Page 21

TWENTY

FALLING

SUGAR WE’RE GOIN’ DOWN—FALL OUT BOY

KILLIAN

“S o Addy is really Calista, the girl I’ve heard so much about?” Five gasps, trying to comprehend what we just told him, his mouth wide open as he shakes his head in utter disbelief. “Fuck, I had no idea.”

“She’s good at playing fucking games,” Dom sneers, an angry look washing over his face as he peers out the window, searching for any sign of her.

“Stop being a dick, Dom. We’re part of the reason she is the way she is.” I roll my eyes, plucking a cigarette from my pack.

Disappointment surges through me as we sit here, livid because we literally just missed her. Even though she isn’t here, Ash still searches the place for any sign of her or things she might’ve left behind.

But she’s gone. There’s nothing fucking here. Nothing but her scent absorbed into every surface of Five’s apartment, bringing back good and bad memories of our time together.

As I puff hard on my cigarette, I can’t help but think about her and where she might be. Fear flows through my veins, wondering if she’s waiting for us at the apartment. But would she really be that predictable?

If she shows back up, call me, and don’t let her fucking know we were her looking for her,” Dom orders Five, annoyance laced in his raspy voice.

“I won't, but I highly doubt she’ll be back here. She ain’t fucking stupid, you know.” Five chuckles, shaking his head slowly.

“Just keep your fucking mouth shut.” Dom brushes past him and heads for the door, pausing for Ash and me to hurry and join him.

Once the three of us step outside, the cold night air wrapping around us, I exhale the deep breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. We walk in silence, avoiding each other’s nervous gaze, all thinking the same thing: where the fuck is Calista, and what twisted game is she going to play next?

Even though it’s going on four in the morning, Ash’s cell rings with his father’s ringtone, causing us all to freeze on the sidewalk. While he steps off to the side to answer it, Dom turns to face me, speaking in hushed tones as if he doesn’t want Ash to overhear.

“Why do I feel like she’s coming after us?” he asks, and I can tell that she has him fucking spooked, but he isn’t the only one.

The psychological games she’s playing are fucking with all of us, and not knowing what her next move is eats away at my mind, and most likely Dom’s and Ash’s too.

“She is coming after us, Dom. We fucking hurt her. Betrayed her. We ruined the trust and love she once had for us,” I explain, jumping at the sound of an approaching car with its right headlight out, which strangely enough catches my eye.

With a grim expression on his face, Ash walks back over to us, staring blankly at the ground as he slides his cell into his pocket. “I have to go,” he says bluntly, still refusing to look at us.

“What now?” I groan, afraid to hear what’s about to come out of his mouth.

“I’m not sure. My father just said he needed me for something, and if I refused, he threatened to send the cops to our place to pick me up.” A sad, fearful expression mixes on his face, turning his usual bright eyes dim and soft.

We nod in understanding as we prepare to part ways, still left with the looming feeling of dread in my stomach. Taking a deep inhale of my cigarette, I watch Ash walk away before turning to Dom with a look of urgency in my eyes.

“We need to try to find her before she finds us,” I state firmly, and with a shared look of determination, we set off into the night in search of Calista, uncertain of what will happen when we finally confront her.

* * *

After spending the next two hours searching the street for Cali with absolutely no luck, Dom and I reluctantly head back to our apartment, nerves heavily twisting in my core.

“What if she’s here?” I whisper, sticking the key into the lock on our door, frantically looking around and behind us to make sure we weren’t followed.

“Then we fucking deal with it. We try to reason with her as best we can.”

“And if that doesn’t work?” I turn the knob but pause, looking deeply into Dom’s eyes.

“Then we kill her before she kills us. Period.” He shrugs, nodding at me to open the door so we can get inside.

I shudder at the thought of it all coming down to that, but knowing Calista like I do—like I used to—I can’t say I would do it. We’re backed into a corner with no idea how to get out of the mess that she’s created—or did we create it?

As we step inside, I instantly feel like she’s watching, waiting, ready to strike at any moment. With each passing second, it feels like we’re falling faster and deeper into her trap. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little intrigued.

