Page 139 of The Pact

“Where are you parked? I’ll give you a ride,” He insists.

I shake my head. “I’m parked at the studio. It’s the opposite way. I’ll walk.” The look he gives me says that won’t fly. “Seriously, it’s not a big deal. It’s still early, and I didn’t drink. The bad guys don’t come out for a few more hours.”

He’s about to protest when Cassie leans out of the car and throws up, just missing Anthony’s shoes. “Listen, straight to your truck. Text me when you get home.”

I promise to follow those rules and watch them drive off. All I want is to crawl in bed and sleep the last of this headache away.

The air is hot and sticky, still thick from summer. I’m eager for chilly nights.

My footsteps are the only sound in the quiet of the night. The bar noises faded a while back and most of the businesses along Main Street are closed for the evening. Not too much farther. I’m passing the bakery and I see my truck parked at the studio in the distance.

Then, the sounds of my steps begin to echo. I falter. Turning to look behind me, I see two figures walking side by side. They’re a few hundred feet back and hidden in the shadows of the night. My gut aches with knowing. Still, I don’t want to believe it. I refuse to accept that it’s Rob and Matt behind me. If I do, then I also have to accept that nothing good is going to come from them catching up to me.

I need to cross the street to get to the studio on the other side. My intuition could be wrong. I’ll know once I deviate from the sidewalk. There’s no reason for them to trail me.

I inconspicuously peek over my shoulder as I step off the curb, but the distraction has my ankle rolling. A sharp pain shoots through my foot and up my leg. Fuck.

My injury draws my attention away from them, although not before I see them adjust their path to follow me.

That’s when I know that my gut is right. My hand dives into my satchel, finding my phone easily. I need to call the guys. I limp on, trying to make the call and speed up at the same time. It’s useless. Rob and Matt’s footsteps quicken as they jog towards me.

The closer they get, the harder my heart pounds until my pulse consumes my ears. The names on my phone blur as my eyes prick with tears, knowing there isn’t a scenario where this ends well for me. I can still feel the remnants of Rob’s tight grip on me. He was entirely too comfortable grabbing me like that with a bunch of people around. What would he do alone?

I slip my phone back into the satchel. Calling will take too much time. I’m so close to the studio, my safety. Pushing past the pain in my foot, I speed up a little more. Just as I do, I’m yanked back by my arms. Rob and Matt are on either side of me, each looping an arm through mine—acting as if they are being helpful. To anyone watching from a distance, that’s exactly what it’d look like.

“Get the hell away from me,” I yell out, trying to pull out of their grip. It only makes them hold me tighter. “I told you I’m not interested.” Being nice didn’t work earlier and I have no patience for it now with my ankle throbbing with each step.

Fear races through me and again I try to yank my arms free. The men veer sharply, steering me away from the studio and back across the street from where we came.

“Listen, the more you fight this, the more it will hurt.” Rob stares down at me, giving me a winning smile as he drags me towards an alley between two buildings.

I can hardly breathe, knowing exactly what’s about to happen. There are very few reasons a man would forcefully pull a woman into a place like that—best case, he’s going to rape me…worst case, I won’t make it out alive.

The realization has my body shaking and my vision goes blurry.

Searching my brain for any scrap of knowledge of how to escape an attacker, I come up empty. I can’t think around the panic. There’s something I should say. There’s a special move to catch them off-guard. I know that there’s something deep in my memory that I should be able to use. Nothing materializes.

I do the only thing I can think of—I try snatching my arms away again, but Rob’s fingers dig into me. “Why are you doing this?” I grate.

Maybe I can distract him.

They pull me into the alley, down far enough that the shadows swallow us where no one can see that I need help.

Matt lets out a laugh. “You were right. She doesn’t remember.” My brows pinch together. No.

“She’ll remember me after tonight,” Rob threatens and pushes me up against the wall of the building. The man I’d been nervous about running into tonight, the one whose face I couldn’t remember. Is it him? No, it can’t be.

I should scream. I need to get someone’s attention. Opening my mouth, I let out a high-pitched shriek that’s muffled almost instantly as Rob slams his palm against me. I continue trying to scream against it.

Tears stream down my face. This can’t be happening. I try to talk against his sweaty palm. When Rob realizes that I’m not screaming anymore, he slowly lifts his hand from my mouth.

My apologies come in sobs. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have,” Rob interrupts. “You think it’s okay to get me to buy you drinks, flirt with me all night, only to ditch me? You think you can play those kinds of games and get away with it?” I can see the anger still fresh in his eyes. He wants to hurt me. “You got me all worked up then and now you’re going to make good on it.”

This is the reason I only went to the bar in Willow Creek once. I was afraid of running into someone after I pulled my stupid little stunt. What were the chances? How did he even recognize me after all this time? I was sure he’d been drunk when I approached him. I always picked the ones who’d had plenty to drink. It was easy to tell who they were—slurring and sloppy. It helped give me the upper hand in case they got too handsy and it made me more hazy in their memory.

He seems to see the questioning in my eyes and answers. “As soon as I saw those big blue eyes, I knew it was you. Did you think I was that drunk? I mean, I was pretty wasted, but not enough to forget those eyes.” His finger trails down my cheek. I want to be sick.

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