Alice took her sandwiches and unwrapped the cellophane. The egg filling that had looked so delicious this morning had now begun to smell. She looked about guiltily, happy that only two others were currently taking their breaks. Most of the teachers were in isolation and teaching remotely on giant screens, including Hannah, who had always seemed so careful. Things were getting beyond ridiculous. Most of the management were also off sick, and those left to cover had little clue what they were doing.
Every morning Alice prayed the school would close. That way, she would get paid and wouldn't have to see Riley or his gang. She hadn't bumped into any of them since that horrible night, but it was bound to happen at some point, despite her evasive tactics.
Her eyes widened as the IT guy entered, caught her eye, and turned away so fast he dropped his pot noodle.
"Oh, crap," he uttered, scooping up the splatter of dry noodl
Alice waited by the gate for the rest of her gang to appear. She figured at least one of them had been held back after the lesson, as was usually the case—with the teachers who hadn't given up on them altogether at least.As the group appeared from the main doors, Alice noticed something different about the way they walked. Usually, Riley would be the centre of attention, talking loudly to the others. Today he was lagging behind.'Almost as if...'"Good girl," Felix said, interrupting her thoughts. "I didn't think you'd obey."'Obey this,' Alice thought, making a fist.Riley pulled her fist down as he passed, saying nothing. He definitely wasn't himself."We're meeting the others at seven so..." Riley shrugged. "I got some shit I need to do at home."As the group broke up and left Alice stan
The brawl was already in session when they arrived, and it looked to Alice like Riley's side was losing badly. A guy she recognised was balled up on the floor, being kicked by three guys at once while a couple of others engaged in one-on-one fistfights.Her heart rate doubled as she ducked under the broken metal grate. She expected Riley and the others to steamroll in and start kicking butt, but instead of rescuing their mates, they moved slowly."You fucked up big this time," Riley said, announcing his presence.The other group turned and made faces, acting tough."I heard you had a girl in your crew now," the leader said, taking a step toward Riley. He looked Alice up and down, licking his lips. He made the gesture Italians made when talking about food. "She's quite fit. I'll fuck her when I'm d—"Like lightning, Felix stepped out and whipped out his blade.
"Please let me do your make-up," Zoe asked, pressing her palms together. "I just know my followers will love you."She'd been pestering him to feature on her vlog since they started spending time together again. She didn't have a full-time job, though she did spend a lot of time and effort on her beauty vlog, so she was usually free to hang out."Are you wearing make-up?" he questioned her, knowing full well she was."Of course," she cried, checking her face in the mirror. "Why?""Oh." Jamie inspected her face with a deliberate veil of disdain. "You haven't covered that huge pimple very well. I figured a beauty queen like you would have some secret trick for hiding blemishes."He knew she was self-conscious about her pimples. That worrying about flare-ups kept her awake at night, and she'd googled ways to defeat the bacteria in her face so many times her search history was
Audrey Cross slipped out of her heels and rubbed her feet after dropping her shopping bags by the door. She'd bought a new bag and a pair of shoes she'd been eyeing for weeks—pink heels with diamond straps. No, they weren't suitable for the weather, but she was going to wear them anyway.She pulled on the new shoes to show Felix, not that he was interested in fashion, she simply wanted to show off her slender legs."Nice," he muttered, eyes flitting away from his screen for only a second. As Audrey took a seat at his side, tucking her legs beneath her, he closed the laptop and turned to face her. "Am I a murderer?""Well." Audrey thought about it for a moment, trying to summon a valid argument for his abhorrent behaviour. "It depends if you view the unborn foetus as alive or not. I think you did them a favour if I'm honest. None of them would have had a decent life, child included."Felix nodde
"Pick a route that avoids the toll-roads," Mike asked. "I hate the toll-roads.""Right," Adam muttered as he fiddled with the satellite navigation on his phone.A blur of vehicles whizzed past as he struggled to get a 4G connection strong enough to modify the route. The roads were fairly busy for a Tuesday evening—almost rush hour levels of traffic."Driving around Birmingham is horrible enough as it is," Mike said with a heavy sigh. All he’d done since being lumbered with the job was moan about the ring-roads and round abouts, as if slagging them off was going to make them any less of a pain."I'll do my best," Adam said, biting the nail of his thumb with his healthy, non-painful teeth. His brother's nerves were becoming infectious.It wasn't just the terrible road system playing on his mind, but the ten thousand pounds worth of cocaine stored under the paint c
