Page 33 of Sadistic Obsession (Rise of Phoenyxx #1)

P hoenyxx

My hands are shaking as Ghost and I walk across the courtyard. What are those pills going to do to me? The back of my neck starts to sweat, and my heart pounds faster in my chest.

“Hey, are you okay, Malishka?” Ghost asks, concern in his eyes.

I can’t answer as I feel the anxiety creeping in.

My chest is tight; it hurts to breathe. My breaths speed up, and black spots dance in my vision.

My legs turn into noodles, shaking and buckling underneath me. Ghost manages to catch me as I fall.

“Phoenyxx! Can you hear me?” I am way past the point of no return, as I succumb to the anxiety.

“I think you’re having a panic attack. Okay, sit with me.

” He pulls me down onto the ground, across from him.

“Look at me, baby. I'm here with you. You are safe.” I struggle to lift my eyes, my vision blurring with tears.

“I want you to breathe with me.” He takes my hands in his.

“Slowly in, like this. Then, slowly out.” He shows me what he means.

I copy him, and after a couple of minutes, the tightness in my chest starts to retreat.

I fight to breathe more slowly, and gradually, my heart rate slows. Finally, I can focus.

“Ghost, thank you,” I rasp out. “No one has ever helped me with that before.”

He smiles, making my heart clench. He stands up, stretching out his hand. “Come on, let’s get back to my room.” I take his hand and speed walk with him to the boys’ dorm and their apartment.

He ushers me into his room, moving to pull back his blankets and fluff the pillows. “Lie down, Malishka. Let me take care of you.”

I gulp, pausing to shed myself of everything except my bra and panties. I climb in under the covers. Ghost pulls off his clothes, clad in only his adorable boxers, with little hearts all over them. He climbs in next to me, gathering me into his arms.

“You may feel sick, tired, loopy, out of it, or all of the above. I will be here the whole time.”

I nod, asking, “How long until it all wears off?”

“I don’t know what they gave you, but usually, about twenty-four hours or so.”

“Okay,” I answer in a small voice. We lay there for a while, and then I start to feel lethargically tired. My limbs feel useless, and I can’t keep my eyes open. The room spins, then blurs. I whimper as it gets worse.

“Hold on, baby,” I hear Ghost say, like he’s far away, before darkness drags me under.

I groggily open my eyes, rubbing the grit from them. I feel so damn loopy but I’m comforted by the feel of Ghost next to me. “Ghost?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“What does love feel like?” I whisper into the pillow.

“Well, I’ve never felt love. But I've heard that it consumes you. That person becomes the center of your universe. You would do anything for them, even die. You put them ahead of yourself.”

I take that in for a moment, and then in a shaky voice say, “Ghost? I mean, Aleksey... Petrov...” I frown. “Is that Russian? Russia’s bad.”

“What?” he sits partially up, looking down at me. “Why would you think that?” The damn darkness pulls me under again, and I drift.

My eyes shoot open, fear spiking through me. I sit up and look around wildly. “Where are they? Don’t let them in! They want our souls!” I scream.

Ghost shakes himself awake. “Malishka, it’s fine. No one is getting in.” He shushes me with a chaste kiss to the lips.

“Okay.” I shrug, plopping back onto the mattress. Once again, I sleep.

“Ghost?” I whisper with parched lips.

“Need a drink, baby?” He hands me a bottle of water that I greedily take several gulps of.

“You’re so good to me.” I sigh, cuddling back up with him. My face is buried in his shoulder, and I get a shot of courage out of nowhere. “Ghost? I think I love you.” Then I fade to black.

Ghost

“I think I love you,” comes from those beautiful lips. My heart pounds, shocked. I hold onto her like a lifeline. This girl—she's everything.

“Malishka, I love you right back.” She likely doesn’t hear me, but I wanted to put it out there, anyway.

I glance at the time, seeing it’s well past dinner. Almost 7 p.m. She must be famished! I want to get her food, but I don’t dare leave her. I pull my phone off the side table next to my bed, pulling up Trikk’s number.

Me: Can you bring some dinner to the room, and leave it outside my door?

Trikk: What’s going on, bro? Have you seen Bambi?

Me: She’s with me. Augustine forced meds on her, and I’m staying with her until they run their course.

Trikk: That motherfucker! Is she ok?

Me: Yes, sleeping mostly.

Trikk: Ok, bro, I’ll bring some food in a few.

Me: Thanks. Don't disturb her, though, ok?

He sends back the thumbs-up emoji. I sigh, sitting up, scrubbing my hands over my face. I gently reach over to shake Phoenyxx’s shoulder. “Malishka? I’ve got food coming. And I’m sure you need to use the bathroom.”

She groans, rolling over. She waves her arms in the air drunkenly. “Nooooo...I’m not gonna...”

“Phoenyxx. Come on now. I’ll help you there and back.”

She sighs dramatically, bolting upright.

“Let’s go...” she slurs, wobbling to her feet.

