Alice had almost drifted off when she heard a voice.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
She looked up to see Riley standing over her, surrounded by the usual suspects and a couple of others she vaguely recognised.
As a reflex, she pulled her hand away from Adam's like it was hot coal, though she knew it was too little too late. She'd been caught in the act.
"Riley—"
"Shush." He crouched and placed a finger on her lips. "You just curl up there. Cover your eyes and your ears, okay?"
"Oh, please, Riley, don't!" she cried. "You promised. You promised you wouldn't hurt him."
"And you broke your side of the bargain." Riley smiled sadly and shook his head. "It was only a matter of time, so don't feel too bad. I was just having a little fun with you."
"I—I didn't. I didn't—" Alice stammered, gla
Adam looked down at the blood and pliers, reliving that awful moment. It wasn't the pain or humiliation but the fact that he'd broken. He'd given in—agreed to do anything to make it stop.Before today, he'd never even entertained the thought of yielding to another man. Others bowed to him. He'd bullied countless weaklings, forcing them to bend to his will or laughed as they begged at his feet, but he'd never once been on the receiving end. Never in his life had he felt helpless, his life completely in the hands of an unforgiving and cruel maniac.Now that he understood how it felt to be utterly powerless, it wasn't just the shame and fear crushing his spirit but the realisation that he was a monster to so many others.As the painkillers wore off and his mouth throbbed, he thought about the times he'd punched other guys teeth out for kicks. He'd remembered the thrill he'd gotten from seeing his victims in tear
After fantasising about this moment hundreds of times, Jamie almost couldn't believe it was happening. It felt like a dream. Seeing Adam apologise and grovel was something he only ever expected to see in his imagination, but now that it was playing out for real, it was his reaction that shocked him the most.The sight of Adam on his knees sparked revulsion and disgust. He cringed away, pulling his hand from Adam’s, and pedalled back to the corner of the bed. Hiding between his pillows and giant plushies, he waved a hand at Adam."Get up, you moron!" he cried. "Stop that right now."Adam obeyed despite looking deeply confused. He stood and shifted on the spot, scratching his head. "I thought that was what you wanted.""Eww." Jamie shuddered. "I did too."Jamie turned his head into his giant Pikachu and squeezed, giving himself a moment to think. Why did seeing Adam beg make
Alice took her sandwiches and unwrapped the cellophane. The egg filling that had looked so delicious this morning had now begun to smell. She looked about guiltily, happy that only two others were currently taking their breaks. Most of the teachers were in isolation and teaching remotely on giant screens, including Hannah, who had always seemed so careful. Things were getting beyond ridiculous. Most of the management were also off sick, and those left to cover had little clue what they were doing.Every morning Alice prayed the school would close. That way, she would get paid and wouldn't have to see Riley or his gang. She hadn't bumped into any of them since that horrible night, but it was bound to happen at some point, despite her evasive tactics.Her eyes widened as the IT guy entered, caught her eye, and turned away so fast he dropped his pot noodle."Oh, crap," he uttered, scooping up the splatter of dry noodl
Alice waited by the gate for the rest of her gang to appear. She figured at least one of them had been held back after the lesson, as was usually the case—with the teachers who hadn't given up on them altogether at least.As the group appeared from the main doors, Alice noticed something different about the way they walked. Usually, Riley would be the centre of attention, talking loudly to the others. Today he was lagging behind.'Almost as if...'"Good girl," Felix said, interrupting her thoughts. "I didn't think you'd obey."'Obey this,' Alice thought, making a fist.Riley pulled her fist down as he passed, saying nothing. He definitely wasn't himself."We're meeting the others at seven so..." Riley shrugged. "I got some shit I need to do at home."As the group broke up and left Alice stan
The brawl was already in session when they arrived, and it looked to Alice like Riley's side was losing badly. A guy she recognised was balled up on the floor, being kicked by three guys at once while a couple of others engaged in one-on-one fistfights.Her heart rate doubled as she ducked under the broken metal grate. She expected Riley and the others to steamroll in and start kicking butt, but instead of rescuing their mates, they moved slowly."You fucked up big this time," Riley said, announcing his presence.The other group turned and made faces, acting tough."I heard you had a girl in your crew now," the leader said, taking a step toward Riley. He looked Alice up and down, licking his lips. He made the gesture Italians made when talking about food. "She's quite fit. I'll fuck her when I'm d—"Like lightning, Felix stepped out and whipped out his blade.
"Please let me do your make-up," Zoe asked, pressing her palms together. "I just know my followers will love you."She'd been pestering him to feature on her vlog since they started spending time together again. She didn't have a full-time job, though she did spend a lot of time and effort on her beauty vlog, so she was usually free to hang out."Are you wearing make-up?" he questioned her, knowing full well she was."Of course," she cried, checking her face in the mirror. "Why?""Oh." Jamie inspected her face with a deliberate veil of disdain. "You haven't covered that huge pimple very well. I figured a beauty queen like you would have some secret trick for hiding blemishes."He knew she was self-conscious about her pimples. That worrying about flare-ups kept her awake at night, and she'd googled ways to defeat the bacteria in her face so many times her search history was
Audrey Cross slipped out of her heels and rubbed her feet after dropping her shopping bags by the door. She'd bought a new bag and a pair of shoes she'd been eyeing for weeks—pink heels with diamond straps. No, they weren't suitable for the weather, but she was going to wear them anyway.She pulled on the new shoes to show Felix, not that he was interested in fashion, she simply wanted to show off her slender legs."Nice," he muttered, eyes flitting away from his screen for only a second. As Audrey took a seat at his side, tucking her legs beneath her, he closed the laptop and turned to face her. "Am I a murderer?""Well." Audrey thought about it for a moment, trying to summon a valid argument for his abhorrent behaviour. "It depends if you view the unborn foetus as alive or not. I think you did them a favour if I'm honest. None of them would have had a decent life, child included."Felix nodde
"Pick a route that avoids the toll-roads," Mike asked. "I hate the toll-roads.""Right," Adam muttered as he fiddled with the satellite navigation on his phone.A blur of vehicles whizzed past as he struggled to get a 4G connection strong enough to modify the route. The roads were fairly busy for a Tuesday evening—almost rush hour levels of traffic."Driving around Birmingham is horrible enough as it is," Mike said with a heavy sigh. All he’d done since being lumbered with the job was moan about the ring-roads and round abouts, as if slagging them off was going to make them any less of a pain."I'll do my best," Adam said, biting the nail of his thumb with his healthy, non-painful teeth. His brother's nerves were becoming infectious.It wasn't just the terrible road system playing on his mind, but the ten thousand pounds worth of cocaine stored under the paint c