All the Pretty Ghosts (The Never Alone Series Book 1) (5 page)

“Not to everyone,” he pointed out. For just a second, there was something else besides malice in his eyes, hurt? Disappointment? A memory he had tried to forget? I couldn’t tell. “How old are you?”

“How old are you?” I shot back. I didn’t even care, I just didn’t want him knowing anything else about me. He didn’t deserve to speak to me like we were making new friends when I was tied up and at his mercy.

“Old enough to know better. Now, your turn.”

“Go to hell.”

He fell into a new round of laughter. He was just playing with me, like a kitten would a mouse. It never ended well for the mouse. I doubted I would fare any better.

“Everly, Everly, Everly,” he started, shaking his head. “When are you going to learn, princess? I’m the one in charge here. I can do absolutely anything to you and do you know who’d care?” He held up his hand and made a
zero
with his thumb and index finger. “Now let’s try this again. How old are you?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because I’m bored and you’re my new toy. Answer the question.”

Did I really have any choice? “Seventeen.”

“Seventeen… you look younger.”

“So you like girls young, huh?” I half expected him to backhand me for being so insolent. It was stupid of me but the words were out before I could stop them. Perhaps if he hated me, he would let me go so he didn’t have to put up with me anymore.

Of course, he could also kill me for the same reason. It wasn’t like there were any police or courts to punish murderers anymore. The law no longer existed.

But instead of inflicting pain onto me, Jet ran his hand down the side of my face. It was so gentle and tender that it completely threw me off guard. “There are only young girls left,” he whispered.

I was frozen in place as he took his hand back. A new possibility for them deciding to keep me around occurred to me. This one was a fate worse than death. Half a dozen boys, one girl. The older guys were probably missing female company.

I needed to get the hell out of here.

Jet continued to stare at me. “Where do you live?”

“In a house.”

“Where?”

“In the city,” I lied. If I managed to make it out alive, I was not going to compromise my house on the hill.

“You live by yourself?”

Why did it matter? We weren’t going to be best friends, my life was of no interest to him. I played along anyway, trying to delay whatever plans they had for me. I needed some time to think up a plan to escape. There had to be a way somewhere.

“Yes,” I replied.

“What school did you go to?”

“All Saints Girls’ Grammar.”

He chuckled again before turning to the others. “We have a snobby girls’ school girl here. All Saints Girls’ Grammar.”

“I hated those girls,” one of the other guys replied, spitting the words out. I guessed none of them were probably popular at their schools when there actually was such a thing as classes and teachers. Although, the Event had seriously changed most people.

Jet turned back to me as the others still grumbled amongst themselves. “I bet you were a cheerleader too, right?”

“No, I wasn’t.” That wasn’t a lie either. The cheerleaders and I had a mutual ignorance of each other. I didn’t bother them and they didn’t bother me.

“So… what are we going to do with you, princess?”

“Let me go.”

“That’s not going to happen, not when we’re only getting acquainted now.” Jet’s vocabulary was speaking volumes about who he used to be. Ordinary street thugs didn’t use words like acquainted. “Sit tight, princess. We’re only just getting started.”

He patted my knee before getting up and walking over to the rest of the group. He said something which made the rest of them laugh, I couldn’t hear what it was.

My eyes searched the room, trying to find some ray of hope that I would be able to get out alive. Oliver wasn’t going to come for me, he thought I was going straight home. Perhaps, in a few days, he might visit my house on the hill and find it empty.

But I didn’t have a few days.

If I even lasted for the rest of the day I would have been surprised. My time was ticking down like the red flashing lights on a bomb and it wouldn’t be too long before I expired. Somehow I didn’t think Jet and his minions would be good hosts.

The slap to the back of my head left me with a horrible headache. I forced myself to stay awake and breathe through the throbbing in my head. My resolve was growing dimmer as the minutes went by. The pain was intense and it never relented.

“She’s in here,” the voice was familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. To look around and see who it was would have made my head throb even worse. I continued to focus on the ground instead, the pain stronger than the curiosity.

“Oh, she’s tied up.”

“That can’t be good.”

“Not around here.”

