Page 104 of Driftwood Daffodil
This was a case of cause and effect. She punched me… twice. And now, she was going to die. Plain and simple.
“You better let me go,” Nova warned when I nudged the door shut. “I’ll scream.”
I slammed her back against the wall and hissed, “you better make it a good one.”
Cause I was about to shove my fist down her fucking throat. Or…
My hand wrapped around her neck.
It wouldn’t take much to snap it. A flick of my wrist andcrack… lights out.
“Look Gio,” Nova flattened her palm on my chest. “Don’t you think this is getting a little out of hand?”
Oh, is that what she thought? This shit wasn’t even getting started, let alone out of hand.
“You fucking hit me!”
“You had my brother beat up.”
Not only could I hear the anger in her tone, but I could see it toying with her expression. There was enough of a glow coming in from the light under the bottom of the door for me to make out the bigger details of her face. Like the way her jaw ticked when she mentioned her brother. Apparently she didn’t like the treatment he was getting in prison.
“You’re brother’s about to have a real bad night.” We had scheduled beat downs for Kato, but this one I’d throw in just for her.
I heard the smack from her hand before I felt a sting crawl across my jaw. Whatever thread of control I had was fading fast.
“Hit me again.” I tightened my grip until I could feel her pulse pounding beneath my finger, and leaned it to hiss in her face, “I fucking dare you.”
I wasn’t fucking around anymore, and she knew that. I could feel the fear in the swallow she gulped down.
Most people would do one of two things when faced with death. Shake with fear and beg for their lives, or look for an escape. Not Nova. No. She popped her hand up and sharply jabbed into my Adam’s apple.
Instant pain shot down my throat, stealing my ability to breathe. My grip on her slipped as I bent over and coughed through the burn.
Nova used that time to make a break for it.
I saw a sliver of light cut through the dark and quickly slammed my body against the door, cutting off her means of escape. There would be no getting away from me this time. One of us was going down, and it sure as hell wasn’t me.
My body barricade didn’t stop her from trying to get away. Nova darted off into the darkness, and unfortunately for me, that last strike left me temporarily debilitated. I was too busy coughing to chase after her.
By the time I managed to catch my breath and straighten up, I couldn’t see her anywhere. Not that I could see much in here. Even though my eyes had adjusted, I couldn’t see anything past a foot but shadows.
“This will be a lot easier if you come out and face your consequences.”
Did I think Nova would step out, fuck no. She was way too stubborn for that. But she couldn’t say I didn’t give her the opportunity. I even gave her to the count of thirty before going on the hunt.
“Alright,” I reached behind me to flick the lock on the door. “Hide and seek it is.”
Readying myself, I rolled my neck and squared my shoulders. I was actually looking forward to this. It’d been awhile since I had a real challenge. Although my prey was at a serious disadvantage. Nova didn’t know shit about this room. But I did.
Atlee, Darry, and I found this unused space during freshman year and decided to use it as a business headquarters of sorts. It was perfect. There were no windows and a closet with a panel in the ceiling that could be moved to hide our books. We were on our way here when Nova decided to attack me.
I knew everything about this room, including possible hiding places. Like say the desk in the left corner, or the metal shelf on the right wall. But if she’d gone for either of those options, I’d have heard it.
It was too dark in here for her not to have bumped into something. My guess was that she was hunkered down somewhere in the dark, listening. I could turn on the light, but where was the fun in that?
“Come out, come out wherever you are,” I sang while scouring the shadows for movement.
Aside from the ruckus outside–which was dying down–it was quiet. No frightened gasps or panicked movements. Gotta say, I was a little impressed. I knew Nova was trapped, and she knew she was trapped. Yet she remained calm enough not to give away her position. The girl had balls. Bigger men in her situation would be pissing themselves right about now.