The apartment is dark, except for the blue neon light hanging above my bedroom door, so I flip the switch in the living room to brighten the place up. I breathe, relieved when I don’t see any sign of Cali, but I know that doesn’t necessarily mean that she isn’t here or hasn’t been here. She could be hiding, waiting for us…

“You want a drink, Kill?” Dom asks, kicking his Nikes off by the door before striding with purpose to the kitchen.

“Yeah, grab me a Bud,” I call after him, plopping down on the couch and letting the cushions swallow me whole.

Just like any other night, I toss baggies of coke and heroin onto the table, my mouth watering at the sight of them, illuminated by the swinging, flickering light hanging above the table. As I wait for Dom to return, my eyes sweep around the living room out of boredom, eventually landing on something tucked under the recliner across from me, completely out of place. I swallow hard, hesitating before getting up to investigate.

Crouching down, I reach under the chair and feel around until my hand hits something. I pull it out cautiously, looking at it before dropping it to the ground as I stand back up. Footsteps approaching behind me make me freeze, slowly turning around as I begin to pray under my breath that it isn’t Cali here to kill me.

“What’s got you so fucking spooked this time, Kill?” I hear Dom’s low voice and finish turning around to face him.

“There’s... there’s a mask under the chair,” I tell him, hearing my heartbeat race in my ears.

“It might not have gotten put away with the others from the other night.” He shrugs, handing me a beer and flashing me a smile to help settle my nerves.

I shake my head confidently, pointing to the mask that’s now on the floor. “No, Dom, it’s not one of our masks. And besides, it’s covered in fresh, wet blood.” I gulp, a chilling feeling entering my body that turns me into a terrified mess.

He walks over and crouches down to grab the mask off the floor. Inspecting it, the color drains from his face and the blood on it transfers to his hands, freaking him out. He switches the mask on, revealing bright red lights around the eyes and mouth, dropping it back on the ground in a panic.

“It’s gotta be hers because we only have Ghostface masks, which means she was...” He pauses, gulps, and his complexion turns even whiter. “She was here.”

Trying not to panic myself, I begin drinking, taking my seat all over again, determined to push the freaky shit out of my mind. “Let’s get high,” I tell him, breathing ragged.

Dom finally sits down after doing a quick scan of the apartment, not finding any noticeable signs of her being here. He brings the beer bottle to his mouth and chugs it, his eyes deadlocked on mine as I skillfully pour out a pile of coke without looking.

“No, not that. I don’t need to be any more paranoid than I already am,” he finally laughs, but I can hear the nerves in his tone that he’s trying so hard to mask.

“This shit is just for me. I’m doing a line before I do any downers.” I wink, pulling out a cut straw from the little drawer in the coffee table.

Sniffing a fat line of coke, my nose burns instantly, but fuck, it feels so damn good. As the liquidized powder drips down the back of my throat, I move on to the heroin, passing Dom the baggie once I’ve poured enough onto the table for myself.

While Dom mixes a shot and I sniff my line, little noises coming from outside the living room begin to fuck with my head again. I try to ignore them, but it’s fucking impossible.

Leaning back with my head resting on the top of the couch, I think about Ash and if he’s okay. Knowing how his father operates and how fucking disgusting he is, I know that Ash isn’t going to be in a good space whenever he gets home.

But I can’t even think about him like I want to because Calista pops into my mind and erases everything else.

As she dances beneath my closed lids, I feel the couch dip beside me as Dom sits, leans back, and tries to relax alongside me, his hand reaching over and gently massaging my upper thigh. My cock wakes up, knowing exactly who’s close to touching it, and my nerve endings begin to tingle in anticipation.

The October wind blows, sending the tree branches scraping against the windows, making goosebumps prick my skin, and the hairs on my arms and legs stand on end. Too high and afraid to open my eyes, I squeeze them tighter, reaching over blindly to find a part of Dom to ling to. Of course, my hand lands on his lap, and I feel his cock twitch against my palm as I graze it.

“Is someone afraid, or is your ass horny?” Dom speaks softly, a hint of seduction in his gravelly tone.

“Both,” I admit, my eyes still closed.

“Look at me, Kill,” he says, leaning in so his warm breath skates across the side of my neck.