“What was she doing here anyway?” I placed the voices, they were the ghosts from outside. I chanced a slow glance their way, making sure I wasn’t going crazy and hearing things.

I was surrounded.

There had to be twenty of them now, all adults and all staring at me like I was the freak in the circus. I should have sold them tickets, I would have been rich.

“Those boys are bad news.”

“They weren’t always like this.”

“So what, they deserve a gold star now?”

The conversation went on around me without any acknowledgement of my participation. They were making my head throb worse, the pain shooting through my temples like a dart gun. The nausea was growing in the pit of my stomach, rising into my throat and threatening to choke me.

I swallowed it back, along with my tears. To be surrounded by so many people and knowing they couldn’t help me was frustrating. To anyone else, the room would have been quiet with only the murmurs of the boys to break the silence.

But not to me.

I was sitting in the noisiest room I had experienced aside from the school hall. The spirits babbled on, changing subjects like they would socks in their living life. I couldn’t keep up with them. Not when the room was starting to spin.

I was either going to pass out or vomit, both scenarios seemed as likely by that stage. I would have preferred the former, however. Something told me the boys wouldn’t exactly help clean me up after I threw up my measly meal.

My head flopped forward, taking away my consciousness as everything went black and quiet.

Finally.

Chapter Five

S
omeone was slapping me. My cheek was stinging from each impact. It wasn’t hard, just enough to get my attention and really wish they would stop.

“She’s waking up.” A male voice. Did it belong to the hand hitting me?

“About time.”

“What’s her deal, anyway? Who sleeps in the middle of this?”

I didn’t want to open my eyes but I figured they weren’t likely to stop slapping me if I didn’t. They blinked open, hurting as even the dim light hit my retinas.

“Everly?” The voice again.

I blinked, trying to focus on the face looming in front of me. It was a guy, definitely a male of the species. He had dark brown hair, black eyes.

Jet.

“Is she drunk?” one of the figures beside him said, the one with the twitchy hand.

After a few more blinks I could make out two figures close to me, another few looming behind. They were all looking at me but none seemed particularly worried.

“Where…?” I started asking the question but the memories crashed back into my head like a speeding train. I was their prisoner, I was tied to a chair in some long forgotten warehouse.

Yeah me.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” Jet asked.

“What are you doing?” his friend instantly shot back. “She’s not a baby, I’m sure she can count.”

“Quit it. I’ve seen them do this on TV.” Jet elbowed the guy for his lack of faith in him before turning back to me. “Everly, how many fingers?”

“Three.” I tested my head, holding it up a little higher. The intense throbbing in my skull was gone, replaced by a dim ache. I would take that over the pain any day.

Jet nodded happily, like I had just given him the winning lotto numbers. “Good. You’ll be okay. You passed out or something.”

I risked looking around but only the living were with us. All the spirits must have given up on me and gone to haunt someone else. Good. It wasn’t like they could have helped me anyway.

“When are we going to have our fun with her, Jet?” The question came from one of the guys behind him. The boy only looked about fifteen. My skin crawled at the thought of him being anywhere near me while
having fun
.

The other guys joined in. “Yeah, she’s been here for ages. Let’s just get rid of her.”

“We can’t let her go so easily.”

“Do you want to clean up her blood?”

“She’ll tell someone.”

“Who can she tell? There ain’t no cops anymore.”

“She’s pretty. I want some time alone with her.”

Jet had been breathing heavily through the comments as he let them go by. Finally, he was tired of listening to them. “Shut up, all of you. I’ll decide what we do with her. Got it?” They instantly silenced and nodded their heads.

So Jet really was the one in charge.
Completely
in charge if that little exchange was enough to go by.

“Please, let me go,” I asked levelly, trying to gulp in some fresh air. All the oxygen in the place was musty and foul. The boys were probably used to it, me not so much.

Jet’s gaze drilled into me. He was intense if nothing else and it unsettled me. I didn’t know what was worse, his look or the comments from the other guys. “Sit tight, princess. You’re not going anywhere.”

