Living With The Player

DYLAN EMERTON

SATURDAY

“You had her for two days, give or take! You couldn’t allow me to spend a day with her!”

I check the ID. it’s unknown, but I recognize Miranda’s voice. I’d figure out how she got my number later.

“What are you talking about?” The more obvious question.

“Well, Camilla texted, “I had to run.” I assume she’s with you?”

My brows knit together.

“She isn’t here.”

Standing up from the bed, I toss a T-shirt on, alarmed.

“How long was that text?”

“About three hours ago, I had to watch the movie. Now I can’t reach her, and I called you to rant. You better not be fucking again!”

“Miranda slow down. I haven’t seen Camilla since this morning.”

“Huh? But she texted me that…”

“Maybe she’s at the dorm?”

“No. I called the landline there. No one answered.”

My heart skipped a pace.

“Dylan?”

“Wait a minute, Camilla never texts in full with me. Much less use words like “Run” Why am I just noticing this?”

My heart jumped at another one.

“I think something happened.” No shit.

“Where last did you see her?”

“We were waiting in line for tickets, then she drifted off to take the call with you.”

I thought she hung up because of the mini argument, but what if she “had” to hang up?

Oh shit.

“I have to go. I’ll call you if I find anything.”

The call ended, and I left the house.

Someone might know who took her.

**

Jimmy was at the dorms today. The fucker went there.

“Where is she! Where the fuck did you take her to?”

I shoved his chest, rushing forward to pull his collar before he could react.

“The fuck is this!”

Jimmy glared, and I knocked my head over his.

“I swear I’ll end you. Tell me where the fuck she is?”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about!? Get off me!”

He howled, but I already yanked him to the ground, maintaining my hold on his collar so I can deliver the first punch.

My folded fist is in the air while I glare at his bleeding nose.

“Where is Camilla?”

I drawl.

“I don’t know. I tried calling her, but she blocked me. She wasn’t there when I tried to got to her place. Since Friday, I haven’t seen her.

He rushed. I took two breaths and then dropped my hand. He seems like he’s telling the truth. If he didn’t take her, who did?

“What happened?”

Parting my lips to speak, my phone’s tone beat me to it.

I checked the ID. Harper fucking Kennedy.

“Not a fucking good time. Fuck off, Harper!”

I answered, my finger hovering over the end button.

“Not even if it interest dearest Camilla? Alright then.”

He ticks his tongue. My eyes grow twice their normal size.

“What the fuck do you mean?”

I seethe.

**

I can’t see. My eyes are open, but I can’t fuck see. I’m in an Uber. He’s taking me to the location Harper texted, but I can’t fucking see.

I can’t see what’s in front of me. All I see is her. They hurt Camilla. Being beaten up. Harper touched her.

Fuck. My entire body is sizzling.

He said to come alone. Like fuck, I was going to waste any more time by contacting anyone.

I tossed my phone into my back pocket and trembled, arriving at the location.

Outskirts of the city, too. Harper loves places like this.

I don’t wonder what he wants. Money? Validation? I’ll get on my knees and beg if that’s what it takes. He needs to not hurt her. I need him not to touch her. She needs to be okay.

Oh God, please let her be okay.

**

The Uber stopped a few kilometres from the exact spot. I wonder where I’m headed to.

There are barely any houses here, I countless them five in total. And people? Hardly up to seven.

But I keep moving. None of them matters. My T-shirt is soaked with sweat, my pants are sticking to my legs, and my heart is racing like a car. But I keep moving.

Almost there. I’ll have her soon.

**

It’s a compound. Harper’s coordinate sent me to a compound. I stand in front of the enormous gate. Then, I pull out my cell phone to call him, but the gate opens and beats me to it.

“You’re here in record time. That girl must mean the world to you. Quite a piece of ass, too.”

Eli hums.

“What did you do to her?”

“A lot.”

He laughs and my hands are flying forward.

“Dylan!”

Harper sounds inside.

“We’ve been waiting. Come on in.”

There’s a silent taunt in his voice. I steady my breathing and walk-in. It’s larger inside. There’s a house like last time, but this is a two-storey building.

I stride towards the building, sitting speakers on the outside. That must be how Harper communicated with me.

Passing through the door, I sight Harper in the middle.

“Do you know this building barely cost anything? No one wanted it because of the location. Funny how something can mean so little after some time?”

Harper’s emotions are apparent. Anger.

“Where is she?”

“She’s here.”

He quips.

“What do you want?”

“You.”

He retorts almost immediately.

“Not a chance in hell. I quit your lifestyle.”

He clicks his tongue.

“That’s cruel bro, I thought we were friends.”

Eli quips, coming from the stairs.

“Where is she?”

I repeat, much harder this time.

“Here.”

“Give her back.”

“That’s not quite how this works. You have to do something for us first, an exchange.”

He smirks.

“I’m not doing a thing.”

The three of them began laughing.

“I have a man standing beside her. On my word, he’ll put a bullet through her skull. Are you prepared to hear what you’ll do?”

I freeze. Seconds pass, but I nod my head.

“Perfect!”

**

Harper wants me to fight. After all this time, they started a fight club again. It turns out there are cameras with those speakers by the space in the compound. That’s the fighting ground and on the third floor, that’s where the audience stays and watches the entire fight. They can contain a larger crowd that way.

My opponent is Ryke. Harper gave me a few details about him. We’re the same size, but he has a track record for plummeting. I take off my shirt and place my gloves on.

I promised I won’t ever do this again, but here I am prepared to hurt someone else for her.

“A show of good faith and a little morale.”

Harper shoves a screen in my face. They tied Camilla to a pole. She seems unconscious. They faced her head to the ground, so I can’t inspect her condition.

“Ready?”

He takes it away and then moves back.

“Let the fight begin!”

