Chrysalis (Excerpt Only) - New Adult BWWM Love Story

Chrysalis (Prologue)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story will not be posted in its entirety. I will only post a few sample chapters. TRIGGER WARNING: This story deals with heavy subject matter (sexual assault).

PROLOGUE

Nod didn't realize until the moment his friends pulled the girl from the car—bound, gagged, and blindfolded—that this was no joke.

He stood dumbfounded at the cabin door, holding it open as they came toward him with the girl between them, protests muffled.

He stood there even after they stumbled past him and laid her on the Persian rug sprawled in front of the crimson leather couch.

Then panic shot through him, making him tear his eyes from the trio to scan the woods for witnesses.

He caught only shards of red and orange filtering through the surrounding trees as the sun commenced its descent.

He closed the door and locked it, blocking out the fading light, while trying to ignore the feeling he had locked himself in a cage of hungry tigers.

When he turned back toward the trio, he saw Blynken kneeling next to the girl, one hand holding her bound hands against her abdomen, the other stroking the uncovered parts of her face.

Wynken got up and moved to a chair, draping his leg over its shiny arm. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

Nod looked at the girl.

"You sure she can't see, right?" he asked, staring warily at the blindfold, terrified she would be able to identify him, but even more terrified of his promise.

"Just get on with it, man, you're the last to go," Blynken said, dismissing his hesitancy, his eyes not moving from the girl's face as he knelt by her side. His voice sounded almost weary.

"I just don't know about this," Nod said. "What if..."

"Stop stalling!" Blynken bellowed suddenly, turning toward him with flashing, green eyes.

Then Blynken rose and got in Nod's face, even though Nod had at least half a foot on him.

Nod saw a wildness in his friend's eyes he wished never to see again.

"Wynken and I have already done it, man, it's your turn!" Blynken said, punctuating his last words by poking Nod's chest.

"Yeah, don't go second guessing now," Wynken added from the chair where he sat, smoking. "It's too late for that." He smiled a lazy smile, glancing over at Blynken before taking another drag of his cigarette.

Still in Nod's space, Blynken returned part of Wynken's smile, but his own seemed unnatural. His energy had dropped, giving Nod the impression that he had exited his body.

Nod watched Blynken head back to the girl, returning to his kneeling position beside her. He continued stroking her face and even wiped away her tears.

Nod was struck by the juxtaposition of tenderness and brutality.

His eyes went from one friend to the other.

He didn't know what disturbed him more—Blynken's Jekyll-and-Hyde emotions, or Wynken's lazy calm.

Then his eyes returned to the caramel beauty.

He was surprised at how subdued she seemed—as if she preferred negotiating than fighting, even if no words could escape.

Her protests had died down, reduced to quiet sobbing, tears escaping the confines of the blindfold and running down her face toward her ears. Her chest heaved every now and then.

As she began to seem calmer, Nod found his own emotions calming down and with this newfound sense of control, thought once more about how he could reach his friends and find a way out of the deal. Yes, Wynken was right, they had done some terrible things before, but never anything like this—nothing that crossed the line from misdemeanor fun to calculated evil.

"Nod," Wynken's gentle timbre pulled Nod out of his thoughts. "I got Sarah already, Blynken got Mary; it's your turn to take her. This is our last project together as a family—let's go out with a bang!" He laughed at his own joke.

It amazed Nod how simply Wynken said the words—as if they weren't terrorizing innocent girls, and the assignment was to read her a story instead of make her a potential news story.

Nod looked at the girl again, torn. He wanted to just walk away but knew he couldn't; he was almost sure that if he left the scene, his friends would do the deed for him, and she would be terrorized even more.

He shook off his thoughts and focused on calming his pounding heart.

He had to save this girl, and there was only one way he could think of doing it.

He mustered up as controlled a voice as possible.

"Okay, you guys, just...just get out of here. I don't want you watching me...work."

"Well, all right, man," Blynken responded with what would have been a huge grin had he managed to make his mouth cooperate, as he turned away from the girl. "I was worried about you for a second there—thought you'd chicken out."

Blynken finally managed a small grin, but Wynken's face had filled with suspicion.

"Nod, you're not planning to just pretend you did it, are you?" Wynken asked, cobalt eyes holding him.

Nod tried to look as if the thought hadn't crossed his mind.

He swallowed. "Come on, man, who are you talking to again?"

He hoped he was pulling off the cavalier attitude he was going for.

"I don't know," said Wynken, shaking his head slowly, "you never hesitated in any of our tasks before. What's so different about this one?"

You've got to be kidding me, Nod thought.

"Look, I said I'm in, I'm in. Now get the hell out of here, freaks. Let me do my thing." Nod attempted to muster up his usual grin of camaraderie.

Wynken gave him a long, steady look. Then his face broke into a smile. "We'll be waiting outside," he said. "So how long do you think it'll be? About two minutes?" He chuckled, looking over at Blynken again who was now playing with the girl's hair, in his own world once more.

Wynken put out his cigarette and got up.

"Don't forget to cover up; no evidence."

Blynken stopped playing with the girl's hair and stood. He gave Nod one last inscrutable glance before following Wynken out of the cabin.

Nod watched them leave, then looked at the girl again.

He went right up to her then sat next to her, watching her for a few more moments, unsure what to do next.

He hadn't realized how sadistic his friends were—particularly Wynken—until five minutes ago when they walked her toward him.

She's so beautiful, he thought, remembering what she looked like without her restraints.

He would have loved the chance to earn the right to do what his friends wanted to make him do, simultaneously ironic—forcing him to force himself on someone.

He looked down at the beauty again.

He would have thought she had gone to sleep if he wasn't so sure she was thinking about him at that very moment, waiting for his next move.

He knew what he had to do.

Nod's nerves felt like mini-boa constrictors choking his entire body, leaving him gasping for air as he came to his decision. He glanced at the painting above the cocktail table for comfort and consolation, but the figure from Munch's The Scream just looked at him in horror.

He looked back down at the girl.

This is the only way I can save you, he thought, unzipping his pants.