Page 4

FOUR

ARCHER

R osalie.

The newest addition to this hell hole they deemed a mental institution. From the moment she spoke, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, lightly baked skin. The girl was completely out of her element here. Once she got the hang of things, that timidness within her would diminish. I’d seen it happen time and time again. I just wanted a taste before that happened.

The last time I’d been this attracted to a girl was—well, it was when I followed Kaydence into the woods. My posture went rigid at that reminder. I didn’t even think I’d been choking her that hard, or for that long. It was like…something snapped inside of me and the control within my body diminished.

Warm hands trailed up my hips, slipping beneath my shirt and sending a shudder of desire tumbling through me. All thoughts about Rosalie and about Kaydence flickered out of existence as I was pulled back to reality.

Jordan was seated in the chair that the staff insisted on bolting to the ground, his eyes fixated on his sketchpad. All he did was draw, keeping to himself most of the time. I couldn’t worry about that now, though as Seven continued trailing his fingers along the ridges of my abs. He pressed into me more, the feel of his erection digging into my lower back due to our height differences.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice a low growl even to my own ears.

He nipped at the shell of my ear. “Distracting you. Is it working?” He knew me too fucking well. I spun around to face him, desire coursing through my veins. His eyes were the same shade of blue as hers were—as mine were.

A smile curled the corners of my mouth upwards, and I fisted my hand in the front of his shirt, tugging him even closer to me. Our relationship was easy. We were best friends, didn’t mind what was between a person’s legs as long as they were attractive, and jealousy had never been an issue. Then again, neither of us were the settling type when it came to women. They were all crazy bitches here. I’d fucked Alina a few times and now she was stuck to me like a leech. That, however, was before I realized how insane she was.

Seven must have realized I’d fallen captive to my thoughts again, because he fisted his hand in my hair, jerking my head back. A delicious current of pain traveled through my scalp and my lips parted on a surprised gasp. He took that opportunity to smash his lips against mine, his warm breath feathering against my skin and tongue.

A low growl vibrated through his chest as our teeth clashed, both of us fighting for dominance as we always did. The sound of Jordan’s pencil against the paper continued which would have made me laugh had it not been a normal occurrence. He never seemed to mind the two of us getting hot and heavy in front of him, and if it did bother him, he was welcome to leave. This was my room, after all.

My tongue slipped inside Seven’s mouth, tangling with his. Our bodies were pressed so close together that there was no longer any room between us. Just the way I liked it. His cock moved against mine through our pants, the feel of it turning me on even more.

“Fuck,” he groaned, peeling his lips away from mine and breathing heavily. A hungry look had taken over his expression, dilating his eyes.

We didn’t make a habit out of doing this in our rooms, knowing a staff member could poke their head in at any given time and it would be reported to Dr. Theodore—the asshole in charge of this place. He was a sadistic piece of shit who believed that torturing his patients would grant him his desired results. Most people who ended up in his experimental room didn’t survive very long, and if they did, their brain had turned to mush from being fucked with too many times.

Seven gripped the bottom of my shirt in his hands and peeled it from my body as quickly as possible. Next, he started fumbling with the button on my jeans, his movements erratic with impatience. I kicked them off and reached for his shirt, tugging it from his body as he had done with mine and then tossed it on the floor.

Once we were completely naked, his lips found mine again. The feel of his cock against mine sent a jolt of electricity spiraling through me. My hands drifted upwards to capture his face, cradling it as I pulled him into me more forcefully. A grunt tumbled from his mouth and bled onto my tongue which I soaked right up.

Fuck. He was hot.

He was mine .

I’d been so wrapped up in kissing him, that I didn’t notice him inch his hand away from my body until it came into contact with my throbbing dick. My breath hitched as he started pumping me up and down and my fingernails dug into the edges of his face, my breathing becoming more erratic with every stroke.

“Grab the knife from my safe,” I said through heavy pants, wanting to make this as good as possible for him, too.

Every room had a safe bolted into the closet so that we could hide sentimental items from the other patients. Most of the people here knew not to test any of the three of us, but then again, some of them were too impulsive to even consider the consequences of pissing us off.

