Page 63 of Something So Strong

A third blow knocks me over.

“M-Millie. Are you okay?” I cough.

“She’s not here.”

“Laura?”

Leaning over me—his face viciously highlighted by his truck’s headlights—Josh looks possessed. “None of them are here.”

“Where did they go?”

“Bring him here, too,” Josh commands, ignoring me.

Him? Who else is here?

I cry out in agony as the heel of Josh’s Timberland’s stomps my right hand. “Do you wanna be conscious while we take turns playing with your boyfriend?”

Who? I don’t have a boyfriend.

“I’m not gay,” I force out.

“Kissing this pretty little thing says something different.”

“I-I didn’t,” I strain, trying to roll towards the commotion beside me.

“Uh-uh.” Josh sends me back with a kick to my stomach. “No peeking… Not yet.” With my right hand still beneath his foot, he straddles my chest, tramples my other hand, then supports his weight above his knees as he towers over me. “We’re gonna make him sing for you. Then, when he’s so spent he can’t cry out for you anymore, that’s when you can watch… Hmm, I might even knock him out so I can fuck his face, too.”

“Jesse!”

I hum and roll over, pulling the comforter high around my neck and hugging the excess.

“Stop it! No!”

Mostly asleep, I groan. Unsure if I’m dreaming.

“Jesse!”

I rub my face, certain I heard something that time.

“Don’t touch him!”

Fuck! That was Kai!

Leaping out of bed, I’m in the hallway before I know it.

His voice is loud, but he isn’t screaming. It’s more desperate.

I press my ear to the wood, close my eyes, and will him to settle. Conscious that waking him is the worst thing I can do, but knowing how much damage he can inflict upon himself.

The air stills, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Pressing off the door, I’m back against it in a flash, mindlessly running my hand over its surface as though it will help him as hollow thuds pound at my chest.

“I’m here. I’m here,” I whisper.

“I said, don’t touch him!”

“It’s okay, Kai. Nobody is hurting me,” I tell him as calmly as I can, hoping my words can penetrate his nightmare.

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