House of Goths

Chapter 2

"Holy shit, Crispin, what did you do to her?" In reaction, Dorian caught her by the shoulders, but when she screamed again, he instantly let her go.

"Me? Nothing! Aw, fuck, here he comes."

In the terrifying moments that followed, all kinds of scenarios raced through Becky's imagination. That she had been drugged, kidnapped and taken as a sex slave was the most vivid in the forefront of her mind.

No, it couldn't happen like this. She would end up another statistic of frat house violence. The saddest part would be that no one would notice her missing from her dorm. No one would care to look for her. Not until it was too late. How many unanswered calls from Granny would it take for the poor old lady to realize something was wrong? Oh, the guilt. Poor Granny would be devastated. She would blame herself.

Then a third looming figure appeared. She was doomed. She could never outrun them all. Overwhelmed, Becky fell to the floor and cowered into the corner, frozen with fear.

"Hey... you're okay," Kell said, attempting to reach her, if only to remove her hands from her face.

"Nooo...!" Becky screamed, swatting him away. He backed off immediately, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Uh huh, nice to see you haven't lost the touch, Kell." Crispin chuckled over his shoulder.

Kell? Had she just heard him right? Suddenly, she remembered. She had dragged her suitcase all the way here, earlier that afternoon. She had knocked on the door but no one was home. She couldn't possibly go back to the dorm. Life was unbearable there. Too tired to think, she had slumped onto the couch on the porch for a much-needed rest. She must have fallen asleep.

"Turn the lights on, would you?" Kell barked in frustration. "She probably doesn't know where she is."

"Right, that must be it," Dorian said, flicking the light switch.

"Becky, Rebecca?" Kell repeated, using his most non-threatening voice.

"Kelley?" She sheepishly brushed her dishevelled hair from her face, wiped away at her tears and looked up at him. "It's you." She breathed a ragged sigh of relief. Her large liquid green eyes darted furtively over his shoulder at Crispin and Dorian. She recognized them now. They were Kelley's friends from the diner the other day. They must live here too. Of course, suddenly it all made sense. They were housemates.

"Yes, that's right," he said with relief, realizing that she had finally come around.

"Kelley..." she repeated just to be sure.

"Yes, he's Kelley, I'm Crispin and this is Dorian," Crispin spat mockingly. "You are?"

"I said back off, didn't I?" Kell growled.

Startling slightly at the venom in Crispin's voice, Becky took comfort in the fact that Kelley was crouched before her, the wide breadth of his long legs cradling her, his broad shoulders shielding her from the daggers in Crispin's eyes.

"B-Becky," she stammered, taking them all in best she could in the dimly-lit hallway. Aside from the scowl, Crispin was strikingly handsome if not a tad feminine in appearance. He had long wavy black hair similar to Kell's, but he wasn't quite as tall or solidly built. He was more willowy and slender in stature but very attractive nevertheless. Dorian was something else altogether. He was quite muscular but without unnecessary bulk of a body builder. His head was shaved on both sides and he had a big messy mohawk of sorts, inky black, of course. He was covered in an array of tattoos and had a few interesting piercings here and there. He had angular features, boyish, and rugged. He was quite handsome in his own way.