Page 45 of Hysteria Rises
And then there’s Twenty-three. She was finally allowed to join the women, but I have no clue why the sudden change in how the Collective is handling her. She’s been assigned chores the last couple days, like all the others, but without fail, after dinner, she’s always locked in a sparsely furnished bedroom the size of a postage stamp.
Every night, we continue to be responsible for checking on her. Honestly, it’s fucking stupid. There’s nothing for her to do in there but sleep. She doesn’t have more than a single set of spare clothing, not even a book to read, with the exception of the literature Finneas mandates be studied daily. It’s mostly the Collective’s idea of how a perfect society will bring them all to glory—or some dumb shit like that—and the daily affirmations. They are doing everything possible to demonstrate how fully she is at their mercy.
I huff out a quiet disturbed laugh. And come to think of it, it’s almost as if they’re inviting one of us to fuck up again by forcing us to visit her during the dead of night. They know what they’re doing. I bet they’re banking on one of us taking advantage of the situation sooner or later so they can make a show of “correcting” someone else.
Heat hits my cheeks as the memory of Arrow’s—and Twenty-three’s—punishment barrels into me like a runaway train. I’m still having trouble processing my part in it.
The girl whose real name I have yet to discover had been huddled on the floor, trembling bad even before shit got real. And then my father had urged me to get on with her correction. My throat goes absolutely bone-dry. Covering my face with my hands, all I can do is take slow, steady breaths as different details creep from the shadows, and it’s as though I’m right back in the gathering room again.
My belt buckle clinks in the otherwise quiet room as I unfasten it. The candlelight flickers from the tables next to the couch. And then, I spit on my fingers before touching her, knowing full well that she won’t be ready for me… and it’s the least I can do. There’s no stopping this. Bad things happen to noncompliant members of this community. I’ve figured out enough in the last three years that I won’t fuck around and chance bringing more misery down on our heads. The only way to do that is to forget where I am, what I’m doing and who is watching. I look at the firm globes before me, the tiny pucker of asshole, then lower to her pussy, and will my cock to harden. Thank fuck it works because eyes watch my every movement as I line up my dick with her entrance. Thrusting forward, I sink inch by inch into this girl until the walls of her pussy clench down hard on my erection—warm and wet. And despite everything, my heart races. At an agonized cry from Arrow, I make the mistake of looking up. But I keep going, pumping into this girl as quickly as I can so as to not prolong her misery. I have no choice.
Reality smashes me upside the head, and I groan,dragging my hands down my face, then stare upward toward the high ceiling of our shared room. I had no choice but to do exactly what my father said. It’s been that way since he brought me to Dark Falls Hollow.
But fuck, for some reason with this girl, what I forced her to endure has me twisted up worse and worse as each day has passed. I wanted her, for fucking sure. But not likethat.
Do I participate in the Hunting? Yes. But… those women… it’s as if they’ve already accepted what they’re here for; and I’ve never asked any of them why they go along with it. One or two of them are even… willing? I press my lips together. At least, it seems that way. I turn it over in my mind again. Are they brainwashed? Probably.Fuck. I scrub my hands through my hair just as a groan rips from Arrow. Poor asshole probably drifted off and moved in a way that pulled at his skin and yanked him right back to his misery. I sigh. This is miserable forallof us.
Once he quiets again, I let my mind wander to the spitfire in our midst. I want to talk to her, but I don’t know how to manage that without someone reporting it to the Collective. I drag in a breath, considering whether Hayze or Cross would open their mouths. Arrow’s clearly not going to be on babysitter duty for a while yet. These guys have lived here since fucking birth. This is how the world works to them. They know no fucking different.
There’s another whimper from two beds over. Poor fucker. Shifting to my side, I lift onto an elbow,my gaze drifts from one bed to another. Everyone’s accounted for. Not that it’s my job, but I like to know things. That’s how I’m aware that before this, Arrow would slip out of here on an almost nightly basis. And those are the times he doesn’t wake up with one of his freakish nightmares. Huh.
