The four girls sat in the waiting room patiently, all watching Emmie’s mom right across the room, a scowl on her face as she texted away on her phone. Victoria’s foot tapped nervously against the ground and Olivia’s nails clicked against the plastic chair, the two habits enough to drive Josie crazy.
“Stop it!” she said with a sharp tone, bringing their movements to a close, and making Ani smirk humorlessly.
“Thanks,” she quietly said and received a nod from the major’s daughter.
There were footsteps in the hallway, and suddenly everyone got silent, even the few people who weren’t there for Emmie. Everyone was waiting for news, either good or bad, and when the girl’s doctor showed herself, all the girls stood.
“How is she? Is she okay?” Victoria immediately asked. “Please answer, I need to know.”
The doctor raised her hand to stop her. “Emmie’s fine.” A collective sigh of relief escaped their lips. “She passed out because of a lack of nutrients
Ramsay sat beside Emmie’s bed, eyes directed to the girl. It had been an hour since she fell asleep, and yet, he couldn’t look away. She was so peaceful while asleep and didn’t seem like the broken girl she was on the inside. Her chest moved up and down in a steady rhythm, but as his thumb brushed over the skin of her hand, he could feel the bruises from making herself vomit on her knuckles. He made sure to be extra careful while he caressed them and the wounds on her palm. The door opened, causing Ramsay to finally look away, only to reveal the girl’s father. He sat up straight on his chair, facing the man, but didn’t let go of Emmie’s hand, their fingers still loosely laced together. Ramsay cleared his throat inaudibly before speaking up. “Hello.” He managed to keep his glare and frown away, hoping that maybe her father would accept him a bit more than her mother had. “Hi,” Peter said and swiftly closed the door behind himself. Ramsay gulped
It was nice waking up to someone knocking on your door and calmly telling you it was time to get out of bed.But it would take some time to get used to.Emmie slid out of bed and dragged her feet to the door, opening it in the process. She stared at an amused-looking Felix in the hallway. “Took you some time,” he said.The girl sighed and tiredly nodded. “Sorry.”The man frowned at the apology and shook his head. “You’re a teenager, Emmie, you might as well start acting like one.”The girl smiled when he turned around and started walking down the stairs. “Your breakfast is almost ready, hurry!” he said on his way.“Okay,” Emmie mumbled and walked to the bathroom.Getting dressed didn’t take as long as usual now that she didn’t have to worry about what would be accepted by her mother, and neither did the makeup that didn’t have to be as perfect. She bru
Beast sat on the leather couch in his private lounge, knee bouncing up and down nervously as his gold teeth clinked together in thought. His men were supposed to arrive every minute now, and he really hoped it was good news they brought. The knocks sounded before he could finish his thought, and the silent guard by the door suddenly yanked it open, bowing his head in respect at the three men that walked in. Beast didn’t stand when the men stopped in front of him and simply motioned to the couch facing him. The three took a seat and immediately handed the short man a bunch of photos, accompanied by a phone. “The girl was in the hospital,” one of them stated at first as Beast stared at the first picture of her and Ramsay hugging in the waiting room that had clearly been made from the parking lot. “Fuck,” the man cursed. “If something’s wrong with her, no one is going to pay us a single penny for that. What’s wrong with her?” “We don’t know,” ano
For the next couple of weeks, everything continued the way it had before, with a few simple differences.The gang had all come together, introducing themselves to each other in the privacy of a classroom where every couple could act as they wanted without being observed and used for rumors by other students at the school.Ramsay and Christopher ended up bonding over mutual sarcastic insults. Ani and Josie were fast friends with their similar experiences with families and siblings. Reggie and Mateo shared an interest in poker and made up a secret handshake with a promise to go to a casino together, screw over everyone else there, and become millionaires once they were both twenty-one.And even as teenagers with so many differences bonded, it was still Olivia and Emmie that managed to surprise everyone.The two girls had left most of their conversations about their shared nephew and niece behind and started sharing deep discussions about life. They combined
At school, everyone was talking about Halloween. The costumes the teenagers had worn the previous years were still somewhere on their attics or in the back of their closets, but none of those seemed to fit anymore, especially for the seniors. As kids, they had worn cute outfits that at that time for them seemed scary. But a seventeen-year-old couldn’t go trick-or-treating dressed as a strawberry anymore. No one would have taken them seriously, and it simply didn’t seem as fun anymore. So, as the underclassmen were talking in a frenzy about their sexy kitty cat and nurse outfits while the jocks would simply stay at home, too cool for any of it, the seniors were planning their outfits for their annual party. Jason Cooper had thrown a lot of parties back when in high school, and Olivia had always been included and allowed to bring a few of her friends. Then, when her brother left for college, she took over. This year was the first year Emmie woul
The tiny hairy man stood in the technology room, two men sitting in front of him, working on details on the computer. All three of them were wearing headsets and watching the show go down.Never had they taken on such a risky mission. Kidnapping a girl from one of the most respected Northside families was nothing like taking one from the Southside without parents that nobody would miss.But, even as they had already bid the girl off to a nasty buyer in Switzerland, Beast was not doing this for money. His objective was to capture both of the Jones men, leave the Vipers without leaders, and then take them all down, one by one.The adrenaline he got from the operation helped as well.“Butterfly. Cameras are on,” they heard from the headset.The bony man behind the computer who was referred to as Butterfly because of his high voice and colorful outfit choices, clicked on a button Beast didn’t comprehend, and one of the huge screens on
Ramsay ran from the hospital at the phone call. He went straight to his bike and rode to the Viper Nest where a Viper meeting was about to take place. Horrible thoughts were rummaging in his brain about everything that could have happened to Emmie. And they were even worse now that Mateo had called him, terrified, saying the Demons had taken another girl. Ramsay pushed open the door of the bar while jogging and ran right to the counter to his two best friends who were now, like everyone else, staring at him because of his dramatic entrance. “Is it Emmie?” he immediately asked, not caring how loud his voice was or who could hear him. “We don’t know. Your dad’s gonna start with the details in like five minutes,” Ani whispered, eyes wide. “He seems restless.” “Dad,” Ramsay immediately said with a loud voice, gaining the attention of him and Rick who were both stood on the mini stage. “Let’s start now.” The older Jones didn’t have
Emmie was woken when some footsteps stopped by her door. Her eyes slowly opened, exhausted of the crying and panic attacks she had throughout the night and day, and her mouth fell open, the lack of air making her thirst even worse.As the door opened, she didn’t care if she’d get another slap or punch in the face or stomach and stared at the figure standing in the bright light. “Water,” she said in a croaky voice.The man said nothing and took a few steps closer to her, at which Emmie flinched and pressed herself against the pole behind her back. Her breathing accelerated when two other men walked into the small claustrophobic room of hers.That was when the light was turned on.Her eyes shut involuntarily while she fought against it, and by the time she could see again normally, two of the men were sitting down on chairs that apparently were in the room, one of them not present anymore.Emmie noticed that the one on the lef