Hideaway
Page 19
I exhaled, my nerves relaxing.
Pushing the lid open, I looked up, seeing three of them standing over me, their eyes barely visible through their masks. A chuckle came from the slightly shorter one to the left, in the white and red mask—Will—and I quickly wiped my tears away and scrambled out of the trunk.
“Assholes!” I growled, shoving the one in the silver mask I knew to be Kai with both hands, and then darting out and slamming Michael in the straight, red mask with a hand in the chest. They may not know much about me, but I knew exactly who they were and the bullshit they liked to pull simply because they could. I couldn’t believe they did this! Rich boys playing at being bad.
But the joke was on them. You’re not really bad when you only do shit under the security of never having to suffer consequences.
And where was Damon? I looked around for their fourth, but aside from all the cars in the lot, it was empty.
“That wasn’t funny,” I barked.
The one in the middle simply looked at me, while the other two chuckled softly, walking away and leaving us. I followed them with my eyes, seeing them head off into the brush and disappearing into the trees. More than two dozen cars were parked around us in the gravel, make-shift lot, but there were no buildings, no houses, just forest and cars.
Where the hell were we? It looked like just a clearing in the woods.
I turned back, seeing Kai approach me, his mask still on. He placed one hand on the lid and pointed at the lever I’d pulled inside.
“Every car made since 2002 has one,” he told me. “If that ever happens to you again, you know what to do.”
I scowled up at him. “If that ever happens again, my crew won’t be as polite as they were earlier.”
David might get on my case a lot, but he’d cut out their tongues if he knew what they’d done.
But then, suddenly, Kai pressed into me, making me fall back into the trunk and land on my ass. My legs dangled over the side, and I looked up him, his long body blocking my escape.
“Is that supposed to be a threat?”
And then he leaned down, his vicious mask an inch from my face, making my stomach flip. “I was raised to be a gentleman,” he said, “but if you send other men after me, catching my interest will be the worst mistake you ever made.”
I forced a sneer, but a shiver ran down my spine anyway.
He straightened and lifted the mask off his head, revealing the face I knew was underneath. His dark eyes, underneath even darker eyebrows, stared down at me like a dare, and a sense of foreboding nipped at my insides. But I didn’t look away.
A light layer of sweat matted the edges of his hair, making it messy and sexy. So rare for him to have anything out of place.
Without saying a word, he walked away from me, toward the front of the car and out of sight.
I heard the crunch of gravel slowly getting fainter and fainter, and then it was gone, and I twisted my head, confused.
What? I hopped out of the trunk and slammed it shut, looking over the hood. Where did he go?
Where did they all go?
A sea of cars spread out before me, a forest of trees in every direction, and I looked up, seeing the first stars peeking out of the sapphire sky. The sun had set a while ago, and it would be dark soon.
Chills covered my arms. Shit.
Twisting my head, I saw the narrow, unpaved road behind me that we came down. The emptiness of it as it wound around a turn and disappeared creeped me out. I should go that way. It had to lead to the highway.
But music made my ears perk up, and I turned back to the way Kai went. A girl’s cheer rang out in the night, and I studied the darkness of the dense forest ahead as the beat of subwoofers vibrated off my body.
All these cars, all these people…they were in the woods somewhere. This was a party.
I glanced behind me again. I should take the road. Walk home, catch a ride…whatever.
But he’d brought me here, hadn’t he? Maybe I was a little curious. He was daring me.
Walking around the car, I headed straight for the woods. Someone at this party would have a phone, and I’d call David. He’d blame this on me, but he’d keep his mouth shut. Neither one of us wanted to suffer the consequences of me being here.
I jogged, looking around as gold and orange leaves shuffled under my shoes. The scent of burning wood drifted into my nostrils, but I didn’t see a fire or any people yet. Where were they? I could still hear the music in the distance, so I continued straight into the darkening woods.
I shot a glance back to the parking lot, the light from the clearing getting smaller and smaller.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. I searched the brush again. “Hello?” I called.
Where was I exactly? I’d taken walks in the woods, but I don’t think I’d ever been out this far. I was pretty sure the sea cliffs sat half a mile to my left, Loch Lairn Cave was behind Stuart Hill to my right, and the Bell Tower should be…
Right there. I looked up, off to my right, and squinted my eyes ahead, making out the stone tower about two stories high and the tall, green shrubbery around it.
The Bell Tower was a ruin, part of an old village that died out over a hundred years ago when a bad storm drove everyone inland a few miles for safety.
“Hello?” I called again. Maybe someone was over there. “Hello?”
My heart raced. It was getting dark.
“Kai!” I shouted.
