Haze, Andrea Wolfe [english novels for beginners txt] 📗

his big night. This was Lexy's premiere show, and I wanted it to be whatever he wanted it to be. "I might have one more drink."

"We won't stay too long," he said, as if he had read the quiet tumult of my mind. "A lot of work to do tomorrow. And we still have that unfinished business tonight." He hungrily stared at my cleavage and I accepted his glare.

"Never subtle, Jack Teller."

"That's just the way I like it." He pulled the sweaty mat of hair out of his eyes and led us back to the lounge.

It was packed with more people than before the show, and with the inclusion of the very sweaty band members became excessively hot. I had one more drink and clung to Jack's arm, meeting random person after person whom Jack gave me the inside scoop about after they walked away. He didn't seem to trust them much, and I guess with his history, I could understand why.

"Do you want to get going soon?" he asked me during a lull in the action.

"Yeah, if we can." I was feeling genuinely burned out and over stimulated by that point. It was fast approaching one in the morning and no one else looked like they were about to slow down.

"Let me say a couple of quick goodbyes, and then we'll get out of here."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Okay. I'm going to go get some air in the alley."

"Just a couple of minutes," he said. "I'll call the limo in a second.

Somehow I escaped that room and crept out into the hallway, retracing the steps I had taken when I arrived. Karla had been the only person I waved to, but she had been tied up in several conversations and missed my polite closing gesture.

The alley was calm and deserted, the night breeze cooling me immediately. Sweat quickly chilled on my brow and reminded me that I should have brought a jacket. Friday night was in full bloom, and in NYC, the party would go all night. We were definitely bailing out early, but with our plans tomorrow, it was a necessary evil.

"Help me!"

What the fuck? I heard some screaming, a sound that was unmistakably human, but bordered on sounding like an animal. I couldn't figure out if it was male or female. My curiosity got the best of me and I tiptoed forward, tracking the source of the sound. Did someone really need help?

I was cautious, concerned that I might be about to witness something horrible and needed to remain out of view. I wrestled my cell phone out of my purse, dialing 911 and resting my finger just above the call button in case I needed it.

Adrenaline spilled through my body in surges, electrifying my heart beat as I tried to remain calm. Something told me I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just stood by and let something terrible happen. It was probably just a drunken bum who had fallen over and wanted attention, but I still had to check. What if it was an old man having a heart attack or something? Someone that needed an ambulance called?

What if someone died due to my inaction? We weren't in a bad part of town, so it was probably no big deal, whatever it was.

The corner led into another smaller alley, one that wasn't lit like the one I was already in. I gave myself some distance from the wall and kept inching forward, my phone clutched like a sword. All I could hear was the hum of cars in the distance, the scream no longer present. I hoped someone hadn't already died.

When my head peeked around the edge, I saw nothing but black—literally.

I struggled as a nylon sack covered my eyes. My hands forced against the wall, I couldn't keep my fingers around my phone. It fell and settled with a sickening crack—and I immediately recalled the last time I had dropped the damn thing. Now I was really in trouble. The assailant didn't seem to notice the inadvertent destruction and remained focused on the task at hand.

A pair of very strong arms dragged me farther into the alley, stopping after there was some distance between us and the first alley. He slammed me up against the wall with a thud. "Help!" I screamed. A hand covered my mouth through the sack, muffling any further sounds. If he kept my mouth covered, it was unlikely that anyone would notice us from outside of the alley.

I was fucked.

"Don't scream again or I'll fucking kill you!" A knife lightly cut into my arm, just a nick, a reminder that he had the upper hand in every possible way. My eyes started watering, the pain amplified by the sheer terror I was experiencing. Although the adrenaline did numb the sensation, the cut—which proved that the knife existed—only served to inform me that I was in genuine trouble.

The first thing that hit my mind was Timothy. Had he plotted out his revenge, waiting until this big night to take action? My mind was running at a thousand miles per hour. Was he about to kill me for not returning to his side? I thought of every crazy killer in every horror movie, all of them blurring together and somehow inhabiting the body of my attacker.

Why the fuck had I posted the Facebook event on my own wall? Yeah, that was how Timothy found me. What was he about to do with me? Fucking social media! It was so stupid. I vowed to never use it again, vowed to never—

"You fucking cunt," the voice said, unnaturally low. "You fucked up my life and now I'm going to fuck up yours."

Whomever the voice belonged to wasn't speaking in their normal range, and that was clear to me. The voice kept caroming in my head as my heart beat out of control. Why would Timothy think that attacking me would solve any problems? What would he gain from