Empathy (24 page)

A shiver races through my body with the possibilities of what tonight could bring. The thing about most people who harbor a beast inside them, including Blake, is they believe they lack emotions yet they fight the sinister pull in themselves. They quash urges, conform to what society expects from them. They bury the wicked fiend, but not me, I’m friends with mine. I like his rule. I obey his commands and indulge in the sickness.

I’m not delusional. I know there is something missing in me. I was born missing the defining element that makes us human but I was still born and therefore must live with who I am… what I am. I am the beast. Blake let his soul slip into obscurity but mine was never there to begin with and there is nothing inside that tells me I shouldn’t be what I was created to be.

“What are you staring at?” Clive spits at me.

I was so engrossed in my depraved thoughts I didn’t see him come out of the store. I wiggle the trigger to the gas pump and put it back into place.

Turning to face him, I shrug my shoulders. “Nothing, I was lost in thoughts of getting laid.”

He squints at me, his upper lip curling. “Like you can get laid, freak.”

God he is such a cliché, it’s almost too easy. “Club Nine has the best pussy there is and I love sampling all they have to offer.”

His face morphs into disbelief. “That’s a fetish club. I knew you were a freak.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s pussy on tap. If liking to get my dick wet by the best lays makes me a freak, then you’re right, I’m a freak.” I smirk for effect.

“How the fuck do you get in there? It’s a private club from what I hear.”

Little shit has looked into it. I know he’s not a virgin, I can sense that on someone. I’m a good judge of character but I’m betting he has never been with anyone who knows what they’re doing. I won’t tell him I let the owner live out his fantasies on me which gets me anything I want from the club; this is something Blake is unaware of too or another soul would be added to his death toll. Although the owner is male and likes to fuck me up the ass while I pretend to cry, the twisted fuck, I’m not gay, I’m just unconcerned about his perversion and bask in having power to hold over him. I watch the picture of his loving family as he lives out his sin, and ponder just how many others were born wrong like me.

“I have a membership and can take guests if I please.”

I watch the implication register in Clive’s eyes. He flits his eyes to Jacob then back to me, shuffling on his feet. “I don’t believe you.”

My inner voice wants to berate him for being so pathetic but he’s playing into my hands perfectly. “Come with me then.”

A quick whisper in Monica’s ear telling her I need her for the rest of the night and on top slut form has her winking and clearing any scheduled clients she has. Clive’s jaw is agape and we’re only in the entry.

“Oh my God, that’s my dad,” he stutters.

My eyes trace the path to the man he’s glaring at, and true to his word, his dad is on the monitor from the main room with some sub at his feet. I’ve seen him here before but it’s forbidden to talk about who has membership here, and the fact he doesn’t want me to talk stops him from questioning me being allowed to play here.

“Mmm, so it is.”

Monica smirks before slipping into seductress mode, her cleavage, contained by a corset, rubs against Clive’s chest when she leans into him and murmurs, “I want you to play with my pussy.”

His eyes snap to hers and a grin lightens his features. “Maybe we should take this back to my place? Blake’s away for the night,” I say.

Within an hour we’re all back at my house. Monica brought Trey and Layla with her at my request. Jacob is nervous and tries to bail on us but Clive calls him a pussy and insists he’s losing his v-card tonight. Ha, he’s right but not in the way Clive suspects. Monica wastes no time stripping naked for Clive’s viewing pleasure. I’m surprised he doesn’t lose his load before even getting inside her. Her legs spread revealing a well primped cunt.

Layla sidles up to Clive. “Don’t just stare at it… eat it,” she commands.

His arousal shows in his glossed over eyes, the flush blazing in his cheeks and the hard on trying to escape his slacks. He looks at me for direction. I lift both eyebrows in a quick motion, making him grin and drop to his knees. He leans straight in, tasting what she offers; her moans and pelvic thrust are a performance she has mastered.

Jacob looks like he’s about to lose his stomach over my carpet which will make Blake bitch. I nod to Trey who works his charm on Jacob. By the time Clive has freed his cock and slips into Monica, Jacob has given in to who he is and has Trey taking his virginity over the coffee table. The smell of sex and depravity seeps into the air, feeding my lungs.