Seven’s eyes blazed hot with heat from the mere suggestion, almost like he could already taste the blood pouring out of my veins. He stepped away, taking his body heat with him and it forced a chill to sweep through my limbs.

I dropped onto the edge of the bed, waiting for him to return. Jordan was still drawing away, but as if sensing my gaze on him, his dark blue eyes clashed with mine. An amused smirk pulled the corner of his mouth upwards, and he shook his head before turning back to his work.

When Seven came back, he flicked the pocket knife open, his face lighting up with exhilaration. The first time I’d allowed him to taste my blood had been nerve racking. Especially after finding out what he was in here for in the first place. Scars marred my chest and abdomen from the various cuts and bite marks he’d inflicted over the years. Eventually, it became easier to cope with and those earlier fears vanished.

I scooted further up on the bed and leaned back on my elbows. My heart raced with adrenaline as it always did when he cut me, or when he was about to.

Straddling my thighs, his hard cock brushed against mine. His eyes were blown wide with lust and anticipation. He took the small knife in his hand and placed the blade to my chest right over my nipple.

A sting sliced through the area and warm liquid trickled down my pec. My lips parted on a silent gasp, the feeling dizzying in the best way which made my dick twitch. He must have felt it, too, because a groan sounded from deep within his throat. Bracing himself on my shoulders, he leaned down, his mouth sucking it all up. The heat from his tongue dulled the sharp pain, transforming it into pleasure instead.

“Fuck.” I breathed, running my hands through his hair and urging him to keep going.

Another slice of his blade met the sensitive spot where my ribs connected. The air attacked the open wound, but his mouth was on me again in an instant, drinking it all up. He moaned against my skin, sending a vibration tumbling through me and my head tilted back in pleasure.

I preferred when he used the knife. I’d let him use just his teeth a few times and that had been excruciating—though, the pain never lasted too long. Seven struggled being intimate without the taste of blood against his lips. It was almost as if he needed it in order to get off. He ground his hips against mine, trailing his tongue along my flesh. Electricity zapped through my system, causing a moan of my own to fall from my lips.

This time, he moved the knife to my stomach and leaned back on his legs to put more space between us. He made a long cut from where my ribs ended to the spot beside my hip bone. Blood pooled instantly, making my breath hitch. His lips followed the trail of the liquid. He must have placed the knife down because his hands moved to grip my sides as he pulled me against him, not willing to lose a single drop.

Once satisfied, he started trailing his mouth up my body. “Goddamn,” he hissed, right before his lips brushed against the column of my neck. His hips snapped against mine, making him rub himself into me even more forcefully. The feel of his big, pierced cock moved along mine; the sensation forcing my eyes to roll.

“Fuck me,” I breathed, thrusting upwards to grind against him in return.

“Yeah? You want me inside you this time?”

I nodded, not caring who was really on top, but knowing he preferred to be. He pushed off me and flipped me onto my stomach with immeasurable strength. The sound of him spitting into his hand echoed throughout the room. My heart was racing and I was so unbelievably hard right now. Bracing my hands against the mattress, I moved onto all fours to give him better access.

Seven came up behind me, placing the tip of his cock against my ass. It slid between my cheeks, toying with the hole he desperately wanted to enter. Without another warning, his hips jerked forward, and he breached my entrance, making me gasp out in alarm. My hands tightened into the sheets for support; the sting from him stretching me pulsed through me violently. I lowered my chest to the bed, forming an arch for him. This seemed to appease him because he muttered another obscenity and moved his hands to grip my hips before sliding in even deeper.

“Fuck yes, Seven,” I moaned, pressing my ass against him to gain more friction.

He twitched inside me, a low groan of his own slipping free in response. Being with him was risky. Most of the time, we had sex out in the woods or in a secluded part in the garden. If someone saw, they could easily tell Dr. Theodore about this and then we’d both be screwed. Even now, someone could walk in. We weren’t permitted to have locks on our doors. But the desire to have him outweighed everything else. It also helped take my mind off of everything else.

His piercings shouldn’t have felt as foreign inside me as they did. It wasn’t like I’d never felt them before. But the extra friction still had me clenching around him.

He jerked his hips back and slammed them against my ass, making a louder moan tumble from my mouth in response.

