Page 4 of Shadows of Rage
Smiling to myself, I put my phone back in my pocket and start searching for Carter. I find him in the mask aisle holding three different masks. “Which one is creepy but not enough to turn you off?” I can’t help but chuckle.
“The blue LED skull for sure.” I spot the mask I want right away. A black mask with purple LED features, X’s for eyes and stitching for the mouth. We take our items up to the register and check out before heading back to the truck.
Carter looks at me with his lip stuck out. “Lunch date on you?”This fucking guy. Always wanting food.
“Sure, princess.” He gasps.
“Oh fuck off Braxy.” I hate that nickname so fucking much. We decide to stop for burritos on the way back to the house.When we pull into the driveway, Carter immediately grabs the bag of food and runs inside. Somehow this fucker has a key to my house. I swear to fuck, I’ll strangle him. Getting inside, I close the door behind me and find him sitting at the island. I sit on the stool next to him and grab my food. I start to eat before looking over and seeing that his is nearly gone. Jesus Christ. Carter’s phone starts to ring and he looks at it before huffing. “Yo, what's up, Vin? Uh huh. Okay see you in ten.” He hangs up the phone and turns to me. “We have a woman beater to kill.” Thankfully, it's only noon and we have plenty of time to spare.
“I just got my truck cleaned so you can drive.” I say, as he grabs his keys and we head out to his black Jeep Wrangler. We speed down the highway to what I assume is the warehouse where Vinny handles his dirty work.
We pull up in the back and head inside after. As soon as we walk through the door, I can smell death. We move toward the middle of the warehouse, where I can make out the faint sounds of conversations. Walking into the room, it’s empty except for Vin, his brother Lorenzo, and the poor bastard being held to the wall spread eagle by chains. Looking to my right, there’s an awfully mutilated body lying in blood. Not sure that I want to know what he did to deserve that. It must’ve been pretty bad.
We spend hours beating this guy to a pulp. I cut both of his hands off, then cauterize the nubs to stop the bleeding. Carter removes each toe, one by one, until he finally speaks up and gives the answers Vinny needs. When we are finally finished, the sun is starting to set and I check my phone. Five p.m. I'm supposed to pick up Dani at 8pm. I see she sent me her address and I decide I'd rather not be late. We say our goodbyes and head back to the house to prepare for the night.
CHAPTER 3
Daniella
Turns out Leighton also got an invite to The Pursuit from her new man crush, Carter, so we of course had to go shopping in search of the perfect costumes. Leighton decides on an all black witch, while I choose to go all the way with a sexy vampire. Getting the fake blood to stay where I want it and dealing with all of Leighton’s glitter spray is an absolute bitch but in the end, we are more than happy with the result.
Finally, 7:30 pm rolls around and we’re both getting nervous so we decide that pregame shots would be a good idea. We haven’t been to the grocery store, so the only “chaser” we have is whipped cream. We pour our shots of vodka and squirt the whipped cream in our mouths, laughing. By the time 8pm comes, we have both done three shots each when my phone dings.Here goes nothing.Grabbing my purse and keys, I tell Leighton I’ll see her there and head out the door.
Right outside of the apartment door sits a lifted black truck. It’s so nice. The driver's side door opens and Braxton steps around the truck wearing a fitted, black, short sleeve shirt that leaves nothing to the imagination. He’s covered in tattoos andhis muscles are bulging. I mean for fuck’s sake, you can see his abs through his shirt! Had he not started speaking, I probably would’ve been drooling down my chin, thinking about how easily he could throw me around.
“Well shit, had you told me you were going to look this good, I would’ve skipped dinner to make sure I had room to feast on you.” Braxton smirks and slowly looks at me head to toe.Oh fuck.I squeeze my thighs together in hopes of hiding how turned on that made me. Looking back up at him, I put on a brave face and smirk.
“Careful there B, you keep talking like that and I might just let you have me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” I see his throat bob and his eyes darken with desire. I don't know where this courage has come from lately but I love it.
I make my way over to the truck and he opens the passenger side door for me, putting out his hand to help me.What a gentleman.I grab it and climb onto the seat. He gently closes the door, walking around and hops in behind the wheel. ‘Bad Omens’ is quietly playing in the background and I start to get comfortable. I look over at him and smile.
“So my best friend Leighton will also be there tonight.” He looks at me curiously.
“Leighton huh? My friend Carter was talking about bringing someone named Leighton. Not a very common name. What are the odds.”
Interesting. She usually cycles through the same three guys each month. Leighton is very aware of her sexuality and isn’t afraid to show it. Her confidence is enviable. Some days I wish I could be more like her.
“So, what are the rules of The Pursuit?”
Quickly glancing over at me, he smirks and looks back at the road then says, “The Pursuit is a night where men are able to show their domination and inner demons. It’s basically a biggame of hide and seek. You and the other girls will get a head start to find a place to hide and then the guys will start hunting for their invitees like they are prey.”
It takes me a second to process what he said, but it also forces me to ask the question that I’ve been thinking about ever since he invited me earlier. “And what happens if we are found?”
He doesn't look at me, but I can tell that his eyes darken and narrow a little. “If you are caught, then your pursuer can do whatever they want to you as long as you are consenting to it.” His words make me gulp and my panties dampen. Being chased around like prey will be new to me.What the actual fuck did I get myself into?
We joke and laugh the entire ride there. Braxton is so easy to talk to and I feel like he truly listens to what I have to say. I tell him about my job as a graphic designer and he insists that he is going to use my “skill” to help market Black Lux on social media. We have a lot of the same interests spanning from music, to movies, to our love for big dogs. Leighton is the only person I talk to so it feels nice to open up to somebody else.
When we pull into the parking lot, I am shocked to see the old mall in front of us. I know that The Pursuit takes place in different locations each year, but for some reason, I hadn’t thought about it being in an abandoned mall. There is a hole through the exterior wall on one side and graffiti that covers the brick wall to the right. This seems like the place someone would go for fun and end up dead.
There are a few other cars parked in the lot, which is comforting to see. We hop out of the truck and before we start walking to the door, Braxton grabs a mask out of his backseat and closes the door, locking the truck. I can’t tell what is on the mask which makes me giddy thinking about not knowing if it’s him behind it. Turning around, I head towards the door wherepeople are filtering in. I can feel his eyes on me and it makes me shiver thinking about what is going to happen.
Suddenly, there’s a hand around my waist stopping me in my tracks. I feel his breath on the side of my neck as he gets close to my ear, he whispers so that only I hear. “Good luck in there, Little Rage. I’m feeling very determined tonight.” My knees threaten to buckle just as he lets go of my waist and grabs my hand to pull me towards the door.Shit.
Once we get inside, everyone is crowded around a guy standing up on a counter. He looks over to us and claps his hands while smiling. “Ah, there is the man of the hour! Why don’t you get on up here and tell everybody the rules of the night?”
Braxton looks over to me and squeezes my hand reassuringly before walking over and hopping up on the counter. There has to be at least twenty other people here. Everyone turns their attention to Braxton.
“If you have been here previously, you know the rules and you know what happens if you break any of them. The girls get a head start before you begin your pursuit. No harm is to come to any participant in the game. All prey must consent to what is happening to them prior to it happening. If you break this rule, you will not like the consequences.” His friend standing next to him, slaps Braxton on the back and yells, “Let the games begin!”