Slashing Away: A Dark Psychological Thriller (Gushers Series Book 2) Read online

  Chapter 22

  He had lingered in the bathroom after Jordyn left. Holden wanted to avoid being noticed leaving with her. Even though they had met several miles from home, Holden refused to be seen in a compromising position.

  Holden had splashed cold water upon his face. He looked into the mirror, in disbelief at what he had done. What he had become. The face staring back at him appeared to be someone else. A doppelganger of the man he felt he was. Some stranger who inhabited his skin but didn’t share a conscience with him. Nor a soul.

  When he exited the restroom, a heavy set woman stood impatiently outside the door. Holden forced a smile at her.

  “Sorry. I’m feeling a bit sick.”

  The lady softened her expression to one of compassion. She wished him well as he walked away. Holden glanced out the picture windows of the coffee shop, searching for remnants of the evil whore who robbed him of his decency. A fleeting thought of keeping Leah away from Jordyn haunted him. But how could he pull that off without Leah learning his sordid past? More like sordid present, he reasoned.

  Holden couldn’t completely complain about the encounter. It had been quite a ride. Jordyn was just as hot as Rebecca. She might even be hotter, he thought. Half Rebecca’s age and just as sexy. His mind reeled at her wetness. The soft, silky feel of her breasts.

  He shook the imagery away, angry for revisiting the potential statutory rape. Jordyn was eighteen but any jury of his peers would see the encounter as a grown man taking advantage of a young girl. The new fears chased his growing erection away.

  Holden climbed into his car. He took another look around the parking lot. He wondered if Jordyn or one of her friends sat in hiding, snapping photos of him coming out of the same restroom she had been in. Taking inventory of each of his steps to the car. Giving up on who might be lurking in the darkness around him, Holden started the engine. He backed out of the spot and drove home lost in thought.

  Poor Samantha.

  His wife had done nothing to deserve the harm he had created. Was still creating. Samantha was devoted to him, supporting his career aspirations. She gave him two beautiful children, taking care of their every need as well as his own.

  Except for the sex.

  Holden slapped the steering wheel. It wasn’t true. Samantha was very good to him in the sack. Her body retained much of her youthful shape. She slept with him almost all the time. Sure there were times when she was tired or she fell asleep before he came up to bed. But Samantha made love to him when he asked.

  She didn’t FUCK you though.

  Maybe fucking is over-rated, Holden argued. The feeling of reckless abandon and fear of being caught, doing what wasn’t supposed to be done was exhilarating. Holden couldn’t lie to himself. The balance of naughty and nice drove him to insane levels of excitement. It made each orgasm explosive. The idea of an upcoming session acted as a twisted form of foreplay. His brain lubricated him to new heights, building the flow of blood like a dam breaking under the strain of a deluge.

  How could he ever face Samantha again? It was horrible enough to live with the guilt of sleeping with Rebecca. Now he could add Jordyn, a young woman to his pains. As much as there could never be an excuse for cheating on his wife, Rebecca could be explained. To a degree. But Jordyn? There was no way to deal with that encounter without coming off as a pervert. A psychological deviant.

  It’s not your fault, Holden. Rebecca did this to you. She made you come over and that’s why you got caught.

  That’s not why you got caught. You got caught because you listened to your dick instead of your brain. Then your guilty conscience forced you to leave earlier than usual. If you had only stayed a bit longer, like you normally did, you could have sneaked out without Jordyn knowing.

  Holden felt the warring voices in his mind like a brain freeze. Each side argued its point of view. And he understood both sides. He wished he had a gun so he could pierce the voices through his skull, silencing them forever.

  Samantha.

  Holden felt hot tears well up in his eyes. The road blurred while he allowed his self-loathing and pity to release itself. It just added to his guilt. The tears were more for himself and his situation than they were for his poor wife. If he were a real man, he would cry for the hurt he had unleashed upon his loving wife. Instead, Holden had become a selfish little child.

