Page 66 of Claimed By Rage

she chose me

fucker locked me in my room

im still here u know

i told u to let me out ruin

y is no one home??? im starving

I call Celia’s phone, and it goes to voicemail. The same for Rage’s. I call Rebel, and he starts yelling at me the moment he picks up.

“It’s about damned time! How far away are you? Can you bring me a burger or a taco or something?”

Mrs. Morrel’s eyes move from the fire back to me. Watching. Waiting.

“Rage isn’t answering his phone.”

“I know.I’ve left him ten fucking voicemails.”

“Celia won’t answer either.”

“Tell me about it,”Rebel snaps. “You send a girlonefucking dick pic, and she ices you out!”

“She won’t answer me, either.”

Rebel snorts. “Because shedefinitelywants to talk to the guy who smears blood all over her thighs.”

I grunt. Celia could like it.

My phone pings again.

Rage:

don’t come after me

I mean it

“What the fuck does that mean,” Rebel groans. “Do you think he’s high?”

“He doesn’t get high.”

“Maybe he would if Celia asked him nicely.”

Well. Maybe.

A picture comes across the group chat, and my heart thumps hard. Rage is crumpled on the ground, his head caught at an awkward angle against a car tire.Histire. I recognize the color and trim of the vehicle.

“What thefuckis this?” Rebel yells.

Rage’s skin is paler than usual, and there are dark shadows around his neck like he’s been choked. But there aren’t any other signs of a struggle—no ripped clothing, torn fingernails, blood or bruises. It’s like he got choked out by a ghost.

Any sign of Celia is also nonexistent, like she vanished into thin air.

“Maybe an ex-girlfriend went after him,” Rebel guesses, his voice muffled as he shuffles around his room. I can picture him pacing, agitated, clawing his way out. It’s bad enough that he’s been locked up all day, but to be locked up while something’s going on will drive him crazy.

I think about Rebel’s theory. It could be an ex-girlfriend… or a new one.

Blood rushes through my veins.Exhilaration.Pumping its way into my limbs, coursing through every chamber of my heart. Did Celia try to kill Rage? Did he hurt her first, or did she crave that look of fear in his eyes the same way I do?

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