I hear muffled screams coming from one of the rooms, and at first, I think nothing of it. Eventually, those screams start to sound like real pain. Something doesn’t feel right, so I toss my book down and get up to knock on Raul’s door.
“Hey,” I say when he opens the door.
“Hey,” he mutters sleepily. “What’s…”
“Listen…” I say as I drag him out of the room. He pulls his door shut, and his eyes go wide.
“Fuck,” he says. I turn and jog to my room to pull the door shut before joining Raul as we walk down to Fredrico’s room.
“Stop! Please!” Gemma sobs.
Without even thinking, I kick the door beside the handle and send it flying open and slamming against the wall. I expected to see something bad, but I didn’t expect a fucking bloodbath. Blood covers everything: the bed, Gemma, and Fredrico. She isnaked and tied to the bed, but her arms are restrained to the headboard. Her legs are pulled far apart, and he has a knife in his hand. Before Raul or I can get to her, he slams the knife deep into her vagina, but covers her mouth to muffle the screams. As I go to grab him, he slams in one, two, three more times before I can rip him off of her.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” I scream at him.
“Get the fuck off me!” Fredrico barks and tries to pull away. He, too, is naked, but what pisses me off more than anything is that his dick is covered in blood. That means that he either fucked her until she was bleeding profusely, or he has been torturing her by stabbing her and then fucking her. This was more than just a spur-of-the-moment, rash decision that would lead to her death. He fucking planned this. “The bitch fucking deserved it. All of you fucking deserve to die. You thought you could take her away from me? Now no one can have her!”
Raul gets the restraints off Gemma and scoops her up. He takes off running with her in his arms and doesn’t stop when he sees Charles. Several of the other masters have made their way out into the common area, and their faces are ghost white.
“Don’t you dare fucking take my sub—” Fredrico starts to demand, but I swing my fist and punch him in the face.
“She’s going to the fucking hospital, you idiot. What the fuck is wrong with you? How is this normal fucking behavior, you goddamn psycho?” I yell at him.
“The girls are sleeping,” Charles scolds.
I turn on him so fast that he nearly trips over himself to back off. Fucking pussy. There’s no goddamn way that this pansy motherfucker is the one running The Society. “This is your fucking fault,” I growl. “Three fucking women died because of him.Three! All of which were in families that posed a threat to keeping The Society sexist and abusive. You think no one sees that you’re killing fucking bloodlines? You think no one knows that you are behind this? Fredrico is a goddamn idiot, and there’s no way he could pull off this shit without help. You are a sorry excuse of a fucking leader.”
“He’s not leaving the program,” Charles says firmly.
“If he hurts Alania or any other submissive, I will cut his goddamn dick off and shove it downyourthroat. Do you understand me, prick? Go ahead and tell your little buddies on the council that they are next, too. I’m so fucking tired of everybody turning a blind eye while this fucking psycho murders innocent women.”
“You need to calm down,” Charles says with a frown.
“You need to fucking make me, pussy. What the fuck are you going to do about it?” I ask, getting into his face. “Where is all that goddamn power that you supposedly have? Huh? Strike me down, bitch. That’s what you’re doing to all of these women, right?”
Charles is silent. He says absolutely nothing, yet somehow, it’s the loudest fucking response he could have ever given.
“That’s what I fucking thought,” I deadpan. “So, whoever it is thatactuallyruns The Society, tell them that their time is limited. I don’t care if I have an army standing behind me or not; this bullshit is done. Not one more person is going to be slaughtered in this fucking school. This is not what this place was supposed to be. It was not supposed to be 180 days of rape and abuse. It was not supposed to be goddamn human trafficking.”
I’m so fucking angry, but I have said too much. I need to get out of this conversation before I fuck up and get myself killed.
“I’m just going to mark this up as stress. Watch your mouth and get back to your submissive,” Charles says. His voice is calm, but fear is clouding his eyes. He is scared of my threats. Good.
I go down to the room and lock the door before going to the bathroom to wash my hands. When I am done, I grab my book and go into the room where Alania is still asleep. Watching her lie in my bed, wearing my shirt… God, it’s like heaven. Why does loving her feel so sinful, though? I’ll burn in the next life just to hold her in this one. No one will ever hurt my Little Dove and live to tell the tale.
I get undressed and slip into bed with her. She automatically rolls to snuggle into my chest, and it makes my heart sing. She makes a cute little sound, like a sigh, when I kiss her forehead and wrap her in my arms.
Chapter Eleven
Alania
Friday - Day 5
We are all gatheredin the common area, but something is wrong. Gemma and Fredrico aren’t here. The masters are talking to each other, but about what? This wasn’t part of the plan. It’s too soon for this to be it. Adrian hasn’t said a word to me, but he’s been so affectionate. I’m scared for someone else, and I’m not used to it. I’m not used to caring about anyone but me. Self-preservation, or maybe selfishness.
“Come on, ladies,” Raul says.
No one stands.