“God, you’re gripping me so fucking tight.” His pace steadily increased, the slapping of his skin against mine reverberating throughout the room. My hands fisted the sheets even tighter as he pounded against me, his piercings creating a rippling effect.

“God, yes,” I moaned, my eyes rolling even further into my skull.

He was slipping in and out more easily now. His hands tightened around my waist as he used me for support in order to slam into me repeatedly.

Our heavy breathing filled the space along with Jordan’s pencil against the paper. If he was more open-minded, he could join, but that wasn’t what he wanted. As long as we’d been here, he’d only fucked two people—both of them girls. One of those girls was Rachel of all people, and the other had been a newer girl. But of course, the twins couldn’t handle that, and she went missing. We knew they killed her, but her body was never found. No body, no punishment.

Seven’s hips met my ass again, disintegrating my thoughts into dust. I knew it wouldn’t take him long. In just a matter of time?—

A sharp pain shot through the back of my shoulder, the unexpectedness of it had me groaning out in pleasure. His lips met the fresh cut he’d made and he urged me to sit back on him. This new position made him go even deeper, causing my breath to labor. He reached around with his other hand and started stroking me up and down. It was so hard to stay quiet with him this far inside me. Especially while he was sucking on the back of my shoulder where he’d cut me and pumping me up and down. The sensation had heat pooling in my abdomen, shooting directly to my balls and forcing them to tighten.

My muscles tensed, right before streams of white liquid shot from my cock, coating the sheets. He followed behind me, his hot come filling my ass completely. His teeth scraped against my shoulder blade, a louder, yet, muffled moan falling from his lips.

We sat like that for a few moments, both of us working to catch our breath. My head spun as the lust slowly started leaving my system, followed by exhaustion. He knew how to fuck, and he also knew how to distract me.

Pulling out of me, the loss of contact had a chill sweeping through my body. I started to roll over, but he placed his hand on the small of my back to hold me in place instead.

“We’ve gotta get you cleaned up first,” he protested.

My eyebrows dipped in confusion. I was more than capable of cleaning it up myself. But before I could tell him as much, the bed shifted under his weight and his tongue slid against my ass, making me gasp out in surprise. He moaned against me, tasting his release as he continuously worked his mouth over my hole. He lapped it all up before separating himself from me again. This time he didn’t stop me from rolling over onto my back. My eyes tracked his movements, desire still spiraling through me, especially when I watched him put the blade against his tongue and lick it clean before he strode across the room and returned it to the safe.

“Better?” Jordan asked from across the small space, his eyes darting up to meet mine. An amused twitch of his lips told me he’d heard everything, even while being so entranced by his drawing. We weren’t exactly the quietest, but he had a gift for tuning everything out while he sketched.

“Can’t complain.” I shrugged. “You should try it sometime.”

He snorted in response. “I’d like my ass to remain a virgin, thank you very much.”

Seven chuckled as he slipped his shirt on over his head followed by his jeans. I quickly got dressed too, just in case someone decided to pop their head in. It had almost been time for shift change when we came in here, and that was a risk I wasn’t willing to take.

Jordan paused, his hand stilling around the pencil he held. “That new girl,” he treaded lightly. “Why have we only seen her in group and nowhere else? I mean—she hasn’t even gone to the cafeteria.”

Seven dropped onto the edge of my bed beside me, running his fingers through his platinum hair in order to smooth it out. “There’s probably more to her story than we know. They most likely think she’s unpredictable right now. It’s not uncommon for new patients to be locked up for the first week or two.”

Jordan pursed his lips as he contemplated that. Finally, he nodded, seeming to let it go. “Yeah.” He breathed. “You’re probably right. They locked me up, too when I first got here.” He closed his book and shoved the pencil in his pocket before rising. “Anyways, I have art therapy soon. You want to meet at the gym after?”

“Sure,” the two of us said in unison.

He slipped out of the room, letting the door fall closed behind him. My pulse was still racing from what Seven and I just did. The pleasure mixed with the sting of pain was the most intense thing I’d ever felt. It was why I kept going back for more.

