Page 140 of Devil's Bargain

She leaves.

My eyes drift over to my phone on the floor. The screen is in tatters.

* * *

April

“The call ended,” Jared says, doing up his jeans. He gets to his feet and looks at my math teacher. “Are you sure you don’t want to wet your cock?”

Scott is still pointing his gun at me. He shakes his head. “I’m sick of her god damn attitude!”

I tune them out as I stare out the dark window. My body trembles with the after-effects of the two orgasms I had, but on the inside, I’m dying. Between them, they’re slowly chipping away at my life force. It’s a clear night, free of clouds. I can see the stars from my spot on the floor where I lie, covered in cum and bruises. My split lip pulsates with pain.

“He’s offered an insane amount of money for her. We’re collecting the first half tomorrow and the second half at completion.”

“We can cover up her absence at school. It’s her friends we’ll struggle with.”

Jared lights a cigarette. I can see his reflection in the window. “We’ll get her to make a phone call. Don’t worry, man. It’s not our first time around the block. ”

I wonder what it would be like if I simply vanished into nothing. If all this just stopped. “Where’s my mom?” I ask, staring at them in the window’s reflection as they look my way. Jared blows out a cloud of smoke before handing the cigarette to Scott. “She’s dead.”

My heart stops beating. I blink once and then roll over and shift onto my knees. It’s fucking difficult when your hands are tied behind your back. “You’re lying!”

“Am I?” He smirks, leaning back against the couch, his legs spread wide, one foot on the edge of the upturned coffee table.

I look to Scott, who brings the cigarette to his lips and takes a deep pull.

“You’re both lying!”

They exchange an amused glance. Scott exhales a cloud of smoke and looks at me. “Guess you’ll never know.”

“Mom!” I yell. My heart hammers painfully in my chest as I wait with bated breath for a reply.

Scott picks a piece of tobacco off his tongue and takes another long drag.

Nothing. Not a sound. The house is deadly silent. She could be down at the bar, but my mind struggles to reason.

“MOM!” I scream at the top of my lungs. I can barely breathe, and panic rises inside me as I struggle to my feet and run naked down the corridor. If I was in pain before, it’s forgotten about now.

She’s not in the kitchen. The unwashed dishes have attracted flies, and the venetian blinds in the window are bent out of shape from the time my mom’s ex-boyfriend threw her in a rage. “Mom?” The hallway is dark except for the bathroom light. I’ve meant to buy a new lamp bulb for months.

When I push open her bedroom door, I pause. The bed is empty, but most alarmingly—it’s made. My mom never makes her bed.

The light from the bathroom across the hall disappears. Scott looms behind me in the doorway. “She must be out late?”

I swivel on the spot, backing away deeper into the room. This is the first time I’ve truly feared these men. “What did you do to her?”

Scott leans against the doorway, his face cast in shadow. The embers spark orange as he takes a deep drag. “What makes you think we did something?”

I scan the room. It smells clean. Empty. As if my mother was never here. “Where is she?” The panic in my voice is unmistakable.

Scott pushes off the doorway. “I changed my mind. I want to wet my cock after all!” He kicks the door shut, descending the room into total darkness.

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