Page 341 of Rage

“Let's go. Now,” he ordered, pulling up his pants. I held his hand, leading him to the exit towards where Alaina was hiding in the alley.

Perfect. My plan is working better than I’d expected.

Chapter Seven

Alaina

What is taking her so fucking long?

It’s been over an hour… I think?

What should I do?

Do I need to call the cops?

Should I go find her?

My anxiety was rising as I experienced my typical withdrawal symptoms again. Tara was gone a lot longer than I was expecting, and I was feeling paranoid and anxious. My hands shook, and I tried to focus on the knife Tara gave me.

It had a smooth, black handle with an “A” painted in a gold calligraphy font. The blade was about four inches long, with a slight curve at the tip. It was extremely sharp and cut through fabric like butter.

But it wasn’t me.

I don’t like violence and confrontation; I don’t like Tara’s darkness and what it does to her. While I appreciate her trying to make sure I’m protected; at least that’s what I tell myself it is; it’s just not who I want to be.

The panic swelling in my chest was becoming overwhelming. My heart was racing, and I was back to the familiar feeling that I’d puke if I exhaled.

Pulling my knees close to my chest, I rocked back and forth, trying to fight the urge to vomit.

Tara’s fake giggle pulled me out of my mind, and I peeked out from behind the dumpster. She was holding a man’s hand. Fingers interlaced like I wanted her to hold mine…

A surge of jealousy washed over me.

She can hold a random drug dealer’s hand, but not mine? After all I’ve done for her…

Not waiting for her to call me out of the shadows, I swiped up my knife, folded it and returned it to my pocket. Stumbling to my feet, I stormed in their direction. Tara’s dark, empty eyes met mine, and I knew he’d die. For the first time, I was fine with it. She held his hand…

“Here she is, as promised,” Tara purred, her hand outstretched in my direction.

“Oh, what have we here? An innocent looking one, hmm? My favorite,” the man said, a sinister smirk on his lips.

“Ro, this is Alaina. If you like her, you can have us both,” Tara said coldly. My gaze immediately shot to hers as she pulled her knife out of her cross body bag. “She happens to enjoy getting fucked in public, especially dark, scary looking places like this alley.”

“Oh, is that so? Come here, darling. Let me give you what you want.” Ro stepped forward, grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards him. He reeked of cigarettes and whiskey, and it took every ounce of mental strength not to vomit in his face.

Turning around, he led me deeper into the alley, with Tara following behind me. There was an old, dirty couch someone had discarded here, and he sat, pulling me on top of him.

“Daddy needs that pussy, baby,” Ro groaned, pressing his hips into me.

He reached up, yanking my top down, revealing my bra, and I gasped in surprise. Before he could do anything else, Taracame up behind him and threw a haymaker punch to his temple, knocking him out cold.

Stumbling backwards off of his lap, I fell to my ass on the ground. Tara rushed over, kneeling in front of me.

“Are you okay, Alaina?” She asked, scanning me for injuries. “I’m sorry, baby, I wasn’t expecting him to do that. No one touches what’s mine without her permission.” Tara’s eyes flashed with anger as she helped adjust my shirt.

“You held his hand,” I said, shrugging her off of me, and pushing myself to my feet.

“Yes, and…?”

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