Julianne's POV
They go into our room and I finally look back at Tate.
"Why are you so mad at me?"
He looks up from his phone and glares at me. "Shut up, Julianne."
"No, I'm serious. This didn't concern you at all, so why the hell are you mad? You literally snuck out a few weeks ago!"
"Because I just am! Leave me alone," he hisses as he goes back to his phone.
"No," I say so darkly that he looks back up at me. "You always do this. Especially back in Cali. You get pissed and shut down, and then I'm left wondering what the hell I did and it would destroy me. You're gonna tell me why the hell you're mad!"
He blows out a breath, and when the first sound of Kenna's spanking starts, he tilts his head in that direction. "Do you ever think about me? Ever?" He hisses
"What?"
"Did you ever stop to think what would happen to me and Holden if your lifeless body was on the ground for someone to find? Because Julianne, I've found two of them and they still haunt my dreams."
"I thought you couldn't see the second one."
"Doesn't mean I can't be affected by it. It doesn't mean as much when you don't know them. But we knew Chippy, Jules. Why the hell would you be so stupid?"
"So you're allowed to go walking on your own but I'm not?"
"I'm a dude!"
"Thanks, I got confused for a minute."
"I just mean..Every single murder has been a lady."
"...For now. That doesn't mean it will stay that way."
He looks at me for a long minute until a cry from Kenna drifts our direction.
"I really thought hearing her get her ass busted would bring me some satisfaction." Tate mutters
"It doesn't?"
"I don't like hearing girls cry, okay? I don't want to see them dead, hurt, or cry. Naked is the only way I wanna see them, and Kenna had better always stay fully clothed or Imma beg the killer to let me be the first dude victim."
"You're an idiot," I chuckle, and his face finally lightens.
"Can you just be a rule follower again? At least with that? It's scary as hell that he's still not found."
"At least he didn't murder anyone last night," I mutter, and Tate clears his throat.
"What?"
"He did....."
"Stop it," I gasp as there's a pause in the spanking.
Huh. That didn't last long, maybe he's going easy on us
He gets on Facebook and shows me the article.
"Dang!" I gasp as I read about a tourist being found in the woods by the festival.
"Yeah. I guess people are totally freaking out now and Dateline is getting involved. Holden might be able to meet Andrea Canning after all. I guess this has been the slowest season in like 60 years and the locals are worried about businesses staying open."
I start to say something when a weird sound fills the air, and we both stop and turn.
"What the hell is that?" Tate asks.
"I have no idea"
~*~
They all come out about ten minutes later and Kenna's tear-stained face goes into the corner immediately.
Holden comes out and gives me a sad smile. "You're up, Julianne."
I sigh as I stand up, and I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm always stupid terrified to get spanked and I'm feeling pretty okay this time. Maybe I'm maturing.
Sylvie takes my place at the table with Tate, and Holden and I go into my room alone. He lets me go in first and then shuts the door behind me.
"You need to get shorts on," he says simply as he motions toward my dresser, and then pulls the partition so I can get dressed.
I grab the first ones I can find, and it isn't until I tell Holden that I'm ready that I notice I'm wearing booty shorts...
When he pulls the partition he looks at me in surprise for a minute, and I shake my head. "Can I change? I grabbed the wrong kind."
"Nope," he chuckles as he sits down. "You've committed to them. Sit."
I sit down on my bed and he does what he always does...Sits on Tate's. You'd think he would change things up once in a while, because he's getting pretty predictable.
"I understand you wanting to branch out and try new things. I respect that, and encourage it. But these are not your things, Julianne. You will not drink. Lie. G-."
"I didn't lie," I interrupt
"Woah. Did I tell you that you could speak?" He asks as his eyes narrow at me.
At my silence, he continues. "Go walking on your own....And, for the record, letting someone else lie for you is still a LIE. I'll let it go without extra punishment this time; but it happens again and I'll be introducing you to a bar of soap in the mouth."
I continue to glare and he shakes his head. "One of you has been remorseful and apologetic and the other hasn't. Guess which one I respond better to?"
"I don't like being lectured. I'm sorry that I lied and drank, and could've gotten myself killed. I am sorry."
"THEN START ACTING LIKE IT!" He screams, making me jump. Why does he keep screaming at me? I didn't hear him scream at Kenna once
At my solemn nod, he sighs. "I'm punishing you how I did Kenna. I'm spanking you like normal. Then at the end, I'm grabbing this," he says as he stands and leans over me to grab something. When he sits back down my eyes widen in horror.
"You're getting five with this for walking alone. Kenna got more than that, but you will only get five since you've never had an implement before."
"Holden," I gasp as tears fill my eyes and he shakes his head.
"You won't change my mind. Is there anything else you have to say for yourself?"
"I wanna change shorts," I squeak out.
"Sorry, no." He says as he stands up.
"NO! You can't just tell me I can't change. I want to change!"
