Rich Kids Don't Die | Featured

Chapter Twenty Three

Blood rushed to Annika's cheeks, her jeweled fingers instinctively reaching out to steer Maddie out of harm's way. "Hide," she hissed, gently shoving her out of the bright, luminescent lighting and away from the counter. 

Shards of crude, neon lights danced on Maddie's skin, flashes of color darting about and threatening to expose her features amongst the girls she was practically hiding behind. For a split second, she had forged the desperation and fear of a teenage girl to that of a convent, pleadingly praying to god(s) for mercy whilst disguised in huddled congregation. 

Except that rather than hymns of angels and sweetly sung songs, the nightclub played vulgar pop music centered around sex and drugs. And rather than being dressed in looming black gowns flowing down to the ankles, the girls wore skin-tight dresses barely covering their toned thighs. 

He was making his way right past them. 

Suddenly, Katya drew a sharp breath as a hand snaked around her waist and dangerously close to the ends of her dress. Already, she could picture the perpetrator. 

No doubt a drunken boy stumbling around, the bitter scent of cigarettes still hanging from his lips like a dreadful piercing, permanently etched there like a profound scar. She whirled around with a deep set scowl.

No doubt it was Lucian Michaels. 

After he shot her a sugary smile with no intention of letting go, Katya dug her nails into his arm until she saw blood, a wicked smile on her lips as she stabbed her six-inch heel into his toes.

"Don't try, darling,"

 A sensation of newfound fear washed over him. He struggled to escape her grip. "You might end up with a knife in your neck."

It was hypnotism, he realized. Honey pouring into his mind until all his brain cells froze, unmoving and caught in a sticky, sweet web of sickening obligation. Alarmed, his hands shot back to himself. He nervously eyed her for weapons. Katya gestured towards her clutch, tracing out an X on the red silk. 

Maddie observed Lucian's fear in disgust from behind Annika. Violet stood beside her, a wave of platinum blonde hair swept over her paling face. Last time something like this had happened, she'd woken up with no memory of the previous night, and the insignificant glimmer of hope that the scratches on her arms weren't the doing of an evil teenage boy. 

"Leave." Leah let out between gritted teeth. "Before we tear you apart." 

Lucian turned to snarl at her, but before he could his forgotten companion tugged at his arm. A bleached blonde in spray tan and bright pink, Maddie noted. He never did have much class.

"Let's go, baby." his one-night stand purred. "We'll find someone else."

Disgusting. 

Whilst Leah shot him daggers, Lucian slowly distanced himself from the girls, his female counterpart dragging him towards the balcony. Maddie didn't even want to think of how many other women he would harass. It was a shame money could get one out of jail - he deserved to be there, if not dead. 

Violet attempted to mask her relief, her mind pleading for a taste of tranquility. Instead, she reached for her glass of Italian champagne and leaned against the wall with a sigh. 

"I told you we shouldn't have come," she muttered, shaking her head. For some unknown reason, Violet could never escape the army of prowling men that preyed on women. No girl could. They were everywhere - infiltrating the poorest and the richest streets all at once. Was anywhere in the world completely safe?

Whilst this train of thought continued, Violet remained silent. Katya's anger was slowly simmering, and Annika comfortingly squeezed Maddie's shoulder.