Page 116 of Losing the Rhythm

“Now.” One of the boys turned to me. He had bleach blond hair and loops in his ear. Crystal gray eyes looked back at me, the dark glint in them making my skin crawl. “How painful are you going to make this?”

I licked my lips, wondering how it had come to this. I didn’t recognize either of them and they wore red and black jerseys. Clearly for the other team.

“Let me go,” I croaked out.

“I don’t think so,” the other one said. He had dark brown hair that flopped around his dark eyes. “This is too good of an opportunity.”

“What are you even expecting to get out of this?” I asked in disbelief. This was so out there. Like what did they think was going to happen?

“Easy.” He pointed over to a camera on the wall. “You’ll keep your mouth shut or this goes public. I’ve already been told you have a bunch of boyfriends. This should be easy for you.”

“Are you fucking crazy?” I screeched out, trying to get to my feet. My legs felt like jelly, but I refused to give in. “Just let me go before you end up in jail, you lunatic.”

“Lunatic, huh?” the bleach blond said. “I heard your mom is one. I think my uncle got to spend time with her.”

I paled, feeling way too lightheaded.

“Like mother, like daughter, maybe?” the dark haired one said. “Maybe she’ll end up in the room next to her mother’s?”

They both chuckled. “I never fucked a crazy person before. Might be fun.”

They moved closer to me. I moved back, wanting to keep the distance between us, but the wall stopped me from going farther.

The dark-haired one charged and reached for me. As soon as he was in reach, I grabbed his arm and yanked hard, trying to smash him into the wall. It only worked as well as it did because of his momentum, but at least it was his turn to have his face hitting the wall.

“What the fuck?” He pushed away from the wall.

I already had distance between us, edging around the room, trying to keep both of them in view. I needed to make it to the door, but the other boy was there, making sure to block me. He looked like he had no intention of moving. Not yet at least. I needed to get him to move away from there.

“She said you were weak,” the dark-haired boy said.

“All she did was push you into a wall. Luck,” the blond said.

“Fuck it.” The boy came out at me again. I dodged, going right, trying to stay out of reach.

The other boy started laughing. “Are you serious right now? Having trouble catching her? Just grab her.”

He came at me again, trying to grab me. As soon as he touched my arm, I was already twisting away. I almost thought I was going to get away, but then he grabbed my shoulder and yanked back hard. Losing balance, I fell against him, and he wrapped his arms around me.

The training I learned came to mind, and I quickly put it to practice. It felt clumsy and harder than when Justin was my opponent. This time, it was real, and reality was so much harsher.

But it worked. His grip on me loosened when I threw myself forward. I began smashing my elbows back as fast and hard as I could.

He swore and shoved me away.

“You’re starting to piss me off,” he rasped, holding his throat.

Good. I hoped it hurt more.

“Fuck, this is going to take too long.”

The blond finally moved from the door, charging right at me. I practically threw myself out of his path and went for the door. I was just in reach when steel bands wrapped around my waist and yanked me away.

“No!” I tried to break away, but the blond wasn’t going to have it.

Before I knew it, I was face down on the ground with so much weight on my back, I couldn’t draw in a full breath.

“W-why?” I gasped.

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