Unbound (26 page)

“You look so-” he kissed me neck. “-hot.”

“I know,” I said as I knelt over top of him on the bed. “But we should get going.” I jumped up and gave my costume another inspection. My top was a very skimpy bodice that laced up the front. Most of my stomach was exposed. I was able to put a push-up bra on underneath so that combined with the corset like lacing made my boobs look way bigger tonight. The skirt didn’t offer much more coverage: it too was made out of leather and had a slit on the left side. The temperature had dropped, so even though it didn’t really go with the outfit, I had on a pair of black leggings. The boots I had on matched the brown leather perfectly and had the same air of ass-kicking to them. Since my costume’s theme was indeed a warrior, I rigged up a matching belt to hold my dagger.

“Let’s just stay here,” Ethan suggested as he pulled me back on top of him. We kissed before I said, “Remember you’re coming back here tonight and that my parents are out of town.” I wasn’t able to resist kissing him one more time before we headed out the door. I grabbed my jacket on the way out.

“Is Halloween worse for you?” Ethan asked on the way to the party. I knew what his question insinuated.

“Yes. There’s always more spirits around. It’s harder to block them out too. Which is partly why I want to go to this party. It’ll be fun and offer a good distraction.”

“And you will get drunk and frisky,” Ethan joked.

“Um, we’ll see about that!” I didn’t tell him that I didn’t need to get drunk to want to get frisky with him. I had a feeling he knew that too. “Oh, Leslie lives over there,” I said, feeling compelled to say it for some unknown reason. I pointed to a cluster of apartment complexes. Ethan just nodded. The house the party was at wasn’t much further. Harrison, Luke, the girls they came with, Laney, dressed as a bee, and Josh , like Ethan, wasn’t wearing a costume, were already there. Marie and Gavin showed up not too long after we did. They were both dressed like cops. I was having a blast, talking, drinking and dancing. My drink was just Sprite for right now. I was having so much fun that I almost didn’t notice Mike and Alix, dressed as a horridly slutty cat, walk in. Ethan had just left to get me another drink, and they made a bee-line for me.

“Annie!” Mike put his hand on my arm. “Lookin’ good!”

I yanked my arm away from him.

“Here by yourself?” Alix asked in a mocking voice.

“No, she’s here with me,” Ethan said from behind, sliding his arm around my waist. He gave me my drink.

“Thanks,” I said before I took a swig. Ethan leaned down and gave me a very involved kiss, complete with him putting his hands all over me.

“This is my boyfriend, Ethan,” I said in as sweet a voice as I could manage. It was warm in this house so Ethan had taken off his jacket revealing his perfect, muscular body hidden only behind a thin black T-shirt. I wished I had my camera with me to take a picture of Mike and Alix’s faces.

“She’s quite a handful isn’t she,” Mike tried to joke.

“I’d say she’s more than a handful,” Ethan said, looking down my leather vest. I gave him an ‘I-can’t-believe-you-said-that’ look and laughed.

“So how’s Hunter and Mystery?” Mike was trying to show off a knowledge of his personal information about me.

“Great,” I said shortly. “Actually, I want to thank you.”

“Really? For what?”

“If you hadn’t been such a grotesque, pathetic, cheating loser, I never would have left that party and found Ethan.” I smiled sweetly again, but fire burned behind my eyes.

 
Mike stammered something that didn’t make sense and turned on his heel, pretending like he saw someone he knew. Alix threw a dirty look my way and slinked off after Mike.

“That was your ex, wasn’t it?” Ethan asked, still looking in the direction Mike had gone. I nodded.

“What was your first clue?” I asked sarcastically. I set my cup down and wrapped my arms around Ethan.

“The look on your face.” He cupped my head in his hands. “It was a mixture of hatred and terror. That, and it was kinda obvious by the way you talked to him,” he said with a chuckle, looked across the room again and then back into my eyes. “You know, it surprised me how much it bothered me seeing you upset.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “You are so sweet.”

“No, I’m not,” he said, his voice full of wicked seductiveness.

Maybe two hours later, Ethan’s phone rang. It was Sam. I set my drink down, grabbed my coat and went outside with him. I watched the expressions on his face change from annoyed to worried.

“Where are you?” Pause. “I can be there in about twenty minutes.” Another pause. “Just hang on. I’ll be right there.”

“Everything ok?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“No, but it’s not that big of a deal. If I go now I can probably be back in an hour. You can stay here with your friends.”

“Do you need my help?”

“No, stay with your friends. You haven’t seen them much lately. I’ll tell you everything when I get back.” He picked me up and twirled me around. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. Be safe!” He gave me a quick kiss goodbye and took off. I retrieved my drink and wandered around looking for Marie or Laney. I found Laney and she told me that Marie and Gavin left already. She giggled the whole time she talked; she was definitely drunk. I wandered around the big house some more and found my brother playing some sort of card game in the basement. The girl he had brought –-a cute brunette wearing a sexy version of a Robinhood costume—was sitting on his lap. They asked if I wanted to join but I said no since I don’t know how to play card games. I finished my Sprite and went to join Laney again. I was halfway up the stairs when my vision became blurred. I almost fell and had to pull myself up with the railing. I shook my head to try to clear it but that just made it worse. Everything swirled around me. I clumsily opened the front door and stumbled onto the porch for some fresh air. My mind felt muddled. What was going on? I felt so confused. The noise from inside the house hurt my head. I walked towards the woods that was to the side of the house and leaned up against a tree. My eyelids felt heavy. I wanted to collapse onto the cold, dewy forest ground more than anything right now. A crunch of leaves startled me awake. Mike was a few feet away from me, a beer bottle in hand.

