Page 2 of Obsession (Dark Revenge)
“I want a phone,” I demanded, never breaking my eye contact with Finn.
Noah retrieved his phone, but Finn raised his hand, signaling him not to give it to me.
“He can’t be trusted,” Finn argued.
“You can’t be trusted!” I retorted.
“I want to know what happened too, and he’s clearly willing to threaten you and our alliance just to find out, brother. So let him make the call,” Noah said.
Finn sighed, clearly displeased with the idea. They had more men with them tonight, and my own forces were vastly outnumbered. I understood why Finn was hesitant to hand me aphone—he could easily eliminate me, and no one would question it.
“Put it on speaker,” Finn instructed.
“Vince doesn’t like long chatty conversations,” I replied.
“Speaker, or you don’t get to call.”
“How do I know you’re not involved in this mess?”
“I’ve already called our uncle,” Noah interjected. “He doesn’t have any information, but he’s furious. We need that delivery.”
I glanced at Noah, who extended his phone to me. I hesitated, torn between trusting them and my suspicion. However, my own phone was ruined, and I desperately needed to contact Vince. I didn’t know what had gone wrong tonight, and Vince had kept me in the dark before. I scolded myself for doubting him. Would Vince know much? Probably not, but maybe he could investigate and uncover the truth. I pushed away from Finn, snatching the phone. My hands were trembling from the cold water, making it difficult to type Vince’s number. I hoped he would answer and not ignore the call due to an unknown number.
My first attempt went to voicemail.
“Fuck!” I cursed, trying again, my heart pounding.
Why wasn’t he answering? The phone continued to ring, and I heard Noah call out to his brother in their native language. Although I couldn’t understand the words, his gestures toward the approaching lights conveyed the message. The delivery was finally arriving. I lowered the phone, seeing that it was still attempting to call Vince, who remained unresponsive. I should have expected as much, but a nagging feeling gnawed at my heart, hinting that something was amiss. I knew I had to proceed with the delivery for now, but every fiber of my being urged me to return home.
Chapter 2
-Alison-
The strange breathing, the nearly silent footsteps—it all felt eerily similar to when Jared stalked me. However, this time, I was certain he wasn’t in the room. The creaking floorboards indicated the stranger was drawing nearer, causing me to whimper and curl into myself. I couldn’t move much, and then the ringing of the phone began again.
I heard the floorboards creak once more as if the stranger was shifting their weight. We both listened to the phone’s incessant ringing, which shattered the silence with an unsettling loudness. Uncontrollable tremors coursed through my body as I struggled to comprehend what was happening. Where the hell was Jared?
The ringing stopped again, and the instant it did, I heard more creaking—the stranger’s weight shifting on the aged floorboards. This had to be it, didn’t it? Jared had ensnared me in his dark world, and now I was about to be swallowed whole. I should have known from the moment I put my name on that paper that itwouldn’t just be a month of him in my life. I should have known that rising from the bottom to high society required some illicit help. Now, I had been dragged into his wretched mess, and no mind-blowing orgasm he extracted from me would stop me from coming back to haunt him. That much I swore to myself.
I held my breath as the stranger came to a halt in front of me. I could sense the heat radiating from their body, they were so close. I tried to urge my lungs to take in oxygen, but I was paralyzed like a deer in headlights.
“P-Please…” I whispered, making a feeble attempt to save my own life. I knew this person wouldn’t listen. Jared had killed someone without remorse. He lived among killers, and now one of them had come to claim me. Or had Jared sent them? Was it true? When you knew too much, did you have to go? But I barely knew anything!
God, what were they going to do to me? Would my family even care if I died? Jared was right about me. He was right that my beautiful image was fake, none of it was real. Did that mean if someone buried me in the woods, never to be found, no one would care? That thought terrified me more than listening to the stranger drawing closer.
Suddenly, their warm breath brushed against the side of my face, and I turned my head, whimpering as if they had struck me. My heart raced, threatening to burst, and when I felt the ghostly touch of their fingers tracing the chain that connected the clamps, it felt as if my heart skipped a few beats, altering its rhythm. Their fingers moved higher, gliding over my collar before seizing my face in a sudden, vice-like grip that had me crying out.
“Such beauty hiding such a rotten core,” the stranger growled in my ear, their voice low and menacing, entirely unrecognizable.
“Please…” I begged once more.
I truly didn’t want to die. I had begged Jared for the same mercy, but I should have realized that I wouldn’t leave this house with all my limbs—or, should I say, my heart—intact. Nevertheless, the stranger fell silent again, their warm breath constantly caressing my skin, sending goosebumps all over my body. Their grip tightened progressively, and it felt as if my jaw might shatter.
“Run, little dove. You only have one chance,” he taunted, and then I felt my wrists being released from the cuffs. I let them fall, lacking the strength to keep them up any longer. I couldn’t move. My whole body was locked in place, and I just waited for the final blow to come. However, I felt a small gust of wind as the stranger stood. The sound of retreating footsteps followed, and then the door closed.
I couldn’t believe I had gotten out of this without a scratch, so I remained in place with the blindfold over my eyes. But as the seconds ticked by, and I didn’t hear anyone returning, I slowly grabbed the blindfold and pulled it down. The dark world came into view, and I saw I was all alone in the bedroom. I took a few quick scans just to be certain, but I couldn’t see anyone.
I ripped off the blindfold, throwing it away before I moved to the bathroom to remove the clamps and plug. Then I ran to the closet, grabbing some underwear and one of Jared’s shirts. I hurried to the bedroom door, peeking outside, but even the hallway was empty.
