Chapter Twenty-One

Chastity

My head ached like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. An unidentifiable noise rang in the background – whining, whirring noise, like the kind of thing you’d hear on a construction site. As I struggled to open my eyes, I realized that I couldn’t move.

“She’s awake,” Angela’s voice purred. “You really knocked her out. Way to go, Nathan. You’re my hero.”

“The bitch wouldn’t stop thrashing,” Nathan replied. “I didn’t want to hit her, but she didn’t really give me a choice. Kind of like a stupid cow.”

I winced – at his crass words and nefarious actions. Like he couldn’t care less if I lived or died. Neither did Angela. What in the hell were they up to and when had Nathan arrived? How long had he been inside the apartment? How did they even know each other? My head throbbed as I desperately wracked my brain for any connection.

“Well, what are we gonna do now?” Angela asked, a smile lighting her features.

“This is the fun part,” Nathan said, returning her grin

My mouth felt like they’d stuffed it with cotton balls, and I felt dizzy. Even after I opened my eyes and tried to adjust to the semi-darkness, I still felt like I was spinning around in crazy circles. My head ached, and my wrists were bound so tightly that my fingers and hands were numb. I sat on a hard wooden chair, secured like chattel. My ankles were bound to the chair legs, and my hands were tied snugly behind me with what felt like zip-ties.

“Nathan?” I whimpered. “What are you doing? Please let me go. If you let me go right now, I promise I won’t tell anyone. You can still get away even though you’ve assaulted and illegally detained me. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but please, just let me go.”

Angela burst out laughing. She walked closer, and I gasped when I saw that the color of her hair was now a honeyed, dirty blonde. She’d done her makeup like me – minimal cat-eye and just a swipe of matte red lipstick. She looked like a wax figure at Madame Tussauds. Except I wasn’t famous.

“You were out for a few hours,” Angela said, staring me down so intently that feelings of unreality overtook me. This couldn’t be happening. She licked her lips. “I was starting to think that you wouldn’t wake up and that would spoil all my fun.”

“My head is killing me,” I mumbled. My heart thudded in my chest, and I inhaled some deep breaths in an attempt to slow it down. “Can I have some water?”

“Can I have some water?” Angela simpered, mimicking my tired, grumpy voice. “Nathan, she thinks we’re actually going to help her. Isn’t that sweet? And pathetic.”

Nathan chuckled. “It’s something, all right.” He stepped forward, and I stared at his sneer. “Chastity, shut up. Just shut the fuck up, you tease.”

I closed my eyes. The pain in my head throbbed so bad that even closing my eyes didn’t help. My world vibrated, exploding with red and black pain, so sharp that I felt a wave of nausea crawl up my throat. Moving hurt. Breathing hurt. Everything on my body hurt – even my hair hurt.

“She woke up too soon,” Nathan grumbled. “How much of that damn drugged wine did she drink, anyway?”

“Not enough,” Angela replied. “I tried to give her a big glass – you should’ve seen the way she sucked it down earlier.” She laughed, and I felt a hot surge of hatred for her rush through my body. “She’s a regular lush, Nathan. You shouldn’t have too much more of a problem with her after this. Just give her a bottle of two buck Chuck, and she’ll spread her legs like the little tramp she is.”

Nathan chuckled. “Thanks for getting her back here and making my job easier,” he said. “Now I just have to wait for that shit to wear off, and we can start to play.”

Panic cut through me like a knife through hot butter. I let out a scream. It didn’t even sound like my own voice escaping my body in a blood-curdling shriek. Screaming made my head ache even more, and I whimpered and whined, closing my eyes as a torrential downpour of red-hot pain washed over me.

“Shut up, Chastity. Don’t you understand plain English, you stupid bitch? I told you a bunch of times to shut your mouth!” Nathan said in disgust. “We weren’t talking to you anyways. The only time you’ll need your mouth open is if my cock’s in it.”

I opened my eyes and tried to stare at him. He stalked around, swaying and swinging his arms. That was when I realized that Nathan wasn’t moving at all – somehow the drugs were making me think that there was more than one of him.

“You’re gonna be fine, Chastity,” Nathan said. “Trust me. I’m used to dealing with little bitches like you. Once it’s over, you’ll have learned your lesson and then everything will go back to normal. Except, you’ll be smarter.”

I swallowed. My throat ached, too. A raw pain in my crotch told me that I had to pee, and I shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

“Can I use the bathroom, please?”

Angela snickered. “Can you walk there? You don’t look very stable.”

I stared at her. “What?”

“Bitch, I asked if you could fucking walk!” Angela came closer. She shook her head and glared down at me. “You really are stupid. Nathan’s right about you. I’m so surprised you got hired at Banks! Normally they go for smart people. People with class.”

“It’s because she’s a slut,” Nathan cut in. “That’s why they hired her. It’s because that asshole wanted to fuck her. She worked for a phone-sex line, I bet he thought he was getting a real porn star. An expert. At everything he loves.”

“She was a virgin, did you know that?” Angela snickered. My cheeks burned with shame as Nathan joined in.

“I don’t believe you, Angela. Quit yanking my chain. I’m not in the mood,” Nathan said in a clipped tone as if he’d had just about enough of Angela.

He walked closer, and the aroma of greasy fast food washed over me. Nathan leaned in close and sniffed me. The scent of lard hanging around him made me nauseous, and I closed my eyes and tried to breathe through my nose.

