CRUSH (30 page)

A cry bubbled up from inside me as I realized
what he was saying. He’d
killed
Jordan.

“Do you see now how important you are?” He
reached for me again.

“Stay away!” I shouted, shoving him roughly and
sending him sprawling. I turned with a sob and fled off the stage toward the
main door of the private theater, clutching the knob. I had to get out of here,
but it was locked tightly, and wouldn’t budge.

“Someone help me!” I screamed, pounding against
the thick, old, wooden panels so hard I thought I might break my hand. “Please!
Help!” A sudden wave of light-headedness overcame me.

“Not so fast, Cami,” Clay growled, seizing me,
and we both fell onto the plush carpet with him sprawled on top of me.

I pushed at him frantically, trying to squirm
my way out of his hold, but he grabbed my hands and pinned them to the side.
“Well, this is convenient, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” I couldn’t help the tremble
in my voice, nausea suddenly overwhelming.

A wicked gleam appeared in his eyes. “I mean
you should stop fighting me. I made sure I had a little insurance policy in
place. There’s no way you’re escaping me tonight.”

My vision suddenly tipped and swam, and I had
to blink several times to see him clearly. “You slipped something into my
drink, didn’t you?” Hysteria welled up inside, and my mouth went dry. “Are you
going to kill me too?”

He looked appalled. “What? No! I’d never do
anything to hurt you.”

“But you
are
hurting me.” I struggled to break free of his hold, but felt myself growing
weaker. “Don’t you understand that?”

“No, I’m helping you. I’m going to show you how
good we can be together. I finally realized if you could just
see . . . if you could understand the depth of my feelings for
you . . . then you’d want me as badly as I want you.” He almost
sounded sweet, like he truly believed everything he was doing was for the best.

The room tipped again, my strength seeping
farther from me. Tears leaked from my eyes as I tried to keep focused. “And
you’re gonna do that how, Clay? By forcing me? That isn’t going to endear you
to me at all.”

“Relax, Cami.” He lowered his mouth to my neck,
brushing a kiss near my ear. “I’ll be gentle,” he crooned. “I promise. It’ll be
so good.”

“Get off me!” In a burst of last-ditch energy,
I swiftly lifted my knee, hitting him with all the force I could
muster—hard. He groaned in agony and rolled off me to his side, clutching
his privates.

I climbed to my feet, leaning against the wall
for support. Strings of hanging lights swung wildly about, some falling as I grabbed
at them in a desperate
attempt
to stay upright. I
stumbled toward the door before remembering he had the keys on him, so I weaved
my way back and began digging in his pockets. Everything was swimming, and I
could barely focus, but I felt the cold metal touch my skin and I clasped it,
dragging them from him as he lunged for me again. I managed to escape his grasp,
and I staggered back to the door, trying desperately to stop my hands from
shaking long enough to slide the keys into the lock.

The first two didn’t work, but the third one
did. I felt like I was going to vomit as I turned the knob, but before I could
exit, Clay tackled me again and I went flying, hitting my head hard on the
floor. It was over. I knew I’d lost. I was too drugged to attempt another
escape now.

“Please don’t, Clay.” I was crying
uncontrollably, desperate to reach him somehow. “If you ever loved me at all,
please don’t do this. I’ll make sure you get some help.” My lips trembled
violently as I tried to form the words.

“I don’t need help. I need you,” he said brusquely.
His mouth descended to mine, and I turned my head sideways trying to avoid him,
but there was nowhere to go. I was pinned beneath the length of his body. He
grabbed my chin roughly and turned it back, pressing his mouth violently
against my lips. His other hand slid down my thigh, bunching my dress as he
pulled it up between us.

“Stop!” I begged, tasting my own tears as I
tried again to push him away. “Stop!”

He squeezed my leg before propping up to undo
the buckle on his belt.

I tried to take advantage of the situation,
attempting to roll over and crawl away from him.

“Oh no you don’t!” he snarled, flipping me back
and repositioning himself over me. I heard my clothing rip, and I started
flailing against his chest with my fists.

The heaviness in my limbs was sapping my
strength, but I couldn’t stop fighting. I couldn’t let him do this. I screamed
loudly, the terrified sound of my voice echoing off the walls of the room.

Clay flinched, but didn’t stop.

I gave into sobs. “
Please
,” I begged him. “
Please
don’t do this. Don’t do this, don’t do this, don’t do
this . . .” I repeated over and over again trying to block out
the sensation as his hand slid up my leg.

