A sin

Chapter 8: A sin

How fortunate I am to have Joe as a boyfriend. He promised me he loved me so much and would never make me cry again, so even though he has made me cry a lot, I forgive him. I believe him.
He is changing and will continue to change, as far as I can tell.

It is my birthday today; in the eighteen years I have lived, I have never celebrated my birthday, and this will be the first. To be honest, Joe and his buddies decided to throw me a birthday party; it was not even my idea. Having these people in my life makes me very happy.
Oh, and I have not forgotten about Marcus. I think of him every time I see a man in his 30s. However, I have been attempting to restrain myself since I now realize that I can not have Marcus in my life and that I should be concentrating on the person who is with me at the moment. But the thing is- I can't forget about him.

I have finished waiting for the iron curl to heat up properly and wearing the adorable black dress that Joe picked out for me.
Although I noticed that this dress was too short on me, Joe seemed unaffected. Do I have to be happy or....?
When I was finished, I picked up my purse and made my way out of the apartment.

After a short while, Joe and his friends arrived, and we made our way to the club.
"You're looking..... pretty" the girl in the group says, "oh thank you" I smiled at her while we waited in the line. "I'm Emma" she extended her hand to me "Hi Emma, I'm-" "Yuri" she cuts me off. "You know my name, huh?" I chuckled softly, "Joe told me about you." Emma smirks as she looks at Joe and Joe looks back at her.

I'm already having an off feeling about the scene but I shook it off because she seems like a 'nice girl'.

Joe's friends eventually showed up, and I was forced to sit on the lone couch with a cake in front of me. I thanked each person and smiled awkwardly at them. They showed no concern.

Taking off my jacket, I took a way to the restroom to freshen up. I wanted Joe to come with me, but he was already off to smoke outside. So I went alone.
As I was getting hot already, I did some touch-ups and sprayed water on my neck. My phone buzzed as I was rubbing the cream that had fallen on my dress by accident. I took a peek and it was a message from the unknown. Unknown: Hey, I need to tell you something important....

With a slight frown, I finished drying my hand and read the message.
Unknown: Hey, I need to tell you something important. Your safety is at risk. Your boyfriend and his friends aren't who they seem. They've made a bet about you, and it's not okay. You need to get to a safe place or get out of here.

I did not quickly react to the message thinking it was a prank so I typed.
"nice prank. But it won't work for me" I sent the text while I chuckled softly.
As soon as I walked out of the restroom my phone buzzed again. I sighed and looked at the message. It was the same person but this time with an attachment. I tilted my head and opened the attachment.

My heart started racing as soon as I recognized Joe, Emma, Kevin, shawn in the video.
"Anyways.....we are calling her to the party right?"
"Of course - it's her birthday after all" 
"My dear Joe- if the plan didn't turn out as we expected. You know you would lose the bet right?"
"What's with you?"
"Nothing"

What is happening?  Why is it happening? Joe and bet- Emma- doesn't make sense.
My entire body froze for a brief moment, and my mind was blank.

I avoided the group as much as I could and went to the bartender and asked for a glass of vodka.
My phone buzzed again, but this time it was Joe. My heart dropped, he now started to call me and all I could do was switch off my phone or throw it away.

I am already tipsy after five shots of vodka. When I noticed Shawn, in the crowd, probably searching for me, I quickly got up and made my way upstairs. Even if I came across a psycho killer or some other creepy men, I would not care; all I wanted was to kill myself if I came across Joe. You have no idea how terrified I am at the moment. I just do not want to be duped by him, regardless of whether he cheated on me with Emma. What if he ends up raping me when I say no? No, no, no. It is either I survive today or my life will fall apart.  

I had no idea where I was going, my hand unlocked the door, and my eyes got blurry with all red dim lights and smoke, strippers grinding on men who were throwing money over them. Before I could take a step back, a man pulled me in.
Yes I did say, I wouldn't care if I met a creepy man...but no, this is not what I meant! Not at all!!

The man has already made me sit on his lap, while my head spins, and I wanted to puke with all that noise and smells of cigarettes and liquors. I was unable to control my own body and could only attempt feebly to resist as the man began to squeeze my thighs. 

"Yuri-Yuri" A deep muffled voice makes my senses back. As I recognized the voice, my heart couldn't take it anymore, so I slowly opened my eyes.
"...marcus" I smiled while he was holding onto me in his arms.

"Yuri- what are you doing here- what did you drink?" he worriedly asked and I couldn't explain my happiness to myself. It was so overwhelming and I loved it.

"Marcus...." I mumbled.