Page 57 of Deadmen's Captive

“I don’t know, Bast comes across like he could run the damn mafia single handed, and that mountain of muscle…Nate?” Kate shivered dramatically. “I mean, he’s hot, with all those tattoos and that brooding silence, but there’s rumours about him that don’t involve a board room, Paige.”

“Like what?”

“Like, how’s he’s into fighting, you know, like MMA and stuff.”

“Well, he likes to keep fit,” I said, not really sure why I was suddenly defending a guy I barely knew.

“Yes, but the rumour is that he’s into illegal cage fighting and that last year he put a guy in hospital for months.”

I didn’t respond to that. Although Nate had been caring and gentle with me, I had watched him when he was working out, and the guy was incredibly strong. Not only that, but he definitely had this tough guy aura about him. Most guys in the school never went anywhere near him and he was treated with respect bordering on deference. All the guys were, but with Nate I had definitely noticed an element of fear.

“I don’t know what to do, Kate. I agreed to play this role for the rest of the year, I can't back out now. Plus, they’re paying me, it’s more of a job than anything else.” I didn't mention that I wouldn't be getting paid till the end of the year, if I agreed to this, and Bast hadn't actually said how much it would be. I felt dirty asking him. Hey, how much do I get paid to fuck you and your friends all year and perform lewd rituals in front of your society members? Maybe not.

Kate looked serious. “Just keep your head, ok. All those rich boys and their promises, and remember something else - the rules don’t apply to them. They get caught doing something they shouldn’t, Daddy pays the big shot lawyer to get the charges dropped. If someone hurts you Paige, they won’t get punished for it.”

A knock sounded on the door, and I slid off the bed, shoving my feet into my fluffy duck feet slippers. “No one is going to hurt me, Kate. Tristan wouldn’t let them.”

“Oh, Tristan again?” Kate grinned up at me. “I think you like him a lot.”

“He’s very nice,” I conceded, unlocking the door and opening it. There was no one out there, just a cardboard box with my name on top. My heart fluttered a little. Tristan had sent me a few little gifts over the last couple of weeks, like a good quality paintbrush set I could use instead of the ones belonging to the art room, and a new sketchbook when I complained mine was filling up. I picked up the box and headed back into the room, sitting back on my bed. Kate sat up.

“What has he sent you now? Honestly, it must be hard having a rich boyfriend. Maybe I should join this club.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said, smiling as I opened the top of the box. My smile faded as I took in what it held.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just… I don’t think this is from Tristan.” I reached into the box and lifted out a cheap plastic doll. It was a toy, a man with brown hair dressed in a black hoodie, blue jeans and white trainers, and there was a knife sticking out of its chest. My fingers felt sticky and I dropped it back into the box, staring in horror at the red coating my fingers.

“What the fuck - Paige, is that blood?” Kate launched herself off the bed to grab at my wrist.

“No, it's not, it’s…” I sniffed at my hand. “It's just red paint. Why the fuck would someone send me this?”

“There’s a letter at the bottom,” Kate pointed out.

I fished it out, trying not to get more paint on my hands, and my chest tightened at the crimson colour of the envelope. “It’s from the person who puts the letters under the door, Kate.”

“What does it say?”

I opened it, my hands shaking. “It says… You’re mine. Be careful. I don’t like people touching what’s mine.”

“Who on earth would send you that?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea, but Kate… these are the clothes Tristan was wearing when we went out for pizza on Wednesday. What if whoever sent this, what if they try and hurt him?” Tristan’s easy smile and warm eyes flashed into my mind, and I felt cold and sick at the idea of him getting hurt because of me.

“I’m more worried about you,” Kate said. “Paige, you said there were three guys who were part of this role of yours - do you think maybe one of them is getting a little too into it?”

I thought about it for a moment. Bast would never do this. He was too direct, he wouldn’t send anonymous letters. He’d tell me to my face. But Nate? He hardly ever spoke and I barely knew him. Was he capable of this? If the rumours Kate had told me were true, he was certainly violent, but was he this sick and twisted? I didn’t think so, but I couldn’t know for sure. There was also the possibility that these letters were being sent by the person who’d set me up for persephone, but that didn’t make sense either, because that would lead to me being touched by someone else. Why set that up and then get angry at me for it?

“I don’t know, Kate,” I finally answered. "I don't think so, but you’re right, I don't really know these guys at all. What if it was one of them?”

“Then we need to find out who,” answered Kate. She grabbed her laptop off the desk, and planted herself next to me again, opening it up.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Research,” she replied. “These guys might be able to get away with murder, but there’s still new stories and blogs and rumours online. They can’t hide everything. If there’s anything suspicious in their past, we’ll find it. Give me a girl researching her friend’s new boyfriend over a standard hacker any day.”

I watched as Kate's fingers danced across the keyboard, the blueish glare from the screen illuminating her face. Her eyes flicked over page after page - news articles, social media posts, photographs. As we expected, there was a lot online about the three of them, but it was mainly general knowledge.

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