Page 32 of Bottoms
Fynn nodded and offered me the crook of his elbow before leading me down more empty hallways. We passed by room after room. Some doors were open, inviting anyone to come inside and sample the sexual depravity offered within. There were rooms with girls suspended from the ceiling in harnesses. Men standing in a line behind them, patiently waiting their turn. Now that looked like a true conga line of torture. At least they didn’t have to look at the old wrinkly men as they were used.
Fynn took me deeper into the mansion, letting the noise of the other guests fade away. The paintings lined the walls started to become scarcer, and all the doors were shut tight. Fynn strode up to one, as if he knew what lay on the other side. He opened it wide and gestured for me to go inside.
I stepped in and noticed I wasn’t in a restroom. It was a bedroom.
A familiar sense washed over me, and my feet moved further into the room. There were pictures hung on the wall. Snapshots were arranged in perfectly spaced frames. I noticed several of the dramatic black and white images were of nature, and the mansion's exterior was visible in the background. My fingers reached out to touch the serene view of a lonely, tree-lined road.
“There’s a bathroom just over there,” Fynn said, but I was too busy sinking into the pool of dread that had swallowed me once I finally accepted the truth.
“This is Tanner’s dad’s house, isn’t it,” I breathed.
“I turned your GPS bracelet on the moment we got here,” Fynn said, and the dread inside me swelled.
“Let me guess, that made an alarm go off the moment my location went live.” I didn’t need his answering smirk to confirm what he had done, but his wicked look made me think of what other things he could have set into place to make tonight as horrendous as possible. “Then you turned it off like the twisted psychopath you are. Ready to sit back and watch them come bursting into the mansion, looking for me all night when you knew I planned on not speaking to them,” I hissed as the thought came to me. He had fucking planned this as some twisted form of entertainment.
“You said you didn’t want to talk to them. I doubt they will share your opinion, but it will be so much fun to watch.” Fynn grinned.
I rolled my eyes and hurried off in the direction of the bathroom. I couldn’t change what he had done. Now I had to figure out how to manage the new scenario.
Flicking on the lights, they hummed as I took a step toward my reflection. My eyes roamed, making bets on whether they would recognize me even if they knew I was somewhere in the same building. Inspecting my reflection one more time, I was confident they wouldn’t. But a small voice whispered a fantasy; one of them would know it was me the same way I would know them. My heart and mind battled back and forth. My heart pounded in my chest as I finished up in the bathroom, eager to see them while my mind considered leaving rather than playing any more of this twisted game. Another part of me needed to see them and watch their eyes pass over me before I could go. There were just too many fucking options, and none would end well.
Fynn was waiting for me as I exited the bathroom. Waiting to hear my decision for the night, whether I wanted to stay under the new terms of his game. My eyes slid to the king-sized bed that Tanner had slept in for who knows how many years. It looked freshly laundered and made, but I could tell this mattress had sat cold for a long time. I returned to the framed pictures on the wall, knowing he had taken them himself. There was so much about Tanner I didn’t get to experience yet.
“You can’t turn my location back on for the rest of the night. I don’t want them to know if I am still here or not,” I told Fynn, having made up my mind.
He nodded and grinned, excited that I had decided to play.
“And you can’t interfere. At all, if I am still inside the mansion. If I decide to talk to any of them, that’s my business,” I added. Unsure how many of my prepared conversations would come in handy.
“They are probably here by now.” Fynn raised his eyebrow, taunting my heart into another spasm. The entertainment had already begun for him. He was getting his rocks off, just watching me squirm.
I sighed, unsure I was ready for whatever mess I had just agreed to.
“This needs to happen, one way or the other, sweetheart. You’ll stay stuck circling the same drain until you decide about them.” Fynn’s tone was soft, like he felt this was in my best interest.
I didn’t argue, considering I hadn’t had a restful night of sleep since I first met them. Plus, I couldn’t deny the effectiveness of Fynn’s unorthodox methods. I was tired of running through my dreams, waking up more exhausted than I was when I went to bed. My feet made their way to the door like a walk to the gallows. Fynn followed behind me, always the face of death.
He shut Tanner’s bedroom door, leaving it as empty and cold as we found it. Fynn led the way back towards the sounds of pleasure, ones taken selfishly. I passed the opened doors but was no longer interested in peering inside. Facing the guys again felt like a moment of inevitability, and my mind was busy checking my mental notes on what to say and how to say it.
Fynn brought me back to the room with the bar, and I didn’t wait for him to catch up before I was at the rail. I waved down the bartender with one gloved hand. It worked like a beacon, and I ordered two glasses of bourbon. Draining them both before Fynn managed to arrive.
“Don’t look so nervous. It will give you away,” Fynn laughed as he pointed to the empty drinks, petrifying the bartender with his gaze. She hurried to pour two more glasses, then left the bottle on the counter before scurrying off in search of less dangerous patrons to serve.
“Have you seen them yet?” I asked, turning toward Fynn as I grabbed one of the drinks. Our eyes locked on each other as we downed them in tandem.
“Yes,” Fynn answered with a smile as he put the glass down. “You do understand that this reaction you are having is because you care. Or you want them to care. Which,” he said, holding his palm out as if showing all my bullshit stacked in a pile on top. “Still means you care.”
“Not now, Freud,” I snipped. My eyes scanned the room again, bouncing between the guests as I checked them off the list.
No. No. No. No. No.
My gaze circled the room, then started again, growing more desperate to find them every time I failed. Finally, my head turned as if it was trying to show me something. A blond man in a black mask and suit walked close enough for me to reach out to grab his arm.
Nik.
His jaw was set as he breezed past me. His eyes scanned the faces of the scantily dressed women that worked the event. He thought I was here as a working girl.
Anger flashed through me as I watched him, oblivious that he had walked past me. He wasn’t even looking in the right place. I had to push down the urge to stride up to him and tap him on the shoulder, only to punch him in his beautifully stupid head. Instead, my mind flipped to Colten, having faith that he would be able to spot me in the crowd.
