“You shouldn’t be here,” Jordan says with a tipped chin and a curl to the corner of his lips that tells me I should, in fact, be here.
“Oh yeah? Where else should I be?”
“Home. Under your parents’ roof. Doing homework. Anywhere but here.” His fingers rake through his jet black hair, pushing the stray strands from his forehead while his eyes watch my lips as I talk.
“What if I don’t wanna go home?” I step forward, invading his space in the locker room. My chest presses against his and I can feel his heart pounding through the fabric of both our shirts.
“This is wrong, Nadia.” He fights to avoid eye contact. Turning his head slightly to the right.
I grab his face in my hands and turn him back toward me before pulling his lips to mine. “Then why does it feel so right?” I mutter into his open mouth. My tongue slides in, seducing his. Taking it hostage and giving him no choice but to surrender to my desires.
If only I’d gone home when he suggested it, things would have never gone as far as they did.
If only.
Blinking my eyes, I assume they’re deceiving me when something flies past my window. A spark that lit up and fizzled out as fast as it came. My bedroom is at least twelve feet off the ground. Tugging the blankets tighter, I keep my wide-open eyes on the window too afraid to blink out of fear that I’ll miss something. Whatever it was, it’s gone. Probably a shooting star. Yet, I still don’t blink. In fact, I freeze completely when it happens again. Only this time, it’s followed by a crackling sound.
My heart begins beating violently in my chest. Pounding against my rib cage and threatening to break through. My breaths are shallow and unfulfilled when it happens again. Just as the spark in front of the window diminishes, my phone buzzes beside me.
Shuffling the blankets, I find it buried under my side between my body and the mattress. I pull it out and look at the alert on the screen. The cameras have been tripped. All seven of them holding video footage of the motion. Before I can tap play, my phone drums in my hand as a call comes through from the security company.
I tap accept on the call. “Hello.”
“Ms. Rivers, we were alerted of possible trespassers on your property. Security is en route, but we can stop them if everything is ok on your end.”
“Umm,” I say, thinking about it. If security comes and they see it, I’ll be a nark. I know that it’s my old friends from the Academy. I know they are just trying to get a reaction out of me. “No, they don't need to come. Everything is fine. Just some friends pulling a prank,” I lie. They were once friends, but old friendships die fast when you become the outcast.
“Thank you, Ma’am. Please give us a call if you need our services. Have a good night.” The call ends.
Swiping back to the video footage, I straighten myself up in the bed. With my back pressed firmly against the antique white headboard, I open up the footage on the east side first—the cameras closest to my window.
My jaw drops when the first thing I notice are the masks. Last night was the first I’d ever seen them and it tells me that these jackasses are getting more creative. Tonight, though, I only see three: pink, blue, and green. The taller one, in pink, pulls something out of his pocket. Only seconds later, a flame stills in one hand as he holds something up to it in the other. The footage is clear as day, but whatever it is isn’t in view of the camera. There’s a snapping blaze and I take it to be a firecracker. His arm stretches back, the two others stepping away, and when his arm swings upward, the firecracker flies through the air. I’m not able to see my window, but I know where it went. Same thing again, and again, and….what the fuck was that? The sound of shattering glass sends my heart into my throat. It wasn’t on the video. It’s happening live from downstairs.
Did a window just break?
Oh, my god! Mom and Dad, please come home!
Tearing my blanket off me, I spring from my bed. Fear washes over me as I hurry over to my bedroom door. Pressing my ear to it, I listen intently while my shaky hands try to steady my phone in front of my face so that I’m able to open up the live camera footage from inside the kitchen.
It’s still. Nothing to be seen.
I open up the living room camera. Then the sitting room camera. Finally, the library. Bingo.
Shattered glass lies beneath the picture window. Sharp and jagged crystals scatter the hardwood floor on either side of the built-in bookshelves.
I’m so caught up in looking at the footage that it didn’t even cross my mind that whoever did this is likely in the house. This is live. I missed what was happening the moments between getting off my bed and opening the door.
Tiptoeing back over to my bed, I get on my knees and dig around until I find the wooden box I’m looking for. Fight mode is fully activated when I hear the drubbing of footsteps come down the hall.
Sliding the box out, I take out my bb air gun. It won’t do much damage, but it will scare them and that’s all I care about right now. I need to scare them more than they are scaring me. It’s never gone this far. I never expected it to. I’m also really fucking pissed that my parents bought me this dinky little BB gun as a means of protection. You’d think that with as much money as we have and as often as I’m here alone, they’d get me something a little more…lethal.
Popping the top on the tube of BBs, I dump a few inside the chamber and close it up. With it gripped tightly in my hand, I switch off the safety and crouch down beside my bed. Fortunately, my dad taught me how to load and shoot this gun. I just wish it were one that packed more of a punch.
With my eyes shifting back and forth from the door to my phone that sits beside me, I use one hand to open the screen and hit the alert button on the security app. This time, they will come. I’ll be deemed a nark if I have to be. I’m sick and fucking tired of these assholes trying to instill fear in me.
This time, it worked. Staying as still as I can, I’m afraid to even take in a breath. My heart is beating so loudly that it vibrates through my entire body. My pulse in my neck throbs violently and makes it hard to swallow down the lump that is lodged in my esophagus.
There’s commotion outside my door. Whoever it is attempts to be as quiet as I am, but I hear them. I know they’re out there.
In slow motion, the handle twists. My sweaty palms grip the gun tighter as the door cracks open. I feel faint, dizzy, like my jelly legs are going to give out on me. Pink mask pops his head in the door, looking around the room until he spots my phone lit up beside me. Fuck.
“Don’t come near me. I’ll shoot.” My voice cracks around the words. I fall backwards as the trespasser steps closer and closer. Black boots hitting the floorboards with slow strides. Boots that lead me to believe that this is not a girl. I watch them as they draw closer, my body shaking uncontrollably as I hold the gun out. “Stop! I'll shoot you!” I aim it as his legs, pinch my eyes shut and pull the trigger.
Pop.
Opening one eye, I realize the shots didn’t faze him in the least—didn’t even hit him. He doesn’t speak as he comes closer. Crouching down beside me as I tremble frantically. Turning my head downward, I press my cheek to my shoulder and flail my feet at his legs. “Get away from me!” I screech, scooting as far as I can go when I bump my back into my nightstand. Unable to move any further, I’m at his mercy.