When Clive registers the act of Trey ramming his giant cock into little Jacob’s ass, his face contorts in confusion and then distaste, making Jacob push Trey away. Jacob stumbles into his clothes and flees.

Layla gains Clive’s attention when she begins to suck on Monica’s nipples. I need to nourish my own urges, making Jacob break and showing who he is to his best friend put me on a path that needs to be fully played out. I walk up to Layla, gripping her hair in a closed fist and wrenching her from Monica’s fake tit. “Upstairs, everyone. I don’t want fluids on the couch.”

I ANSWER THE ANNOYING RINGING. “What?” I bark.

I hear a sniffle down the line and then Melody’s croaky voice. “I need you to come somewhere with me. To my home.” The sniffles continue.

Fuck, why did I have to make friends with people? When that happens they expect you to be human when they need you.

“Mel, that’s a long way. What do you need to go there for?”

I hear her moving around and I sit up, my eyes taking in the sight of last night’s action. Shit, I lost it. I knew I would, it had been building.

“I need someone there when I speak to my half-brother.”

Interesting.

The consequences of last-night are impossible to hide from. “Fine. Come pick me up.”

I step over Clive and shut my door behind me, heading to the shower and rinsing the sin from my body. I’ve lost it, there’s no hiding my perversions anymore.

I dress, and leave when I hear Melody toot the car horn. I slide into the car and look over her face; she’s troubled, her eyes glassy. “What’s this about, Mel?”

She shakes her head. “I just need to see him. You look wrecked. You can sleep if you want.”

I recline the chair and do just that.

I wake with a jolt when the car door slams shut, the lights from the gas station Melody has stopped at makes my head hurt. “I got you a coffee.”

I scrub my hands down my face. “How long have we been on the road?” I reach for the cup and wince when the hot liquid burns my tongue. “You can’t call that coffee!”

She shrugs. “You’ve been out four hours.”

I must have needed the sleep. I wonder if Blake’s home yet. I check my phone to find many missed calls and texts from him. He must have been home. Silencing my phone I slip it into my pocket “You want me to drive for a bit?”

The gravel kicks up as I pull up to her house. I feel her eyes on me. She’s expecting me to comment on her house.

“Wow, big.”

“Momma didn’t think so,” she murmurs.

I stretch when I get out and go to the trunk to collect her bag.

“What are you doing? I didn’t bring anything, we’re not staying.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Mel, we just drove nearly eight hours. I’m not driving back tonight.”

She pulls her phone out, staring at the screen. “We can get a hotel then but I can’t stay here.”

I watch her for a few seconds then concede. Doesn’t matter anyway, neither one of us will be getting sleep tonight.

She sighs in relief and slowly, too slowly, climbs the steps. She’s shaking. God, she’s so weak. It’s a house. I take the keys from her hand and open the door, the lights highlight the lobby and I coax her inside by stepping in first.

“Mel, is that you?” her brother calls out, coming to a stop when he sees she’s not alone. “Ryan!”

“I’m the boyfriend’s brother.”

His mouth is agape, his posture rigid. “Well, come in. Go through to the dining room. I’ll get drinks.”

I turn to Melody. She stares at me, waiting for answers. “We play in some of the same scenes.”

Her features pinch. “How is that even possible? Did you know he was my half-brother, you don’t seem surprised at all?”

I unclench my jaw. Her questions are irrelevant at this point in the game. “Come on, Mel. There’s going to be a lot of revelations today.”

I leave her still confused but she follows behind me without further questions.

My phone is going crazy but I ignore it. Everything that had happened had led us here and although it wasn’t how I saw it playing out, I didn’t expect my brother to regain his humanity and fall for Melody. What are the chances?

THEY KNOW EACH OTHER? HOW small the world is. I hate the complete disregard for my feelings when Markus tells us to go through to the dining room. I don’t know why it surprises me. This guy is the soulless coward responsible for my parents’ deaths.

Ryan casually sits at the table, drumming his fingers against the dark wood surface. I pace the floor, trying to block out the ghosts that haunt my memories of this room.