Page 24 of Make Her Bleed
"Where am I?" I ask. Then, I look at three imposing men standing a few feet away.
Maybe my head isn't quite right because I don't recognize them immediately even as they stare at me.
"Hey, pretty girl. How are you feeling?" The man with the dark hair asks as a big grin spreads across his face. His green eyes sparkle, and how devilishly handsome he is reminds me of Brian Bloom. He gives off some serious young Dusty Donovan vibes.
Then, it hits me, the memory of him on my first day of school.
He runsup behind me as I'm walking down the hall with my new friend, Kaylee, and he throws his arm around my shoulder.
"Hey, pretty girl. How's your first day treating you?" he asks, all flirtatious with absolutely no shame.
"Oh, hey, Knox. It's going good.”
Knox.Knox Ward, one of the same guys who raped me.
Then, all their faces register.
Knox Ward.
Nico Mendoza.
Malakai Harris.
Three of my rapists.
I fling my body out of the bed, landing on the hard ground which probably makes me look like an idiot for reacting out of nowhere but after what these bastards did to me, I don't give a fuck what they think.
"Aria, are you okay?" Nico speaks, sounding worried about me hurting myself.
Fuck him. Fuck all of them.
I open my eyes and see a white pipe under the bed amidst all of the other miscellaneous junk and grab it, hurrying to my feet.
I wield the pipe the same way I did the trophy I used on my dad.
My eyes are still adjusting, my vision going in and out randomly.
"Jesus, Aria. Really?" Kai rolls his eyes and guffaws at me.
"Stay the fuck away from me!" I demand, my heart racing at them being around me. This is like seeing Nico in the nurse's office on crack.
"Come on. We're not going to hurt you," Knox says in what is meant to be a disarming tone but I'm no fool. I know the truth.
"Don't try to bullshit me, you bastards! My dad told me the truth. He told me about what you're doing. C-4. Ring a bell?"
I'm ready to bash their head in if they get close to me. I'm not about to let them do what they did to me in that classroom again...or worse.
"Why do you think I hit him over the head?" I add when none of them speak. They don't even exhibit any sign of remorse for what they did. Fucking psychotic assholes. "Don't you think for one second I won't do the same to you!"
My vision starts to blur again and I can't get my eyes to focus. What the fuck is wrong with me?
Suddenly, the pipe is knocked out of my hand and my body slams back into the wall, a strong grip wrapping around my throat.
I look up as I clutch at the hand and see Kai's blue eyes glaring down at me.
"If we wanted to hurt you, you would be hurting right now. You couldn't hit me with that pipe even if youreallywanted to. Do you know why? Because you don't have it in you. So stop trying to act all tough when you're just a scared little girl, and we're trying to get you back to full health after the idiotic stunt you pulled. So lay your ass back down."
Then, he tosses me down on the bed and I just stare at him in shock.