  You’ve always been selfish. That’s why you are in this mess. You sought your own pleasure over responsibility and fidelity. You wedding vows were meaningless. Women were still on the menu even after you lied to Samantha before family and friends, and GOD. You are subhuman. Besides hurting Samantha, think of what it will do to your children when they learn why Samantha is leaving you. The real truth about their father. The man they trusted to protect them and provide a safe environment for their upbringing. They won’t want to see you once they know what kind of person you are. How you failed to be a man.

  Holden screamed out loud. The truth of the words dug trenches in his heart. He couldn’t argue. His action were reprehensible. He deserved to burn in Hell for all eternity.

  Holden swabbed the tears from his face. He sniffed up his snots and gained control. It was his burden. And his alone. He decided to take it to the grave with him. Not to protect himself from the problems which would certainly arise with an admission of guilt. But to protect Samantha. And Leah and Tommy. They were innocent in all this. They deserved to live unencumbered by the hardened truth about his cowardly behavior.

  In order to keep it quiet, Holden would have to figure out how to handle Rebecca and Jordyn. What if Jordyn said something to Leah? Or like most teenagers, confided in one of her other friends who would then let it slip? Surely, the secret would make its way back to Leah. What if Rebecca told Turner? Holden knew he was in better shape than Turner. He could take him in a fight if the man charged across the street for revenge. But winning a fight wouldn’t hide the truth. The questions would arise...why would Turner come to confront you? Holden had multiple potential leaks. It made him dizzy thinking about how to cover each one. His problem went from only Rebecca to three or more points of trouble.

  Holden knew he could only control so much. His main focus should be to reassure Samantha. Make her feel wanted. Dispel her fears of his infidelity. At least he could be proactive from that side. And then hope for the best with his neighbors.

  Holden collected himself as he pulled into the development. Soon he would be home. And he would have to face Samantha.

  Chapter 23

  Aiden tried not to stare at Leah. She looked so beautiful this morning. He always thought she looked good. But her skin had a certain sheen to it today. His chest thumped, forcing him to re-start his breathing.

  “So I gave it some more thought. I think I should speak with Spencer and you should talk to Zoe.”

  Aiden shuddered. He felt more comfortable talking to Spencer even after the guy beat him up. Aiden had a history with Spencer. He had talked guy stuff with Spencer so there was a connection. More of a connection than he ever felt he had with Zoe. If Aiden were honest with himself, he wasn’t keen on dealing with either of them at this point. But if he had to pick one over the other, he would choose Spencer.

  “But Zoe hates me. She is deciding whether I can join again. Won’t I risk it all by putting myself in front of her now?” Aiden heard the whiny little boy in his voice.

  “I don’t think so. Girls are catty. And Zoe might feel more of an urge to push me around right now. To impose her will. Last time we spoke she threatened me. She might feel obligated to pick up where she left off.”

  Aiden wasn’t sure he agreed with Leah’s logic.

  “Besides, Spencer is a horn dog like the rest of you guys. If I come to him with my charms, he might think with the wrong head.” Leah wiggled her eyebrows at Aiden. It made him laugh. And feel uncomfortable.

  “So you’re going to give him sex to win him over?”

  “Aw, you’re so cute when you’re jealous.” Leah toyed with h
im.

  Aiden realize he was acting childish. Leah told him she liked him. So why would she sleep with Spencer? Unless she had to. The thought didn’t comfort his insecurities.

  “I’m going to tell Spencer about Zoe’s plan. You see, she wants to learn all about these occult figures so she doesn’t need Spencer’s information. That will eat him up because he considers himself the foremost authority on the subject. Naturally, he will want to ensure Zoe still needs him. Or he will work to eliminate her so she can’t toss him aside.”

  Aiden was shocked. He couldn’t believe Leah had figured out such a piercing plan of action. He realized he was fuzzy on how to work with Zoe. His original plan had been to tell Spencer that Zoe intended to sacrifice him. But he knew his idea wasn’t very believable.

  “And you can apologize profusely to Zoe once again. Then to show her your loyalty has returned, you can drop the bomb on her about Spencer. He has been working behind the scenes on spells which feed his power, while drawing strength from her. That will chafe her buns.”

  Aiden squirmed. “She won’t buy that. Hasn’t she been working directly with him on ritual chants and stuff?”

  “Yeah, but you have proof.”