The two of us came here within months of each other. It didn’t take long for us to form a friendship. Being placed in group therapy could do that, funnily enough. We’d been partnered up with each other on numerous occasions before we started hanging out outside of therapy. We’d been friends for several months prior to anything sexual happening. One thing led to another the night I allowed him to drink from me that first time. Before that, I’d never even considered being with another guy. But it felt so unexpectedly good.

We met Jordan a little bit later. He’d been at the asylum before either of us, but he was so quiet and reserved that it took us longer to form any kind of bond with him.

Ironically, our first encounter with him outside of Ms. Octavia’s room was in the bathroom of all places. He walked in on me and Seven doing…unquestionable things—like what we’d just been doing in front of him. Seven shoved the sharp edge of a piece of glass we’d been using, due to not having a knife yet, against his throat despite their obvious weight and height differences. Jordan’s lips curled into an amused smile, not seeming phased in the slightest. There had been no judgment, no hostility, and no indication that he’d planned on saying anything to anyone about what he just walked in on. That was the beginning of an unbreakable bond.

Seven threw himself on his back, sprawling out across the bed and peered up at the blindingly white ceiling with his arms folded across his chest. “Do you think they’ll ever let us out of here?” he asked, glancing over at me thoughtfully.

When I first got here, that’s all I’d thought about. What happened with Kaydence had been a freak accident. There was no way in hell that they could hold that against me for the rest of my life. At least…that’s what I figured anyways. People rarely left this place. How Ms. Octavia did it, I wasn’t so sure. She was older, so the doctors must have been a lot more lenient back then.

“I doubt it,” I replied honestly.

He hummed in agreement. “Yeah. That was a stupid question. Dr. Theodore Young would kill us before that happened.” His lips tugged up in a smirk that was meant to be mocking, but it made me grimace, nonetheless.

I’d often heard the screams bleeding beneath the door of his work area . There was no doubt in my mind that it was an experimental room designed to torture the sins out of patients. What did it matter to him if we sinned or not? It wasn’t like church was a requirement here. He didn’t strike me as the religious type either. I guess there were some things he hated more than others and to justify his cruel actions, he used his religion to do it.

The one thing Dr. Theodore seemed to hate the most in this place was homosexuality. Most of the patients that wound up in his clutches were gay or lesbian, some of them even bisexual. Murder was a close second. He didn’t like his potential experiments being killed off before he got to play with them. Any reason he could find was reason enough for him to do whatever he wanted to under the guise of trying to fix them. The only patients he left alone were the ones who agreed to be his spies. That not only put a massive target on that patient’s back, but it also made their life harder in other ways. Especially if they got caught.

My mind flashed back to Jordan and to his split knuckles we spotted the other day. His psychosis and delusions seemed to be getting worse as the days went on and I worried about him.

Before I could bring that subject up, the door creaked open, making my shoulders tense. Ms. Gloria poked her head around the door, her gaze sweeping over the two of us. Luckily, there was enough space between us so it looked like we were just hanging out—which we were. If she’d come in here sooner though…

A chill swept down my spine. I didn’t even want to think about that. We needed to be more careful.

“How are you guys doing?” she asked, forcing a tight smile.

She was one of the newer staff members, but she seemed to follow the book more than anything and that only meant that if she saw anything concerning, it would be reported right to Dr. Theodore himself.

“We were meditating before you interrupted,” I snapped in a clipped tone.

Seven snorted from beside me, not even bothering to spare her a glance.

If there was one thing this place took seriously, it was ensuring we had every opportunity to work on our coping methods and potentially get better. Not that it ever truly mattered as far as Dr. Theodore was concerned, but the staff hadn’t put that together themselves. Why would they? As soon as they clocked out for the day, they went home to their families and didn’t spare us a second thought.

Gloria’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, um… sorry about that. I just had to do head count really quickly.” She raised her clipboard in the air for emphasis. “I’ll leave you to it now.” Another fake smile and she was slipping back into the hallway.

“You think she gives good head?” Seven joked.

I laughed and shoved him despite the small pang slicing through my chest at his words. That was another thing I didn’t want to dwell on at the moment.

When we got to the gym, Jordan was already there shooting hoops. Sweat trickled along the sides of his face as he jumped to do a layup. The ball slid through the net without even touching the rim of the basket. He must have been here for a while if he was already sweating the way he was.