"Or, I could pull them down and spank you in just your underwear..." he threatens lowly
"You wouldn't," I gasp as I shake my head. Is he bluffing?
"I have with Tate....Cool it. Why are you acting like such a brat? I'm sorry you're still so upset about what happened with Gage, but...."
"Stop!" I hiss, and he clamps his mouth down and nods.
"Let's get this over with...This is just one of your punishments."
I stand up but continue to glare at him, and he doesn't appreciate it at all. He returns my glare and grips my wrist as he sits down, bringing me with him.
I just lay there, not helping him at all and he sighs. "Why are you being so difficult?" He spits as he picks me up and positions me, and then takes a deep breath.
"This will never happen again. None of it. The lying, drinking, and walking alone. I clear?"
"Crystal," I snip, and his body tenses as he brings a HEAVY smack on the thin spandex of my shorts.
"Ow," I whine as I already try to get out of his grasp.
I hear him breathe out through his nose loudly as he pins my arms behind my back with his one hand, and continues spanking me with his other.
"Ahhhhhhh" I breathe as three sharp slaps come down in quick succession, and I'm already feeling burning. He's literally spanking bare skin as he smacks the undercurve of my bottom, and I'm even more embarrassed when I realize what he's probably seeing.
Why didn't he just let me change?
I start to kick but he immediately stops that by pinning me with his leg and pushing my head down closer to the floor. He ups the intensity of his spanks and my whines are quickly becoming hard cries.
"I don't deserve such a hard spanking," I cry as he starts to focus on my thighs, and blinding pain is all I can register as I begin to regret all of my choices.
"You deserve what you're getting," he says in an even tone, and I try my best to release myself from his grasp.
"Please let go of my arms," I beg when claustrophobia sets in, and he immediately releases them, but continues to spank my ass raw.
"Holden, you have to stop. You're gonna bruise me," I get out through my thick sobs.
"I can see exactly what I'm doing to a lot of your skin. You're fine," he says as he starts spanking the meaty part of my covered cheeks, and I wish the murderer woulda just had their way with me.
Because this is what nightmares are made of
"Pleassssseeeee, I beg, and he shifts me further down. "Ten more with my hand, and you're gonna count them."
"One"
"T-two"
"I can't count," I sob as I miss the next several spanks.
"Julianne Harper," he admonishes as he smacks again and waits for me.
"I can't, I can't, I can't," I chant in time with the next couple of spanks.
He sighs loudly and keeps going. "I'm not stopping until you count them. If you can say 'I can't' then you can surely count. You're on three."
"Threeeeee"
"F-four"
"Five"
"S-s-ow!"
"Count it, Julianne," he demands as he brings down another hard smack.
"Six"
"Seven"
"Eight"
"N-nine"
"Ten"
His hand finally stills and I breathe a sigh of relief through my sobs.
It's over. Oh my gosh this was the worst spanking he's ever given me.
And then I feel cool wood on my burning skin and I start to scream.
"NO NO NO! OWWWWWWW," I sob as the first one comes down and cuts into my flesh like sandpaper on sunburned skin.
"STO-OWWW!" I scream as the second smack hits, and somewhere in my misery I hear the door burst open.
"Holden stop it. Right now!" Tate says darkly as he reaches for the brush and I hear a scuffle.
"Tatum William, give it to me and get the hell out!"
"No," he says as he takes the hairbrush with him and shuts the door.
"Unbelievable," Holden says in disbelief as he sits there in shock for a minute.
"Sylvie, you better grab me another brush now before I lose my shit!"
A moment later Sylvie comes in and I can't see her face, but Holden immediately tenses. "I'm sorry."
The door shuts and the cool wood is against my skin once more. "OW," I scream as he brings it down a third time, and by the fifth and final smack I'm incoherent as I'm lying over his lap in a puddle of nothing.
~*~
It takes me a long time before I'm able to calm down, and when he tries to comfort me on his lap I push him away.
"No!" I hiccup.
He shakes his head in frustration as he rubs my arm. "When you are calm, you need to stand in the corner, Jules."
I don't wait for him to finish as I go out and find another corner.
"Tatum, you and I need to talk," I hear him say after a minute.
"Go to hell! Could you not hear her screams? You were beating her!"
"Beating her," Holden chuckles humorlessly, and after a small scuffle I hear one sharp thud.
"Shit," Tate says in shock.
"I WASN'T BEATING HER, I WAS SPANKING HER. SHE HAS GIVEN ZERO FU.....DAMNIT!YOU EVER INTERFERE LIKE THAT AGAIN AND YOU WILL GET MORE THAN ONE!" He screams as he throws the hairbrush across the room.
"Outside," Sylvie orders, speaking for the first time. I actually turn out of the corner and see Holden with both of his hands on his head as he walks out the front door.
"You okay?" She asks Tate
"Yeah," he says quietly as he rubs his butt
"You three have done pissed him off good," she says as she picks up her hairbrush and puts it back in Holden's room.