Audrey stared at the bags of white powder, mouth agape. It felt to her as though hours had passed, though it was probably more like seconds.She'd helped to carry the very same drugs from her Porsche to Riley’s car and later watched as Felix’s tall friend loaded them into the back of Mike's van. As ordered by Felix, she had taken photographs to share with the authorities and she'd been so discreet. There was zero chance either of those cretins had noticed her filming them.She had watched them drive away minutes later, van fully loaded with the incriminating evidence.So how was it now back inside her garage?It made no sense.Someone had taken the drugs from the back of the van and placed them back inside her home without the cameras or alarms going off. They would have to be invisible—a ghost.'That's silly,'she scolde
Alice searched through the kitchen cupboards after she opened the sugar pot and found it empty."Here." Mike pulled out the drawer beneath the knife and fork one. It was full of those little sugar packets they gave out in fast food places and coffee shops. "We haven't bought sugar since mum left."Alice frowned and chuckled to herself as she began to rip open the packages and refill the pot."I think they should be here soon," Jamie said, panic in his voice. "Why aren't they here yet?"Zoe was sat on the back of the sofa by the bay windows. Every time a car passed, she would turn and peek through the curtains."Oh, shit, who's that guy?" Zoe muttered to herself. When she turned back to face the others, her eyes were wide with fear. "There's some dude with a gun.""Huh?" Adam recoiled. He looked as though he was searching for something, but Alice knew he didn'
Adam picked up a piece of glass and winced as it got wedged in his flesh."Come here." Zoe tutted, grabbed his hand looked up at him with a thin smile. "You're always so clumsy with your big sausage fingers.""I don't have sausage fingers," Adam griped. He sat back and let Zoe clear away the glass and blood. She pulled a plaster from her bag—Zoe had everything you could ever want or need in her giant shoulder bag—and wrapped it over the cut.He looked at her. Her layers of contoured foundation, thickly caked lip gloss and butterfly-like fake eyelashes. She'd always been considered the hottest girl in school, and yes, she did have an amazing body, but he'd never thought she might be intelligent also."That was pretty quick thinking, logging onto your channel like that," Adam said."Well, that was why I hid," she said, an air defensively. "I didn't want them to see me f
Bonus Chapter Alice shuffled, shifting her feet beneath her on the soft sofa cushions. It was hard to move with the weight of the now fully grown Ivy planted across her lap. Adam, seeing her struggle, laughed but did not offer any help. Knowing him inside and out, she wouldn't expect or want any different. That was Adam. Her Adam. Ste and Jamie sat opposite. Both had fussed the dog for a while before settling in front of the television, entangled in each other, and arguing about the contestants of the show 'Glow Up.' "She's a total stuck up bitch, but I like her," Jamie was saying. "She won't last." Ste shook his head. Zoe was also engaged in the television, but Gary was focused purely on his phone. "Look!" Gary raised his phone to show the others a picture. 'A baby.'Alice frowned, puzzl
Alice sat opposite Jamie as he preened himself in front of a mirror. He moved about the same piece of hair multiple times before deciding it looked better in the first place."Got a date?" she asked.Jamie glanced up from his mirror for a second and nodded. "I didn't think I'd ever get feelings for Ste, but since he rescued me... it's just... different."Alice nodded. She had similar feelings toward Adam. The annoying thing was, he wasn't making any sort of moves on her. If she wanted him, she was going to make it blatantly obvious before he would pick up the hint."I'm glad things are going well for you two," she said, smiling at her brother. It was nice to see him in a happy and healthy relationship.Putting down his mirror, Jamie tutted, sighed, and gave her the saddest smile. "Alice, you're just too nice. I was awful to you, and you're still rooting for me."
"Are you sure you're okay to come back to work?" Hannah asked for the umpteenth time. She'd been fussing over her all morning, making her drinks and going out of her way to make as little work as possible."Honestly," Alice reassured her. "I'm completely fine."Standing on her tiptoes, Alice glanced over the teacher's shoulders at the classroom. The seat where Felix had always sat was now empty. There was something ominous about the way it was angled and edged away from the table—almost as if it were waiting for his return."I always knew he was a wrong'un." Hannah shook her head. "I still can't believe you aren't pressing charges, though. He's going to get away with it."Her mother had said the same thing repeatedly, the thing they didn't understand though, was the trouble she'd be causing for Riley, Adam, Mike, and all the other lads if the prosecution started asking too many questions.