“Well, that’s what she said, anyway,” Angela replied. She sounded bored. “And I can’t believe it, either. I bet she fed Chase Bradenton that line of bullshit so he’d spend more money on her. That’s how girls are, Nathan.” She snickered again, and I felt a rush of vitriol. “We lie to get what we want from a man. Especially, a man with more money than God.”

Nathan laughed. “Yeah, I know.” He eyed Angela. “You girls are a bunch of opportunistic whores when it comes down to it, aren’t you?”

She snickered. “We can be. I wasn’t born with a vagina not to put it to good use,” Angela said. She cocked her head to the side. “What do you think of my hair? Did I do a good job?”

“It looks too much like Chastity,” Nathan said, pointing to me. “You should really be going for your own look. Who wants to look like that worthless pig?”

I watched in horror as they studied each other. I still wasn’t sure what the hell I was doing tied up in Angela’s apartment. Did they want me as some kind of prop for some sick sex game? Or did Angela have darker plans, plans with Chase?

“Chastity’s a little slut,” Angela said. “I just wanted to be blonde. I’m so sick of men not noticing me!”

They wouldn’t notice you if your hair were pink. Because you’re ugly. Inside and out.

Something about the way she said the word “blonde” made me feel queasy, but I didn’t open my mouth. I was afraid that as soon as I parted my lips, vomit would gush everywhere.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that now,” Nathan replied. “Chastity’s not going to be the apple of any man’s eye for a long time. Except mine, of course.”

My stomach twisted into a thousand knots at the sound of sick satisfaction in Nathan’s voice.

“Please,” I whimpered. “What are you going to do with me? Why are you doing this?”

“You’re an ungrateful little slut,” Nathan said. He stepped closer, until I could feel his hot breath on my face. “You know that? I wanted to date you, Chastity. I really liked you – I thought you were cool. I thought you were the kind of woman with values. The kind my mom would like if I took home to meet her. The future mother of my children.”

“It’s not my fault that we didn’t get along!” I shot back. “You didn’t even make any effort, Nathan. All you did was talk about yourself!”

Nathan looked wounded. For a moment, I thought he might cry. Then his lips curled up at the corners into a cruel smile, and he threw his head back, laughing any tender emotion away.

“You’re an idiot,” Nathan said. “And if you keep making so much noise…” He trailed off, grinning, face devoid of any expression outside of hatred. I couldn’t figure out what I’d done to cause his violent reaction. We’d only gone out on one bad date. “We’re just gonna have to give you some more of that wine. Right, Angela?”

Angela stepped forward. “Yeah, stronger this time.” She held a plastic tumbler in her hands, and she grinned as she pushed it toward my face. The smell of wine choked my throat, and I gagged, but Angela didn’t take it away in spite of my involuntary contractions.

“Please,” I moaned. “Please don’t make me drink anymore. I feel like I’m gonna be sick.”

“That’s a side effect of being a drunken slut,” Angela said. Her eyes twinkled, and I could have sworn demons danced inside her grey irises. She pushed the cup toward my lips. I smelled the sickly sweet wine and gagged again, pulling my head back and staring at the ceiling as the bile rose in my throat. I willed myself not to puke. For all I knew, they’d just let me choke to death.

“Drink some, Chastity,” Nathan ordered with a sweeping flourish of his right hand. “It’s gonna keep you quiet. And God knows we need a little quiet around here. Angela and I have some planning to finish. Strategizing. And I need complete silence for that.”

“Shit,” Angela mumbled. “This fucking sucks, Nathan.”

I thought she was going to put the cup down, but in a flash, her free hand pinched my nose. My lungs burned, but I struggled and twisted against her grip. In my drugged and weakened state, Angela proved stronger, and parted my clamped lips, sucking in air. Quick as lightning, Angela tipped the cup against my mouth, sending even more of the drugged wine into my stomach. Tears dripped down my cheeks as the wine burned in my throat.

“That should shut her up,” Nathan muttered. “So, is he coming over here?”

“I haven’t called him yet,” Angela replied. “But you fucked everything up when you answered her phone like that. Why the fuck did you answer and let him hear the sound of your voice.”

My head swam with implications. I felt myself fading in and out of consciousness, like someone had lowered a dark blanket over my face until I couldn’t see. Angela’s voice buzzed in my ears like a gnat, and I groaned as Nathan stepped closer.

“Hey, Chastity, give me a kiss,” Nathan said. He puckered his lips and leaned down, pressing them to my cheek. I groaned. As Nathan moved closer to my mouth, I spat in his face. Outraged, he slapped my cheek hard.

“She’s feisty,” Angela said, lips upcurled in a knowing smirk. “You sure you can handle her, boss?”

“Oh, yeah.” Nathan wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. “I can handle her,” he said. He turned away from Angela and faced me, squatting down until we were at eye-level. “I know everything about your little boyfriend,” Nathan said. “Angela told me everything. Did you really think you’d have a chance with someone like that, you little gold-digging whore?”

My head spun and reeled from the pain of Nathan’s slap, but my confusion went deeper than that.

“I don’t understand,” I mumbled. “What’s going on? Please…”

Nathan grinned. “You don’t need to worry about any of that. Understanding isn’t your job. Shutting the fuck up so you’ll get out of this apartment alive is your only job tonight. That and luring lover boy to my lair,” he said. “Angela here did her job well. When I found out you were working at Banks, I knew all I had to do was find the right accomplice and grease her palm with enough of my dad’s money that she’d do anything. Angela handed you over to me with no questions asked.”

I let out a loud scream as Nathan advanced on me like a hungry lion, fangs bared.