HellSent

4: Party Crasher

I wonder what Claire thought happened to me. Or Jack... I would bet that she's tried to call me. I probably have one million voice messages of Claire getting progressively angrier about the fact that I wasn't answering her.

"Lost in thought?" Marcus intruded. He had come to my room to fetch me for dinner and I hadn't talked to him since.

"I'm just thinking about my friends." Marcus stopped walking.

"Jack?" His tone was bitter.

"Claire." I corrected, halfway lying. I thought about both.

"Trevor told me before he got you that you were with a group of men." He folded his arms.

"I was," I admitted. His eyes became darker. "but they were Claire's brother's friends. I was stuck with them so I made the best of it." Marcus' tense stance eased up.

"I told you not to think about other men when you're around me. Friends brother or not, there are no exceptions." He began backing me into the hallway wall. I lowered my gaze from his, surrendering my pride.

My back touched the cold drywall. I was waiting to be choked, but Marcus only gently lifted my chin with his finger. My eyes met his.

"You look beautiful." His proximity made my spine tingle and I couldn't help but shiver. My eyes traced over his, with his full dark lashes, down to his sharp features, and his contrastingly soft lips.

Someone cleared their throat and Marcus whipped around to face them. It was Trevor. "Are you guys going to kiss or what? Get to the good parts and just skip all the foreplay." He patted Marcus on the shoulder, and passed us by giving me a wink in the process.

"Lets go." Marcus placed a hand on the small of my back and we followed his brother.

Eventually, we reached a dining room. Inside I was greeted with a table full of people. There was an older man at one head and a young woman at the other. Between them sat Trevor, a girl about my age, another man I didn't know of yet, and there were three empty seats. Another woman made her way in behind us taking a chair.

"Are you going to stand there or sit?" Trevor mocked. Marcus guided me to a chair in between a girl and where he would sit. I felt all eyes on me.

"Priscilla?" The woman at one end of the table addressed me. I nodded at her. "It's good to meet you again." Again? Her face reminded me of...

"Marissa?" I couldn't believe my eyes. It was my mother's good friend. She had been around during my childhood, before my mom passed away. "I haven't seen you since... what are you doing here?"

She smiled, taking a sip of her wine. "It's been a long time. The last I saw you, you must've been eight years old." I felt relieved seeing a familiar face, but that relief was soon stripped away when I realized she was part of my kidnapping.

"I don't understand..." I began.

"This is my family, Priscilla. That's my husband, Peter." She gestured to the older man opposite from her. He smiled a tight smile. "You met my son Trevor and Marcus, of course." My stomach dropped. "This is my other son Frederick. He goes by Rick. My daughter Josephine." She gestured to the small brunette sitting next to me, who made no effort in acknowledging me. I glanced at the girl seated across my way.

"That's not our daughter. She's Trevor's play thing." The girl stared blankly at me. I knew the feeling she felt. The tranquil, euphoric state she was in.

"Poor girl." Rick looked her over, shaking his head.

"Mind your business, human." Trevor spat. I furrowed my brow.