Snaked

Who Did This To You?

Avery's pov

Caleb leads me to what I assume is his office and closes his door behind us. I stand in the center of the room, not knowing what to do. I watch him carefully as he moves over and rests against his desk.

"Please, sit," he says, motion to the single chair that sat in front of the desk.

I look at him, confused but I try to hide it as I sit down. "What did I do now?" I ask after he just stares at me.

"Oh, nothing," he says, smiling and shrugging as he crosses his arms. "I just want to know why they're back and why they brought friends."

"I didn't even know they left," I say, trying to get my voice to stop shaking.

"See, I find that very hard to believe," he says, looking me up and down, making me cross my leg over the other and pull my dress down. He rolls his eyes before starting to talk again. "Those boys clearly have a plan, and if they don't, they're going to have one and I know exactly what that is," he says, making me raise my eyebrows, acting like I don't know what it is. "They're trying to get you back, and you know what?"

I wait for a moment for him to continue but when he doesn't I sigh. "What, Caleb?"

"I'm going to let them," he says, making me confused.

"Excuse me?" I ask, unsure as to why he wanted me so badly and now he's just willing to let me go.

"I'm willing to let them take you," he says, repeating himself.

"Yeah, I heard you, but it just seems too easy," I say, my suspicions rising every second because there's no way he would be willing to do this.

"It's really not," he says, shrugging again. "There's just one condition," he says as he steps closer to me.

I laugh softly and nod, knowing there would be at least one thing he'd want in exchange for me. "And what's that? They all have to stay but I can leave? That's real sweet of you," I say as I lean forward and look up at him.

"Oh no, nothing like that, but thanks for the idea," he says walking toward me again. "Only one has to stay."

I sigh and remember that this is better than what I thought but it still wasn't great. I look up at him and narrow my eyes as I tilt my head slightly. "But what if no one does?" I ask, genuinely  curious but also wanting to piss him off slightly since I've grown less afraid of him since I've been here.

He sighs and grabs my arm where I cut it this morning and digs his thumb into the cut making me want to scream from the pain but I keep my mouth shut and try to hide the pain I'm feeling. "If no one stays, I'm putting my stamp on you and never letting you back here. Which, since your assumption was correct, will mean you disappear forever," he says, smiling at me as I try to steady my breathing but he digs his thumb in deeper, causing me to groan.

"Stop," I say quietly since that's all I can manage unless I want to yell at him.

"This must hurt," he says, seething. He was right, it did hurt. The rough layer of gauze scratching against the inside of my arm mixed his thumb pushing and moving the gauze around in all different directions. He makes a face before he lets go and grabs the pocket square from his jacket and wipes my blood off of his thumb.

I exhale deeply and grab my arms before looking at it. Blood is dripping down my arm faster than it did this morning. "You're a bitch," I whisper, mostly to myself but also to him.

"Maybe," he says, shrugging with that same, disgusting, smile. "But until you pick someone to stay, you're stuck with me." I groan and push myself out of the chair before I walk over to the door and open it. "Avery-" I hear him yell before I slam the door and walk across the club toward my room.