The pain in Alice's stomach would intensify every so often before tapering off and becoming ignorable for a time. It emitted a grumbling sound, making her blush and apologise.Damien laughed. "I just watched you pee in a bucket. There's no need to worry about a few bodily noises.""You said you weren't looking." Alice narrowed her eyes, giving him an evil stare.Damien laughed and shrugged. "These might be my last hours. I should make the most of them, don't you think?""Okaaay." Alice let out a strained chuckle, unsure what to say to that. If looking at her bum made his last day even a tiny fraction better, she would allow it, as weird and perverted as it seemed to her. "Knock yourself out."Without warning, he took her hand and spun her into his side. Licking his lips, he stared down at her. "Since we have nothing else to do..."Alice pulled away, feeling h
Jamie listened to the sounds of their footsteps crunching down the driveway, waiting until they were well out of earshot before moving toward Felix.First, he wandered off into the kitchen and poured some warm water into a bowl. Then he went upstairs to get the first aid kit from under his mother's bed. Their kit was pretty extensive and well-stocked—one of the perks of having a nurse for a mother.Returning to Felix, he paused halfway down the stairs to still his heart. Seeing the way the smaller boy had defeated Adam so completely and utterly was...Jamie smiled to himself.It was... euphoric.The more he learned and remembered about his adversary, the more in awe he became.This guy was a genius who couldn't feel pain. He seemed to feel nothing at all, which made him godlike in Jamie's eyes.After gathering his senses
"I don't care what you do to me. I'll never tell you." Felix spat blood into Adam's face and grinned, showing a row of broken and red-smeared teeth. "I'm not like you, Adam."'He's right,'Adam surmised.'I was begging for mercy at this point, and he's not even broken a sweat.'Becoming frustrated, Adam grabbed the hammer. He raised it in a tight fist, gearing it toward Felix's skull before turning and bashing the molars he'd painstakingly extracted.'Good luck reattaching these now.'He smirked to himself, feeling his recently removed teeth with his tongue. They felt different to before, and he couldn't stop pushing his tongue into the gap."How is this not hurting him?" he muttered to Jamie. "I remember it well. It was torture.""One sec," Jamie uttered. His fingers tapped away at his laptop keyboard as his eyes darted about the s
When Alice woke up, her arms were numb from having to sleep in an unfamiliar position. She had no idea if it was morning or how much time had passed because of the darkness. It was so thick she could barely see her hand in front of her face.Shivering, she rubbed her arms before feeling about her surroundings in the hope he'd been kind enough to leave a blanket.He hadn't.'No big surprise there,'Alice thought.She was hungry, thirsty, and cold, but most of all, she was afraid. Afraid of slowly dying in this cold and dark tomb.Her heart jumped when she heard a clang in the distance. Could it be Felix returning? And would he feed her or kill her?After a moment she heard footsteps approaching but as she strained her ears, the sound dissipated.'Did I imagine it?'"Felix? Felix
When Alice awoke, the first thing she remembered was Riley's words:'This is a great way to get over my ex.'It felt like someone was kicking her in the stomach.Then she remembered Felix and the taser and she really felt sick. She rolled over and tried to move but couldn't. Chains rattled as she struggled, but it was too dark to see her surroundings.Using the sounds and her sense of touch, she eventually figured out her wrists were bound by a metal chain that was wrapped around a metal pole several times. She patted the soft and springy floor beneath her and guessed she'd been placed on a mattress or bedding of some description. it was giving off that sour water smell, as though it had been sitting in the damp for some time.She filled her lungs, preparing to shout, and noticed how cold and damp the air felt in her mouth.'Am I underground?'sh
Alice stared into Riley's eyes, unsure what to do.Her body was telling her to rip off her clothes and throw herself at him, but was it what either of them truly wanted? Or were these merely the lust fuelled urges of two people who'd survived a trauma together?She felt his fingers pulled around the bottom of her T-shirt and lifted her arms to let him slip the clothes from her body. Once her shirt was a messy pile at her feet, he reached behind and pinged her bra. Her breasts shifted and bounced out of the cups as they fell forward. Instinctively she raised a hand to cover them as the bra dropped to the floor.Riley chuckled lightly as he pushed her grip away, replacing them with his larger hands. Her nipples became instantly hard as he pinched them between his thumbs and index fingers.She moaned gently as he squeezed and took a step forward, pressing her back up against the wall.&