Satisfied I wasn’t quite dead yet, he strode away confidently with the others in tow. I needed a plan to get the hell out of here. Sitting and waiting for them to kill me, or do whatever else they thought up, was torturous. Nobody was coming to my rescue so it was up to me to escape.

Only me.

If I could get out of the filthy rags strapping my wrists and ankles to the chair, I would be able to run. I didn’t have the advantage of knowing the layout of the building or any shortcuts, but I was small and quick. Plus, I would be running for my life, that always made someone go a little faster.

My eyes scanned the room, trying to work out the best exit. They had centered me in the middle of the place, making sure I was as far away from any of them as possible. There was no way I could reach one of the exits without being seen by at least one of them.

It only took one.

I ran out of energy as the nausea threatened to overwhelm me again. My stomach was grumbling with a cry for food. How long had it been since I ate anything? Eating with Oliver out in the school courtyard seemed like so long ago now.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been out cold but it had to be some time that had passed. Perhaps even a whole night if I was out for long enough. My body felt like it had been a long time.

Whispers from the boys’ conversation started to filter my way. They weren’t trying to be quiet anymore. Probably because they planned to kill me before too long. Dead girls told no stories, betrayed no secrets.

“The food’s not going to last much longer,” one of the boys, about twelve, said angrily. “We need to take what we can get. They can’t hurt us.”

“We can’t just go in recklessly,” Jet replied. He didn’t seem as worked up as the others. “The whole point of getting supplies is to stay alive a while longer, not get ourselves killed.”

“So you want to let them walk all over us? We can do this. We have weapons, they don’t. We can take whatever we like.”

“Just because we have weapons, doesn’t mean we have to kill everyone to take the food. There are other ways to get stuff, Brandon.”

“I’m with him.” It was the thug that dragged me in from outside that spoke next. “Why shouldn’t we use what we have to take the supplies? Those girls aren’t sharing it with us.”

Jet was getting exasperated. “Because there is no point. We go in, take them by surprise, and get what we need. They won’t fight us, they’ll be too scared to do anything.”

“Yeah, like that’s worked in the past.”

“We’re doing it my way and that’s the end of it. Does anyone have any further objections?” He stared them all down one by one. If I wasn’t already certain he was the leader amongst them, that display was enough to quash any doubts. They practically shrunk under his fierce gaze.

I kind of knew the feeling.

They were deadly silent as they stood in front of him. I could hear the rush of my heartbeat in my ears as I held my breath waiting for someone to speak again.

Jet nodded. Once. “Good. Now, get ready. Taz, you’re staying back to watch the girl.”

“Why me? Why not someone else?” I assumed that had to be Taz. He was a stocky guy, probably about sixteen judging from his height.

“Quit your whining, cry baby.” Jet walked off before Taz could argue any more. He grabbed something and headed toward me.

I cringed, bracing myself for whatever horrible thing Jet planned on doing to me next. I almost would have welcomed a heavy blow to the head. At least then I would be unconscious for a while longer and not have to deal with any of it.

He crouched down so we were at the same eye level, holding something up. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust in the dimness of the light. I was surprised to see he held a piece of bread. “You hungry?”

“Does it matter?” I shot back. I really didn’t want him to know how much I was salivating for that piece of bread. It was like he was waving a home cooked dinner in front of me.

Jet let out a breathy laugh. “You really are a little porcupine, aren’t you?” He paused, like I was supposed to say something but my mouth was firmly closed. I didn’t want to risk saying something else that would stand in the way of me getting that bread. “Porcupine, get it? You’re prickly.” He laughed at his own joke.

I really wanted to shoot a great comeback at him but my brain was processing things too slowly. I stared at him instead, trying to keep my eyes off the one piece of food I had seen in ages and was likely to ever see again.

“Okay, okay, so you don’t think I’m funny,” Jet continued. “I bet you are hungry, though. I hope you’re not gluten free.” He broke off a piece of the bread and held it in front of my mouth. There was no point in being proud now, I parted my lips and he popped it in.

That stale morsel tasted like the best piece of bread I had ever eaten. I forced myself to chew slowly, to savor every last bite. Jet waited patiently while he fed me the entire thing. It did nothing to cure the gut-busting hunger in my belly but at least it was something. He followed it with a big glass of water. I was dining like a queen.

