My Bullies, My Lovers

6: Tori

Tori

Ryder isn't alone this time, Blaze and Thorne loom behind him like shadows swallowed by the darkness of the poorly lit parking lot. Bren is quick, pushing Ryder back as hard as he can, catching us all off guard as Ryder stumbles back. They're going to jump him and all I can do is watch.

He doesn't deserve this. Dammit Tori, why don't you have your phone?! You could be calling 9-1-1.

My heart aches, and my stomach feels like it just fell out of my ass as I stand there watching it all play out. Guilt wrecks my body when Ryder throws the first punch, aiming right for Bren's nose which instantly gushes blood upon contact. My head is shaking as if that would be enough to stop this from happening.

Bren tries to hit him back, only to be blocked by Blaze, who grabs his arms from behind as Ryder punches him in the stomach. It's a scene I've seen once before when Javier Luce had the guts to take me on a date my junior year. He knew the Iron Triad had a claim on me, but either he didn't realize how terribly it would end or he thought he could take them on. Maybe he didn't take the threat seriously at all.

They beat him so badly he was in the hospital for a month.

My head spins from the lack of oxygen, panicking and forgetting to breathe. I can't let this happen again. Just as Thorne takes a step forward to join, so do I, throwing myself—quite literally—in the middle of it all, and taking a punch right to the side as Ryder can't hold back. His eyes are wide, flickering with an emotion I'd never seen there before, as he snaps his arm back to his side. Is that…regret? Remorse.

“Stop!” I strain to yell, holding my arms out as if my small stature could cover all of Bren's bulkiness. My kidney is throbbing and my brain's yelling at me to move out of the way, but I stand as straight as I can and glare at my nightmares. This is the stupidest thing you've done yet, Tori. Do you really think this is going to work?

“What the actual f**k, Icky?” Blaze snaps, staring at me like I've grown several heads.

“Move, Vicky.” My heart stops as I turn my attention to Ryder, seeing his hands fisted so tightly at his sides, he's made his palms bleed. His jaw is clenched so hard the sound of porcelain rubbing against each other can be heard as his teeth grind. But his eyes don't meet mine, they stare blanky at my side where he hit.

“No!” I shake my head, closing my eyes as I come to terms with the fact I'll probably end up in the hospital, too.

“Vic,” Thorne's voice sends a shiver down my spine, always able to get a reaction from me just by speaking. “Did you think the claim ended when high school did?” His words wash me cold, taking all the color from my face with it.

“The Iron Triad has claimed Victoria Lynn Reyes as ours. Ours to torment. Ours to do as we please with. Touch her, look at her, speak to her, and face our wrath.” Their announcement at the start of my sophomore year rushes to the forefront of my mind, reminding me of the moment that set my life permanently off course.

“It's a lifelong claim,” Blaze finishes, invading my personal space as he pushes me into Thorne. It's not violent, just enough to get my feet to move.

Thorne's rough hands grab hold of my biceps, turning me to watch. The touch of his skin against my own sends flashbacks of that night to permeate my mind. I push them aside, trying my best to break free and help my date. A man who knows nothing of my past, who didn't even know the risk he was taking.

I didn't even know. I mean they left me alone for three years.

They have suddenly reappeared in my life like a scar I unsuccessfully tried to cover, finding there's no way to rid myself of it. They're a spot on my soul, a nightmare in my mind, and a hole in my heart…all permanent.

“Stop!” I'm yelling as Bren falls to the floor, his face bloodied and bruised. “Stop it, please!”

One of those beautiful green eyes is swollen shut, his eye socket broken. The image of his smile, of his excitement earlier tonight, is all I can picture as my heart shatters and breaks beneath the weight of the guilt, as if this is all my fault even though I haven't laid a finger on him.

“I'll do anything!” I blurt, needing this to stop before any further permanent damage is done. “Please…just stop.” My voice is a broken whisper, thick with the emotional scars they're leaving behind.

Ryder's fist stills midair, side-eyeing me as he lifts a brow with curiosity. “Are you sure about that? Anything means anything.”

At this point I'd agree to sell my soul if it got them to quit beating Bren. I can't have any more blood on my conscience. I can't. I nod my head unsure of what I've just offered, but sticking with it anyway.

Blaze lets Bren's stretched out collar go, causing his head to hit the floor as he's barely conscious. His one good eye catches my gaze, stabbing me in the gut as he stares at me with all the burning hate of the world.

I don't blame him.

It hurts, it digs deep, but I let it go, resigning myself to whatever hell these three will rain down on me as punishment. I deserve this. Thorne picks me up by the hips and throws me in the back seat of his glossy truck. Ryder climbs in beside me, surprisingly keeping his distance as Blaze takes the passenger seat. The moment all the doors shut, so does my fate.

I watch Bren laying completely still on the ground as we drive away, wondering if he's even breathing anymore. I'm so sorry.

***

“Do you understand what you've just signed up for, Kitkat?” Ryder's nickname for me suddenly changes. It's the first I'm hearing from him since the parking lot, having stayed silent and still this entire time, as if he was processing some unknown emotion.

My thighs are sticking to the white leather couch they sat me on when we arrived in this modern day mansion. Despite the below freezing temperature of this place, I'm almost sweating beneath their glares.

“I'm not brain dead. I do speak English.” I roll my eyes at him as I pull at the hem of my dress, wishing I could cover the entirety of my legs.

“Repeat it back, Vic,” Thorne leans forward, his eyes as serious as ever as he rests his forearms against his thighs.

“I'm yours,” I grit back, my eyes blazing with the same hatred Bren threw at me. “I’m your maid, your butler, your assistant. You name it, and I'm it.”

The sour worms I'd eaten at the theater are curdling in my stomach, ready to be expelled at the thought of having to be any of those things for them. “And?” Blaze eggs me on, knowing that's not the shittiest part of it all.

“I must do it all with a smile.” I plaster one on my face for show as I continue, feeling like a crazed barbie. “I can't talk to anyone else, not even my friends. My things will be moved in here for me. I am forbidden from telling anyone about our deal. If a guy talks to me, I need to scream as if they're trying to rape me.”

That one irks me, considering there's no way for me to interact with the world without interacting with a member of the opposite s*x. Like what the holy hell, boys? Delusional shits.

“I no longer work at the coffee shop, and when school starts back up, I must work my class schedule around you,” I finish, holding my dress tight over my thighs as I try to maintain my composure. Part of me slips through the cracks, plastering another fake smile across my face as I ask “Anything else you'd like?”

Thorne catches the tone, having heard it when he ordered coffee. His left eye subtly twitches a couple of times, shooting out of his chair first. I hold as still as a statue, thinking some sort of backlash will come my way, but instead he walks away down the marbled hallway and out of the living room.

“Show her to her room. I'm going to bed.” He waves at the other two without so much as looking back.