She is weaving all over the place. I take her arm in mine, placing my other arm across her back to steady her.

We slowly walk to the bathroom, and I settle her onto the toilet.

I turn my back as she does her business.

“Ahhh...” she mutters, earning a rare laugh from me.

“Are you finished?”

“Yeah...yeppers...all done.”

I help her to her feet, pulling up her panties for her, steadying her to walk back into my room.

I get her settled, sitting up in bed. A knock sounds on my door, and before I can go to open it, she launches from the bed and throws it open.

“Ahhh! My other boyfriend!” She throws herself at Trikk, making him almost drop our food.

I rescue it as he laughs. She peppers his whole face with kisses.

“She seems okay,” he laughs. “Be good for Ghost, Bambi. A nice reward will be there for you if you're good.”

“Huh?” she gasps, arms swinging up to grip his cheeks. “Yay!”

I pull her off him, tutting at her. “Get into bed so we can eat, baby.”

She huffs, plopping down. “Bye-bye, Trikkie!” She waves frantically. He chuckles again, leaving us.

I place her food on a laptop tray and put it in front of her. I'm glad he brought something simple; spaghetti would've been a nightmare.

I cut into the meat, lifting the fork to her lips. “Bite, baby.” She takes the food, her eyes widening.

“What is this? Yummy!”

I shake my head. “Meatloaf, Malishka.”

“A loaf of...meat. Right...Cool,” she mumbles, mouth full. I continue to feed her, bite by bite, until her plate is clean. I get up to stack the empty dishes on my computer desk. “Sleep time now, baby.”

“Yes! I need you to cuddle!” I smile again, wondering if she’ll remember any of her drug-fueled antics. Probably not. I climb in again next to her, watching over her until sleep claims her again.

Purge

My head aches, and my hands are sore. I've been sitting at this damn computer for hours, trying to dig up info on Phoenyxx and the Solomons. It's a challenge to use this outdated POS Dell, but I’m still able to get into most systems.

I can't find one single thing on Phoenyxx Solomon. She literally doesn’t exist. As for the Solomons, they are squeaky clean.

Not even a traffic ticket. I've been able to find their birth certificates, marriage certificate, and deed to their property.

But strangely, as of nine years ago, they fell off the map.

It's all a little too convenient to be believed. I KNOW there’s something really weird going on here.

The fact that she isn’t seemingly related to them in any way, and there are no adoption papers, is waving a red flag in front of my face. I may need to call in a favor to a guy I know, who can do a more thorough search, outside of this fucking place.

I take my glasses off, rubbing the spot between my eyebrows.

I only wear these while working. Iskra hasn’t seen me with them; she doesn't even know I wear them. I am apprehensive about showing her this side of myself. Some would say I’m a bit of a tech geek, I guess.

Plus, I’m addicted to horror movies. Not just any, though—the slashers from the 70s and 80s that are the best ever made.

As my thoughts drift, there’s a polite knock on my door. Frost pokes his head in. “Hey, we need to get everyone together to talk about Synn. Now.”

I frown, “Isn’t Phoenyxx still here—with Ghost?”

“Yes, but she’s sleeping soundly. Everyone's here, just meet us in the living room. We need to stay quiet, though.”

I sigh, closing down my screen. I get up, stretch, and follow him out. Razor and Trikk are waiting on the sofa, and Ghost is slinking out of his room, making his way over from my vantage point. I go and perch on the arm of the sofa, and Frost and Ghost each take a chair.

Frost starts, a resolute look on his face. “Has anyone heard from Synn at all? Or seen him?”

I chime in with “I saw him in Iskra’s dorm room when I was with her. But he stormed out without saying shit about where he was going.” The rest shake their heads no.

“Fuck,” he mutters, scrubbing a hand through his hair. This startles me. Frost doesn’t get rattled—ever. He doesn’t feel emotions like most people. To see him like this is indescribable.

“I don’t think we have a choice at this point...” he starts to say, but Razor pipes up. “No! We can’t call his father! Let’s track his ass down and have a little chat. I bet he’s somewhere in the forest. This time of night, that’s where he normally goes, if he’s restless.”

Frost shrugs. “It’s a start, I suppose. I don’t want to leave Killer alone here, though. One of you needs to stay with her.”

I stand up to volunteer. “I’ll stay. Razor and Ghost definitely need to go, as do you. Trikk—you cool with that?”

“Yeah, man, all good.”

Frost nods his head. “Okay. Make sure you keep a close eye on her. She's still getting those drugs out of her system.”

“I know. I might lie down with her. I could use the rest, anyway.”

“Fine—but don’t fall asleep.”

“I won’t.” I watch with wary eyes as they file out the front door. I’ll never admit it, but Synn walking away like this has upset me greatly. I swear I could throttle him for what he’s done.

I go to Ghost’s room, tiptoeing in quietly. Iskra is still asleep, lying on her side. She looks so beautiful with all that red hair spread out on the pillow, her face soft and at peace. I take a seat in the office chair, settling in to watch her.