Between sips of water, my brain was starting to function again. “So are you guys a gang or something?”

Jet’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Something like that, I guess.”

“Why do you all stick together? Most people are only out to help themselves these days.” Call it morbid curiosity or absolute boredom, but I suddenly really needed to know what was going on.

“There’s safety in numbers.”

“There’s also more people to feed.”

“There’s also more people to fight,” Jet pointed out. “We’re all fighting for our survival out here. Literally.”

“Are you going to kill me?” I asked.

Jet shook his head as he pursed his lips, like he was considering the answer to my question. Surely he shouldn’t have to think about whether he was going to keep me alive or not. “Don’t worry, princess. We’ll work something out.”

He patted me on the head and stood, addressing the others. “Come on guys, we’ve got a raid to do. Taz, don’t hurt her.” A few grunts and cheers came from the boys as they followed him out the door.

Everyone except Taz.

They may as well have left a lion to look after me with the way Taz’s attention snapped around in my direction. I was his prey, that was clear from the look he gave me.

And I was nothing but a field mouse.

A
restrained
field mouse.

“Well, it looks like it’s just you and me,” Taz said, smirking as he slowly walked toward me. Every ounce of blood in my veins ran cold.

“Jet said you couldn’t hurt me,” I pointed out, in case he hadn’t been paying attention to the orders of his fearless leader.

“Who said I’m going to hurt you?” He feigned innocence, but there was nothing innocent about him. I doubted whether he’d had one pure thought his entire life.

“Don’t touch me.” The fear was making my voice shaky, as much as I wished it would hold still. I didn’t want to show any kind of weakness in front of a guy like Taz. It only made him feel like he had won.

He got so close to me his rancid breath was blowing on my face. I would have loved to step a few feet back. If I wasn’t tied up, anyway.

“You’re real pretty,
Everly
.” The way he said my name made my skin crawl. “You’ve also got quite a mouth on you. Did you speak to your mama like that?”

“Did you speak to
your
mama like that?” I clamped my lips together, trying not to say anything else. Antagonizing him was not going to make the situation any better. It would only add fuel to the already-burning fire.

Who was I kidding? It was a full-on blaze by now.

Taz started laughing. “My mama wouldn’t approve of anything I’m about to do to you.” He slid one finger up and down my arm. If it had been done by anyone that I actually cared about or loved, it would have been sensual. But when Taz did it, I wanted to vomit.

“You don’t want to touch me,” I warned. Not that I had anything to back it up with. Considering I was restrained and we were alone – probably for quite some time – he was the one in charge. I just wished he didn’t realize that too.

“I don’t? You look pretty darn tasty from where I’m standing. Now, how do I get those clothes off you without untying you? Have any suggestions?”

“Leave me alone. Jet said-”

He waved my words away like they were nothing. “Jet said not to hurt you, I know. Play your cards right and you could enjoy it just as much as I’m gonna.”

Both of his hands fell on my breasts and squeezed. I jumped involuntarily from the sudden movement. I really needed to get the hell out of here.

Taz stood back and examined me, his eyes roaming over every inch of my body. I was only wearing jeans and a loose blouse, but at the moment I wished I was wearing overalls that covered me from head to foot.

“You know what?” He paused, as if I was going to play along and actually answer him. That was never going to happen. “I don’t need to untie you. I can access everything I need. Don’t worry, girl, I’ll be gentle.” He laughed his head off before his hands clasped around the top of my jeans.

His fingers slid under the waistband, skimming around until he found the fly. He popped the first button and went for the zipper. I could not let him undress me. Every atom in my brain screamed at me to do something.

I bucked and thrashed everything that wasn’t tied up. Taz increased his grip as he pulled my fly down. “Stay still or I won’t be gentle. I swear to God I will hurt you,” he threatened through gritted teeth.

With his free hand, he suddenly squeezed the top of my thigh so hard I screamed out in pain. He was forcing the life out of me with that single touch. I had never felt pain like it before, not even when I was smacked over the head.