As tempting as it is, I don’t. I keep them shut, enjoying the high as the drugs rush through my system, turning me numb.

“Fuck it,” he grunts.

Realizing I’m not opening my eyes, Dom runs his hand up my thigh to the button on my jeans, popping it with a couple of fingers. Next, he unzips them, opening them up so he can easily pull out my dick. And I fucking let him, not in the mood to protest. Once I feel his warm hand around my cock, my eyes finally open, curiously watching as helix his lips before rolling them down my shaft.

Sliding one hand up my shirt and dragging his bitten nails up and down my muscles, he cradles my balls with the other while his mouth envelopes me completely, his tongue gliding over the barbells in my dick.

“Christ, Dom,” I mutter, my hand tangling in his hair.

With his mouth full, he looks up at me, locking eyes while he bobs his head on my cock, sucking slowly but firmly. My legs shake as I part them, trying to get comfortable. His bobbing head causes the room to spin, mixing with the high I’m already on. And all my fears and worries about Calista and Ash—even the bloody mask I found—all fade into the background. Nothing fucking matters but this.

He swirls his tongue around my shaft, massaging my balls in the palm of his hand, setting my insides on fire. Taking me deeper down his throat, i can feel my cock pulsing, growing harder by the second. His spit coats it generously, even dripping from the corners of his lips as he slides me out of his mouth teasingly, only keeping the swollen tip between his lips.

“Fuck, I’m going to come, Dom,” I warn him, my toes curling in my socks as he sucks on the tip like a piece of hard candy.

“Then come, Kill. Isn’t that the whole point of me sucking your dick?” he chuckles, sucking me back into his mouth, hollowing out his cheeks.

I tug on his hair, knowing his scalp is tingling from the force. My body locks up as desire floods my core, turning me into a panting, quivering mess. Small beads of clear fluid coat the head of my cock, and I watch hungrily as Dom darts his tongue out and licks them away with the tip of it, his eyes piercing into mine.

Unable to hold on any longer, I roughly shove his head down, forcing my dick down his throat until his puffy lips are pressed against the skin surrounding the base. Holding his head, I fuck his mouth desperately, thrusting my hips up to match his bobbing head. Holding him down with my hand planted on top of his head, I reach down with my other hand and wrap it around his throat, his adams apple pressing against my palm. And then I let go in his mouth, my cum jetting out in hot, thick spurts. Gagging from lack of airflow, Dom does his best to keep sucking while swallowing every salty drop I give him, his throat tightening around my cock.

“Fuck, good boy, Dom. That’s… fuck, that’s a good fucking boy,” I praise him, feeling his lips curl into a smile with my dick still down his throat, choking him until every rope of cum fills his mouth.

When Dom pulls off, I can’t help but cackle, feeling loose and carefree for the first time all day.

“That was exactly what I fucking needed,” I admit, smiling at him in a daze as he licks his puffy lips and any remainder of cum he might have missed.

His grin is full of mischief as he zips me back up, fastening the button on my jeans. "Well, if that’s all you needed, I’m glad I could help.”

He pulls out two cigarettes and lights them, handing me one as he slumps beside me against the back of the couch, breathing heavily. As the smoke fills the room, we sit in a comfortable silence, our bodies relaxing and the tension melting away. But deep down, I know this is a temporary escape from the chaos that’s awaiting us on the outside.

Calista is out there, plotting her next move, and we’re sitting here getting high and fucking around as if there’s nothing to worry about.

But right now, in this moment, with the echoes of our laughter bouncing off the walls of our apartment, I can’t help but feel a sense of peace. A fleeting moment of contentment before the storm hits. And part of me holds onto that, knowing that it’s these moments that make everything else bearable. .

But as the night deepens and the shadows grow longer, it still feels like Cali is watching me. If we want to survive this, we’re going to have to be ready for whatever she throws at us. The game is far from over, and I have a sinking feeling that the hardest challenges still lie ahead. So for now, I let myself sink deeper into the couch, letting the warmth of the cigarette and the remnants of the high wash over me.

Tomorrow, we’ll face Calista. But tonight, I’ll let myself forget for just a little while longer.