Chapter 2: Alluring Darkness: Chapter 2

There’s a mass of people standing around my car by the time my brothers and I reach the parking lot. I narrow my eyes in suspicion. There are lots of fancy cars here, and even though it is the latest model, it’s not like my Range Rover is anything remarkable. Not to mention that there are three identical ones parked right next to it.

It sounds as though some of the people are laughing. Or maybe gasping. But it’s hard to tell because of the strong winds that whoosh across the pavement.

On my left, Kaden and Jace are still arguing about who actually won the informal marksman competition they decided to have this afternoon. But on my right, Rico slides his dark eyes towards me.

“What’s going on?” he asks, keeping his voice low.

“I’m not sure,” I reply without taking my eyes off the crowd.

One of them turns around, and his eyes go wide as he spots us. His mouth moves. The others snap their gazes to us.

Then they all scatter like fucking cockroaches.

Now, Jace and Kaden at last notice that something is going on. They cease arguing to whip their heads around, looking at the people sprinting away.

“What the fuck?” Jace very eloquently declares.

Kaden looks to me. “Eli?”

Since I don’t know what’s going on either, I say nothing as we close the final distance to our cars. I study my car as I pass by the other three. It looks fine.

Then I round the back of it and come up on the driver’s side.

I stop.

For a moment, I can’t comprehend what I’m seeing.

My brothers come to a halt next to me as well, their eyes also locked on the doors before us.

I blink. Slowly.

Someone has keyed my car.

And not just keyed it. Someone has carved the words Small Dick Energy in massive letters across both the driver’s side door and the back door.

Then Jace erupts into laughter, and reality comes rushing back to me. While he’s doubled over, gasping for breath between waves of laughter, I whip my head around in search of the people who were standing around my car less than a minute ago.

My eyes land on the guy who was the first to spot us. He has just made it to his car and is frantically trying to get inside and start it. Rico and Kaden follow my gaze. I jerk my chin.

Both of them take off towards the car. I start towards it as well while Jace jerks his head up and straightens. Raking a hand through his dark brown curls, he blinks as if trying to figure out why we all left.

“Aw shit,” he says. “Right.”

He sprints past me right as the guy gets his car started. Panic pulses across the guy’s whole face as he swerves his car out of the parking space. But he doesn’t make it more than ten feet before Jace leaps into the way and slams his palms down on the hood of the car. It screeches to a halt before it can mow him down.

The guy reaches for the door handle, but before he can grab it, Rico yanks the door open. Terror washes over the guy’s features, and he tries to scramble over to the passenger side, only to find Kaden pulling open the door and sliding into that seat. I stalk the final bit to the driver’s side and stop next to Rico.

“It wasn’t me,” the guy blurts out, his terrified eyes darting between the four of us. “It wasn’t me. I swear to God, it wasn’t me.”

I cock my head. “Really?”

“Yes. Yes. I swear it.”

“Then who?”

He swallows. “I don’t know. We all found it like that when we got here.”

“Sounds very convenient,” Jace calls from where he’s still bracing his hands on the hood of the car. With a devilish grin on his face, he shoves down a couple of times, rocking the car. “Don’t you think?”

“Want me to drag him out of there and break his knees?” Rico asks casually, as if inquiring whether I want a cup of coffee.

The guy jerks back and tries to scoot over to the other seat before he remembers that Kaden is currently occupying it. Kaden flashes him one of his signature psychopath smiles.

Raw desperation bleeds into the guy’s voice as he begs, “Please. Please, I swear I didn’t do this.” A light flares up behind his eyes, and he presses out his next words so quickly that he almost trips over them. “You can check the security cameras! Then you’ll see that it wasn’t me.”

Hope shines in his eyes now. I want to grind it underneath my heel until there is nothing left but fear, but the man has a point. If he had been stupid enough to actually do it, he wouldn’t have told us to check the footage. And I really do want to know who is suicidal enough to do something as foolish as to key my car.

“Kaden,” I begin.

Our captive stiffens.

I hold his gaze in silence for a few seconds before finishing with, “Check his driver’s license.”

