Brittany screams at the sight of the blood, reminding me why I set this “date” here.
I look back at the idiot on the table and then back at her. “Do you know what I discovered today?” I ask her, making another slice, a better one this time, into the man’s side. Brittany doesn’t answer- she won’t. She knows she’s screwed. “I learned that a certain group of spoiled-rich, snobby girls, following the orders of a vile cunt who doesn’t want to get their hands dirty, hired some idiot to pretend to stalk my girl.”
Brittany begins to walk toward the exit, but it’s too late for her. August walks in just as she turns to grab the door handle.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he snaps, and she runs back into the room.
“You might as well sit so I can finish my storytime. I was about to get to the best part,” I direct, pointing my scalpel to the chair by the slab.
She stands frozen to the spot, and I nod at August. He snatches her, causing her to yelp. He has her in the chair next to me and zip tied before she realizes she should do something.
“Please d-d-don’t h-h-hurt me,” she begs. She’s terrified. We can’t hurt her because of the stupid fucking rules, but I plan to make her sweat.
Flaring my nostrils, I inhale the scent of her fear. It doesn’t have the same effect it used to- not since I found my new drug of choice.
“Imagine our surprise when we discovered what you and your little bitch squad were up to. How you wanted him to record himself chasing her and stripping her naked,” I seethe, turning back to the dumbass who thought he could make a quick buck. I sink the blade deep into his Adam’s apple and slice down until I reach his navel. Typically, we’d drag this out, but Lenny here sang like a canary.
Brittany’s shrill cries echo off the walls, almost bursting my eardrums. I clench my jaw, fighting the urge to cut out her vocal cords. “It was all Samantha’s idea. I didn’t want to do it. I’m sorry, please, please, please don’t kill me,” she begs incessantly.
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up. Or you’re next,” I bark.
August laughs, and I turn to glare at him until I see his eyes aren’t trained on me. I follow his line of sight. Brittany’s passed out.
Chuckling, he says, “Now, this is the definition of scared straight, but in her case, she isn’t yet. Let’s leave her here and call someone to pick her up in two hours.”
Nodding, I stop before her unconscious form and wipe my bloody palm down the front of her face. I drop the scalpel in her lap, then exit the room. If she’s smart, she’ll get the message.
Don’t fuck with what’s mine.
EMMA
All the planning for this event was worth it. Everything came together nicely, and we made almost two thousand family baskets filled with everything necessary for the holiday as well as gift cards to buy presents. After distributing these, we need to go back to the Calloway estate to finalize the details for the annual Christmas event.
“This is so dumb. Why do we have to do this at all? Isn’t there a team that can drop these off, and where the fuck is Summer? That bitch has avoided every single part of putting this together,” Sam complains.
I roll my eyes. Of course she’d find doing anything for someone she considers ‘less than’ beneath her. She and her plastics are some of the reasons why some people shout, ‘Eat the Rich.’
“Imagine being so wealthy you don’t see or understand how it’s possible to need a helping hand. To be of the mindset that all you need to do is pull yourself up by your bootstraps and everything will work out just because opportunity, luck, and hard work lined up for you, so the reason it hasn’t for someone else is that they’re not trying hard enough,” I state, and they look at me like I’m the stupid one. The woefully ignorant of the systems and circumstances that don’t allow access burn my soul.
Huffing out a frustrated breath, I leave the room before I let my anger get the best of me. Today isn’t about me. It’s about the thousands of families that will have a better Christmas. This was my situation last year. Waiting and hoping to get something to ensure the kids could have a halfway decent holiday while our loser mom was off on what I thought was a bender. Instead, she was out trying to plot how to lay siege to some shadow organization, leaving me to fend for my siblings. Until we moved to Calloway, donations like these helped make Christmas happen, but I’m not stupid. What’s happening here isn’t the norm. My situation is the stuff portrayed in movies and books. How many people would have the opportunity to be some hidden powerful bloodline seated in a position of power?
“Didn’t I tell you not to feed the zoo animals?” Shay jokes, knocking her shoulder into mine to get my attention. I’m so happy she’s here volunteering.
Sighing, I say, “It’s just.” I shake my head, at a loss for how to express what I’m feeling without coming across as brash and irrational.
Shay pulls me in for a hug. “Some people won’t ever get it. No matter how much evidence says otherwise, they won’t. So, don’t let them draw yuh out.”
I squeeze her tight, thankful again to call her my bestie. Who would’ve thought I’d like anyone enough for that shit. “You’re right.”
“Duh bitch. I’m always right. You’re late,” she teases, stepping back. “Now, where is that ho, Summer, at? As much as I hate to agree with Sam on anything, she’s right about Summer’s absence. It’s odd that she’d be missing from the Selection process for so long and that her friends don’t know where she is.”
“Do you think something happened to her? I thought it was normal for families to go traipsing off without a moment’s notice,” I reply, hoping that’s really what happened in this instance.
Shay and I grab two baskets each, double-checking that it has everything inside before we walk them to the finished side of the room.
“I mean, yes. We all have taken impromptu trips. It’s just a little weird that she wouldn’t talk to any of her friends.” she explains.
I try to remember the last time I’ve seen Summer anywhere. I know I saw her at the doctor’s office when we got the freaking mandated implants, and then I saw her at school a few times after that, but that was in early November. It’s mid-December. I mean, when they said she was traveling, she still could be.
Right? But would she not speak to any of her friends?
Pulling out my phone, I bring up one of my social media apps. “What’s her handle? Maybe she’s posted some pictures?”
“Here, let me,” Shay offers, taking my phone and typing the name in.
Shay hands me back my phone, and I click on the last image posted. Summer’s poolside, in a barely there bikini, sipping on some fruity-looking drink. Her caption says, ‘Jet setting. Leaving the Bullshit Behind.’ It was dated yesterday.
“I guess she’s giving a middle finger to the Selection. Good for her.” I snicker as we pick up more baskets and bring them over, placing them with the others. I didn’t like her, but I’m here for anyone with enough balls to do something like this.
Once we’ve finished with our section, we move to help the others.
“Summer’s dumb for leaving. Like, who would give up such an amazing opportunity? What if they were going to pick her?” I overhear Meagan say.
“It was smart for her to leave. We all know there’s no competition. I’m the one being chosen in the end, but the bitch could say something to me,” Samantha snaps.
Seeing her folly, Meagan stumbles to fix it. “Of course. She was sparing herself the inevitable heartbreak.”
Shay snorts, “I wonder if they ever get tired of sucking the shit out her batty hole.”
“Ladies, it’s time to get these baskets loaded.” the event planner instructs.
Sam and her lemmings groan but finally start to help, and we’re done and ready to head out to deliver baskets.
As I get in the backseat of the car, I pull my phone back out and look at Summer’s picture again.
Why would you stop talking to your friends all of a sudden? The thought niggles in the back of my mind the entire time we drop the gifts off at each center. So much that I don’t realize when Thomas pulls up outside my house.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.