Page 54 of Dark Things
Staff sighs, adjusting his shirt. “She’s the reason. It’s been five years and once we figured out Mario was a part of what happened to her, there was no choice. We have to find her, and we’d do so by any means necessary. She’s the part of our souls that’s been missing.”
I can’t listen to this anymore. My flight instinct is riding me hard. But Haunt keeps me in my chair with slight pressure on my neck.
“Never heard of her. Why would Mario know where she is?” Haunt asks.
“Something bad happened, something we couldn’tprevent, and now she’s gone. Mario was in the city when it went down. He’s been dangling her whereabouts in front of us for close to two years. Why do you think we chose to go to this small college instead of somewhere more prestigious? It’s not like we were hurting for options,” Colter says.
Haunt chuckles, but I can’t bring myself to find the humor in Colter’s snobbishness. This has to be a bad dream, searching for me when they’re the ones who left. Abandoned me.
“Mario won’t be a problem for long. My suggestion, stay out of the way and maybe you get to graduate from this ‘small’ college. We can’t help you,” I say, standing.
Haunt gets up and grabs our garbage. “I’d listen to Reb. You boys wouldn’t like what happens when people get in our way. We aren’t just some college students. If you think your two years have been hard, it’s nothing compared to what we’ve had to endure.”
Colter grabs my wrist before I can walk away, and I’m momentarily distracted by the touch. It sends electricity coursing through me. Then my brain comes back online, and my blade is poised over his crotch.
“Remove your hand before I slice your dick off, and you bleed out before you can even get out of the chair,” I sneer.
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, my food threatens to come back up. I thought I’d want to end them, but being this close and smelling his cologne ofbourbon and smoke, slams into me like a sucker punch. I want to scream.
Instead of letting go he pulls me closer, our noses almost touching. His amber eyes glow in the light looking like the inside of a flame. “Help us, and we’ll give you whatever you want. If it’s Mario, I’ll set the bastard up, but we need that information. We have to find her, and we can’t let him die before we get it.”
“If she was so important, you wouldn’t have lost her in the first place. She’s better off without you.”
I nick his wrist, and he lets go. I straighten up and walk out. Haunt at my back. Once I’m in the sunshine, he grabs me around the waist and pulls me in between two buildings, shielding us from the rest of the crowd.
“Breathe. You can’t flip out here. It’s not safe,” Haunt says, holding my face between his large hands.
The first tear slips free, and I growl in frustration. “I don’t believe them. They aren’t looking for me. It’s not…they’re not,” I say.
“You need a distraction. Let’s go to the slaughterhouse and see if there’s something we can help with, yeah? Or maybe a rookie you can take out some of this aggression on.”
“Don’t you have practice?”
I’m clutching his hands so hard, I’m pretty sure he’s going to have imprints of my fingertips.
“Not today. I can’t be in the same space as them right now. You’re more important than football or this school. Let’s go take care of this before you explode.”
I close my eyes for a moment. He gives me a quick kiss before taking a step back, releasing my face.
“Okay. I need to hit something,” I say, shaking my shoulders out.
He grabs my hand and we walk out toward the parking lot. I can see the car in the distance, but before we make it too far a loud voice catches my attention.
“She’s a disgusting slut.”
I stop in my tracks and spin toward the voice. A smile spreads across my face.Perfect.
Before Haunt can stop me, I’m letting him go and march right in front of her. There’s not going to be a third warning.
“Say it louder for those of us who didn’t hear you clearly,” I say, venom dripping from my voice.
She snarls and gets closer to me. “I said you’re a disgusting slut. Spreading your legs for everyone. That’s the only reason why a guy like Brooks would go for a girl like you.”
She swings at my face, and I let her. I need the witnesses to see that she made the first move. But when she catches my cheek and I feel the sting of a cut from her nails, I don’t think, I just react. My fist flies, and makes contact before she can spit anymore words out. A crack echoes through the courtyard.
She only stumbles, because I didn’t put my full weight behind it. Her face turns tomato red and she lunges for me, but I shift to the side and use the momentum to pull her away from me.
She trips in her ridiculous heels and goes flying to the ground. Screeching, she scrambles upright, but before she can come at me again Brooks’ large body is between us.
