Chapter 3

ZADIE COLKIN.

Running.

There’s lots of running.

I think I’m getting away but the forest becomes thicker, the grass holds my sneakers and my chest betrays me by robbing me of breath.

Compelled to look at the monster chasing me behind like a machine, my eyes fling to him and the sick scumbag grins cynically at me.

I turn forward but there’s no trace of Theo or his maroon Ford.

Sweating buckets, praying to the Good Lord that if he gets me out of here, I will remain his faithful servant, my thoughts are cut short when huge ropey palms cocoon themselves around my neck.

Fear paralyzes me on the spot as his scent brings tears to my eyes.

I’m like a bunny under the mercy of a wolf.

And this wolf?

He wraps his hand around my neck deeper and like one of those creepy hot dudes who also happen to be serial killers out for blood in chick flicks, his breath pricks my neck, his lips slightly grazing my right ear before he whispers, “You’ve been a very bad girl Zadie.”

Then he strangles me and I let out a scream.

***

“Zadie? Zee?” My roommate’s voice pulls me out of the nightmare I relived and actually experienced tonight.

Well minus the choking part.

But who knows? If he wasn’t going to choke me, maybe he would have done something worse.

No creep chases you in the woods without having a backup plan of killing you once he catches you because that’s what he did…

HE chased me! That maniac, that… he chased me into the woods, shirtless, crazy, smirking!

“Ria?” my mouth feels dry as I sit up, my eyes opening painfully to the atrocious lighting in my room.

My roommate who is in a night dress barely reaching her thighs, holds my hands, concern etched in her face.

Funny how in the middle of the night, straight after she jumped out of bed, her hair is still in one piece and her face looks divine.

That’s Aria Dunlop for you.

While I look like I jumped out of a horror movie with swollen eyes and my mane of hair all over the place.

Ria is about to say something when my other roommate, Hailey pushes my bedroom door open and walks in with a glass of water.

I take the glass with wobbly hands. I dunk down the water like a thirsty bitch stuck in Florida's summer heat.

“So are we going to talk about it or are we going to pretend you weren’t screaming non-stop while sleeping?” Ria asks.

“I had a nightmare”, I whisper, holding the now-empty glass for support.

“Yeah, no shit. What Sydney Sweeney over here is trying to ask is that, are we going to talk about the obvious state you came in, Zadie?”

Born and bred in Austin, Texas, Hailey Rogers is the toughest girl I know in North U. Add in the fact that her favorite sport is bull-riding and ‘crushing men’s balls when the need arises’, her words not mine, and what can I say? You’ve gotta love the girl.

Right now though, I don’t like her.

I want to scream in her face that her bad advice of ‘hitting a guy in the nuts’ when you are cornered turned out to be a bad freaking idea.

I 'hit a guy in the nuts’. No, scratch that, I punched someone in the nuts today and you want to know what it did to him, Hailey?

Nothing. Why? Because seconds later he was chasing me like he barely felt the pain.

But instead, because I’m Zadie Colkin.

The Zadie who’s too good, too pure, too well-mannered to say stuff like that out loud, I fake my way out of Hailey’s scrutiny.

“I went out for a run.”

The lie comes out of my mouth with a wobble.

Ria’s blue eyes gaze at Hailey then back at me.

“Listen, Zee, you don’t want to talk about it? Then let’s not talk about it but as your best friends of course we’ll be concerned when you show up with mud in your sneakers, your face pale and-.”

“Did Theodore do something to you?” Hailey cuts Ria off and I look at her unbelievably.

I mean did Theodore fail to pick me up tonight and I ended up hailing a cab? Yeah, but he wouldn’t leave me unless he had a reason to.

“What? No! Why would you even think that?”

“Why? Because he picked you up in that fancy car of his and the next time we see you, you are running out of a cab, straight into the dorm and into your room without a word. Ooh did I forget to mention the smell of vodka on you?”

“You know I don’t drink.”

I’ve never drunk alcohol in my entire life. Tristan didn’t want me to and with the kind of father we have, I don’t think I’ll ever indulge myself in drinking.

“That doesn’t answer my question, Zadie. We know you love the guy and he is like North U’s favorite golden boy but if he hurt you? I’m getting my bat out and I’m smashing those golden balls of his that the prospects of him having children in the future will be slim.”

Ria stands up and sighs into the night with a slight head shake.

Out of the three of us, she’s the most kind. While Hailey has her tomboy thing going on, Ria at the age of twenty looks like she stepped out of a Teen Vogue magazine.

“No one is getting a bat or smashing anything. But I’m with Hails on this one, Zadie. If Theo did something to-.”

