1.9 Back to the past

My blood-curdling scream tore throughout the whole area as he slammed my back against the hood of my own car, grabbing a hold of both my wrists.

"You can scream all you want, babe. No one's gonna hear you from up here,"

I broke into a desperate sob, turning my head to see Billy drag Blake to the backseats of his car, all the while she screamed and cursed at him, throwing kicks and squirming in his hold like crazy.

"Let me go you fucking prick!"

"Now, lay still babe. We're just gonna have one quickie for the road, okay?"

My widened gaze snapped back to the monster with the face of a man above me, my breath stopping in my chest as I felt his hand slide underneath my t-shirt and trail all way up to my bra to reveal my heaving chest while the other held me in place.

A cold shiver trailed up my spine as I wordlessly stared up at his smirking face, so shocked by everything that was now happening that I couldn't even react.

Only the moment his hand moved to the button of my jeans, it felt like a bucket of ice cold water has been poured all over me as all of a sudden, as soon I felt his fingers undo it I snapped and screamed from the top of my lungs, kneeing him in the nuts, sliding off the hood and onto the rocky ground as soon as he let me go, howling in pain.

"Fucking cunt!"

I hurried to get up and try to get to Blake, noticing how she kept throwing punches at Billy's face like a freaking champ as he struggled to hold her still and take her jeans off, with no luck whatsoever as they were tight as hell on her hips anyway.

"No! Get the fuck off me!"

I was just about to jump on his back and strangle the shit out of him when a searing pain suddenly shot through my scalp, feeling a hand hold onto my loose curls and drag me around, earning a small cry from me.

"No, please!"

I let out a pained groan as soon as he slammed my chest against the trunk of my car, fighting to break free from his hold but to no avail as he was obviously way more stronger, only making it even worse instead as he managed to grab ahold of my hands and pin them over my back in a painful grip.

Keeping them both securely locked over my back with only one hand, I shivered in pure disgust as he even dared to firmly grab one of my ass cheeks and grind himself against me, my entire body recoiling in utter terror.

"What was that saying, two birds with a stone, Marco?" I heard the monster above me ask the other guy with a laugh as tears started to once again fall over my face.

"Let me guess, he's Polo?" I heard Blake suddenly retort at the male still struggling to hold her in place as my gaze shifted to them.

"Shut the fuck up!"

I watched with blurry eyes as gaining the perfect moment, she didn't waste a single second and head-butted him.

"Aaah! You fucking crazy bitch!"

A loud slap followed, clearly indicating that he had hit her.

"You're so dead, motherfucker! You hear me? Dead!" I heard her shout before breaking into a hysterical and downright creepy laughter, my lips letting out a shocked cry as I felt the psychopath above me suddenly grab and start tugging at my jeans.

I instantly started to thrash and fight with all my strength to get away from his hands whilst he kept trying to hold me in place and undress me, soon breaking into a fit of crying and begging, terrified to the very depths of my soul at the mere thought of what was about to happen.

"No! Stop! No! Please don't do this!"

"No!"

My loud cry abruptly got drowned out as a way more louder bang suddenly shot through my ears, rendering me momentarily deaf and with a continuous ring blaring in my ears.

I only blinked a few times in a complete and utter daze, another round of muffled bangs following shortly after.

Feeling something slightly warm and wet soak into my t-shirt and stick against the skin on my back, I only now realized I was no longer being held down, my first instinct however guiding me to look for Blake before anything else.

Only as soon as my gaze trailed back to the back passenger door of Billy's car, my eyes widened as I ultimately noticed the blood pouring from her nose and all over her lips, her stoic gaze fixated somewhere past me.

I eventually started to get up, feeling my muscles ache after all that fighting and ribs as well, lightly staggering on my own two feet as I tried to take a few steps in her direction, only to feel the breath stop inside my chest as my gaze landed on a motionless Billy laying at her feet in a pool of blood and face down, his shirt filled with what appeared to be bullet holes.

My eyes quickly widened, struggling to breathe as the air seemed to refuse to go past my throat, my body turning around on its own accord to take a look back to the trunk of my car, noticing Joel's body also lying in a motionless and bloody heap on the gravel.

Feeling acid bile suddenly rise inside my throat I quickly turned aside and bent forward, thoroughly emptying my stomach on the rocky ground.

"Send Xavier to clean up this mess," Rick's unmistakale voice reached my ears as I dry-heaved for a few times before straightening myself up, only now realizing he was actually here as my head snapped to the side, shocked to see him and Kieran standing just a few steps away from us and with guns in their hands.

What the fuck...

And then I suddenly realized.

One of them killed these guys.

One of them just killed two living, breathing people!

My mind started to desperately scream at me, all the while I blankly stared right into Rick's honey eyes, unblinking and unmoving as a paralyzing shock took a hold of my body and refused to let go.

He only looked back at me for a few seconds as Kieran went past him, his attention averting to Blake.

"You are in such deep shit," His voice sounded so deadly calm as he stared at her.

