We were in a fairly spacious utility room, where on both sides there were built-in racks with various items and a bare brick wall opposite. With my back to the wall, I mentally begged God to let me get out of here alive...
Mark stood at the door with his hands in his trouser pockets and watched me silently.
"How long I've waited for this moment," he whispered, as if talking to himself, "and here you are, at arm's length."
With a gloating smirk on his face, he took a couple of imposing steps in my direction, which made me squeeze even harder against the wall, wishing the ground would swallow me.
"Don't come closer, otherwise..."
"Otherwise, what?" he interrupted me, his smirk broadening into a grin. "You see, Norton won't save you. He's having fun with someone else, and the others don't care what's going on within the walls of this house. Relax, my favorite. We'll just talk."
"Favorite? You must be joking!" My heart was about to jump out of my throat.
"Are you surprised? Although, honestly, I didn't realize how I fell in love with you in school."
"Bullshit..." I was a shivering reed.
"Shut up and listen." It was very rude, but I didn't dare disobey. I stood rooted to the spot and silent, trying to cope with the dizziness my intermittent breathing brought on.
Or is it from his nearby presence?
"A new girl appeared at my school once. Who is she? From where? When it turned out she was from the middle class, she instantly became the subject of ridicule. She, like a monkey, was just fun to watch. I knew that sooner or later she would just be devoured."
He walked from side to side, casting angry glances. Mark then went to one rack and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid. After taking a couple of sips, without even wincing, he continued his story:
"My friends offered me a bet. A sports car was at stake, and you can't come up with an easier condition – break up with the girl after having sex with her, having been in a relationship with her for several months. I agreed."
Lord, please help me get out of here alive...
My heart still ached madly from this truth. I closed my eyes and tears involuntarily flowed down my cheeks.
"Don't cry, that's not all..." He came closer, touching my face. His touch burned my skin, and I immediately recoiled. "Everything changed after our first kiss. I constantly thought about her, packed my bag and ran to school like a maniac, just to meet her sooner. However, over time, I noticed others began looking at my girlfriend. It was infuriating, and so I often snapped at her. I frankly didn't care about the bet, and at that point I had already forgotten about it, to be honest."
"I don't believe this. Not a single word," I dared to whisper in a trembling voice.
I shook as if standing outside on a frosty evening, I teeth literally chattered with fear...
"The school ball was supposed to bind us forever, not destroy us." Mark stood close to me, but did not touch me. "Remember how we wanted to spend that first night?" he asked in a whisper. "By the way, I was well prepared: candles, roses, wine... And everything would have gone according to plan if you hadn't put on that damn dress, Alana! Even my friends drooled at you!" His voice gradually gained momentum and the last sentence came as an ear-splitting scream.
I noticed his hand at the edge of my vision and instantly closed my eyes. A dull punch thudded against the wall near my face. The thought of what might happen to me within the walls of this back room terrified me, but I kept silent.
"Jealousy." Wood walked away from me and gulped down some alcohol again. "I couldn't handle it. Pouring whiskey down my throat all evening, I thought I could forget, not notice anything around me, but who knew it would have the opposite effect?" The bottle flew at the door, shattering against the wall next to its frame. "I blew my top and had a wild desire to punish you," he said as he walked over to the shards and picked up the bottleneck, gleaming with sharp edges. "Answer me this: Why the hell are you so damn beautiful? Why did you smile at everyone when you were with me?" Silence... "Answer me!"
"I loved you, Mark! Only you! We could have just walked away and nothing would have happened!" My voice was a hoarse, hysterical scream, until he moved towards me with the glass in his hand. Fear took away my voice again...
Leaning against the wall near my head, he leaned very close to my face. There was no way to turn away. He blocked all my movements.
"When the veil of anger receded, I realized what I had done, but it was too late. You disappeared. Various rumors spread through the school, but they were quickly stopped. I was ready to be punished, but when I saw you again in the courtroom, I was happy with the suspended sentence. We have a new chance, sweetheart," he whispered as a wild pain ran through all my nerve endings, tearing my heart to pieces.
My soul was bleeding when I found out what this whole circus was for. I didn't want to live. I wanted to die, because I was already empty inside.
"I love you, Alana... I love you more than life and will never forgive myself for our past... All the words I said that night were untrue. I just wanted to inflict pain on you, unbearable pain. Which I regret... Give us a chance, we'll leave, send everyone to hell and start a happy life... Together..."
"Mark, I don't love you anymore..." It was a mistake to say this to a man who could kill you with ease.
"Don't you even dare think about it. Don't say it out loud. Did you understand me?" He hissed through his teeth in a menacing voice.