My foot caught on a log, and I stumbled forward, hearing a creaking branch to my right. I jerked my head, looking for where it came from.
Nothing.
Then a swoosh of leaves sounded behind me, and I spun around, panting.
“Who’s there?”
I caught sight of something black and turned my eyes just a hair to the left.
Kai stood there, leaning his shoulder into a tree and watching me.
I immediately took a step backward. “Wha—What are you doing?”
How long had he been there? He had been behind me, which meant I passed him on my trek. A chill ran down my spine.
He took a step, his mask dangling from his hand.
I glanced around. “Where is everyone? Why’d you bring me here?”
He didn’t answer, his eyes locked on mine as he moved closer. What the fuck?
I moved one step back for his every step forward.
“It was stupid of you to eavesdrop on me today,” he stated calmly. “And an even bigger mistake to reveal yourself earlier. I might never have known it was you.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, still retreating. The music in the distance felt like a lifeline all of a sudden, and he probably knew what I was thinking.
“You should run,” he said, his warning cool and quiet.
Should I? But this was Kai. I didn’t know him, but I’d watched him. He was the good one. The quiet one.
He was playing with me.
“You…” I stammered. “You won’t do anything.”
“Like I didn’t do anything to that girl in the shower?” he challenged me. “You think I’d go to all this trouble to get you here just to let you go?”
Maybe. Yes. Okay, no, but…
“You see, I don’t like being teased,” he continued, one of his eyebrows arched. “Respect and reverence are important to me, and you have neither. You need to learn a lesson.”
“That’s not true.” I did respect him. I didn’t know he was going to be in that confessional today. I didn’t mean to listen.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I told him, but my feet betrayed me, still backing up.
“That’s because you think you know what’s happening right now.”
And suddenly, I hit a wall.
“But you don’t,” he finished.
I froze, feeling something behind me. Slowly, I twisted around to see Michael standing there, towering over me.
What? I shot my eyes back to Kai, seeing one corner of his mouth lift in a small smile.
Oh, shit.
My breath caught in my throat as Michael’s red skull stared down at me, and I understood the feeling of walls closing in from before. I looked around. We were out here alone. Them and me.
And what about Will? Was he still out here somewhere, too?
I changed direction, moving left and backing away from both of them now. They stepped slowly toward me, Michael pulling off his mask and then his hoodie and T-shirt, and dropping them to the ground.
Pushing the lid open, I looked up, seeing three of them standing over me, their eyes barely visible through their masks. A chuckle came from the slightly shorter one to the left, in the white and red mask—Will—and I quickly wiped my tears away and scrambled out of the trunk.
“Assholes!” I growled, shoving the one in the silver mask I knew to be Kai with both hands, and then darting out and slamming Michael in the straight, red mask with a hand in the chest. They may not know much about me, but I knew exactly who they were and the bullshit they liked to pull simply because they could. I couldn’t believe they did this! Rich boys playing at being bad.
But the joke was on them. You’re not really bad when you only do shit under the security of never having to suffer consequences.
And where was Damon? I looked around for their fourth, but aside from all the cars in the lot, it was empty.
“That wasn’t funny,” I barked.
The one in the middle simply looked at me, while the other two chuckled softly, walking away and leaving us. I followed them with my eyes, seeing them head off into the brush and disappearing into the trees. More than two dozen cars were parked around us in the gravel, make-shift lot, but there were no buildings, no houses, just forest and cars.
Where the hell were we? It looked like just a clearing in the woods.
I turned back, seeing Kai approach me, his mask still on. He placed one hand on the lid and pointed at the lever I’d pulled inside.
“Every car made since 2002 has one,” he told me. “If that ever happens to you again, you know what to do.”
I scowled up at him. “If that ever happens again, my crew won’t be as polite as they were earlier.”
David might get on my case a lot, but he’d cut out their tongues if he knew what they’d done.
But then, suddenly, Kai pressed into me, making me fall back into the trunk and land on my ass. My legs dangled over the side, and I looked up him, his long body blocking my escape.
“Is that supposed to be a threat?”
And then he leaned down, his vicious mask an inch from my face, making my stomach flip. “I was raised to be a gentleman,” he said, “but if you send other men after me, catching my interest will be the worst mistake you ever made.”
I forced a sneer, but a shiver ran down my spine anyway.
He straightened and lifted the mask off his head, revealing the face I knew was underneath. His dark eyes, underneath even darker eyebrows, stared down at me like a dare, and a sense of foreboding nipped at my insides. But I didn’t look away.
A light layer of sweat matted the edges of his hair, making it messy and sexy. So rare for him to have anything out of place.