“He didn’t”, I assure them.

“Good then let’s all call it a night. Night, Zadie. Hailey?”

“I’ve got a bat ready. All you’ve got to do is say the word, Zadie.” Hailey pushes and Ria rolls her eyes pulling her towards the door.

“Good night, Hailey”, I grin.

Switching the lights off, they are out of my room and I place the glass on my nightstand wiping my hair out of my sweaty face.

“You are okay. You are okay. He didn’t recognize you. It’s over. It’s all over.”

My attempt at a pep talk only makes my heartbeat accelerate.

My mind travels to that desk.

To the feeling of being trapped while those girls screamed their hearts out with pleasure. To the way my legs closed in on themselves beneath that desk as the devil himself bathed in gory sex.

Each time he thrust out then thrust in, the desk wobbled and my whole body shook, stealing my sanity as well.

Then he had caught me. Dark menacing eyes stared me down and fear spidered across my skin the only thing to do was to look for a way out.

So I did what Hailey would do in such a situation but it backfired big time.

But it’s over now.

It’s over.

I pick up my phone from the nightstand looking at the time.

It’s not the one ten a.m. littering my screen that has me spooked a little.

It’s the messages that litter my screen.

I press on Theo’s message first. I knew he would text and explain himself.

My breathing falters though when I see that he’s sent a video instead.

Shock, trepidation and beguiling surprise weigh me down like a hammer to the chest when I watch it.

“No. No. No…”

Theo got caught?

Theo got caught and they made him say all those things?

I call Theo, the calls go straight to voicemail. I text him and nothing.

Jesus Christ, I feel like I’m going to throw up as I press the messages from the other number.

The one that says ‘Unknown’ number whilst splashed with a sickening dark bold font.

Unknown: Same time. Same place tomorrow. Don’t be late, Violet. I get twitchy when people come in late.

The text came in four hours ago.

Four hours after escaping the campus on the other side of this small island.

Four hours after escaping him.

My hands shake as I tap the text box, signing myself to a dance with the devil.

Me: Where is Theo?

I think he’ll not text back, my mind banks on it.

That’s until I see the dancing three dots.

Unknown: You are supposed to be asleep, Violet.

Me: What did you do to him?

Unknown: Send me those eyes first then we can speak about the rest later.

Me: I’ll go to the cops. If something happens to Theodore Archibald, you are going to rot behind bars for years.

He sends what looks like a contact number before the three dots start dancing again.

Unknown: Chief of police’s contact. Word to the wise though, he worships me. I’d be careful on what you tell him.

The message is clear.

He owns the police. Damn him.

So, I do what normal people do when they are threatened. Negotiate with the fucker.

Me: What do you want?

Unknown: In the future? You on your knees for me. Right now? I want those eyes, Violet.

Me: Release Theo first.

Unknown: Tell you what? How about I release two of his fingers first? Wrap them in a satin bow and leave them by your door.

Me: You wouldn’t.

Unknown: You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’d do or wouldn’t do. Eyes, Violet. Still waiting on those eyes.

Me: Then you’ll let Theo go?

I sound like I’m begging and that’s because I am.

I know what he did to Tristan, I saw Tristan myself and I wouldn’t… wouldn’t want that for Theo.

He was caught because of me. He must have gone back for me and I…

Unknown: Cross my heart and hope to die.

My stomach bottoming out, fear holding me captive, I do what he asks.

What every guy asks for when they see me. Not a picture of my face, not my body but my eyes.

The only interesting thing going on with me. The only thing they can make fun of.

I angle the front camera to my face, tears brimming my eyes but I refuse to cower.

One tap. One picture. Then I hit send.

The imbecile ghosts me right after he sees the picture.

And it's safe to say I don’t sleep a wink for the rest of the night wondering if I’ll find Theo’s fingers or something worse on my porch when I wake up tomorrow.

***

Three days.

Three agonizing frustrating days with no word on Theo.

I can’t ask Tris about Theo because he’ll suspect something’s up and I can’t be the one to tell him that his best friend is being held captive by Ethan Volkov, the same guy who broke his arm.

I could ask the football guys but they only speak to me when Theo and Tristan are around so that’s a no.

I tried texting the guy behind all this and he didn’t text back so I blocked him.

Four days later and my sanity is running away from me.

The only two options running through my mind are to go to South U campus, right to where the Devil’s spawn lives and confront him.

The other option, an option I’m afraid of, is to tell Tristan everything.

Tell him while he’s healing and possibly not playing football for the next few months, that his best friend might be injured or dead.

