Page 96 of Save Me

I keep walking behind him, his hand never leaving mine, until we turn down a hallway with flickering lights. The further we walk, the brighter the space gets, and I notice that the rooms around us are bright now, their lights turned on. Jax stops in front of a steel door before turning to me.

“If you change your mind, you let me know. If you want to leave, just say the word. But if you want to stay, whatever you want to do, you have every right.”

I look into his eyes, at the understanding behind them, and nod.

“I want to talk to them,” I say, forcing a façade of confidence.

“That’s my girl,” Jax says with a nod of approval, before pulling the door open and leading me inside.

I gasp at the scene that greets my eyes, at the sight of Rhett and Tanner with their hands bound above their head, shirtless and tied to a metal rafter in the ceiling, their bodies swaying slightly as their feet barely touch the ground. Their eyes widen when they see me, and muffled sounds come from their mouths, currently covered in duct tape.

I let go of Jax’s hand, approaching them slowly, and not failing to note the various tools sitting on a table in the corner of the room. As I get closer to them, it becomes clear how their chat with Ryan and Jax went earlier; their bodies are speckled in bruises and blood, and both have black eyes. There’s blood on the floor beneath them, and it’s not until I walk behind them that I realize where it’s coming from.

I inhale sharply, unable to hide my shock as I look at their backs, both etched with dozens of cuts. Some are shallow, already crusted over with dried blood, and others are still dripping, the blood making a sickening sound as it drops onto the cement beneath their feet.

I look to Jax, who is leaning up against the wall by the door we came through, his arms crossed as a smile plays on his lips.

“You …”

“One cut for every one you had, love,” he says.

I look at their backs, the marks almost identical to what my back looked like when Jax first found me. My chest swells, and I don’t want to admit how much seeing these two people tied up in front of me makes me love Jax even more; it seems fucked up to have this effect on me, but a part of me loves witnessing the lengths he went to implementing his own form of justice.

Jax pushes off the wall, walking towards Rhett and Tanner, before ripping the tape from their lips one at a time.

They both swear under their breath, and I walk back around so I’m facing them.

“You stupid fucking—”

I jump as Jax’s fist finds Tanner’s face before he can finish his sentence.

“I won’t remind you again to be polite to her,” he whispers quietly into Tanner’s ear. “You speak to her like that once more and you lose your tongue.”

Tanner nods, but his eyes don’t leave mine, and I can feel the hate pouring off of him.

“Help us get out of here, Evi,” Rhett pleads. “Remember how good we used to be together? Remember all the times I bought you stuff? How well I took care of you? Let me make it up to you, let me show you how much you mean to me—”

“You had your friends kidnap me!” I say, my voice shaking with anger.

Rage floods through my veins.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Rhett whines. “It wasn’t anything serious. It was meant to be a prank, a pissing contest maybe, but it wasn’t anything serious, you know that. I was never going to let you get hurt—”

“You fuckingbrokeme.” I seethe before pacing back and forth. “And you’re trying to tell me it was aprank?” I repeat the words as I look at him. “Your friend fucking raped me while I was there, Rhett. You fucking threw me to the wolves, and not for the first time.” I pause. “Or do you forget that night you let them? The one you were all stupid enough to record?”

Rhett glances nervously between me and Jax. “I know the video looks bad, but I would never hurt you, babe. You know this. It wasn’t me in the video, it was the other guys!”

The sound of his voice makes me grind my teeth, his denial and gaslighting angering me as I realize what I put up with for so long,whoI put up with for so long. Without thinking I bringmy arm back and slam my fist into his abdomen, my technique almost perfect thanks to my training with Jax and Ryan. He heaves as the air leaves his lungs, coughing and sputtering as he tries to regain his breath.

“Stop playing stupid. You knowexactlywhat you did. And now I know everything too.” I wander casually over to the table with all the tools, most of the knives already covered in blood. I pick one up, twirling it in my hand as I walk back to Rhett. “I’ve dreamed of killing you, you know?” I see Jax look at me with a hint of surprise in his eyes. “I’ve dreamed of all the ways I could cause you pain, of how I could make you suffer before I was the one to drive a knife into your chest.”

Rhett’s chest is rising and falling rapidly as his breathing increases, and I see the fear in his wide eyes as he hangs there, helpless in front of me. I put the knife up to his chest, the tip digging into his skin enough that blood starts to trickle out of the wound.

“I forgive you,” I say, surprising myself as I pull the knife back. “And I’ll eventually be able to get to a place where I never even think about you anymore.” I pause, looking at him contemplatively.

“I wonder what will hurt you more: if I kill you slowly now, or if I leave alive so you think of me every time you suffer the consequences of your actions. When you can’t walk in public without people staring at you, when you can’t get a job anymore because everyone knows who you are—whatyou are. You’ll be forced to remember me and how the way you treated me led to your downfall, led to your entire family’s downfall.”

He doesn’t say anything in response, but stares at me with a mix of panic and anger behind his eyes.

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