I’m still pondering that oddity when I feelhisgaze on me. It’s too dark to see much, but I can always tell when Cross is looking this way. Don’t know how. Slowly, I blink, staring across the distance between our beds.
Arrow gives another groan, and sure enough, Cross turns his head. But then, it swivels right back around, and those weird hazel eyes flecked with gold find mine. Our gazes lock on each other, and several oddly charged moments go by.
Finally, I can’t stand it any longer. I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed. “What are you looking at?”
He pushes up on his elbow, full lips twitching as he blatantly studies me. “Not a fucking thing.” Pausing, he sits up, too, then quietly mumbles, “Unless youwantme to.”
“Fuck off.” My brows dart together, noticing that he’s buck naked. “And put on some pants, would you?”
Cross chuckles, bending to snag a pair from the floor beside his bed, then stands and ever so slowly steps in and drags them up his legs.
I avert my gaze, fairly certain this dickhead thinkshe knows something about me that he doesn’t. Or… couldn’t? My teeth grind as the argument continues inside my head. He’s probably spent a few too many cycles of the moon without getting his dick wet. At least, that’s what I’d assume is going on here. Because anything else he’d have to know is a direct violation of everything the fucking Collective teaches us about our purpose.
At another of Arrow’s pain-filled cries, my attention is drawn to him, and I rake a hand through my hair. I feel terrible, but also really wish I’d been able to drop off and sleep like Hayze did a few hours ago. Then again, he’s not due down to the cellar until morning, as where Cross and I have the next shift. Moving my jaw to the side I get up to sit beside him. I can’t believe I’m about to suggest this. It’s reckless. And just plain dumb. I take a deep breath which has Cross eyeing me curiously as I lean close and murmur low, “We oughta see if we can bust into the supply of liquor. That might help the situation.” I gesture to Arrow with a jerk of my head.
Scowling, he lets out a huff. “You don’t give two shits about him. But what are you talking about?” He eyes me cautiously.
A dark chuckle rolls up from my chest. This is just another example of him not knowing me at all. It’s okay. I’m destined to be the new guy forever—the outsider—since they never gave me a fucking chance. “Well, maybe if you care about him, you shouldn’t be such a dick. I can show you.”
At a rustling from the other side of the room, we freeze, waiting. But then he tilts his head to the side. “Explain what you’re going on about.”
I roll my eyes.Hard. “Liquor.”
He pauses. “There’s liquor in the compound? Not just the hard cider Henry makes?”
I lift a brow but slowly shake my head. “Yep. It’s definitely stuff they’ve brought back from a supply run.” They let us have the homemade cider every once in a while, and while it hits the spot, it’s not nearly as potent as liquor. It doesn’t fuck us up like the shit my mother used to drink—at least not in the quantities we’re allowed.
At a subtle rustle of sheets from the direction of Hayze’s bunk, Cross glances over his shoulder, but after a moment, it’s clear he’s asleep. “Should we wake him?”
I tilt my head to the side, then scoop the upper layer of my hair up and secure it in a topknot with an elastic. “I don’t see why. We’re due to check on Twenty-three, anyway. He’ll just assume we’re doing it early. Better if he’s oblivious in case we get caught.” I shrug. “Come with me if you have the balls to help.”
Cross exhales harshly, but then his tongue pokes out to dampen his lower lip. He cocks his head to the side. “I guarantee you, I do.” Standing up, he gestures to me with a raised brow. “Lead the way.”
On quiet feet, we make our way to the main floor of the building, then I stop to listen. Cross is directly behind me, so close that each of his steadying exhalationsof breath coasts past my fucking ear. I shrug away from him, turning with eyes narrowed in clear warning to back the fuck off.
He huffs out a low chuckle. “Where the fuck is it? And how do you know it’s there?”
