Page 57 of Consumed By You

“What thehellare you doing here?” I bark as the wind slices my skin and Benjamin whips his head around. Other than the vicious scowl on his face, he looks unharmed.

“You know this guy?” Tim asks and I nod, swallowing. He lets him go, shaking his head, and goes back inside.

“You fucking dick!” the blond guy screams, clutching his very apparent broken nose. Damn, I actually feel bad for him.

“Get out of here.” I shove Benjamin. “He’s with a lot of people. Hurry. Go!” If people see him, there’s nothing stopping this from holding a large slot of time on the morning news. Not to mention front page news on every paper in the city.

“You’ll be okay?”

“Yes! Yes, I’ll be fine. Go home!”

He runs down to the corner. Where the hell is Dimitri?

I glance at the poor guy on the ground and go back inside. Marilyn is helping out with the bar when I get back.

“Where were you?” she asks.

“Outside. That guy on the ground may need an ambulance.” I take some empty glasses from the counter and put them into a bin.

“Not our problem,” she says, completely engulfed in making drinks.

I continue to work, trying not to wonder about why Benjamin was even here in the first place.

***

As soon as the clock hits three in the morning, I flick off the lights, glad to finally be able to get home. The place has been empty for at least an hour so we could clean. The blood on the floor from the brawl was horrible to clean up. The frat boy’s friends must have gone to get him, because when I got back inside, I didn’t see them.

I retrieve my purse, shut off the last light, and step outside. I’m locking the door when I hear him.

“Your friend really fucked up Harry.”

I spin around, finding three guys blocking my way.

The dark-haired one who spoke is stalking slowly toward me. I step back as far as I can go until I slam into the door. I’m stuck.

“Someone’s going to pay for it. No one hurts our brother and gets away with it,” he growls, bringing his hand up to caress my face.

“I-I didn’t do anything,” I stutter lamely, noticing the other guys stepping up behind the one in front of me.

My heart is frantically beating. I can smell the alcohol on their breaths. His hand crawls up my inner thigh and I go rigid. My mind races through the many maneuvers in my head that I learned in self-defense classes years ago, but my brain is cloudy from fear. One of the other guys yanks a handful of my hair and pulls, and this becomes painfully real. I find my voice.

I scream hoarsely, trying to kick the one that now has his hands over my underwear. I know how to fight, but not this many people.

“Get yourfuckinghands off me!” I shriek.

The one in front of me covers my mouth and leads me into the alleyway next to the building. I’m fighting with every ounce of strength I have. I bite down on his fingers hard, but he slams his other hand into my face so hard my ears ring.

“Help!” I scream into the darkness.

Their hands are all over me. I can’t see a thing, only shadows. Everything is happening so fast.

I begin to hyperventilate when I feel the cold air on my torso.

No. Please. No.

“Stop! Help!” I sob.

“Shut up!”