Chapter 8-Alpha Ex, You Betrayed Me.

Chapter 8: 8-Alpha Ex, You Betrayed Me. Clementine: The Ravecrest was in the middle of a quiet, magical forest. In the center was a big glass hall where students would eat lunch and dinner. This main hall shone in the sunlight and glowed a little at night. From this hall, there were long hallways that went out in different directions, like a spider’s legs. Each hallway led to a big dorm room where the students slept and lived. The building looked modern, but it felt a little mysterious, like it had secrets. Under the ground, there were special rooms for the teachers and the principal. These underground rooms were quiet and hidden, and students were not usually allowed there. "I’m taking this bed. It’s closest to the door," Yorick jumped onto the bed of his choice, dropping his bag at the entrance and eyeing me to pick it up. I stared at his bag, then at the others. They had picked their beds too. Mine was the lonely one next to the door to the verandah. I didn’t mind. The outdoors looked nice. The dorm room was big and comfortable. There were six beds in the room, placed along the walls with space between each one. The one empty bed belonged to Riv. Between every two beds, there was a small window that let in sunlight and fresh air. In front of each window stood a dressing table, where students kept their things. Under each bed, there was a trunk where students stored their clothes, books, and personal items. At the end of the room, there was a large bathroom that everyone shared. One side of the room had a big verandah where I intended to sit a lot, and looked out at the trees in the forest. The room felt warm, friendly, and a little magical. But the roommates did not. The black and grey themed tiles with the modern design honestly made it look more like a resort than a dorm room. "Pick it up," Yorick ordered, making me clutch my bag tightly and not obeying him. I was thinking about what the consequences could be for pissing him off. What could he do that would be worse than being stuck with them and then going out on missions with them? "I’m not your slave. Get your ass up and pick up your own bag," I hissed, hopping over his bag and reaching my bed. I sat down and started taking off my shoes, but I kept them in my peripherals. They were all sharing glances. I slowly raised my gaze to stare at Troy, he was gesturing to Yorick with his eyes. Yorick finally understood what Troy wanted him to do and got off the bed. That’s when I started to feel uneasy—alert, even. Yorick began pacing, taking off his belt, and then suddenly lunged at me. He wrapped the belt around my neck and yanked me off my feet. I landed on the ground, my hands gripping the belt, trying to loosen it from around my neck. "You think I can’t make you obey?" Yorick pulled the belt tighter, making my neck stretch and my eyes water. "You shouldn’t have disobeyed me," Yorick hissed, chuckling as he made me follow his gaze to Troy, who had gotten up from the bed with a smirk on his lips. "She has a weakness, you know," Troy said, making my heart skip a few beats. "Tell us," Yorick insisted. Ian stayed leaning back against the pillow on his bed, a coin between his fingers that he kept flipping. Troy walked over to my bed and grabbed it. My eyes, teary from pain, now had real tears in them. "She’s got pictures of her beloved brother and mother in this little filthy sack of hers," Troy announced, making the others burst into cackling laughter, causing my ears to ring. "Don’t you dare," I warned them as they unzipped my bag and pulled out the photo album. That was all I had left of them. I could stare at the pictures for hours, and somehow, I would never get bored. But the looks on their faces told me they had discovered something important against me. Did my reaction give it away? No! The ex-best friend I had shared everything with exposed my secrets with a smirk on his face. "Now every time you misbehave, we’ll take these and won’t give them back until you promise to behave," Troy warned me, the album dangling from his hand. I just stared at his face, feeling like lava was erupting inside me. It’s true—your biggest enemy is often your ex-best friend, because they know all your secrets. "No! That would be too easy," Haiden disagreed. He snatched the album out of Troy’s hands and started ripping the pictures apart. "No!" I screamed, but Yorick tripped me and pinned my hands behind my back, kneeling on me while my neck was finally free from the belt. My heart shattered as I watched Haiden mercilessly tear the photos from the album while laughing louder than a monster. "Hey! Don’t do that. We can use it to make her obey," Troy yelled, trying to grab the album back, but in came Ian. He had been watching everything with amusement in his eyes until Troy protested. Ian jumped off the bed and blocked Troy from grabbing the album. Haiden tore them apart while I screamed and cried, unable to push Yorick off me. "You fucking bastard—" I cried out, "Ahhhh! I’ll kill you." The pain I felt in that moment was so overwhelming that my ears started ringing. Yorick’s laughter behind me, Haiden’s cackling, Troy yelling, and my own cries all blended together. I was losing my mind. Haiden then dropped the torn pieces and stepped on them. "You fucking prick, I didn’t tell you to do that," Troy finally shoved Ian aside and confronted Haiden. "Why not? Don’t tell me you secretly want to impress her by saving the album after you exposed her weakness to us," Haiden snapped with his usual bully posture, bumping his shoulder against Troy’s. "You two, knock it off. We’re not fighting each other over this she-wolf," Yorick finally got off me to break up the argument. I reached out, trying to grab the torn pieces, but Ian stepped on my hand. "What? You really think you can still save these?" he hissed, picking up the pieces before I could. He took long strides toward the bathroom while Haiden and Yorick laughed, watching me get to my feet and run after Ian. Troy just stood there, shaking his head like he was trying not to laugh at my condition. "Fucking give them back to me," I yelled, reaching into the bathroom and warning him, but I froze when I saw him holding the torn pieces over the toilet, smirking like he was ready to flush them. "Give them back to me. That’s all I have of my—my mother," I said through clenched teeth. I hated how every time I showed strength, people tried to break me. They couldn’t handle seeing me so confident. "Say please?" Yorick whispered from behind, walking into the bathroom with his hands in his pockets. "Please," I said, shutting my eyes and forcing the word out. Yorick leaned against the wall next to Ian, a smirk tugging at his lips. "That’s all? Shouldn’t we ask for something more?" Haiden barged in, looking proud of himself, Troy beside him. Troy was still on their side, but he was the only one not smiling. "Please give them back—to me," I added. I would rather die than beg, but these pictures were my weakness. My mother and brother were my weakness. "Take off this baggy shirt and show us what makes you a woman," Haiden demanded, and the others nodded. Tears began to sting in my eyes. They seemed to have made it their mission to break me. The oversized shirt was my way of hiding, a silent message that I didn’t want men to look at my body. "Or these are gone," Ian warned. Now they were all watching me. None of them had seen my body before, not even my ex-boyfriend. Our relationship had been short and difficult, never going beyond one cursed kiss. With a heavy heart and a hollow sense of defeat, I grabbed the hem of my shirt and lifted it up to my neck, revealing my breasts with my eyes closed.