That makes no sense to me, but there is precious little I can do about it, seeing as I’m currently being carted down the dark corridor like an overgrown child.
Heath leans in closer, his boozy breath making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “We like to keep our pets close.”
Jasper leads us outside and onto the back grounds, past my smoking spot. I continue to kick out my feet but succeed only in brushing my toes along the grass. Beck squeezes my elbow and practically growls at me, his manic blue eyes boring into me when I glance over at him.
“What’s going on?” Jasper asks, after a moment.
“He’s trying to wiggle away.”
“I’m up off the ground. Can’t I just … walk?”
Ahead of us, Jasper shrugs but doesn’t look back. “Sure. Let him walk.” Then he does turn, his eyes narrowing at me. “Just don’t dare try anything.”
I’m abruptly dropped. I stumble, trying to keep my balance until Heath grabs my arm and yanks me upright.
“Pick up the pace,” he snaps at me.
I try to pull my arm away, but his grip is like iron. I give up and let him drag me along.
We walk over the grounds, sticking to the tree line as we enter a forest full of hardy trees at the edge of the school’s property line. Ahead of us I can see flashlights bobbing in the darkness. Jasper glances over his shoulder and grins at us.
We keep walking down an old, worn-down trail. Every so often I glance back to make sure I can find my way back to the school building if the boys abandon me. That would be a likely trick. Thankfully, the trail seems easy enough to follow.
I just hope that I’ll be able to see it through the dark when I come back.
Soon more boys are walking behind us and we end up level with the flashlight-carriers I saw earlier. We’re like migratory birds meeting up for the spring. The trees begin to thin and Beck pushes through a thicket, letting the branches swing back to smack me painfully in the face before we break into a clearing full of people.
And in the middle of the clearing is what looks to be some sort of abandoned church.
It’s actually a pretty cool place to have a party, honestly. It’s a small building made of grey stone with a tall pointed roof and a bell tower. From the looks of it down here, it’s missing its bell. Ivy snakes up the walls and past the faded stained-glass windows, out of which candlelight pours from somewhere inside. Both boys and girls mill around the outside and pass in and out of the open church doors with plastic cups in hand.
“This way, runt,” Jasper grunts. Heath yanks me with him, and I stumble along in The Brotherhood’s wake as they make their way into the church.
“You made it!” shrieks a voice, and Olive pounces on Jasper almost as soon as he enters. He returns the gesture with a hug that gets a little too handsy before Olive pulls away.
I take the opportunity to look around. Look for any possible escape, should it become necessary. We’re in a somewhat bare rectangular room with nothing but worn stone slabs beneath our feet. The pews have been jostled from their places and now line the walls looking weathered and a little rotten.
The remnants of a torn, wrinkled rug leads up the small steps to a dais where I assume the altar used to be. Now there’s a drink cart there. In an alcove behind the dais is a small campfire crackling beside an empty can of lighter fluid placed a little too close for comfort. I silently thank whatever gods exist that this place is stone, not wood.
“You came, too!” Olive says excitedly, forcing me back to where I stand, stock-still in the middle of my captors as she leaps toward me. She pulls me into a hug and I’m ripped out of Heath’s grasp. I do my best to keep my hands limp at my sides. “Alex, right?”
“Right,” I mutter in response. I try to look as disinterested as possible. I can’t give Jasper any more reason to hate me. To torture me.
Somehow, this just makes her beam at me even more. I can see why Jasper likes her. She’s more than just your ty
pical queen-bee rich girl. There’s something … infectious … about her.
“Yeah, we figured this runt oughta come with us,” Jasper says, stepping around Olive to put his hand on the back of my neck. “Didn’t we, pipsqueak?” His voice is a low growl, and his fingers curl to squeeze me just a bit too tight.
“Yeah,” I manage to choke out.
“Jas, you’re hurting him,” Olive admonishes him, smacking his wrist so he’ll let me go. He does so reluctantly, but not before giving me another squeeze.
“That’s better,” she says, not taking her eyes off of me. “Now, how about a drink? What’s the point of being here otherwise?”
She turns and flits away, determined to fetch me a plastic cup to match hers.
She’s barely out of sight before Jasper grabs me by the collar of my jacket and yanks me toward him. “What did I tell you?” he sneers, jamming his face close to mine. He really smells like alcohol. “Or have you already forgotten?”