Without question, Kaden reaches over the console and slides his hand into the guy’s jacket pocket. He flinches but doesn’t resist. Kaden fishes out a brown leather wallet and then flips it open and pulls out the driver’s license. After memorizing the details on it, he gives me a nod and then tosses both the wallet and the card into the guy’s lap.

“You’d better hope you’re telling the truth,” I announce. “Or we’ll be paying you a little visit later.”

“I am,” he blurts out while scrambling to pick up his wallet and driver’s license before they can fall to the floor. “I swear I am.”

Without bothering to reply, I jerk my chin and start back towards the academy’s administrative building with Rico next to me. Jace drums his hands on the hood of the car a few times while Kaden climbs out and throws the door shut behind him. Then they fall in on my other side.

The moment we’re gone, the guy floors it and speeds out of the parking lot.

“Aw, I wish you would’ve let me beat him up,” Jace complains as we make our way towards where the people in charge of security have their offices.

“If he is the one who keyed my car, I’ll let you do more than that,” I promise him.

He throws his fist into the air in an excited gesture. “Yes!”

While we walk, I can feel Rico watching me from the corner of his eye. He always does that. Watches me. Trying to figure out if whatever thing that just happened is what finally sends me off the deep end. And I get it. I understand why he worries. But frankly, after what I went through when I was younger, it’s ridiculous to think that someone keying my car is what will at last make my mind snap completely. Though to be fair, I know that what I went through is the reason why he worries. But still. I just wish he would stop feeling so guilty about it. None of it was his fault, after all.

The door to the security office vibrates as I pound my fist on the metal.

A moment later, it’s opened by a man wearing a bulletproof vest over a tight black shirt. He gives the four of us a quick once-over before inclining his head in respect.

“What can I do for you?” he asks.

“We need to see the security footage from the parking lot,” I reply.

He nods and then opens the door wider before motioning for us to step inside. We follow him to the screens that take up half of the wall. They show most parts of the academy. I flick my gaze over all the screens, reconfirming what our father told us about the blind spots before we even set foot on this campus.

“From when?” the guard asks as he pulls up a program on one of the computers.

“This afternoon,” I reply.

It takes a couple of minutes for him to speed through the video until we find what we’re looking for.

“Stop,” I say once I see a lone figure crouch next to my car. “Go back.”

He rewinds it and then plays it again. This time at normal speed.

A young woman who looks to be around our age walks out the doors and into the parking lot. She has straight black hair that falls down almost all the way to her waist, and bangs that cover her forehead. The camera is too far away to reveal much of her facial features, but the way she walks tells me more than her face probably could.

She doesn’t sneak up to my car. She strolls. Fucking strolls up to it while casually twirling a set of keys in her hand. No fear. No hesitation. I stare in utter disbelief as she crouches down by my car and starts carving into it.

Next to me, Rico and Kaden are watching with raised eyebrows as well.

Jace, on the other hand, chuckles and throws an elbow into my ribs. “One of your fucks? Damn, bro, you must’ve really left her unsatisfied.”

“No,” I say.

No, I would most definitely remember fucking someone like this. Confusion swirls through my chest as I watch her straighten again once she’s done. Based on how she looks next to my car, she’s about average height for a woman. But that’s not what caused the confusion inside me.

I narrow my eyes as I study her body.

She looks… soft. Sure, she has a rather slim body. But she also has thighs and hips and tits, which admittedly make her pretty hot, but she doesn’t look nearly athletic enough to be a student here.

“Who is she?” I ask.

My brothers shrug.

By the desk, the security guard flips through some papers. “We got word from the admission’s office that a new student would be starting. I think that’s her, but I can’t find her name right now.”

A new student, huh? At least that would explain why she looks so soft and unathletic. But it sure as hell doesn’t explain why she would stroll into the parking lot and carve Small Dick Energy into the side of my car her first day on campus.

“Alright,” Kaden says with a shrug. “We’ll just catch her before school tomorrow then.”

I nod in confirmation, but I still can’t take my eyes off the screen. With stunned disbelief still pulsing inside me, I watch as the girl flicks her long black hair back behind her shoulder and then saunters away.

But just before she disappears from view, she looks right up at the security camera.

And smiles.

I blink.

Who the hell is this girl?