"One of them was named Marco-"

"I know who they are, Blake," He abruptly cut her off, his tone turning impatient as he moved closer and before I could even realize what was happening his hand was already wrapped around my arm in a firm grip.

I took a sharp intake of breath, looking up at him as confusion clouded my thoughts, noticing he wasn't even looking at me, his gaze still trained in Blake and Kieran's direction as he firmly commanded,

"Go. Take her home."

I blinked a few times, wondering what was going on when Blake's terrified voice reached my ears.

"No, Ricky don't do this!"

My attention snapped back to her just in time to notice the utter horror and despair marring her features as she struggled in Kieran's arms while he started carrying her away from us, tears trailing down her cheeks as she kept begging,

"No, please don't do this!"

"No, Ricky please!"

"NOO! RICKY PLEASE!"

Do what?

My mind whispered, feeling my heart-rate increase again but before I could even produce another thought I felt myself being dragged a few steps forward and rather harshly shoved to the ground, finding myself kneeling on the painful gravel right in front of a very cold and emotionless-looking Rick.

"What..."

The words died in my throat as the gun in his hand was now pointed straight at my face, my entire body now filling with pure shock and ice-cold fear.

A million thoughts ran through my mind as I sat there frozen, silent tears slowly starting to flow as the sounds of Blake's desperate screams kept echoing in the background for a few more times, making all the tiny hairs on my body stand erect before they eventually died out.

"These two morons," He suddenly started talking, drawing my attention as he carelessly pointed with the gun to the two dead bodies to his left and right,

"Were working for a powerful mob boss who's been trying to get to me by any means for a while now. And today, he almost succeeded because you two, thought that it would be nice to just skip school for the day and go fooling around, huh?" He finished with a cruel and mocking tone, feeling a cold shiver crawl up my spine as I peered at the barrel that was once again pointed at me, failing to even truly register the words that were pouring through his mouth.

I still couldn't believe what was currently happening.

"But that doesn't matter anymore, huh?" He once again glanced at the two dead bodies with a rather sinister chuckle, making me so desperately want to just beg for mercy as the thought that my own life was just about to end right then and there scared the shit out of me. Yet, to my utter despair my own body seemed to have lost the link to my brain's commands as I simply sat there, tears flowing and unmoving as I peered up at my...apparently soon-to-be executioner.

"Now, the real question is, are we going to end this on good terms or not?"

I silently stared up at him with teary eyes, my lip trembling as all I could see was that gun pointed at me, not even understanding what he was talking about anyway.

What was going on? Why would he want to kill me too?

I mean, those guys, well maybe they didn't deserve to die either but they were about to do horrible things to us, so I could understand what pushed him to do that...Even though I didn't exactly agree with his rather drastic actions...

But me? What did I do?

And since when did he even own a freaking gun?

His audible sigh broke me out of my furiously spinning thoughts, feeling another few tears trailing down my cheeks as I refused to even let myself breathe properly, fearing that if I did I would somehow bother him and make him shoot me sooner. Stupid, I know.

But what was sane about this whole situation anyway?

Maybe he didn't need a reason at all. Maybe he's been fucking off the rails all this time and I didn't notice until now. Maybe he was actually a freaking psychopath who liked to pretend to be nice, until he could find the perfect moment to blow your brains out...

A small sob suddenly flew past my lips at the thought, not even realizing he's been actually talking to me until I suddenly heard my name, my gaze trailing back to his deceivingly handsome face.

"Did you even hear what I just said?"

My eyes widened, staring up at him like a deer caught in the headlights and almost on the verge of pissing my pants when he let out another tired sigh.

"Nevermind. Just...repeat after me, okay?"

I rapidly nodded and did as told as in that moment, I was ready to do anything if it was meant to save my life.

"I, Leileena Anastasya Roberts s-swear m-my allegiance to you, Erick Summers for the rest of my life and vow t-to keep my lips sealed for the rest of my days," I finished with a shaky and weak voice, only now realizing he had actually said my full name before I did, even though I have never told him my full name before.

Had he been checking up on me?

Oh my god, he really is a freaking psychopath!

"Hey,"

I drew in another sharp and jerky breath, my tear-filled gaze only now raising to meet his. But for some unknown reason, those burning amber eyes slowly lowered to my parted lips, my brain suddenly registering the very compromising position I was in.

Oh my god... Is he going to force me to...?

Oh god please no...Oh no...

I tightly closed my eyes with a whimper, hot drops still trailing down my cheeks as I struggled to sit still despite my violent trembling.

This can't be happening. No. This is not real. This is just a bad dream. No...This is not happening!

"Take your shirt off,"

My eyes snapped wide open, raising my sight to look up at him in pure horror and disbelief, letting out a strangled and terrified cry as soon as his hand wrapped around my upper arm to hoist me up to my feet in a rather uncivilized manner.

"I said, take your shirt off,"

I gulped at the impatience in his tone, blinking away the tears as eventually, my shaky hands moved to drag and pull my t-shirt off of my body, feeling so...bare and vulnerable as I stood in front of him like that.

