Then…
When I woke up, my body was stiff, but the bed was so soft. I didn't open my eyes as I curled up closer into myself.
Then the events of the night hit me and my eyes snapped open. He put me in a fucking dog bed. It was the softest dog bed I've ever experienced, but Jesus, I was a human!
I scrambled out of the bed as I noticed the canopy bed across the room with the blankets made up on the bed immaculately. The walls were a baby blue that matched my room at home. To top it off, there was a string of roses across the walls. It was a carbon copy of my room at home. I felt sick as I realized I wasn't tied to anything. I quickly stood up and went to the door, only to find it unlocked.
I stepped into the hallway, looking back and forth to see doors on either side of me and the stairs right in front of me. I slowly moved down the stairs and heard humming and the sound of bacon cooking as I reached the bottom, only for a loud squeak to sound.
A man stepped out of the kitchen, his brown hair was light and his darker brown eyes were searching me. "Good morning, Doll," he started as he moved closer towards me. "I'm glad you're awake, breakfast-"
I didn't wait any longer to knee him and take off towards the front door. I started running and felt that I was going to be free.
Until the feeling of the shock hit. I yelped and fell to the ground, reaching for my ankle. That was when I noticed the metal pressing into my skin and how the blood started trickling down.
"Oh, my poor little doll," I heard. My whole body tensed as I heard footsteps get closer. "It looks like you've found my little gift, haven't you?"
I whimpered before letting out the loudest scream I could, hoping somebody, anybody, would hear me. He let me do this for a while and I stopped when he started laughing.
"There's no one around the woods for miles, Doll. You're stuck here with me." At once, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and began walking towards the house. Another shock came as we made it closer and I screamed again. "Oh, I forgot to mention to you. You have a limited range of how far you can go from this house. And every time you run from me," he paused as he put me down on the couch, knowing I wouldn't be able to get back up with how bad my ankle was looking. "The pain will intensify."
"You're a monster," I said through the pain. I felt a tear run down my cheek.
"Oh, my sweet doll, I'm only a monster when you disobey me." Once he said those words he leaned forward and licked my tear off my cheek. "If you behave, you get privileges. For now, this is a warning. Next time you act up, I will punish you. Is that clear, doll?"
I stayed silent, only for him to grab my face and force me to look at him. "I said, is that clear, doll?" His words had more bite to them now. He was angry.
"Yes," I said with a small whimper.
"Yes, what?" he asked, knowing that I had no idea what to call him. He started leaning down close to my face.
It took everything in me to overcome my fear and spit into his face. He pulled back to wipe the spit off and scowled at me before reaching out and pulling me up by the throat off the couch. I gasped for air, clawing at his hand. He dropped me to the ground only to grab my long brown hair and start dragging me up the stairs. Once he had dragged me up the stairs, he opened the room that was to the left of the room I woke up in and dropped me inside before locking the door behind him.
He turned to the wall behind his door and opened another tiny door to a tiny, dark room. He picked me up and shoved me inside and I heard a tiny click and a door slam on the other side as I tried to open the small door. The room had barely enough room to crawl. I pounded on the door and screamed. I had always hated the dark and I grew up with major claustrophobia. As I grew tired again, I could hear the laughter from my captor downstairs as my body grew heavier. The scent of blood filled the air as my pounding grew longer between. The tears started drying as I let my eyes start falling closed.
Now…
I growled under my breath as I made my way towards first period. I was late, the principal had droned on forever about school rules being different from my old school. This was a rich private school and I could understand the fact that falling below a C gets me expelled. It's not that hard to figure that all out by reading the handbook like Joshua had made me do over the weekend.
Riloner Prep was for students starting their freshman year of high school to their senior year of college. It meant that I would be stuck here until I graduated college most likely, which sucked. Oliver was in his sophomore year of the college program while I was in my senior year of the high school program.
I was still trying to figure out why I was doing this.
The voices echoing in my head were telling me to prove Nathaniel wrong, to prove that I didn't need him, but some part of me knew I would always need the structure he put in my life.
Plus, his daily school lessons were the reason that I was on par with a college graduate. I hadn't had any issues with any of my courses, all of them at Delo High were maintained at a perfect one hundred.
