Page 31 of A Wrench in the Plan
“Someone fucking gag him!” Dustin raged, fingers gripping my chin tighter. I couldn’t hold back the whimper of pain.
Chry was violently pushed flat on the ground. One of the other men pulled a dirty bandana from his back pocket at tied it around Chry’s head, making sure it was cutting into his mouth in a way that made me cringe.
“Is this him?” Dustin asked, releasing me before slid off the chair and stood tall. He walked over to Chry and kicked him hard in his side. “This the fuck you got feelings for? The reason why you wouldn’t give it up to me?”
My cheeks burned hot. I couldn’t look at Chry. He wasn’t supposed to know any of this.
Dustin stomped his way back over to me. His boots sounded like cannon blasts with each pounding step, making me flinch with every single one.
He leaned over, face right next to my ear, but he wasn’t quiet when he spoke.
“This the one you’re saving yourself for? The one you’re in love with? The one you broke up with me for?”
He burst out laughing, and so did the rest of his men. His hot breath against the side of my face made my skin crawl. I suddenly wished I hadn’t been so open with him when I’d broken things off. But at the time, I had thought he was a decent person, and I’d explained that I was in love with someone else so that he would understand that it wasn’t anything he had done.
“This little pussy is deserving of your cunt?” Dustin sounded as if it was all a big joke. “Look at him!”
His hand was on my face again, forcing my focus in Chry’s direction.
I couldn’t say what I saw when I looked at Chry. Shock. Confusion. Hurt. It seemed he was trying to process all three at once. But when he blinked those emotions away, the rage was back in his eyes. Only this time, I wasn’t sure who it was meant for.
“You let him at it yet?” Dustin asked, evil threaded through each word.
I’d had a relatively safe life up until this moment. I’d never been beaten up. Or harassed— well, not beyond the cruel kids at school saying stupid stuff. I’d never had that terrifying prickle of awareness and that feeling of what was about to come. Not like this. Not like I had it now, the way it shot down my spine, causing every limb to go numb and tingle.
Chry must have sensed it too, because his eyes were growing wider with every deep, angry breath he took in.
Everything seized as Dustin grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked me up. My lungs, my brain, my body, no longer working at all.
He tossed me over the seat of the chair, pinning me down with one hand between my shoulder blades.
“No,” I screamed, finally able to get something to work.
My legs kicked. My raw ankle tugged against the rope, no doubt scraping off more skin. But I couldn’t feel it. My body thrashed, shoulders pulling as I stretched my bound arms behind me.
Chry was screaming against his gag, and with all the noise I heard in the background, I could only picture him doing his best to get free from his restraints.
I felt Dustin’s dirty hand on my thigh, sliding up over my skin. Bile rose in my throat, but I refused to vomit. My skirt rode up, and then I felt his fingers curl onto the band of my underwear. He dragged them down my legs, finally giving up when he couldn’t get them past my knees, choosing to rip them instead. I heard him inhale deeply a moment later, and this time, I nearly did vomit.
“I’ll save these for later. Be nice to have something to remember this moment by.”
His body was over mine, his chest pressing down on my back. All the air rushed out of my lungs and my chest felt too tight to pull another breath in.
“Why are you doing this?” I whimpered out.
“Because you owe me,” he said, breath hot on my face. Then his tongue dragged line up the side of my face, leaving a wet trail that I couldn’t wipe off. It would always be there. Just like his hands on my skin.
I closed my eyes and fell limp. I couldn’t stop this. Chry couldn’t stop this. There was nothing left to do but let it happen and hope I survived what came after.
Chry raged in the background.
If he didn’t stop, he was going to hurt himself, or worse, they were going to hurt him.
I sucked in a deep breath as I raised my head. The moment my eyes locked with his, he froze. He was on his stomach, pinned to the ground by the boots of two different men. Shaking my head, I silently tried to tell him this wasn’t his fault, because I knew he was blaming himself, and he would continue to put the blame on himself long after this was over.
“Quit fuckin’ around,” a man said as he stomped into the room. Someone that hadn’t been there before. He was new. And the way Dustin froze on top of me let me know this man had more power than him. “You can fuck the bitch after we find out where my brother is.”
I let out a sob. I hated how weak I was. This man might have saved me for the moment, but it was clear that not one single person standing in the room was going to help me out.
