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alex

past

From the adjacent room, muffled screams pierced the air, barely audible beyond our shared wall in the dilapidated hotel. Shouts echoed, accompanied by the sound of objects being thrown around.

I decided it was best if I shut my eyes, figuring it was some sexual thing. Dimitri was married to Stassi, and they had just had a baby, so I figured this had to be some shit married people did. Listen, I wasn’t the most vanilla person, I had my own kinks but nothing that ever sounded this…frightful.

I couldn’t imagine Stassi having sex with him, though. She was my friend, and I didn’t want to hear her, especially when she sounded this scared.

She was just a friend. I had to remind myself a few times before I got too invested in what she did after work or the way she moved on the ice. She was the most beautiful figure skater I’d ever seen, and the awards she’d gotten were well received because it was like watching someone walk on water when you saw her dance on the ice. It was a stark comparison to us hockey players, who relied on brute force and rugged maneuvers to move around the ice.

I grabbed a pillow, shoving it over my ears, but as the clock in the corner ticked, the noises got frantic. It wasn’t until I heard the soft echoes of her voice from where I was sleeping.

“Please,” she begged. “Help me.”

This wasn’t a sex thing. I shot out of bed, got up, and pressed an ear to the wall again. There was that same voice again. It was barely above a whisper, but it kept repeating the same phrase.

“Please. Please. Someone. Please save me.”

I didn’t bother throwing on sweats before I was up and running out of my hotel room in my underwear.

I knocked on the door a few times, and when no one answered, I pounded.

“Please. Help.” The cries were suddenly louder, and there was a huge crash.

I needed to save my friend. I needed to…Fuck.

“I’m right here!” I shouted as I continued to pound on the door.

I was screaming in the hallway. Finally, I heard footsteps coming toward the front door, and as soon as the door opened, my mouth hung agape.