Hellraiser (The Devil's Own #2) Read Free

“No,” I mumbled, my eyes cracking open a little. It wasn’t Eddy on top of me this time. Before I could protest, they shut again, overpowered by sleepiness and sedation. No! I think to myself. Stay awake, you need to stay—st—stay—wake. My thoughts shut off again. This happened multiple times. Four times, to be exact. Every time I would come into semiconsciousness, it would only last a few seconds before I realized it was one of the other boys on top of me. My heart hurt and my legs were pained. I broke into two that night, the old me and the new me.
    The next morning, my lids peeled open to find I was in the same bed. Memories from last night came flashing through my brain and my throat hitched. My hand flew up to cover my whimpers. My mousy blonde hair was matted down on top of my head, my skin sticky with leftover sweat and residue. When I lifted the sheet, I was greeted by the evidence of what had happened. Four men stole my virginity that night. My attempts at “living in the fast lane” backfired in my face and I’ll now have to live the rest of my life with the flashbacks in the back of my brain. Dropping my hand onto the bed, tears fell silently down my cheek, rolling over my chest. My head dropped, my eyes defeated, and my heart beat with anger.
    I hated men.
    Hate them.
    I will never let another man get to me.
    Two months later
    The door to the drugstore dinged as I walked through with my hoodie covering my face and sunglasses shading my eyes. When I got home that morning, I went back to my dorm and thought about what my options were. I sat in the scorching hot shower and closed my eyes as the steam licked over my skin gently. Beads of condensation curled on my hands and I scrubbed my skin viciously, thinking that would wipe away what had happened. I thought about going to the police, but truth was, these boys’ parents probably had enough pull in this town to end anyone in a courthouse. That would mean I would have to wear the shame of people knowing about what happened, being called a liar and a slut. That’s what would’ve happened. Those boys had beautiful girlfriends and dated cheerleaders. Why would anyone believe they’d raped a girl like me? Then what would happen with my mother? She wouldn’t be able to afford to take them through court—and she would want to, God knows she would. If she found out what happened, she would take everyone down with her. It would kill her, and I couldn’t do that. The best thing I could do was put my head down and ignore them. Getting on with my schoolwork sounds difficult, but our campus was large and it’d only be for a couple more years. That was, of course, until I found out I had missed my period, which brings me back to the now.
    I quickly snatched the first test I could see off the shelf and walked towards the counter.
    “Miss?” The man said behind the desk. “You’re going to need to take off the hoodie and the glasses.”
    “Why?” My body tensed.
    “Because it’s the rules. We’re a drugstore. We have cameras for a reason, but right now, you look like you’re going to hold up my store,” he said softly with a gentle smile.
    “Right,” I said, bringing my hand up to the rim of my hoodie around the same time the doorbell dinged again. I dropped it down to cover the back of my neck and removed my glasses. He smiled, nodding at me in thanks.
    I felt him before I saw him. My whole body tensed. My heart hammered against my chest as shame washed over me. He walked to the counter and I kept my head down, watching as his hand reached out and grasped the little box on the counter. The clerk looked between who I’m assuming was Eddy and me nervously before putting his hand out. “Can I take that, please?”
    Eddy handed it to him slowly, keeping quiet before spinning around and walking back out the door without so much as a word.
    I exhaled the breath I didn’t know I was holding. The clerk handed it back to me in a paper bag. I nodded and