  Aiden stopped walking. “I do? Where?”

  Leah chuckled. “It’s all around us. Think about it. Zoe has lorded over the bunch of us as long as we can remember. BUT, lately, the train has come off the tracks. Right? You tried to quit. Todd and Jordyn questioned her intentions. I helped you. She’ll realize, once you bring it up, that things have gotten away from her ever since Spencer started the rituals based on his research. That will cast just enough doubt for her to focus all her energy on Spencer and what he is doing.”

  Aiden grinned. Leah was a scrappy chick, he thought. “Wow, that’s genius. And Zoe will never be able to keep her mouth shut. Of course, she will confront Spencer or at least make snide remarks. He’ll get pissed. And they’ll be at each other’s throats.”

  Leah beamed with her pride. Her gait took on a more confident tempo. Aiden knew Leah was intelligent because she always got good grades. But he had a new respect for her, knowing she could create elaborate plans like this. A nervous tickle fluttered in his stomach. Maybe she uses the same intellect to lead you on, Aiden reasoned. Who cares, he answered himself back. He liked Leah a lot.

  They spent the rest of the walk discussing his homemade concoction. Leah liked his ingenuity. She thought it would be a nice additional touch to prove his allegiance to Zoe. She would see it as an extreme example of his willingness to be part of her demented fantasies. Aiden began to feel better about their plan. Getting input from Leah and employing her ideas made him more confident they might be able to pull things off.

  For the first time, Aiden took some pleasure in his revenge. He wasn’t big on mean things or treating people poorly. Aiden bristled when his friends were rotten to others. And now he was taking part in a plot to turn his friends against each other. It would end up hurting them too.

  Didn’t they deserve it though? After all, they beat the shit out of you. And slashed you with a knife. What kind of friend does that to one of their own? Or anybody for that matter? Spencer and Zoe deserved what they had coming to them. They had turned years of friendship into an opportunity to hurt their inner circle. And try to kill ME?

  Aiden wasn’t proud of his new attitude. It still felt like a stranger lived within his body. He couldn’t deny the strength of the primal urges for revenge though. It was empowering. Aiden felt he could finally stand up for himself, for things he believed strongly in. Life wasn’t a neat canvas. The images required touch ups and sometimes things needed to be re-drawn, re-painted. Life was a work in progress. There would be mistakes and do-overs.

  You can’t get a do-over if you get killed.

  Aiden ignored the stray reminder. Spencer and Zoe wouldn’t kill him. What happened last Friday was a freak accident. He was sure they regretted how things turned out, on some level. Spencer and Zoe meant to use their friends for their own purposes, but he was sure they never meant to kill anyone.

  Don’t be so sure.

  Aiden felt the goosebumps rise along his arms. In his heart of hearts, he knew he would be swimming in deeper waters now. Much more dangerous waters. Even if their reaction to Friday was an accident, there would be much more at stake once Leah and Aiden unrolled the new scandal on The First Cut. With raised stakes, there could be no way to tell how far Spencer or Zoe would go.

  It’s not an accident to cut someone’s neck with a knife. It was a purposeful attack.

  Aiden worried he and Leah were about to walk into a storm of their own creation. Something so evil they wouldn’t be able to walk out of it alive. Their “boring” little lives in Tenafly were suddenly much more real. Boring no longer characterized it. And life seemed bigger now. Something more important to hold onto. Something to be enjoyed, for each precious moment.

  Because it could be taken away in an instant.

  And when one least expected it.

  Chapter 24

  Zoe sucked Ryan’s cock. She used to hate sucking dicks. The thought of filthy head inside her mouth used to make her gag. And she feared getting cum in her mouth. Before The First Cut, Zoe had only given head to one boyfriend and she forced him to wear a rubber before she would even think of going down on him. The rubber protected her from the germs and the nasty stuff which shot out of the little hole. Zoe didn’t mind it so much anymore.

  Like eating vegetables at the dinner table, Zoe learned to swallow it down. She got used to it even though she didn’t care for it. A switch inside her brain had gone off. The dirty act excited her on some level now. If she sat and thought about it, Zoe swore she loathed sucking dick. But not the wicked one which had been unleashed. The alternate-Zoe loved sucking cock. Was happy to do it. Even dreamed of handling multiple cocks at once.

