Corrupt - Douglas Penelope - Страница 28

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“Raped,” Damon taunted, whipping around to stand in front of me and getting in my face. I immediately reared back.

“She was drugged and taken downstairs.” He jerked his head behind him, gesturing to the basement, with thrill in his eyes.

My breath shook as I swallowed the lump in my throat.

A girl got attacked here? I pinched my eyebrows together, fear speeding up my breathing.

“Yeah,” I heard Kai’s voice at my back, “she was tied up, stripped naked...Can’t tell you how many guys went at her. They were lining up for their turns.”

I spun around, backing up in the other direction as Kai inched toward me with a look in his eyes.

But then I ran into another body at my back and stopped. This time it was Will, his green eyes heated as he cocked his head down at me like a challenge.

What the hell were they doing?

I whipped my head around, seeing Damon close in, too, his black eyes looking like a void in the darkness of his mask.

Kai looked up, asking Will in a light voice, “I don’t even think they caught them all, did they?”

“No,” Will said playfully, “I think there’s still a few running around loose.”

“Like four.”

I heard Michael’s threat, and I jerked my head, widening my eyes as he closed in on my side, completing the cage.

Shit. My lungs emptied, my heart jackhammered in my chest, and I caught sight of the dirty mattress sitting on the floor.

Bile rose in my throat.

But then all of a sudden, laughter broke out, and I jerked my eyes up, seeing their bodies shaking with amusement as they backed away from me.

“It’s just a crack house, Rika,” Michael assured. “Not a rape site. Relax.”

They were kidding? I crossed my arms over my chest, scowling.

Assholes.

My stomach was tight with knots, and I inhaled a few deep breaths to get my nerves under control.

I watched as they all squeezed kerosene on the walls, floors, and around the debris, and even though it didn’t take a genius to guess what they were doing, I kept my concerns quiet. I wasn’t sure if I was having fun yet, but I didn’t want to argue or try to stop them and lose the foot in the door I’d somehow gained.

Not yet, anyway.

“Fire up!” Michael called out. ”Time to clean out the garbage.”

They all came to stand next to me, all of us facing into the house, and I watched as they lit matches, the glow of the small fires lighting up their masks.

Michael’s hazel eyes flickered in the light, and my heart skipped.

Digging into my middle pocket, I pulled out my matchbox and lit a match, the burst of flame consuming the tip.

I smiled to myself, looking around at all the shit on the floor and thinking about all the bad stuff that had probably happened in this house. Given the amount of drug debris laying around, I guessed violence had come with it, too. People had probably been abused here.

Maybe even children.

I turned my head right, seeing Michael watching me. Looking to my left, I saw Kai and Damon staring at me as well. Will held up a cell phone, clearly recording what was about to happen.

I stared ahead, knowing what they were waiting for.

I tossed the match, the small ember bursting into a four-foot flame against the wall, and I let out a breath, feeling the heat against my body.

All of the guys then tossed their matches, the small house turning into an inferno of yellow and red. Heat flooded my veins, and I smiled.

“Woohoo,” Will praised in a low howl, filming every inch of the living room going up in flames.

Slowly, we all turned and walked out of the house, Damon carrying the duffel that Will had carried in, his hands too busy recording the spectacle now.

Should he be doing that? You didn’t really want evidence floating about when you broke the law, after all.

“Make the call.”

I looked up to see Michael tossing Kai a phone as we all pounded down the stairs.

Kai took the phone and walked off, while I quickly glanced around, keep my head down to make sure there were no witnesses.

The neighborhood still looked dead.

I watched Kai as he walked about twenty feet away and lifted up his mask, talking into the phone.

“Do you know what you’re doing yet?” Michael asked Will.

He turned off the phone, stopping the recording, and stuck it in his pocket. “Not yet,” he answered as Damon walked past him and stuffed the duffel into the back of Michael’s car.

“Alright, we’ll do Kai, then Damon,” Michael told him. “Figure it out by then.”

Figure it out?

And then it hit me. Kai, Damon, then Will. Which meant Michael was done.

I turned, staring up at the house, the flames already visible through the second floor windows.

“So each of you pull a prank on Devil’s Night, and this was yours,” I stated, finally figuring out what he was talking about. “Why?”

His eyes locked with mine through his mask, and I wondered why he never took it off. The others had peeled theirs away now that the stunt was done.

“I don’t like drugs or drug houses,” he admitted. “Drugs are a crutch for people too ignorant to self-destruct on their own.”

I pinched my eyebrows together. “What do you mean? Why would anyone want to self-destruct in the first place?”

He held my gaze, and I thought he was going to answer the question, but then he walked around me, toward the car.

I shook my head, disappointed that I didn’t seem to understand what he was trying to say.

“Let’s go!” he bellowed, and everyone piled back into the car. I spared one last glance at the house, seeing it light up the night sky, and I smiled, hoping Kai had been on the phone calling the fire department.

He climbed in the driver’s seat, and I opened the door behind him, ready to climb in my seat, but I was yanked back, and the door whipped close right in front of my face.

My breath caught in my throat, and the next thing I knew my back was slamming into the car.

“Why did he bring you along?”

Damon scowled down at me, and I searched his face, confusion wracking my brain.

“What?” I gasped out.

“And why did he take you into the catacombs today?”

What was his problem?

“Why don’t you ask him?” I threw back. “Maybe he’s bored.”

His eyelids thinned, glaring at me. “What did you two talk about today?”

What the hell?

“Do you interrogate every person Michael talks to?” I charged.

He shot into my face, growling out his whisper. “I’ve never seen him give a hand-held tour of a fuck party before. Or bring someone along on Devil’s Night. This is ours, so why are you here?”

I remained silent, gluing my teeth together. I had no idea what to say or even think. I was under the impression Damon, Will, and Kai were on board with this when Michael picked me up earlier.

Were Will and Kai angry as well?

“Don’t think you’re special,” he sneered. “Lots of women get him. No one keeps him.”

I held his eyes, making sure not to let him see me falter.

“Rika,” Michael called. “Get over here.”

Damon kept his eyes locked on me for another moment and then backed away, letting me leave. I sucked in a breath, realizing my heart was pounding like a bass drum. I dived around the back of the car to meet Michael on the passenger side.

He opened the door and climbed in, tossing his mask to Will and then turning his eyes on me.

He wasn’t driving?

“Come here.” He held out his hand.

I inched closer and then gasped as he pulled me into the car, onto his lap, draping my legs across his.

What? I hooked a quick arm around his neck for support, my ass planted on his thighs.

“What are you doing? I asked, shocked.

“We need the room in the back,” he said, pulling the door closed.

“Why?”

He let out an aggravated sigh. “Your fucking mouth never stops, does it?”

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