Page 56 of False Idols

“You shouldn’t have done that. If coach hears about it, you're going to be riding the pine pony. We fucking need you, man.”

“Coach isn’t going to hear about shit and if he does, who the fuck is anyone going to believe? Her or me?”

It’s the same words I said to Nevaeh, but hearing them from Jordan makes me want to step right out of the shadows and kill him in full sight of whoever the hell he’s talking to. I take a deep breath and steady myself before I do what I’m fantasizing about. I can see Jordan’s blood on my hands and on the knife I’ve got in my pocket. It’s the knife I bought the second I got to Bloom. The cashier recognized me, but they also knew I was innocent. They hadn’t said a word about me buying the weapon. It’s a tactical knife, something that’s small enough to be in my pocket or tucked into my boot without notice, but big enough to do exactly what I need it to do.

A lot of people get caught up on the size of the weapon. What they don’t think about is if you really want to kill someone, anything is a fucking weapon. The knife is plenty big for what I’m about to use it for.

I crouch low and move closer while the two talk. “Listen, all I’m saying is that it was fun or whatever to fuck with her, but that’s too far, man. You’re not The Reaper.”

“Maybe I fucking should be.”

Silence falls and I know Jordan surprised whoever he’s talking to. “That’s not cool, man. You don’t say shit like that.”

“Whatever. Get the fuck out of here.”

There’s a grunt of a reply and then I hear footsteps retreat. I wait a beat and then another before I hear the sound of moaning. It’s a woman. She isn’t just moaning, she’s letting out almost high pitched yelps now. A woman screams and I hear the sound of someone being hit. There’s the distinct sound of a fist connecting with flesh. Once you’ve fought your way out of enough corners, you recognize it. I hear a crash and a scream, but it’s not the standard scream associated with porno. She’s in pain. It sounds like a fucking horror movie. I half expect to hear a chainsaw with the way this shit sounds.

“Fuck yeah,” Jordan groans.

What the fuck?

I know he doesn’t have someone there with him. If I listen close enough, I can hear someone else. There’s the telltale slap of skin-on-skin and another man groaning along with the woman’s sobbing. When I get close enough to the end of the woodpile I’m able to get a clear shot of Jordan. He’s standing with his back pressed up along the shed, his dick in one hand and his phone in the other.

The woman screams on the screen and Jordan beats his dick faster. “Fucking bitch. You like that, huh?”

From the look of Jordan, I have maybe another minute before he blows his load all over the hedges. Good. I don’t want to look at the piece of shit while he gets off for much longer. If I slit his throat from this angle, he might see me, but no one from the party will.There’s no getting behind him with how he’s leaning on the shed, so if I want to circle the shed and approach from the other side, I’ll have to move fast.

“Suck that dick, Nevaeh.” My planning freezes. Red hazes over everything when I hear him moan her name. Jordan’s breath picks up. “Nevaeh, you fucking dirty slut.”

This piece of shit thinks he’s going to get off thinking about what belongs to me and live. Cute. Fuck going around the side of the shed. I want him to know it was me that cut his dick off. I rise from my crouch and cross the space between us in three strides. Turns out I was right about Jordan, because it’s when I’m bringing my knife up to his neck that he cums with a groan. I cut his throat while he’s still got his hand on his dick. When he opens his eyes in shock and sees me, I grab him by his stupid fucking letterman jacket and bring my knife down again on his still cumming dick he’s holding. And just like I knew it would, my knife gets the job done in two slices of my hand. I wipe my blade on his jacket and close it with a flick of my wrist.

Jordan tries to scream, but hardly any sound comes out. There’s only the gurgle and choking wet gasp that comes from his cut throat. I cut his vocal cords with how hard I brought the blade into him.

I can see the question in his eyes. Why? He doesn’t get it. Dumb fuck. He reaches out a bloody hand to me but I step away and kick him. He stumbles back towards the hedges and lands on his knees. The bonfire light catches on his face and there’s still that question. I’ve never had anyone look at me like that. Everyone I’ve ever hurt knows why. They know what they’ve done and that only retribution brought me against them, but this is different. Jordan doesn’t know and that just won’t do.

“Nevaeh,” I say her name, reverent as a prayer and I see the realization hit Jordan’s eyes. It’s beautiful seeing that knowing settle into the dickless fuck.

“You thought you could have Nevaeh,” I tell him with a tsk. “Nevaeh is mine.”

Jordan gurgles and tries to stand, but he can’t manage it. I just took his dick off, after all. He’s done. He knows it. Still, he manages to get to an almost standing position. It’s almost impressive and just in time for me to kick him in the chest and send him through the hedges and into the drainage ditch below us. Jordan falls with hardly a sound. There’s only a rustle of the underbrush and a few branches breaking on his way through. The only thing left of him is what’s left of his dick.

The Reaper might not have put a body there, but for Nevaeh I have. For Nevaeh I’ll bury this whole fucking town in bodies and blood. Jordan was just the beginning. I take another minute staring at the spot Jordan was just standing in before I pull out my phone to answer Ali’s text and head in to the party.

22

NEVAEH

The Chinese food mostly worked, which I knew it would. The dumplings there are my favorite and they turn out to be Sunny’s too. It was good to get her out of her head for a little while before we headed to the party. Beau’s text wasn’t just a text. It was a command. Like it or not, I had to go to the party and even if Sunny didn’t know what was going on, it was nice to have someone to walk with me. I felt less afraid with her there and I was free to do what I did best.

Pretend.

I pretended the entire walk to the party that everything was fine. It’s not that long of a walk to the party from the restaurant, which is nice. It’ll be easy getting home after. The house we’re going to sits on a hill just above campus, but the dorms are just at the bottom of the hill before you hit campus. Even if Sunny gets drunk it’ll at least be a downhill walk for us after the party. I pretend and think about that. I pretend and smile at Sunny like my week of peace hadn’t been shattered by Beau and I having sex again or that he’d told me to fight him. That I hadn’t gotten a rush of power that had made me want to make him pay. I pretended that Jordan hadn’t threatened to kill me or chased me through the stadium halls while Sunny screamed at him through my phone.

I glance over at her and worry. She seems like she’s settled mostly, but I know it was seeing what Jordan did, or hearing what he threatened to do to me that rattled her. It’s what made her want to pretend this was all just a scary movie that would end with the villain getting a taste of their own medicine, while we lived happily-ever-after. I worry that Sunny won’t stay and that I’ll be left alone. But because I’m pretending right now, I don’t let myself think about it.

When we get to the party it’s in full swing. The telltale buzz of my phone has me moving to see the message before I realize and Sunny whistles at me.

“So, when are you going to share who the mystery man is?” she asks when I open my phone to see that it’s not Beau. It’s Dean that’s messaged me.

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