“Annie,” he said in a level tone. “How are you feeling?”

I suddenly realized that he had drugged me. He must have been following me, waiting for the effects to kick in. I gathered up all the remaining energy I had and sprinted into the woods. I hadn’t even gotten in that far when something cracked against the back of my head. The sudden pain stunned me, and I fell, scrapping my arms against branches on my way down. I scrambled to get up. Mike was faster; he was suddenly standing over me. He harshly flipped me over and knelt on top of me. I screamed. My mind threatened to drift out of consciousness just as I saw Mike unbuckle his belt. I closed my eyes and pulled in all the energy I could from the forest. Feeling more able to fight, I tried to unsheathe the dagger from my belt. Mike saw and pinned my arm to my side.

“No one turns me down, bitch,” he hissed. With my other hand, I hit him as hard as I could across the face. “You stupid, worthless freak,” he spat, wiping blood from his mouth.

He moved so my arms were held down by his legs. Pure hatred sparked in his eyes as he raised his right fist and swung it down towards my face. Out of reaction, I closed my eyes and turned my head, ready to feel instant pain. I heard the sound of bones crushing, but I felt nothing. Then Mike let out a yell. I opened my eyes to see him cradling his right hand. He tried to hit me again but the same thing happened. It was like there was an invisible shield above me.

 
A surge of instinct kicked in and I imagined that shield coming up and hitting Mike in the chest. He flew backwards off of me. I quickly scrambled up and took off. I didn’t remember getting to Leslie’s apartment, or telling her what happened or even giving her Ethan’s number. I must have passed out because the next thing I knew someone was carrying me. The movements made me feel nauseous. It took all my strength to open my eyes and point to the ground. As soon as I felt the cold grass under me, I threw up.

“I’m going to kill him.” I heard Ethan say in a voice as cold as ice. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

I remember being scooped up before I passed out again. The next time I woke up I was wearing pajamas and in my bed. My stomach did a flip flop and I let Ethan carry me into the bathroom. Once in there, I waved him out and told him to close the door. I didn’t want him to see me with my head in the toilet. After I threw up two more times I realized that I never held back my hair. I reached up and felt that it was in a tight French braid. Leslie must have done it.

Ethan came in to check on me. He wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and let me rest my head on his chest while he rubbed my back. I leaned over the toilet and barfed again. I felt so horrible and disoriented that I started crying. Ethan wrapped the blanket tighter around me. I leaned against him. I hadn’t even realized I was shivering. Just when I thought I had nothing left to come up, I felt queasy again. Ethan helped me sit up so I could dry heave into the toilet. I was still crying for some reason. Ethan gave me a little bit of water and carried me back into bed. He tucked me under the covers and got in next to me.

“Want me to rub your belly?” he asked. Just the thought of someone touching my stomach made me want to puke again.

“No.”

“Your back?”

“Ok,” I murmured. He gently ran his fingernails over my skin. I was starting to feel a little better. Random thoughts flickered through my seriously confused mind. “Why are flashlights called flashlights?” I mumbled.

“Huh?”

“They don’t flash.”

“Uh, I don’t know then.”

“Maybe ‘cuz you can turn them on in a flash.”

“Probably.”

“If vampires were real do you think stores would stay open later?”

“Uh, maybe.”

“But not grocery stores.”

“I guess not. Go to sleep Annie, you’ll feel better.”

“Ok.” I closed my eyes again. “Why am I so confused?”

“It’s the drugs.”

“Oh.” I felt the tug of sleep. “Ethan?”

“Yea?”

“Thank you.”

He kissed my forehead.

***

I woke up around seven. Ethan wasn’t in bed with me anymore. My head throbbed and my throat burned. I desperately wanted a drink but getting up was just too much effort. Hunter raced up the stairs and jumped into bed. His fur was wet. I listened; yep, it was raining. He licked my face and settled down next to me. I put an arm around my dog and closed my eyes. I didn’t know Ethan came back into the room until I felt the mattress sink down from him sitting on it. He had a can of Ginger Ale and a bottle of water.

“I thought you left,” I croaked. He handed me the Ginger Ale. I carefully took a drink.

“I will never leave you.”

I took another drink and handed it back to Ethan. He set both beverages on my nightstand and lay down next to me. I pressed my head to his chest. I felt so strongly for him right now.

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

He kissed my head. “You don’t have to thank me.” He started to rub my back again. My eyes shut and I was asleep again.

I didn’t wake up until twelve-thirty. And if it wasn’t for having to pee, I probably could have slept for another hour or two. After going to the bathroom, I followed the voices to Harrison’s room. He and Ethan were playing some sort of shooting game on the PS3. Even though I felt like shit, I couldn’t help but be happy to see them getting along. The jingling of Hunter’s tags caught Ethan’s attention, and he jumped up and rushed over to me.

“How are you feeling?” He took my hand. Harrison’s eyes met mine.

“Hey sis. We’re gonna kill that son of a bitch,” he promised, his voice was full of hatred and seriousness.

“Thanks guys. There’s nothing like death threats to make a girl feel loved.” I smiled a half smile.

“You look like you’re feeling better,” Ethan said. He touched my forehead to check my temperature.

“I’m still tired, but I feel a lot better than last night.” I still had a headache, but I didn’t want to tell them that for some reason. “You guys keep playing games, I’m gonna take a shower.” Slowly I made my way to the bathroom.

“Ewww.” I grimaced at my reflection. Not only was my hair a frizzy mess, but the extensive eyeliner I put on ran down my face from my tears. My eyes looked sunken in and my cheeks were pale. I looked down right gross.