  Ryan moaned. Zoe learned what Ryan liked best. Blowjobs and anal sex. Zoe figured most disgusting guys were into those two acts. Blowjobs provided a chance for the man to sit back and pay attention to the pleasure. There was no need to work. And it probably satisfied some sick notion of control over the woman. The anal fucking was a complete domination act. Jamming a fat dick inside a tight hole which wasn’t built for the intrusion, knowing the woman beneath them was in pain as they railed into her asshole and the tighter fit must send guys out of their minds. Zoe understood these facets but the idea of putting your sacred man-flesh into a filthy place where shit came out of made her skin crawl.

  Zoe decided she would rather have him in her ass now. She pulled Ryan’s dick out of her mouth with a popping sound. She tongued his balls and felt him quiver at her surprise attention to the grapes hanging below. Zoe stood up and walked over to the swings. She laid her tummy against the worn material, propping her ass up into the air. Ryan watched her from the bouncy bridge between the slide and the plastic house. He excitedly swung his legs through the chain support of the bridge and lumbered over to the swing set. Zoe giggled as she watched him shuffle with his pants down around his legs. Ryan massaged his cock while he walked over to her.

  Zoe wiggled her ass at him. He spit on his hand and fingered her ass to get the saliva around the hole. The intrusion excited her. Ryan forced the head of his dick into her. It took a minute of pushing and squeezing until the drops of pre-cum from the head of his dick lubed her up.

  He made his way inside, filling her. The swing rocked forward and back with each pump of his pelvis. While he hammered away at her, Zoe decided to take advantage of his vulnerable position. She wondered if he would be able to lie and fuck at the same time. She honestly didn’t think his brain could handle so much processing at once.

  “I love it when you fuck my ass, Ryan. But I couldn’t give you this gift if I thought you were against me.”

  She listened for a response but only got increased grunting.

  “You have to prove your loyalty to me before Friday. I need to know you want what I have more than anything your friend
s could give you.”

  Zoe sensed his pace slowing down. She knew he couldn’t think and fuck at the same time. She stifled a chuckle. Zoe prided herself on knowing how to read others. And using them for her own designs.

  “You can’t fuck Jordyn or Leah anymore. Not until I have your undying devotion. In return, I will do anything you want.” Zoe made a squeal to add to the enticement.

  “I love this.” Ryan’s breathing cut off his words. “I need your ass.”

  She squealed and giggled. Ryan sped up some more at her phony pleasure.

  “If I find you have betrayed me then it will be ME fucking YOUR ass next time. You understand that right?”

  Ryan gasped. “Yes.”

  Zoe wanted to belittle him and put the fear into him. “I’m serious. I have a big black dildo in my room and I will shove it up your ass until you cry for mercy.”

  Ryan groaned. “Mm-hm.”

  Zoe didn’t completely buy his devotion. Guys would agree to anything when they were fucking. It was a primal instinct to ensure they got to cum. She turned it up a notch.

  “After I fuck your ass with the dildo, then Spencer will fuck your ass. He told me he would do whatever I wanted. So you better be true to me.” She let a smaller squeal out. “Tell me you are with me.”

  “I’m...with...you.” Ryan’s breathing was becoming more erratic.

  “Tell me you agree to Spencer fucking your ass if you betray me.”

  “Spencer...fuck...”

  “Say it, goddamn it or I won’t let you finish.”

  “Spencer...can fuck...my ass.” Ryan was building up to a big finish. Her controlling thoughts must have titillated him on some level. She loved dominating Ryan more than the others. Her power over him felt so complete.

  Ryan groaned and spasmed. She felt his hot liquid pump deep inside her ass. She wriggled her hips and ground herself back into his pelvis. Zoe felt his legs turn to rubber. Ryan cried out, not bothering to keep his pleasure quiet. Zoe enjoyed the danger of his sounds, knowing they were right by the parking lot. A car could drive up and shine headlights on them before they could cover up. Ryan’s moans might be loud enough to summon a late night jogger or anyone else who came to the park against the rules.