With one hand, Wood grabbed my face and with the other brought the broken bottleneck to my leg where the torn hole was. With a sharp and demanding kiss, he grabbed my lips, and at the same moment, I felt a sharp pain. This bastard ran the glass up my thigh, leaving a shallow cut. Tears, tears again. It's my soul crying. I never thought I'd get the love of a madman. Finding some strength in myself, I pushed him away, clutching at the wound on my leg.
"Remember, Moore, you're mine! And either you give us both heaven, or I will send us both to hell, but I will not give you life! Let that cut serve as a reminder of that."
I snapped out of it and fled that damn house, never for a moment thinking that I was dripping wet and I didn't know where I was.
Mike
As I surfaced, I noticed Alana had left. Okay, I would find her later. We had more unfinished business. Looking around the hall to see who had so rudely interrupted us, I came across Miranda's mysterious smile, at the edge of the pool. I felt like drowning the wench. How do you get rid of an annoying fly? Just slap it!
"Have you lost your sense of fear?" As I walked out behind her, I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards me.
"Come off it, Norton. We're having fun!" Turning around, she walked away with her imposing gait, leaving me alone. And I mentally sent her to hell. I had to find Moore.
As I walked down the hallways and maneuvered from hall to hall, I heard breaking glass. As I approached the nearest door, I listened. Two voices: male and female.
"Answer me this: Why the hell are you so damn beautiful? Why did you smile at everyone when you were with me? Answer me!" Who was that, Wood? Wincing, I looked at the door and wanted to leave, but my legs would not let me.
"I loved you, Mark! Only you! We could have just walked away and nothing would have happened!" Alana... That's her voice!
I was about to fly into the room, but Alex called out to me.
"Mike. There you are. Your father's been calling for half an hour, and something tells me you better call back..." I angrily snatched the phone from him and left in search of a quiet place to call.
"Dad, did you call?" I said, as the phone was picked up almost immediately.
"Yes, I called," the man replied in a calm tone. "I wanted to tell you we're arranging a reception to mark the successful opening of the Canadian hotel on Tuesday. You can bring someone along, if you want."
"And you called me just for this? Couldn't this wait until tomorrow?" I hissed through clenched teeth. It's mind-boggling he bothered me with such mundane shit."
"Just so you don't make any plans. That's it. I still need to call the other guests," he said and hung up.
Remembering Alana, I rushed back to the door, but it was open, and the back room was empty. Only some fragments of a broken bottle and a couple of drops of blood on the floor showed someone had been here a few minutes earlier.
Stop! Blood? I returned my gaze to the spattered drops in disbelief. What did this freak do to her? Without wasting a second, I turned around and went in search of Alana. As I looked around the next room, I overheard a conversation between two guys who didn't notice me.
"Have you seen Norton's new girlfriend?"
"I've seen her, but I don't think they'll make it."
"Why?"
"Come on! That's Wood's old school lover, and Mark doesn't share his toys."
"But Mike's equally likely to rip someone's throat out."
"I don't disagree. I think this will be a sizzling triangle..."
Rolling my eyes, I left. Mark has lost his happiness, now it was mine.
After running into Jessica, I learned Alex had taken Alana home. Judging by her agitated voice, something had clearly happened there, and she had already lost her desire to have fun, so she was also going to leave. I wanted to say goodbye to an old acquaintance, so I asked her to wait a couple of minutes.
I found Mark in the company of another butterfly. Shoving the girl aside, I picked Wood up by his collar. This little shit just smiled and offered no resistance.
"What, has my darling already complained?" This fool just laughed.
"Forget that you know her. Forget what she looks like. Leave. Her. Alone!" I shook him as hard as I could and the smile completely left his face.
"She's mine, Norton. She was, is, and always will be. You're redundant. I'm her first love and her first man, and you apparently want to live with the constant comparison?" I couldn't contain myself and punched this bastard right in the face. "She's mine, Mike!" Spitting blood, he continued, "I have always been hers, and I will not fall behind..."
With wild fury in my eyes, I knocked Mark over onto the glass table behind him. The poor piece of furniture could not stand it and scattered into small fragments on the floor. It did not occur to me I might have hurt him; I had lost all control and did not give a damn. Instead of an outcry of pain, this lunatic burst out laughing. The final restraining chain slipped off me. I leaped up to him and, fully intending to wipe his arrogant smirk off his face permanently, I lifted my fist to deliver a decisive blow... But I didn't follow through.
Jessica. She hugged me from behind and whispered that I shouldn't do anything stupid, begging me to go back to the campus. Her trembling voice brought me to my senses, and I straightened up, taking a couple of steps back from this freak.
"Lay a finger on her, and I'll personally finish you off..." Looking at the crowd of onlookers, I turned and left the house with my friend.