A Touch Of Sin [BxB] - Chapter 72: Chapter 72

The sun is warm on my back as I wait at the coffee cart.
I feel unsettled. I know charges have been placed and court is not far away, but the fact that Rhett is still walking around as if nothing is wrong, frightens me. I try not to think of Jake at work and at risk of getting hurt.
The girl calls my name three times before I register that it's me, she is waving at. I shake my head and take it from her. My mind won't stop thinking about everything that's been going on. I replay so many moments. The first date I had with Rhett. The time Jake hit him and I thought he was the dangerous one. The times in class I caught him staring.
Lena organised everyone to gather at the beach later today for volleyball and drinks. I'm looking forward to it, hoping it will take my mind off of everything that has been going on. I want Jake to have some fun, even though he seems to be handle this better than me. Maybe because of everything he dealt with in his childhood.
I pull up Kat's number and call her. The phone rings three times and then I'm greeted with her voicemail. She isn't hiding the fact that she's avoiding me anymore. I exhale, shoving my phone back into my pocket.
The lectures seem to drag on longer than usual today, and I struggle to keep my eyes open. I should have gotten a large coffee.
When I arrive at my tutorial–three minutes late, which really bothers Professor Harrold–I am greeted with everyone gathered in clusters around the tables, music playing and bowls of chips scattered over the counter tops. I want to face-palm myself. It totally slipped my mind we were doing an end of semester party. I was supposed to make brownies.
I try to slide in without notice.
"Where's your brownies?" a girl with curly, dark hair asks me.
"I forgot."
She rolls her eyes. "Plenty here, anyway."
I fill a plastic red cup up with the punch provided. I drain almost the entire cup and re-fill it, when I look up. I see a figure disappearing through the door. I jerk in surprise, the liquid sloshing over the side and onto my hand. I rush to the door and poke my head out. No one is in the hall.
The retreating figure had looked so much like Rhett. He was in this class before the AVO was placed. I swallow uneasily. Now I'm paranoid about everything.
"Are you okay?" a guy asks me, who I recognise as being one of the front row sitters.
"Yeah, fine."
I attempt to mingle with the class and the longer the time goes on, the worse I feel. My head feels light and my limbs feel slow. I brush past one of the girls who sits in my row and out the door, feeling my skin growing damp.
Both toilets in the building have an OUT OF ORDER sign slashed across the doors and I stumble down the hallway, seeking the fresh hair, gulping it down in big swallows.
A hand finds my back and guides me towards the carpark. I look to the side and recognise the dark skin and slight stubble that belongs to Rhett. I jerk my arm away, but the movement is so slow and heavy that nothing happens. My feet trip over themselves as I'm placed into his car.
"Rhett," I ground out, my words slurring.
My vision narrows and I grip the door, desperately trying to cling onto consciousness.
"Close your eyes."
I fumble urgently for the door handle.
His hand slams into the side of my head and, the corner of my face slaps the window.
Everything goes dark.
***
I wake to the sound of gravel crunching underneath tyres.
An ache pulses through my head and my eyes feel swollen and sore, like I slept very deeply but only for a short amount of time. A wince escapes me and I press my fingers to my head, hoping it will somehow ease the pain.
"Welcome back."
I jolt in surprise. Rhett is beside me, one hand on the wheel, the other tapping against his thigh.
I am in a moving car. With Rhett.
"Where are we?"
When he doesn't reply, I look out the windows and don't recognise any of my surroundings. My heart feels like it's puffed up and lodged itself into my throat. I try not to panic as I glance around me. My hands are bound together and there are two duffel bags on the back seat.
"What is going on?"
"We're going away," Rhett says.
"Away?"
"Just me and you."
"You're violating your AVO."
He waves off my words dismissively.
"I know you're mentally ill but surely you realise you can't kidnap me?" I ask hotly, tidal waves of anger surging through me, taunting me to act irrationally.
He doesn't reply. He looks calm and cruises along the road as if we have decided to take a night-time drive for sight-seeing.
"How long have we been driving?"
"Not long. We pulled over for a rest."
I try to part my wrists a few times and the tape tightens against my skin.
I can't tell where we are. A coastal road somewhere.
Attempting to move as little as possible, I pat down my legs, searching for my phone. I know he's taken it but I try to find it anyway.
"Don't bother," he says. "It's gone."
I close my eyes and try not to let fear overwhelm me. I'd like to think he wouldn't hurt me, but who knows.
"What did you put in the drink?"
Rhett grins, then.
"That was pretty cool, right? I've been planning it for weeks."
"Yeah. Very cool," I state sarcastically.
Considering I was meant to meet friends this afternoon, it eases my mind to know they'd realise something has happened. They would connect the dots and they will find me. I just have to play the waiting game and hope Rhett doesn't do anything stupid.
"Don't you find this sad? And depressing?" I turn then, unable to help myself. "If you have to go to this much extreme for someone's attention, I think it's safe to say it isn't working."
"Callum," he smiles. He is way too calm. "We're going to be together. Whether you like it or not."
I press my head back against the head rest. I want to close my eyes again, but I fight the urge, still trying to pinpoint exactly where I am.
"How long until we get there?"
Wherever there is.
"Not long now."
I don't know if that's a good thing. Probably bad.
My legs feel stiff from sitting in the same position too long.
"My legs are sore. And this tape hurts."
"Like I said, not too long now," he replies.
We drive for a while and I give up trying to understand what is going on in his mind. My throat is dry and my tongue feels glued to the roof of my mouth. We wind up a hill and I straighten my spine, seeing a change in Rhett.
"I want you to know that you pushed me to this."
"What?" I squeak.
"You were meant to still be asleep."
I look from him, out the windscreen and back again. I pull at the seatbelt and try to bang against the door. I kick. My skin burns. My legs ache. My head pounds.
He touches me, and I recoil. He looks at me sadly, before facing forward.
"We're going away," he says. "We'll be together now."
"Rhett," I'm begging him at this point. Sweat mingles with tears on my cheeks as my fingers curl around the seatbelt. "Don't do this."
He stomps on the accelerator and the engine revs loudly. My scream fills the car. We are mid-air. I watch as the ground beneath us disappears, and the car sinks heavily, nothing solid underneath it now. The sound of metal crunching against rocks explodes around us. The roof caves in, pushing me deep into my seat, my neck on a bad angle. White, hot pain ignites my entire body.
Then there is nothing.