Eden

12

Fists are coming at me from all directions. I can’t see how many people have surrounded me, but I’m guessing it’s between five and seven. All girls, based on the sounds their making. It’s hard to keep a cool head in order to assess my situation, but I refuse to just lay down and take this beating. I begin to fight back, throwing punches as I try to dodge their strikes and protect my face. My fists co

The reality, though, is that I’m outnumbered and taking more damage than I’m inflicting. Fists pummel my face and belly, and suddenly, someone kicks at the back of my knees and I drop to the floor with a cry. They knock me to my back, kicking and hitting me until the only thing I know is pain and a dull ringing in my ears. My face is warm and wet, and I think I hear my phone buzzing.

I’m down, defeated, and well on my way to being broken. There’s not a doubt in my head that they could kill me if given the chance.

I try to curl in on myself to shield my stomach from the blows, when all of the sudden, an angry shout breaks through the melee.

“Get the fuck away from her!”

My heart stops because I recognize that voice.

Saint.

Saint’s here.

I almost weep in relief as my assailants begin to scatter, but not before delivering a few extra kicks against my back. When the attack seems to have fully stopped, I open my eyes and raise my head. The lights come back on and I blink against the glare, and then he appears in front of me, dropped down on one knee. His face is a mixture of rage and fear, and I want nothing more than to collapse into his arms and let him carry me out of here. I don’t, however. I know I need to walk out of here on my own two feet.

I need to show those fucking bitches they can’t break me.

“Shit, Mallory, what did they do to you?” The question doesn’t come from Saint, but from Liam, who’s standing right behind him. Gabe’s here too, and his brow is tight with concern.

“Let’s get you up,” Saint murmurs, sliding his hands beneath my arms to assist me to my feet. Once I’m standing, I wobble a bit, but I clutch onto his arm and quickly regain my balance.

Slowly, we stagger out of the library and across campus to Saint’s Range Rover. He puts me in the front seat and doesn’t say a word to me as he settles in on his side and the guys slide into the back. It isn’t until he’s started the car and is driving away that he finally opens his mouth to speak.

“What the fuck did you think you were doing?” he shouts. “Are you fucking stupid?”

“Seriously, motherfucker? Come on, she—” Liam snaps, but Saint shakes his head, shooting a pitch-black look at the rearview mirror.

“No, she doesn’t get out of this so easily.” He focuses back on me. “Why the hell wouldn’t you answer your phone, you fucking idiot?”

“Stop yelling at me!” I shout back. “Haven’t I been through enough tonight?”

He scoffs. “Oh, trust me, what those bitches did will seem tame compared to what I plan on doing.”

I roll my eyes, but I feel tears building up behind them. How did things go so spectacularly wrong so quickly?

We don’t speak again until we pull up to Saint’s house, which is the closet one to Ravenwood. I’m begrudgingly thankful they decided to bring me here instead of taking me back to campus. I don’t want anyone to see me like this. Shit, I don’t even want to see myself to assess the full damage.

Saint parks the car right outside the front door but doesn’t make a move to get out himself.

“Don’t let her leave,” he orders, but I’m not sure who he’s addressing until Gabe shifts around in the backseat and opens his door.

“You got it,” he says without a single snarky comment. A second later, he opens my door and motions for me to get out.

I turn to stare at Saint before I leave. “Where are you going?”

He glances at me but doesn’t give me an answer. “Just let Gabe take care of you.”

There’s that fucking finality in his voice that always pops in there when he’s refusing to continue with a conversation. It’s damn infuriating, but I have little choice in the matter. Nodding, I let Gabe help me out onto my feet. As soon as he closes the door and we’re cleared of the vehicle, the engine roars and Saint speeds off with Liam.

“Where are they going?” I ask Gabe, desperate to know.

He’s not very forthcoming either, though, unfortunately. His silence only makes me worry that Saint and Liam are off doing more unspeakable things.

“Don’t worry about it.” He shrugs, taking hold of my shoulders. “Let’s get you inside.”

I let him usher me into the house, then help me to the first-floor bathroom.

“Saint said he had some clothes upstairs for you,” he says. “I’ll go get them, and you can wash your face and figure out if we need to call a doctor or something.”

Fuck, I must be absolutely mangled.

My lip quivers as I nod. “Okay.”

He leaves me in the bathroom to go hunt down a change of clothes for me. I hesitate to look in the mirror, afraid of what I’ll see. Finally, I can’t take it anymore and just bite the bullet, moving to stand just in front of the glass. I let out a little squeak of shock. My face is covered in blood, and I can see bruises begi

With a heavy sigh, I grab a hand towel from the rack, wet it, then gently stroke the cloth along my cheeks. It takes a bit of effort, but I finally mange to wipe the worst of the blood away. Looking at my face now, it’s really not as bad as I thought it’d be.

I have to remind myself that it was just a bunch of Barbie’s attacking me. They probably couldn’t do real damage to anything, even if they gave it everything they’ve got.

I feel like that’s what they did with me, anyway, and I’m still alive.

Despite that thought, I’m suddenly overwhelmed with emotion and the tears burst forth. I cry into the sink, my shoulders shaking as my mind puts my attack on fucking repeat. Sinking to the floor, I wrap my arms around my knees and rock back and forth as I continue to sob.

It’s some time before I’m able to calm myself enough to continue cleaning up. When I can finally breathe somewhat normally and the tears have stopped, I pull out my phone, my curiosity peaking. My gut twists when I realize that it wasn’t just Saint who’s been trying to get ahold of me. Loni’s sent me multiple messages, all warning me about the attack.

I open her first one and there’s a screenshot included with it. The image shows a text conversation that took place between Loni and some other girl. A friend of Laurel’s, if I’m remembering the name right, which shocks the hell out of me. In it, the girl is asking Loni to warn me about the attack.

“How would she know?” I murmur.

There’s a heavy knock on the bathroom door, and I nearly jump out of my skin. Pushing to my feet, I open it and Gabe is standing on the other side with clothes in his hands.

“Damn, Ellis. You’re okay, right?” he asks in a tender, but also a little bit nervous, voice. No doubt my tears are freaking him out.

I ignore his question and instead ask one of my own. “How would Laurel’s friends know about the attack?”

“Oh.” He almost looks relieved that he doesn’t have to deal with my tears. “Kristyn used to go to Angelview freshmen year. She and Laurel were joined at their cunty hips. I guess she recognized you from … you know, all the shit L posts about you.”