Without saying a word, he walked away from me, toward the front of the car and out of sight.
I heard the crunch of gravel slowly getting fainter and fainter, and then it was gone, and I twisted my head, confused.
What? I hopped out of the trunk and slammed it shut, looking over the hood. Where did he go?
Where did they all go?
A sea of cars spread out before me, a forest of trees in every direction, and I looked up, seeing the first stars peeking out of the sapphire sky. The sun had set a while ago, and it would be dark soon.
Chills covered my arms. Shit.
Twisting my head, I saw the narrow, unpaved road behind me that we came down. The emptiness of it as it wound around a turn and disappeared creeped me out. I should go that way. It had to lead to the highway.
But music made my ears perk up, and I turned back to the way Kai went. A girl’s cheer rang out in the night, and I studied the darkness of the dense forest ahead as the beat of subwoofers vibrated off my body.
All these cars, all these people…they were in the woods somewhere. This was a party.
I glanced behind me again. I should take the road. Walk home, catch a ride…whatever.
But he’d brought me here, hadn’t he? Maybe I was a little curious. He was daring me.
Walking around the car, I headed straight for the woods. Someone at this party would have a phone, and I’d call David. He’d blame this on me, but he’d keep his mouth shut. Neither one of us wanted to suffer the consequences of me being here.
I jogged, looking around as gold and orange leaves shuffled under my shoes. The scent of burning wood drifted into my nostrils, but I didn’t see a fire or any people yet. Where were they? I could still hear the music in the distance, so I continued straight into the darkening woods.
I shot a glance back to the parking lot, the light from the clearing getting smaller and smaller.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. I searched the brush again. “Hello?” I called.
Where was I exactly? I’d taken walks in the woods, but I don’t think I’d ever been out this far. I was pretty sure the sea cliffs sat half a mile to my left, Loch Lairn Cave was behind Stuart Hill to my right, and the Bell Tower should be…
Right there. I looked up, off to my right, and squinted my eyes ahead, making out the stone tower about two stories high and the tall, green shrubbery around it.
The Bell Tower was a ruin, part of an old village that died out over a hundred years ago when a bad storm drove everyone inland a few miles for safety.
“Hello?” I called again. Maybe someone was over there. “Hello?”
My heart raced. It was getting dark.
“Kai!” I shouted.
My foot caught on a log, and I stumbled forward, hearing a creaking branch to my right. I jerked my head, looking for where it came from.
Nothing.
Then a swoosh of leaves sounded behind me, and I spun around, panting.
“Who’s there?”
I caught sight of something black and turned my eyes just a hair to the left.
Kai stood there, leaning his shoulder into a tree and watching me.
I immediately took a step backward. “Wha—What are you doing?”
How long had he been there? He had been behind me, which meant I passed him on my trek. A chill ran down my spine.
He took a step, his mask dangling from his hand.
I glanced around. “Where is everyone? Why’d you bring me here?”
He didn’t answer, his eyes locked on mine as he moved closer. What the fuck?
I moved one step back for his every step forward.
“It was stupid of you to eavesdrop on me today,” he stated calmly. “And an even bigger mistake to reveal yourself earlier. I might never have known it was you.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, still retreating. The music in the distance felt like a lifeline all of a sudden, and he probably knew what I was thinking.
“You should run,” he said, his warning cool and quiet.
Should I? But this was Kai. I didn’t know him, but I’d watched him. He was the good one. The quiet one.
He was playing with me.
“You…” I stammered. “You won’t do anything.”
“Like I didn’t do anything to that girl in the shower?” he challenged me. “You think I’d go to all this trouble to get you here just to let you go?”
Maybe. Yes. Okay, no, but…
“You see, I don’t like being teased,” he continued, one of his eyebrows arched. “Respect and reverence are important to me, and you have neither. You need to learn a lesson.”
“That’s not true.” I did respect him. I didn’t know he was going to be in that confessional today. I didn’t mean to listen.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I told him, but my feet betrayed me, still backing up.
“That’s because you think you know what’s happening right now.”
And suddenly, I hit a wall.
“But you don’t,” he finished.
I froze, feeling something behind me. Slowly, I twisted around to see Michael standing there, towering over me.
What? I shot my eyes back to Kai, seeing one corner of his mouth lift in a small smile.
Oh, shit.
My breath caught in my throat as Michael’s red skull stared down at me, and I understood the feeling of walls closing in from before. I looked around. We were out here alone. Them and me.
And what about Will? Was he still out here somewhere, too?
I changed direction, moving left and backing away from both of them now. They stepped slowly toward me, Michael pulling off his mask and then his hoodie and T-shirt, and dropping them to the ground.
