A Hockey Player's Guide To Deception

Chapter Six

Trigger Warning: Violence, both physical and verbal abuse.

Defeated

Kayla felt completely defeated as her body slumped in their grip, allowing them to drag her toward the mirror. Edward towered over her, his hand seizing her neck and forcing her to meet their reflection. She sneered, but he only smirked, lowering himself until their eyes were at the same level. The cigarette in his hand lingered dangerously close to her cheek, she blanched. He chuckled darkly.

"Pathetic," he snarled. "Where's all that bravado from a few minutes ago?"

Louis and Jojo sniggered behind them. Without warning, Edward shoved her toward Louis like she was weighed nothing. She stumbled, only for him to catch her and immediately toss her to Jojo like she was nothing more than garbage.

"Don't want to dirty my hands," Jojo muttered, pushing her back to Edward, who flung her again. In that moment she felt as worthless as a piece of chewed up gum on the bottom of their expensive shoes. For the next ten minutes, they tossed her around like she was a dirty used up rag doll with no regard for her well-being. She was too exhausted to resist, she didn't care anymore. Her mind was shutting down, every thought jumbled up by the growing pressure in her bladder. All she wanted to do was to squat down a toilet and empty her bladder.

"You've got quite a bit of flesh on you" Louis spat, his nails dug deep into her flesh, making her cry out in pain "Quite soft for a man if you ask me." 

Her breath hitched as his gaze pierced into her, he cast her a speculative glance an array of questions lost in his blue orbs, but he shook his head, dismissing the outrageous possibility of her being anything other than a man.  He shoved her to the floor with little effort, his gaze a mix of disgust and....intrigue? her heart skipped a beat, for a moment she thought she pissed her pants.

"Hmmm what should we do with him?" Edward mumbled flicking his cigarette to the floor and crushing it under the soles of his polished shoes. He tapped his boot right beside her face, and she shut her eyes, bracing herself for the sharp, painful press of his heel. The three of them stared down at her, their expressions unreadable as they contemplated her fate.

"Not so macho now, are you?" Jojo crouched down, leveling his face with hers, his grip tightening around her jaw. Kayla's breath hitched as she searched his dark, emotionless eyes. It was like staring into a void, a bottomless pit where no empathy existed.

"Never said I was," she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What did you just say?" Louis snarled, storming over and grabbing a fistful of her curls, yanking her head back violently. A scream ripped through her throat, pain shooting through her scalp.

"I said you're a piece of shit," she spat weakly, her voice may have been low, but judging by Louis's murderous glare, he'd heard her loud and clear. His grip on her hair tightened viciously, pulling her head back even further. She bit down hard on her lower lip, tasting blood, trying to stifle the scream building in her chest.

"You really don't know when to shut up, do you?" Louis growled, his face mere inches from hers.

"I'm going to teach you a lesson," he hissed, his hand still tangled in her hair. "You're gonna learn to keep that smart mouth of yours sealed."

"Oh, I can't wait," she shot back, her voice laced with sarcasm, even though her body was trembling from the pain. "I'm just dying to hear what wonderful words of wisdom you're gonna bless me with."

Edward, who had been watching silently from the side, took a step forward. His eyes flicked from Louis to Kayla, a cold smirk curling on his lips. "You've entered dangerous territory" he said with a sinister calmness, "There's no going back from this."

Maybe, in that moment, the smartest thing Kayla could have done was fall to her knees, pleading for forgiveness, begging for mercy, and atoning for whatever sins they thought she'd committed. She could have asked them to set her free, but Kayla suffered from something far more dangerous than fear—pride so instead of pleading, she scoffed. Her voice dripping with mockery, even as the fear gripped her so tightly by the throat, she had to force the word out.

"Oh, I'm absolutely cowering in fear," she mocked, her words a sharp contrast to the terror bumbling up in her.

Edward crouched down beside her, his eyes locking with hers. "You're a clueless one, aren't you?"

Louis yanked her hair again, this time forcing her head forward, so she was nearly bent double, her face close to the floor. "Do you not know how to shut that trap?"

"Apparently, not." She gritted her teeth, refusing to give him the satisfaction of begging. "Still waiting on that lesson, Louis," she smiled bitterly.

"Enough," Edward said smoothly, standing to his full height. "Let him go."

Kayla glanced at him, confusion glimmering in her eyes, but his expression was unreadable, a perfect mask of apathy and detachment. She was petrified by the contempt that lingered in his gaze, so deep it was as if she had murdered his entire family in cold blood. Louis's eyes flared with rage at his words, but he didn't argue. Kayla knew in that instant who the real leader of the pack was, and it certainly wasn't that big pathetic mouth Louis, he was just a brainless dog that barked when his master said bark and bit when his master commended him to do so. 

He released her hair, shoving her roughly to the floor. Kayla crumpled, her head spinning, but she clenched her jaw, determined not to let them see her cry.

"Enjoy your break," Edward said, his voice soft but chilling. "It's not gonna last long." 

With that, they left her lying motionless on the floor. Summoning what little strength remained in her battered body, Kayla dragged herself toward the bathroom stall. Her hands trembled as she fumbled with her belt and zipper, finally managing to pull down her trousers. She tugged down her compression shorts—the ones that flattened her curves—and with a sigh of relief, she bent over the toilet. The release came with a flood of exhaustion, as she let out the pee that had been building up inside her.

Through all the abuse, her one constant prayer had been not to wet herself while they tossed her around like a rag doll. She knew that would have been her undoing. If that had happened, she was certain they wouldn't hesitate to publicly humiliate her, taking her last shred of dignity along with it.