait until she graduates to please my father. But she doesn’t have the time. Men are sneaking into her fucking room at night because her mother can’t make a buck doing a real job. She’s putting Journey in danger, and I won’t fucking stand for it anymore. So, yes. We’re taking Journey early,” I grunt again, the night's frustrations festering inside me.
‘How?’ Shepp signs.
Well, that’s the question, isn’t it. “I’ve got ideas, but none that are concrete. I’ll figure it out,” I say confidently, heaving more dirt out. “Now, let’s throw this body into the hole, set it on fire, spit on his fucking face, and then brainstorm.”
Shepp rolls his eyes, kicking the body into the hole. ‘Don’t we have men to do this for us?’ he signs.
I snort, a feeling of elation roaring through my veins. For so long, I’ve itched to have Journey in my arms and in my bed. Now, I almost have her.
“Yes. But why bother them when we can have a bonding moment?” I quip.
Music continually blasts in my ears the moment my brain comes back to the land of the living, clearing out the thick fog of my nightly sleep meds. I groan, wanting to head back into my dreamless sleep without interruption. Like that will happen.
Now that my brain is back online, there’s no hiding under my covers until I can fall back to sleep. I’ve been in bed for over fourteen hours. It’s time to move and go buy a new lamp. Thankfully, there’s no school today. If I stayed in bed, then my brain would torture me over and over with past events I can’t outrun. And taking more pills to block out my shitty life is not an option.
Warmth spreads through me as I stare up at the blank white ceiling, taking several deep breaths, enjoying the last moments under my warm blankets. Do I really have to leave? Can’t these blankets adopt me and keep me safe forever? Fuck.
Without another thought, I take my headphones off and sigh at the ringing in my ears—the leftover evidence Whispered Words sang to me all night long on repeat. Man, I just can’t get enough of their music. One day I’ll see them live—when I’m free from this hellhole.
As the ringing subsides, the silence sets in. And when the silence sets in, my thoughts begin to wander, taking me to dangerous places. Somedays, I wish waking up wasn't so hard and that I could go back to my good dreams whenever they grace me. There, I'm a princess with a long dress and a charming prince who caters to my every need. I’m valued for more than what I can do for someone else.
One day, I'll be out from beneath my monster's shadow. Then, I'll disappear with my sister and never come back. We’ll live on a mountain, in a small cabin where no one can reach us. Well, a girl can dream. Once she’s healthy. Until then, I have to work my ass off to prove myself and get Sunshine back to where she belongs. Out of the hospital with a new heart and back in my arms, safely away from anyone who can harm us.
My toes tingle when I kick off the blankets and slowly sit up on the edge of the bed. Blindly, I grab my phone from my worn nightstand and scroll through social media. It’s my morning routine. For the first ten minutes after my eyes open, everything feels sluggish and groggy.
Well, until my heart jolts at the pictures coming across the screen. It's me. Them. Together at the fucking party. No one can tell it’s me, though. There I am in my cat mask, surrounded by the three masked men, hovering around me like predators trying to capture their prey. It's there in their eyes. Every emotion they didn't want me to see. Their eyes shine with want and drip with lust. The way they look down at me and have their hands on my waist sends goosebumps down my arms. I swallow hard, inspecting the four of us huddled together in the middle of the dance floor, staring at one another like we're the only people in the room.
Fuck.
Tingles work up my legs and straight into my sore pussy that convulses from the memory of their hands on me and their dicks plowing into me. The amount of mercy they didn't show was the best thing I had felt in years. Bring on the pain. Bring on the feelings of not being a girl made of glass. Fucking shatter me. Fuck. I blow out a breath when my pussy slickens at the thought of them. Me. Us. Circling each other until we landed in bed, and they made all my wildest dreams come true. They're the epitome of freedom for me.
My breaths pick up when my fingers run over the bite marks lining my legs, stomach, and breasts. They’re still here. More than a day later, marking me as theirs. How long until they fade away? Rampant thoughts about the way their mouths moved over my body has me reaching for my pussy and making small circles around my eager clit. My hips buck up, chasing the feeling my fingers provide, which doesn't seem to be enough. I grunt, leaning over to my nightstand and pull it open, revealing...
"What the fuck?" I murmur, looking at the empty contents of my drawer. Well, not empty. But empty of what I was looking for—my goddamn vibrator.
I frown, moving the papers around, and finding absolutely nothing there. Did I sleepwalk somewhere? Shit. It's not out of the ordinary for me to cum while I'm sleeping, thanks to the pills I take. But to actually grab my vibe and have a good time while I'm not exactly conscious? Weird. I shake the feeling off and shut the drawer. When I go to stand, I pull my long shirt down over my ass and turn to make my bed. I freeze when three Polaroid pictures and two hard, white pieces of what suspiciously look like teeth, stare back at me from my unused pillow.
I cover my mouth when heat fills my cheeks and pick up the pictures with trembling fingers. One picture is a large tattooed hand with bright pink panties wrapped around it. Another is me, sleeping soundly with my headphones and the very shirt I have on. And the last is of a man I've only seen a few times, sniffing around my mom. He comes and goes. He's a regular with her. But to see him slumped in my fucking bedroom with his hand mangled and what looks suspiciously like blood dripping down his face creeps me out. Adrenaline pours through my veins when my eyes find the words written in marker on the front of the picture. “I’m always watching.”
My mouth dries out. "What the fuck?" I whisper as my eyes dart around the room and finally land on the window.
On shaky legs, I march to the window, make sure the lock is secured, and double-check again.
Someone came into my room. Someone took pictures in my fucking room. And whoever they were, saved me. But from what? The man in the picture?
My hand covers my mouth as my stomach sloshes. Who would come into my room like this? Who would do such a thing? Fuck. Fuck. I can't go to the police; they'd never fucking believe me. I can't do anything but lock my damn windows and maybe sleep with a knife. But what good is a knife when I sleep like the dead? That's the thing of it all—I can only sleep with my pills, and if I don't take them to watch for an intruder, then my nightmares will catch up to me like they always do.
I slump to the floor, holding my face in my hands. Deep breaths, Journey. You have to remember to breathe through situations like that. You can't let this fear overtake you. You have to stay vigilant. You have to fight this so no one else can enter this room except you.
"Journey!"
I jolt when my mother's slurred voice echoes through my room, knocking me out of my tormented thoughts. I have to take myself away from the darkness plaguing me and focus on something else. Like my mother.
"Yeah?" I call out as I stand on my shaky legs.
