Page 24 of Black Widow's Bite

“That’s right, he killed himself,” he mused, brow furrowing. I let the silence draw out. But he didn’t move from his new spot, examining the book in his hand like he hadn’t noticed the palpable chill that had filled the room.

“Well, I have a lot to get done before I head home,” I announced, staring pointedly at the door, but this man was the most oblivious person I had ever met.

“Your boyfriend picking you up?” he asked, smirking at me again. Okay, what the fuck was this guy’s deal?

“Alright, I’d really appreciate it if you could head back to your own office now,” I told him sharply, standing to emphasize my point. He just looked amused.

“You want me to stay,” he replied flatly, checking his watch. My mouth dropped open at the fucking audacity of this guy. Sure, he was attractive enough, I guess, but he had a bit too much frat guy energy for my liking. He looked like a guy who would brag about his car and his stock portfolio but couldn’t find your G-spot if it bit him in the dick.

“If you won’t leave, I’ll call campus security and they will make you,” I snapped. “And then I’ll call your department head and tell him he needs to find you a new place to work.” I grabbed my phone off my desk to show I wasn’t fucking around.

His eyebrows popped up in mild surprise, then he chuckled softly. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a challenge.” he mused, standing up. I only got two numbers dialled before everything went black.

Chapter 25

Wyatt

Irescheduled my last client of the day so I could swing by the campus to pick up Addy from work. Cain had been holed up in his room all day, and I knew he was beating himself up pretty good for what had happened.

Honestly, I’m just surprised it hadn’t been worse. I’d seen the guy melt tiles into steaming piles of goo. The fact that Addy was still alive and not in the ICU right now was nothing short of a miracle. But I’m sure Cain didn’t see it that way. I’d warned Austin and Piper to leave him alone for the day, and I’d done the same. I wasn’t expecting to see him for at least another 48 hours based on the last time this had happened, which is why I was so shocked when he met me at the car at 3:50 p.m.

“Do you think this is a good idea?” I asked him as he slid into the passenger seat.

“Just fucking drive.” he muttered, slouching in the seat, a cigarette already between his lips.

His sunny attitude made for a somewhat tense car ride, and when we pulled up to the front door, I finally had to say something. “She might need a bit of time,” I warned him. I didn’t like the idea of surprising her with him at her work when she was only expecting me.

“I need to apologize in person,” he snapped, staring out the window at the doors, watching for her.

“I know, but maybe we should wait until we get home to do that,” I replied carefully. He settled on ignoring me, so we just watched the door and waited.

At 4:10 p.m. I checked my phone, making sure I had the right time. “Is she late often?” I asked Cain when I didn’t see any new messages from Addy.

He shook his head, and I groaned when he jumped out of the car and stormed up to the building. I turned the car off and ran after him, hoping we wouldn’t get towed for my very illegal parking job. Quickly, I followed him down the hallway, students dodging out of his way as he strode past several classrooms and what looked like labs to me, ignoring them all as he focused on his intended target. I didn’t ask him how he knew where Addy’s lab was. He just seemed to know these sorts of things. I nearly ran into his back when he finally stopped in front of the right lab. He tried the door, but it was locked with some sort of key card scanner. Looking around us quickly, Cain peered through the small window on the door, cupping his hand to see through the glass.

“Fuck!” he snarled, startling me, and he grabbed the handle again. This time the metal started to glow hot, and the electrical panel fizzled and popped, the door opening with a swift jerk. Oh fuck, we were going to get arrested for sure. I followed after Cain as he stalked inside the room, shutting the door to make it look less obvious we’d broken in, although the smoking and melted door handle was a bit noticeable.

I don’t know what labs normally looked like, but I assumed they were usually cleaner than this. Glass littered the floor, and tanks were shattered across the room. My heart started to pound, and I followed Cain towards the rooms at the back of the lab. One of them had to be Addy’s office. I saw her purse on the floor along with something that looked eerily like blood, and a damaged book that had been tossed aside.

“Motherfucker,” Cain growled. I followed his gaze to see Addy’s phone on the desk, along with a pile of dead spiders arranged in a macabre approximation of a smiley face.

“Is it... him?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. Cain turned and stormed off without saying another word. I quickly grabbed Addy’s purse and her phone, stuffing them in my hoodie as I ran out after him. I had barely gotten in the car before Cain was peeling out of the parking lot, and I hurriedly put on my seatbelt as Cain drove us home.

I dug through Addy’s purse to see if there was anything unusual left behind, but found nothing useful. I turned on her phone, which was password-protected, and I swore under my breath.

“Try 1106,” Cain snapped, his eyes focused on the road. I rolled my eyes and typed in the numbers, but sure enough, it worked. “It’s her birthday.” he muttered when he noticed me glaring at him. I started clicking through her phone randomly, trying to find anything useful. I clicked on her photos app and my blood ran cold. There were pictures taken from this afternoon on her phone, but it was obvious that Addy hadn’t been the one who’d taken them. One was a photo of her lying on the floor of her office, blood running down the side of her face. The second photo was somehow worse, a close-up of her unconscious face with some guy’s face pressed up beside it like a fucked-up selfie.

“Is this your brother?” I demanded through gritted teeth, holding the phone out for Cain to see. That was my mistake, and I regretted it as we swerved violently into oncoming traffic, receiving several angry honks from other drivers on the road.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I muttered, stowing the phone as Cain unleashed a violent, unholy torrent of curse words, slamming his fist into the dashboard. Each hit left a smoking dent in the poor car, and I was just thankful to be in one piece by the time we gothome. Austin and Piper were in the kitchen when we got inside. Piper looked pretty rough. His eyes were glazed over again and his head was bleeding in a chilling imitation of the photo on Addy’s phone.

“I heard him screaming and found him like this,” Austin rasped, his eyes wide. “I don’t know what happened, but I think he hit his head on something, he’s not making any sense.” Cain stalked past him, and I thought for a second that he was just going to leave us here in the kitchen. But he was just pacing, running his hands through his hair tiredly.

“Smoke, choking smoke. My head hurts. I’m really cold,” Piper mumbled, shaking his head dazedly. “It’s cold and I’m alone, but not alone. He’s got puppets with his crooked smile and they’re hurting me and hurting themselves. He just wants to laugh and make us dance on strings. So many strings...” He looked up at the ceiling, looking at the invisible strings. I frowned and crouched beside him, playing his words over in my head to try to find some meaning in them.

“Where are you?” I asked Piper, and his eyes scanned the room, but not the one we were in. “Can you describe it?”

“It’s cold and damp. There aren’t any windows, it’s just concrete, old concrete, smells like mould. There’s a train that rumbles the walls and shakes the floor, and seagulls are screeching. Nobody can hear me if I scream,” Piper whispered, shivering. His lips were a blueish tinge, and his wrists started weeping blood from wounds that weren’t there.

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