I hardly pay attention to Mr. Shaman’s business class; I hardly pay attention as I clutch my books to my chest exiting the class in a rush only to be stopped by the six-foot guy smiling at me.

“Zadie? Seth. From the football team? We met a couple weeks ago.”

“Yeah, I remember you. Friends with Tristan, right? Did something happen to him?”

He smiles at me and I’m forced to smile back as we walk away from the door to pave the way for other students.

“No. No. We are in business class together. Thought I might walk you to your next class?”

Oh.

“Ooh.”

Why?

Seth is a jock. Jocks don’t talk to me unless they are told to and with everything happening to me, forgive me if I’m a little apprehensive of the guy wearing a varsity jacket, a pair of blue faded jeans and a boyish smile.

“So I was thinking”, here it comes, “the guys and I are throwing a party on Saturday at the Old Maple Grill shack. Thought you might be interested in…”

“Tristan wouldn’t allow it.”

I cut him off so fast, it feels a little arrogant on my part.

Seth scratches the back of his neck like how every teenage boy does when he wants a girl to swoon.

“Tristan won’t be there.”

I know. All the more reason for me not to want to be there.

The last party wasn’t great for me. I don’t think I can tolerate another either.

“I don’t think parties are my kind of-.”

“But you would say yes in a heartbeat to Theo, wouldn’t you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Listen Zadie, we all notice you drooling for Theo at every game and I’d hate to be the one to break it to you but the dude barely notices your existence. Me however? I’m doing you a favor, Zadie.

You think it’s every day a guy like me asks out a girl like you?”

I steel my voice, clutching my books tighter, “A girl like me?”

I know whatever he says will break me. I can feel it in my gut but no one would have prepared me when his words tear me limb from limb.

“A fat bitch.”

I’ve been called ‘fat’ behind my back but to my face? It stings harder than a slap and trust me I’ve tasted enough slaps from my father to know what they feel like.

My head lowers and the books in my hands press my chest harder.

That gives Seth more power because I can feel his smirk as he walks away knowing who the loser is in this conversation.

Ria and Hailey are waiting for me in the next class.

I don’t think I can face them. I don’t think I can pretend ‘I’m okay’.

My feet start moving, my heart on the brink of diving into a vat of sorrowfulness but I keep those tears in.

Don’t let Seth win. Don’t think like that. Don’t…

Five minutes later, I’m in the library, hiding between the rows of shelves.

I close my eyes and my throat burns with tears.

My chest heaves, like a dam about to break but I lock it in.

My hands clutch the wood supporting me from behind as my books fall to the floor.

I’ll pick them up later. What matters now is…

“You are a hard woman to find, Violet”, the deep gravelly voice touches my warm skin like a whip.

I don’t need to know it’s him because I remember him.

I know his scent. Same bergamot scent. Same leather scent.

I know his voice. Same malicious voice in that video that ordered Theo around like a dog.

His breath skates over my forehead, his chest too close to mine such that every time I breathe, my chest rises and it meets with his and a curdling shiver crawls its way up my spine.

He doesn’t stop there. No, not this devil.

Cornering me in a library is not enough to feed his cynicism because, in mere seconds, his huge hand with long, tapered fingers reach inside the slit of my maxi-jean skirt gripping my left thigh.

The minute those cold hands of his touch my skin, I jerk back but there’s nowhere to run to as my back meets the shelf behind me.

“You blocked me, Violet?”

I open my eyes and look up. There he stands. In the flesh. In broad daylight and he looks just as enthralling as he did the other night.

“You took Theo! Where’s Theo? What did you do to him?”

Swirling dark eyes study me for a second before they move down to my lips and I swallow saliva nervously when he opens his mouth.

“Touch me.”

What the hell?

“You are insane.”

His face moves in closer, our breaths mixing, my confidence wavering.

“Touch. Me. Now.”

I lift my hand, sucking in air deeply as I eat the distance between us.

My finger pokes his jaw and that has him raging mad.

“Don’t be cute, Zadie. Not in the mood for games.”

“Playing games? Who’s the asshole in my school, in my library, telling me to touch him like a pervert?”

His hand creeps up my thigh and my back arches in surprise.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what? Move north, spread your legs, spread that pussy wide open and find out if it’s as pretty as these damning eyes. Touch me, violet.”

A sharp sensation pierces my belly and I suck in a ragged breath.

“W- where?”

“Anywhere”, he says. Like it’s new for him to be touched, like he’s holding his breath waiting for me to do it.

My palm rests on his cheek and the minute his hand reaches out to hold mine against his face, I know I’m fucked.