Page 92 of Saving the Halfback

The moment I was tossed into the back seat of a vehicle—a van, by the sound of the sliding door—I tried to slow my breathing and calm down. It was becoming suffocating in the burlap sack. I had heard a few low voices, but none that I recognized. I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“I get this is some sort…of hazing, but it’s getting…hard to breathe.” Dizzy from hyperventilating, I begged with whoever was there. “Please? Let me go.”

No one responded, and I choked back a sob. “Lachlan?” I asked, but I knew better. If Lachlan thought I was having trouble breathing, he would’ve removed the hood by now. If it had been Ethan, he would’ve touched my shoulder or something, anything to let me know he was there. Nolan would’ve asked if I were all right. Or maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe I’d hurt him too badly tonight.

There was a stifled laugh. I tried to count the seconds in my head, picturing driving away from Chase’s house as I did, so I could figure out where we were going. Except, my fear spiked again, and I lost count. Did we turn left or right?Calm down.Relax. It’s okay, it will be okay.It had to have been an hour by now, right? Maybe half an hour. Everything was disorientating.

The vehicle came to a sudden stop, and I was thrown forward into the seat in front of me. I listened to the door slide open, then hands were on me, multiple people manhandling me. I tried to calm myself again, but with so many people grabbing me, pulling, and pushing, I found it difficult. No one said a word or uttered a peep; that alone was enough to make me want to scream.

I walked aimlessly, my feet stumbling until I was eventually dragged. “Please,” I called. “Who is this?”

It isn’t Ed. It isn’t Ed. It isn’t Ed.Tears slowly slipped from my eyes. What if it was him?

All the hands disappeared, and my stomach plummeted, because now, I was standing in the dark, unable to see, and surrounded by silence.

“Hello?” I whispered.

The hands reappeared in a frenzy, grabbing my clothes, ripping and shredding. I felt the cold metal of what I hoped was scissors and not a knife.

“No,” I cried. “Stop, just wait. Stop.”

It’s not him. It’s not him.

Fuck, it’s him, and he’s come to kill me.

“Please, just say something. Who are you?” The hands didn’t stop, though, until I stood there in only my underwear and bra. “Please stop!” My chest was heaving with every breath, tears falling freely from the assault. If someone would just say something, anything.

I jumped when a wet tip touched the skin on my stomach, but arms wrapped around me, holding me still. The wet tip moved around and traced lines on my skin as tears fell freely, causing the sack over my head to stick to my cheeks.

Do as they say. Do what they want.

I lowered my head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll quit the team. Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Please, I’ll stop playing. I’ll go back to before. I won’t talk to anyone anymore,” I cried, but they still said nothing. More wet tips joined and scrawled along my arms. I tried to break free, but the arm around me held me like a vise. “Please!” I screamed. “Just say something. Please!”

The wet tips were removed, and through the burlap, I saw the distinct flash of a picture being taken. I was hauled to my feet again, barely hearing the footsteps around me. There was nothing, and then the arm holding me slipped down, cupping me over the top of my underwear. Another flash lit up. A whimper escaped, but I bit my tongue, stilling beneath his hold. Ed would hurt me more if I moved. If I tried to escape. It was best if I just shut down and let him have whatever he was going to take. Because he always took what he believed he deserved.

“Fuck, she’s hot!” a male voice I didn’t recognize spoke in my ear. He began to move the palm of his hand as I disconnected from my body, refusing to feel any of it.

“I didn’t sign up for this.”

“Emma!” I called out, finally recognizing someone’s voice.

“Shit.” The hand and arm disappeared.

Through the burlap sack, someone grabbed my hair and yanked me back. “Stay away from Chase.” Hadley. She spat in my face with so much force that small droplets made it through the material. I nearly gagged, but then was punched in the stomach, which knocked the wind out of me, before being thrown down into the mud.

I coughed and tried to catch my breath.

“Please help me,” I begged into the silence, hoping someone from the group would take pity on me. “I’ll forget it all if you just call my mom. Please.” I wanted my mom. I wanted her so badly. “I’ll never go to another party. I’ll quit everything. Her number’sin my phone. Please!” I yelled. In the distance, I heard car tires screeching.

Alone. I was alone, in the dark, practically naked. Alone. I rolled in the ice-cold mud and managed to get up to my knees. I tried desperately to shake the hood off my head, but it wouldn’t come loose; they had tied it at the bottom.

“It’s about time someone taught you some manners.” Ed’s voice filled my head as I fell forward, my forehead touching the ground while I screamed. “I’m sorry!”

How? How could I think I deserved anything more than what was given to me here? How could I think I deserved friends, football, fucking happiness? After all I had done, disobeying Ed, acting like a whore, not adhering to the rules, this was my punishment.

I screamed and cried until I fell over onto my side on the wet, muddy ground. My teeth chattered in the cold. No one was going to find me. No one would come looking for me. All I could think was how sorry I was for doing all I had done. For being so messed up. For wrecking everything. For thinking I could be someone more than who I was.

I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but eventually, the tears stopped, the shaking became painful, and it was easier to just close my eyes and fall asleep.

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