I knocked on the door only for the teacher to hush me as she motioned me inside. There was one seat next to a very handsome blonde boy with blue eyes. He was playing with his pencil as it looked like the rest of the class was hard at work. He grinned at me as I stepped beside the teacher's desk with my pass from the principal.
She handed me a test and quietly explained the topic, but I barely paid attention. Most teachers here will most likely see me as stupid because of my amount of time off school and the fact I was in a public school for most of my life.
By the time she sent me to the desk next to the blonde boy, in my mind I had half of the test answered. Economics was my worst subject, but all these questions seemed elementary to me as I quickly finished before the rest of the students even though I had only shown up about fifteen minutes before.
I silently walked my test up to the teacher and she gave me a side eye that screamed there's no way. She quietly mulled over and hummed silently before giving me an astonishedly pleased look and wrote a bright red one hundred on the top of the test before waving me back to my desk.
The boy next to me was still studying me as I sat back down and shrank back into my seat. I transferred half way through the first semester of my senior year, so everyone would expect me to not understand much of the information that would be taught. But I was not someone to be underestimated, especially with my status as the racer for Delo High.
I was the queen bee of Delo, and my crew were my enforcers. My word was law due to the fact I could out race anyone who was against me early on.
And because all the guys I surrounded myself with could and would destroy anyone who dared go against me.
Everyone there knew who I was, but outside our school walls, I was faceless to all. I was a mysterious racer who kept their face hidden.
So much so that none of my opponents even knew I was a girl.
Races were considered to be only for the guys, but I had been able to prove how great I was when I forced my way into the first race that would choose who would replace our main racer who had graduated just before I started.
I won by a mile.
And I was still considered the racer of Delo until I graduated and I assured everyone that we needed a new face due to me moving schools, but I was still racing in honor of Delo.
The bell rang soon after and I heard the teacher yell for everyone to turn their test in as I packed my bag and moved out the door. I felt an arm wrap around me as I tried to find my way towards second period.
"Damn, girl, you're just about as smart as Zain, but definitely much more beautiful," I heard and I turned to the boy who sat next to me in my first period. He was hunched over with his shoulder thrown over my shoulders.
"Um, thanks?" I asked. I was no stranger to males and their needs, but it didn't make me any less awkward around them. My mind flashed back to Nathaniel before I shook it away.
"I didn't catch your name, new money," he said, peering down at me again.
"I don't think I offered it," I snapped back and shrugged his arm off my shoulder. I heard gasps all around us as the girls all glared at me and how I seemed to be doing something completely weird.
"You must have missed the memo, new money," he said before grabbing my arm and pulling me close enough for him to whisper in my ear. "Me and my group? We run this school. You either conform or you're an enemy."
"Rosalie!" I heard as someone else pulled me away and tucked me behind them. I looked up at Oliver as he shielded me from view.
"Oh, I see." I saw Oliver tense and I reached out and gripped his hand. I was scared. He reminded me of him. "New money was integrated into an old money family. You and your crew can't protect her all the time, Wrightborn. From now on, the new kings of Riloner will be hunting her."
With that, he turned and marched off, a group of students moving for him. Oliver turned towards me and gently guided me away and towards the nurse's office. I didn't even notice my tears until he handed me a tissue.
"Sorry about that, Rosalie. I didn't mean to scare you," his voice was gentle as he kneeled down in front of me. I saw the nurse scribbling on two sheets of paper as he spoke to me. "This is why you need to be careful, those guys are bad news. My reach only goes so far."
I nodded as I wiped my tears away. He was being so kind, and I felt like I was falling apart.
"At lunch, come find me and my friends, you can sit with us so you're protected, okay?"
I nodded again as I felt myself calming down farther. The bell rang again and for the second time today, I was late for class. I went to stand and Oliver gently stopped me. "It's covered, okay? I've got you."
I wanted to cry again, but suddenly, my mind knew I needed to pull away. I can't even begin to describe how sad and angry I was at myself and I ripped away and grabbed the note from the nurse before making my way towards my next class.
My phone pinged as I made it to the door and I looked down.
Unknown: Good girl. When all is clear, I'll come get you.