Page 222 of Vile Boys

“Please, don’t kill us,” I yelp.

“Shut up,” one of the men says, and he directs his attention toward the guy in front of the wheel. “Drive.”

The van races off so fast I can barely hold on, but something in the dark finds its way to my fingers, curling around in a warm embrace …

Lana’s hand.

The one thing I don’t deserve.

My only lifeline as we’re headed toward hell.

CRYSTAL

My whole body shakes as the van veers from left to right to whatever destination these guys are taking us. We’re chained to the van like cattle, and I’m deathly terrified.

But when Lana squeezes my hand, I break under the weight of what I’ve done.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault—”

“Yes, it is,” I say, my voice cracking. “I took you to the park for some ice cream.”

“Oh, girl …” Lana leans into me. “You don’t need to apologize.”

“Yes, I do.” My whole body erupts into goose bumps from knowing the truth she’s about to learn. “When I heard about the fight from Brooke, I got too scared to tell you the truth. I was afraid you never wanted to talk to me again.”

I swallow away the lump in my throat. “That picture that got shared around … it’s my fault.”

She looks startled.

“Nathan gave me his passcode once, so when I saw he left his laptop at the library, I figured he wouldn’t mind if I used it to looksomething up for my course. But then I saw that picture of you and them. I thought he’d taken that picture without your permission and wanted to send it to you so you’d know about it. But I didn’t understand how his email worked and accidentally sent it to the entire school.” Tears roll down my cheeks. “It was too late to un-send it. The damage was already done.”

When she doesn’t respond at all, I continue. “I’m sorry, Lana. I’m so sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to. It was an accident. Please, don’t be mad at me.”

“Shut it!” the driver growls at us.

Lana looks at me like she doesn’t even know who I am, and I don’t blame her for it.

When the van finally comes to a stop, my whole body feels like it’s about to get crushed. The van doors open, and some guy steps inside to unlock the chains around our wrists.

Lana immediately throws a punch at a guy’s face, teeth flying left and right before she punches him in the abdomen. He nearly vomits while she kicks him to the side, fighting her way through the men while they try to hold her back.

But all I can do is shiver in the dark.

Lana turns to me, compassion riddling her eyes.

“Jump! Now!” she yells at me.

My eyes widen in shock.

She actually wants me to be safe?

I jump out of the van and run off as fast as I can, but one of the men swiftly grasps my arms and flings me to the ground, pinning me down.

“No! Let her go!” Lana screams.

And it hurts my fucking soul.

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