Page 7 of Bound By Threads
His thumb brushes against my bottom lip, his eyes darkening as he looks down at me, and I’m frozen.
“Open.”
I don’t move. Refusing to give in as if it’s not humiliating enough that I’m already down here. I shake my head, my defiance flaring up again.
“I said, open Scarlett. Now, or I’ll make you,” he says, his voice like a whip.
His grip on my chin tightens, and before I can protest, his mouth is on mine, his tongue tracing the seam of my lips just as he did so many times before, and just like every other time, I give in.
The kiss is rough, almost violent, but there’s something else there, something that makes my stomach twist in a way I never want to admit.
He pulls away, not giving me a chance to catch my breath. His fingers grip my hair, forcing my head back, and then he spits right into my open mouth.
I gag, my body jerking instinctively, but he doesn’t let me pull away. His hand tangled in my hair, holding me in place as he leans down, his lips brushing against my ear. “Swallow,” he grunts.
I consider spitting it back in his face, but I don’t. Something about the way he’s looking at me pulls me back to when we were closer than friends, the way I’ve always felt powerless around the three of them, even when their taunts slice into me like barbs and leave me feeling more alone than I already am.
I swallow, my eyes never leaving his.
“Good girl,” he murmurs. His hand falls from my hair and trails down the side of my face. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? You are ours to control…” He strokes my cheek. “To manipulate…” His thumb glides over my bottom lip. “Our perfect little doll…”
I glare up at him, my cheeks burning with shame.
He chuckles, the sound dark and low. He kneels in front of me, his face inches from mine. “You need to listen to Roman, Scar. Get your parents to pay, and this all stops. Do you think we like doing this?”
I quirk an eyebrow at him, and he laughs. “Even when you don’t talk, I know what your face is saying. You left us, Scar. Iced us out for no reason, and we want to make you break just because we can. You know who our parents are, and you know why it’s getting worse. Your mom owes Roman’s dad ten grand. That kind of debt gets paid, no matter what.” He leans in, brushing his lips against mine. “Don’t let it be you that has to pay their debt,” he says before pulling away and standing up.
He offers me his hand, but I don’t take it.
Elijah shrugs, “Suit yourself.”
I stay on my knees, watching him go, my heart pounding in my chest, my mind racing.
I hate him.
I hate them all, and everything about them, but a small part of me misses the group we were before everything happened.
Maybe I just miss not being alone.
The distinctive soundof the lock clicking has my head snapping up and fear running through me as I spring to my feet. I pound my fist against the door, silently begging someone to hear me and let me out of the room before the hopelessness I feel closes in on me.
The walls seem to press in on me, and I pause, pressing my ear to the door, straining to catch any sign of movement on the other side.
Silence. Dead silence.
I slump against the door, sliding down until I’m a crumpled heap on the floor. Memories flood my mind relentlessly. I see the shadow towering above me and hear my screams until my voice became voiceless,the pain.
I truly am alone, and as my memories pull me under, I lose myself in them like I do the waves, letting them pull me under until my lungs burn and my mind calms.
Chapter5
Scarlett
“Miss Reyes, what on earth are you doing on my classroom floor?” My biology teacher’s voice slices through the fog of memories that are holding me hostage, yanking me away from the tangled threads of my nightmare and back to reality.
The suddenness of the question jolts me as the familiar surroundings of the classroom come into focus. I struggle to stand, my mouth parting as I intend to tell her what happened, but my voice catches painfully in my throat.
Why can’t I explain?
