53. In the dark
Sam’s knees buckled and she was shaking from head to toe.
“Just a harmless conversation, Sam and you can walk right out of the room like nothing happened, okay?” The deep voice made her frozen heart flutter with terror once again, “Good. Do you know who I am?”
She was breathing shakily, her chest rising and falling sporadically. She didn’t really care who he was, all she wanted was to get out of that cramped up space. She suddenly felt a strange heat that made her sweat profusely, but her insides were ice cold. She shook her head vigorously and whimpered when he let go of her mouth.
“Don’t turn around and don’t shout either. The door is locked, I am stronger than you, you have nowhere to run, nor do you have the right to make demands. Have I made everything clear to you, Sam Spears?”
She tried to turn around, but his stern voice was like a whiplash to her face and she winced in agony.
“I said don’t turn around!”
“I’m sorr-y-y…p-please, don’t hurt me,” she moaned and sniffled, tears were already rolling down her cheeks, “What do you w-want from me, please?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked slowly, “The whole issue about the cameras in Beale Crest doesn’t seem to be affecting the Student’s president. I wonder why,” he drawled leisurely, each slow, calculated word sending a new wave of fear into her body. “I always wondered if that was because you had no secrets you were hiding, but then, everyone has skeletons in their cupboards. It wasn’t too difficult to discover yours.”
The hairs on the back of her neck hackled immediately and subsequently, goosebumps crawled all over her skin. “W-What?” she gasped, the color draining out of her sweaty, glistening face, “what the hell are you even talking about? Just let me go!”
“If you cooperate, you’ll leave her much quicker, Sam Spears.” He said calmly, but his voice still carried that menacing bite that stilled her. “I heard about what happened in your high school back in Australia, a few years before you moved down to Memphis. Redgum High school, two years ago, you were expelled for a dreadful case of sexual immorality. Of course, your father strived to sweep such a scandal under the carpets, but you see, guys like me have a way of unravelling such secrets.”
Now, the sweat froze on her body and she stood rigid to the spot, like an ice sculpture. It all shattered before her eyes, her reputation, the only grasp she had on a social life; her position as the student’s president. The trust of her lecturers and the school’s management. *Everything!*
“You’re awkwardly silent…anyone who got expelled for making out with her own brother in the staffroom would be.”
“Oh God!” her lips quivered as she mumbled tearfully, “how the hell did you find out? Who are you?”
“I am the one that gets whatever he wants if he wants it badly enough,” came the stern reply, “But that’s not all, is it? Last summer, you went on a vacation with your brother. Spent a cool night on the beach, fucked on the beach, in your hotel room, in the bar, in the jacuzzi…you guys had so much fun. No wonder you’re called the Spears…iron sharpens iron, no?”
“You have no proof whatsoever.” She stated through clattering teeth, praying fervently that through some miracle, he was just bluffing.
A phone appeared from the darkness and a picture that made Sam’s bones shake was portrayed on the screen. Her heart sunk to her stomach and she felt nauseous instantly. Her vision became blurry, but she could still see the different images of her and her brother, in different sexual positions.
“How did you get these?!”
“Stop asking stupid questions. I could leak these photos.” He said and switched off the phone when she tried to snatch it. “Don’t be stupid, Sam. You’re a smart girl. These photos would tarnish the image of your father…the media would definitely love to feast on something like this. Incest…a forbidden love.”
Sam swallowed, she felt completely defeated at this point, her heart was shattered, but her veins still pumped fear into its broken pieces. “You don’t want money.”
“Frankly, I am richer than you are.”
“Then, what do you want?” she asked weakly.
“For now, your patience. I still have one last bombshell to drop on those thin shoulders of yours,” he said and placed his hands on her shoulders, causing her body to jolt violently. “Relax, Sam, let your body be at rest. I don’t want to destroy you completely.”
“I’ll give you whatever you want…even if it’s my body, I will!”
He scoffed mockingly, “Don’t flatter yourself. You wouldn’t make me look at you twice even if you were stark naked…but I know that Mr. Callum would love to see that naked body of yours again.”
It felt like Mia had just been rocked into another turbulent wave of shock the moment she heard Mr. Callum’s name. Her fingers began to shake, they felt so cold, like ice popsicles. When she swallowed, she felt a lump at the base of her throat.
Mr. Callum was the youngest lecturer in the entire college with a perfect, full beard and charming augite blue eyes that could bewitch any lady. Most of the girls in Beale Crest had a thing or two to do with Mr. Callum, but Sam had stuck with him for her vigorous energy and willingness to spread her legs whenever he wished.
“Don’t stress. I know about your affair with the biology teacher. You meet in the lab, every Wednesday, at least, you used to until you became the student’s president. I suppose he was teaching you more about your body than you should know,” he remarked.
She crumbled to her knees, her head was pounding, his daunting words reverberating and plaguing her mind. She winced, the ache at the back of her head felt like someone was scratching a metal plate with nails and how much she hated it!
“What do you want?” she cried, “you know everything about me…w-what do you want?”
“A protest.”
She sniffled and tried to turn around, but his strong arm kept her head in place. “What? A protest? Why?”
“To put an end to this bullshit the college has implemented. A protest for them to take down those cameras and destroy whatever evidence they have. You’re the voice here, Sam, only you can rally a protest. And that is what I want you to do.”
“A bunch of students protesting won’t make Jenkins and the board change their minds, you should know that!” she protested feebly.
“Not a bunch of students, Sam,” he crouched down so she could see the mask that shielded his face, “Every single student in Beale Crest, holding up signs and yelling at the management for infringing on our privacy. It’s a private school, do you think they’ll want all that publicity?” he asked and she remained silent, “Noon, tomorrow, the protest should start. I expect a general announcement from you then tonight, Sam Spears.”
She swallowed and slowly rose to her feet, sniffling and wiping her cheeks with her palm. This was it, her favors with the school’s management was officially over.
“And what if it doesn’t work?” she asked precariously.
“Then I guess everyone will know that Sam Spears has a birth mark just under her left nipple and another one on her right butt cheek.”
Her eyes tore wide with fear once more, “You can’t do this to me! Please! I’m begging you!”
He cleared his throat and brushed past her. He unlocked the door and turned to her, “Put a smile on your face.” He commanded and nodded when a spurious smile trickled across her terrified face, “you have to make it work, Sam. Everyone is depending on you…even your family and Mr. Callum’s job.”
She walked to the door, every step she took sprang a vibration into her bones, the heat from the claustrophobic experience made her gasp and she took a deep, shaky breath.
“Now, fuck off.”
Her fingers shook and she felt the pressing need to wretch her guts out when her stomach churned once again.