Page 12 of The Scars of Us

Me: Sorry had to leave I’m in the car do you want me to wait for you?

Sighing, I leaned my forehead against the steering wheel, inhaling deeply and exhaling as I waited for her reply. About five minutes had passed before my phone dinged with her response:

Nori: No I’m good r u ok?

Me: Yeah

I knew I’d hear from her about it tomorrow, but I just wanted to go home and sleep. I wanted to forget about how foolish I had acted.Damn alcohol.I was definitely not looking forward to seeing Ryker at the gym tomorrow.

“Kaleb, please stop,” I begged as tears ran down the sides of my face.

He didn’t respond as he continued to run his hands all over my naked body, covering me with his own larger one. I knew he wouldn’t stop. No matter how much I begged, he never did.

He began to remove his clothes, still keeping me pinned with his legs, causing me to sob harder.

“Please, Kaleb, no!”

His eyes already looked detached, like he was no longer there, no longer in control.

I started to squirm and fight beneath him. My fear reached a desperate peak, strangling the air from my lungs and knotting my insides from what I knew was about to happen.

His hand reared back before he swiftly brought it across my face with a biting slap. My cheek stung, but I didn’t stop fighting. I couldn’t stop, couldn’t let things progress any further if I wanted to maintain some semblance of my sanity. I thrashed and kicked beneath him before he pulled out a knife.

I froze as he held it to my neck, daring me to keep fighting him. “Are you going to behave?” he snarled in anger.

I never understood what I’d done to make him so angry with me.

“Yes,” I whimpered, afraid to move too much and trigger him.

“That’s my girl,” he said lovingly, showing a sliver of his normal self before shifting to the hard, evil person I had encountered so often. His personalities changed like the flip of a switch.

His brows furrowed, his muscles tensed, and his eyes went cold again as he hungrily eyed my naked flesh.

He kept the knife pressed against my throat as his free hand traced the curves of my breasts. I trembled from a combination of disgust and pleasure, my body betraying me as it gave in to the sensations from his soft touch.

My cries became louder as he removed the knife, biting down on the handle as he put it between his teeth, His hands trailed over my stomach and chest again before he reached for the hem of his faded, black tee. “Please, Kaleb, don’t,” I begged, hoping he would stop, even though I knew he wouldn’t.

“You made me do this,” he mumbled around the knife in his mouth. “By giving away what’s mine.”

Gripping the bottom of his shirt, he began to pull it upwards. When it came up to cover his face, I used the distraction to get away, pushing him off me before kicking and scrambling out from under him.

I almost made it to the door before he caught me and tackled me to the floor. I screamed as we wrestled on the carpet of my bedroom, obtaining cuts and nicks from the knife as I fought him off.

Overpowering me, he pressed the knife against my throat. “Now I have to punish you. I don’t like to punish you, but you leave me no choice.”

His eyes hardened as he pushed the knife deeper into my throat. Pain didn’t register from the adrenaline running through me, numbing my body as my heart pounded wildly. I only felt the trickle of blood warming my neck, the only indication that I had an injury.

“No, Kaleb, please stop. I’m sorry!” I screeched desperately, my body rigid with fear and panic.

Just then, the door flew open, and Kamden charged in. His face was masked in rage as he ripped Kaleb off of me. The knife flew out of his grasp, clanging as it fell to the hardwood floor. Both men dove for the knife, struggling for it as they rolled repeatedly with their hands clasped tightly around the weapon.

Blood trailed down my neck as I sobbed at the top of my lungs. My screams ripped through my injured throat as I curled into myself, clenching my eyes shut as I prayed for everything to be over.

I sprang up in bed, gasping for air. Sweat dripped from my skin as I continued the screams from my nightmare.

Kamden rushed in seconds later, enveloping me in his arms on my bed. “It’s okay, Ky—it was just a dream. He’s not here. You’re safe,” he cooed, trying to comfort me.

Chest heaving, I drew in ragged breaths as tears rained down my face. Instinctively, I reached for my neck and checked to make sure there wasn’t an open wound. I felt the familiar raised scar but nothing else—no blood, no gash.

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