We strode across the court to meet up with him and I snatched the ball mid air when he attempted another shot. He arched an eyebrow, his chest moving up and down heavily as he worked to catch his breath. Dark blonde hair clung to his forehead, the moisture from his body dampening it.

“Get out of therapy early?” I asked, placing the ball beneath my elbow and bracing it against my body.

“Yeah. Mrs. Marlene had a family emergency.” He rolled his eyes as if he didn’t believe it, which was fair. She’d been cutting classes early on him at least once a week for the last two months.

“Good thing you got a lot of drawing in today, then,” Seven chimed in on the opposite side of him.

Jordan sighed, his expression tightening. I knew what he was thinking. It wasn’t good enough for him. He needed more than just a pencil against paper. He needed to mold things, to control the way they shaped. He needed to paint and create vibrant colors to help express his emotions since he wasn’t comfortable sharing them. Art therapy was an outlet for him. As long as I’d known him, he hadn’t missed a single class.

“Do you still want to play?” I questioned.

Jordan swiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “Fuck yeah, I do.”

I smiled and threw the ball at him. His reflexes were fast, and he caught the ball before it smacked him in the chest. He bounced it against the floor a few times before moving to take his stance a good way from the goal. With a flick of his wrist, the orange object spiraled through the air again and hit its target, making the net swish with it.

Seven and I lined up behind him and we all took turns shooting the ball into the basket. Normally, we’d play keep-away without any regulations, but Jordan hadn’t seemed interested in doing that today.

After about an hour of doing that, we found ourselves sitting on one of the benches near the wall. Jordan had taken his shirt off, his muscles glistening with sweat. Tattoos marred his flesh, reminding me of the sleeve I had. Unlike his, mine contained meaning. The letter K was tattooed into the back of my shoulder with flowers and vines protruding from it—my way of telling Kaydence that I was sorry. On my left tricep was an upside down cross with blood dripping down it. A reminder that God wasn’t real, because if he was, none of us would be suffering with all these fucked up problems.

My parents were both religious. As a kid, they forced me to go to church with them. Eventually, I started enjoying it and became hopeful of the afterlife, wanting to do everything I could to appease the God that they worshipped. I studied the bible, went to night class on Wednesday, went to church on Sunday, and really tried. And all for what? To accidentally snap and murder someone in the next breath. What kind of God would allow that?

Glancing over at Jordan, his jaw was tense and his eyes were glazed over like he was deep in thought.

“Are you okay?” Seven asked him, clearly witnessing the same thing and drawing up the same concerns.

Jordan’s eyes snapped to his, his shoulders and chest moving in rapid succession. He huffed a laugh as if it were nothing to worry about, but nervous energy prickled along my skin regardless. “The voices are just loud sometimes.” He forced a smile. “It’s nothing.”

As much as I wanted to believe that, if it were truly nothing as he claimed, he wouldn’t be acting so weird and hostile lately. I didn’t know how he gained his split knuckles, but it was easy to speculate, especially since I’d seen it in action on more than one occasion.

He must have felt our skepticism because he rose to his feet abruptly. “I think I just need a nap. I’ll see you guys later.”

“What about dinner?” I asked.

He waved me off with a flick of his hand. “I’ll eat some crackers or something later.” With those last words, he made a beeline for the exit and slipped out of the room.

“Speaking of dinner,” Seven began. “It’s about that time. You want to head to the cafeteria?”

“Sure.”

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was really wrong with Jordan though. Even as we made our way out of the gym, it weighed on me. Having delusion disorder mixed with psychosis wasn’t a good combination. He refused to take his medication, hating the way it made him feel, but it seemed like he needed it badly.

Sighing, I lifted my gaze from the floor, my eyes widening when I spotted Rosalie further down the hallway. My heart started racing, intrigue coursing through my veins and causing my skin to heat. She was walking into church with a few other patients, Pastor Valentine strolling in behind her.

A wicked idea sprang to mind, taking root at one part of my brain and spreading through it until it was the only thing I could think about.

“Archer…” Seven trailed off in a hesitant tone as if he could already sense where my train of thought was heading.

“I’ll catch you later.” Was my only reply before I started down the hallway and slipped into the room I’d just seen her enter.