An insane asylum. A meat locker. A circus for deranged clowns. I follow Raf hesitantly through the cramped passageways, past open doorways and tight corridors that wind and turn back on themselves. If he’s trying to disorient me, it’s working– I have no idea how deep inside the boathouse we are, no clue how to get back out of this haunted house from hell.
“So, what do you think?” Raf murmurs, coming to a stop and glancing back at me.
We’re in some sort of room with no ceiling, just tall black walls rising around us. It’s set up to look like a gruesome operating room, bloody sheets draped over metal gurneys and tables scattered with sharp surgical instruments.
“It’s…” I hesitate, swallowing thickly. “Elaborate.”
Raf suddenly turns around and steps in closer, his massive build towering over me as he peers down into my eyes through the wide sockets of his creepy skull mask. “Ready to change into your costume?”
A shiver tracks up my spine at the gravel in his voice, skin prickling with anxiety.
“Here?” I croak, glancing around in trepidation.
He nods slowly, watching me as if he’s trying to gauge whether I’ll cooperate. There’s nowhere to hide, no doors to close. Just his eyes on me and mine staring back, wide and unsure.
“Uh, okay,” I whisper, nodding numbly. “Sure, I guess.”
I can’t see Raf’s mouth behind his mask, but I swear I see his eyes smile with a sinister promise.
My fingers work the buttons of my coat and I shrug it off my shoulders, letting it drop to the floor and pool around my feet. Then I kick off my shoes, sucking in a breath as I grab for the hem of my sweater and pull it off over my head. It occurs to me that I’ve gotten way too comfortable undressing for the Kings as I continue to strip down, shoving my leggings down my thighs and stepping out of them, skin erupting in goosebumps.
Raf’s dark eyes flicker over my body, taking in the black bra and panty set I’m wearing. “All of it,” he snaps.
I hesitate, but only for a second. He’s already seen me, and it’s just the two of us in this bizarre Halloween attraction. I’monly changing into a costume, and I have no doubt that if I don’t take my own underwear off, he’ll relieve me of it himself.
I reach behind my back and unhook my bra, slipping it off my shoulders.
I tuck my thumbs in the waistband of my panties and slide them down my hips.
“Put these on,” Raf directs in a clipped tone, extending a hand in my direction to offer me a pair of white cotton briefs.
I snatch them up, instantly recognizing them as my own.I’m not even gonna ask when or why he was in my room, going through my underwear drawer.Stepping in, I quickly yank them up my legs, heart beating a riot in my chest as I look to Raf again. He’s watching me carefully, my face burning until his stony gaze.
“Can I have the rest of it?” I ask shakily, holding out a hand in demand.
He doesn’t reply. Instead, pivots toward the wall where a tangle of leather straps dangles like dead snakes, reaching up to give them a sharp tug, as if to test their strength.
My stomach twists.
“Come here, Ava,” he commands, his voice rough.
Fear tightens around my throat like a noose, my blood turning to ice in my veins.
“Don’t make me ask twice.”
I fold my arms over my chest to cover myself, darting nervous glances left and right while frantically trying to map out an exit route. But I’m almost fully naked, stuck in the middle of a maze with no clue how to get out. Raf’s a King, and he gave me an order. I’m expected to follow it without question, but I’m fucking terrified right now.
I startle at the harsh rasp of his throat clearing, choking on a gasp as my feet start to move. The floor is like ice beneath mybare soles as I step toward him, his eyes burning into mine, so dark they’re almost black.
His fingers curl around my wrist, lifting it and using his other hand to wind a leather strap around and pull it tight.
“What am I doing here?” I whisper, panic clawing at my insides as he brings my other hand up to join the first, binding my wrists together.
He ignores my question, but I already know what’s coming next, just like I know I’m helpless to stop it. I’m trapped in my stepbrother’s grip, at the mercy of a monster.
It all happens so fast. He yanks at the straps, pushing me toward the wall. My arms get yanked over my head as he strings me up, securing me tight, descending into a crouch to secure my ankles to the wall next. His fingers brush my skin as the leather straps bite into it, and all I can hear is my own breathing, too hard, too fast.
“What were you trying to do with that paper, Ava?” he asks, his voice an eerie monotone. “Expose me, right?”