I lowered my gaze to the t-shirt in my hand as I couldn't find the strength to look at him anymore, casually noticing through the blur in my eyes the rather large blood stain on it as it was a white one, the dark red stain so visible on the once immaculate fabric.

But without a single warning, he swiftly snatched it from my hands then threw it somewhere close to one of the bodies. And before I could even dare let out another scared whimper I suddenly noticed him taking his dark t-shirt off, that sole action making me once again force my eyes down and gulp in fear.

"Here, put this on,"

My surprised gaze snapped back to him as soon as I noticed his outstretched hand and the t-shirt in it, hesitating for a few seconds before I hastily took it and dragged it over my body, casually noticing that not even once he had ever dared look at my body.

"Keys,"

I blinked a few times in confusion as I peered up at his indecipherable expression, from the looks of it only making him even further annoyed as he eventually let out an irritated sigh.

"The keys, just give me the keys to your car!"

I quickly nodded and fumbled through my jeans pockets, in my freaked-out haste not even realizing that I had actually left them in the car ever since I got here.

"Uhm..." I nervously gulped as I eventually remembered, once again staring up at him as I wasn't even sure if I was actually allowed to move from my spot anyway.

However, he quickly got the idea as he swiftly turned around and walked to the driver's door, stopping to give me a look as soon as he noticed I hadn't moved a muscle.

"Get your ass inside the car, now,"

I let out a small breath and fastly walked to the front passenger seat door, slightly relieved that he wasn't leaving me there all alone in the middle of nowhere and with two bodies at my feet though.

Bodies...

My stomach churned as soon as I let myself think and remember about that.

He had murdered two living, breathing people...

"A-are you g-going to jail?" The words tumbled out before I could even stop myself as I anxiously peered at him as soon as I sat in the leathered seat.

He subtly smiled to himself, lightly shaking his head before turning to face me, those honey eyes finding my own.

"That depends."

On what?

I didn't get to utter those words as my throat quickly closed off as soon as he leaned in so close to me, the car's body suddenly seeming to grow smaller and smaller, trapping us both inside.

"Are you going to rat me out, babe?"

My breath hitched inside my throat as I could feel his breath fanning over my lips, not failing to also notice the small emphasis on that last word.

Blake.

My heart made a flip-flop as the sound of her desperate screams echoed in my head for a moment.

"Because you just made a vow, remember?"

My brows furrowed into a light frown, before quickly remembering those words he made me say only moments ago.

But why-

"Do you wish to know what's the other option?" He suddenly asked, my eyelids fluttering for a few times before noticing the gun casually sitting on the dashboard and his long fingers already hovering above it.

I let out a terrified whimper, blinking away the hot tears already brimming in my eyes before quickly shaking my head in response.

I watched how his thin lips lightly parted as he was about to say something, abruptly stopping himself as those eyes peered into my own, right before they slowly lowered.

I quickly followed his last action, only to notice my palm so tightly pressed against his bare chest, feeling the strong and steady heartbeat underneath his warm and smooth skin.

I lightly gasped, hastily removing my hand as if he had burned me and clutched it to my chest, not even daring to try and apologize.

I didn't even know how to behave around him anymore.

Thankfully, he didn't say another word and started the car instead, skilfully avoiding the body behind the car as he reversed, steering to the side before driving away.

From my peripheral vision, I risked a glance at him as he drove, peering at his laid-back posture and that small frown creasing his features as he paid attention to the road, my eyes unintentionally trailing to the flexing muscles in his arm as he held the wheel and the way his abs slowly moved up and down as he breathed, not failing to also notice the very visible and a little veiny v-line disappearing into his dark blue jeans.

Jesus! What the fuck am I doing?

I suddenly averted my eyes as soon as I felt my cheeks slightly heating up and a tiny tingle crossing my lower regions, horrified at myself and the thoughts that just crossed my mind.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I mentally cried, disgusted at myself for even thinking of such things in my current situation.

I must be going crazy! He's driving me freaking crazy! Get your shit together, Leila! HE’S A FREAKING MURDERER!

"Oh and by the way," His slightly rusty voice abruptly brought me back to reality, my gaze snapping back to him as he started speaking again.

"Your dad, Daniel didn't kill himself,"

What?

"He was murdered by a crew of people with a grudge. They made it look like a suicide. And in case you didn't know, your dad wasn't a salesman. I mean, he was a salesman, just not the type you thought he was,"

"In fact, Silvian's been on your tracks ever since you left NY,"

"You're just lucky you ran into me first," He finished with a rather sinister wink, my mind however still spinning after everything he'd just said.

What...How the hell does he even know all this?

What the fuck is going on?

How is this even possible?

"W-who are you?" The question flew past my lips in a trembling whisper, not even minding the tears that were already flowing down my cheeks as I once again looked at him in utter horror and disbelief.

"Oh I bet you already know. You just have to let yourself believe..."