Eli screams as my opponent emerges.

“For her.”

I remind myself, propping my fists forward.

**

A broken rib, nose, a few fingers, and I’m still standing. Wavering. But standing still.

Ryke is a good fighter. His reflexes are top-notch. Hard to get a hit in, but I’ve mastered his pace, so I watched. He steps forward. I duck, then spin.

He screams, about to punch me. I let him, then pretend to drop to my knees. Kneading his balls, I deliver the perfect punch underneath his jaws.

His eyes shoot up. Trying to recover, I spin again and reach for his left arm, twisting it as he did mine.

Behind him, I take his right leg down and pin his hand over his back, panting like a starved animal.

“I am sorry.”

I whisper and apply more pressure.

He groans. He can’t get off this position, no matter how hard he tries.

“Winner!”

Harper sounded in the speaker. I let Ryke go, pulling off my gloves. Without a care in the world, I storm back into the house. Scanning the empty first floor, I proceed to the second.

“I’m coming.”

I might faint soon. God, the room is spinning.

Reaching the second floor, it’s covered with curtains. The entire four corners are concealed.

Looking forward, the first curtains go off and Camilla comes into view. It’s a stage and I’m below it.

“Camilla!”

She’s conscious.

“A genuine work of art. You still got it, Dylan. That was beautiful. The way you took him down? Perfect!”

Harper flutters his eyes shut.

“You’re made for this D, can you hear the entire crowd? They would pay thousands to watch you. Admit it, you feel the rush too. You crave it. You like it. Give into it. Forget about her and the boring life she’ll give you. This is your destiny.”

I spit at the ground. A cloth of blood-forming in its wake.

Washing the corner of my mouth, I take three heavy breaths, then glare.

“I hate myself for what I just did. I don’t crave anything. And Camilla? You do not know the peace she brings to me. I have no desire to please you, Harper. I’ve played your crazy ass game. I won. Now let her go.”

I clench my jaw, tilting my head for any of his sudden movements. Camilla’s mouth is restrained, but I could make out the muffled screams. Her eyes tell me all I need to know, too.

She fears her mind. Her head’s swollen, and her wrists are a shade of red from their struggles.

I will kill him. I swear to God I’ll kill him for touching her.

“So impatient. Aren’t you interested in round two?”

“Harper, I swear to God…”

“The answer is yes or no, Dylan, no need to swear.”

His friends chuckled, bobbing their head at his little joke.

“No.”

I grunt.

“Wrong answer.”

Smirking, he waves a hand over to his friends.

“Harper.”

I warn, blinking my eyes to stay active.

“Patience, Dylan, I have another surprise for you.”

“Let us go! Let Camilla go! We played your sick game.”

“Tch.”

He clicked his tongue. Two of them had disappeared behind the curtains at the corner.

“Harper! What the hell is this?”

“A little drum roll, please. Five seconds until the big reveal, I assure you. You did not see this coming. It’s spectacular!”

Harper shoots his hands in the air, bringing them back to clap and grin.

“I’ll kill you.”

I grit out.

“Almost there. And… Here we are! Round two!”

Yelling, the two of them emerge from the curtains. But they’re not alone.

Each of them has a fist full of Claire’s arm. She has a swollen head like Camilla.

They steal my breath at the mere sight.

“Harper! You sick bastard!”

“Calm. I assure you, you’ll enjoy it!”

He cackles.

“Bring her forward.”

He motions, drawing two fingers.

“I’ll kill you!”

I swore, marching forward, determined to squeeze my fingers around his neck

“Not so fast. Stay D, Stay.”

He cocked his gun, pointing it at Camilla’s head. Her eyes slipped shut, and she whimpered. I halted.

Bringing Claire closer, the guys wrapped her around the next pole.

She struggled hard, but they were twice her size. It was fruitless.

“What are you doing? Why did you bring her here?”

“You should’ve listened to your girlfriend. She’s smarter. I’m considering you both switching places, but the next part will be more fun if Camilla is tied here. Are you ready for fun, love?”

He attempted to stroke her hair. Camilla turned away, gritting the cloth covering her mouth.

“Oh, right, let me help you with this.”

He tugged the cloth away, chuckling as he did.

“Dylan!”

She gasped, wheezing.

“How cute. The next part will be easy. Scouts honour D, no more games after this.”

“What the fuck do you want?”

I screech, fisting both hands.

“On the right, we have Claire Moris. On the left we have Camilla Renée. Both women are important to you. Now I’m quite curious to know which is more important. The cousin? Related by blood? Or the girlfriend? Intertwined souls? This will make a good prequel.”

He giggles like the sicko he was.

“The fuck are you going on about?”

“Oh D, I want you to choose between both of them. You can’t have it all in life. That’ll be unfair to other miserable people. Now you get to lose something important, just as everyone has. Will it be Claire or Camilla?”

“You psycho!”

Camilla screeched.

“What? Fair is fair. I lost everything. My men here lost someone. Then I had you, and from what I hear, she also played a part in bringing you two together. So, you won’t have both of them. That’s the right order of life!”

“You’re a mad man! This is crazy!”

“Oh love, don’t worry. I’m sure Dylan will choose you.”

He turned to Claire with a smug smile.

“Hurry and choose.”

He tossed the gun at Claire.

“You’re a sociopath. I’m not picking between both of them!”

“You are. Choose now!”

He yelled, taking the safety off.

“Harper!”

“Choose or I kill both of them. Better still, a guessing game.”

“Harper! The fuck!”

I screamed, my heart racing. I can’t breathe.

“Tic-tat.”

“Inne, Minnie, Minnie, dead!”

“Wait!”

I shouted as the first shot went off.

****

Thoughts? Thoughts? Thoughts? Yesterday, it took over twelve hours for my chapters to pass, not sure why.