There was a loud clicking sound, and Clay
suddenly froze. I looked up to see the barrel of a gun pointed at his
head . . . a gun held by Hunter.

“Get up, Bradley,” Hunter said in a menacing
voice, and a strangled cry escaped my lips at the sight of him. Relief poured
through every part of my being. Hunter was here. Hunter was here. I couldn’t
stop my hysterical tears.

Clay slowly got up, lifting his hands into the
air, his pants hanging loosely at his waist. “Don’t shoot. I’ll do whatever you
say. You can put the gun down. You and I are totally cool.”

“We’re not anywhere close to cool right now,”
Hunter said, his features dark and mottled with rage. “Cami, are you okay?” he
asked without taking his eyes off Clay.

“I will be,” I tried to say between sobs.

His jaw clenched, flexing hard. “Did
he . . . was he . . .”

I knew what he was trying to ask. “No. He
didn’t . . . thanks to you.” I swallowed thickly, my tongue
feeling dry and swollen. “He drugged me with something, though. I feel really
sick.”

“Did you give her meth?” Hunter demanded,
glancing at me for one second with terrified concern.

Clay dove toward the gun, knocking it free from
Hunter’s grasp as they both fell. It slid down the sloping aisle toward me.
Both of them scrambled for it as I sat helplessly watching, but Clay was closer
and grabbed it first. Everything suddenly seemed to move at incredibly slow
speed as he swung around toward Hunter, lifted the gun, pointed, and fired.

“
Nooooo
!” I screamed
as Hunter grunted loudly, falling beside me, blood immediately spreading across
his shirt in a dark, wet, stain.

Clay laughed, a wild look in his eyes as he
approached closer, still directing the gun at Hunter. “How quick do you want to
die? I’ll let you decide where I put the next bullet.”

“Don’t, Clay! Please don’t kill him!” I sobbed.
Rolling over, I tried to protect his body with my own—my hands trying to
cover the place where he was hemorrhaging.

“Get out of the way, Cami,” Hunter said, trying
to push me, but I clutched onto him.

“No,” I whispered, hoarsely, collapsing against
his chest.

All of a sudden the world was exploding around
me, and I flinched as several shots of gunfire rang through the air. I couldn’t
make sense of what was happening as hands grabbed me around the waist, dragging
me off of Hunter.

“No!” I screamed, fighting until a familiar
voice echoed through my hysteria.

“Cami, it’s okay. It’s me, Chris. Are you
shot?”

I shook my head. “Help Hunter,” I begged,
trembling as he laid me back on the floor. That was when I saw Clay, obviously
dead in a pool of spreading blood—Hunter’s gun lying several feet away. I
turned, unable to stand looking at him.

“Code 999, code 999!” Chris yelled into his
radio as he grabbed Hunter’s gun before turning to shout out the door. “The
scene is clear, and I need a medic! I have an officer down!”

An
officer? What officer?
I
glanced around the room, looking for another victim before turning to Hunter,
who was still bleeding heavily beside me. I tried to lift my hand to put
pressure back on the wound, but I could barely move.

“Cami,” he choked out as Chris knelt beside us
and quickly tore off a part of my dress, holding it over the bullet hole in
Hunter’s chest.

“Hang in there, Dylan,” Chris said, his face a
mask of worry. “Don’t you even think of dying or your sister will kill me. I
promised her I wouldn’t let you get hurt.”

“Dylan?” I questioned, their faces both
blurring as I glanced between them.

“My real name,” Hunter wheezed. “I couldn’t
tell you. I wanted to, but it would’ve blown the investigation.” Little bits of
blood came out of his mouth.

“You’re a cop?” I whispered, trying to fight
the blackness swimming at the edges of my consciousness.

He nodded slightly, grimacing.

“So, it was all a lie
 . . .
” I couldn’t hang on any longer. I let the
darkness envelope me.

Cami-

He was buried a week later. Sadly, there were
not many people in attendance besides his family, my parents, and me. I didn’t
cry—I couldn’t. I was still in shock over everything. I couldn’t seem to
make the pieces fit together in my mind. I kept trying to figure out the moment
when my best friend had turned into a monster.

His
parents
felt
horrible—said they had no idea he’d become so deluded. They thought we
were dating from the things he’d told and shown them—everything from fake
letters and emails, to pictures he’d photo shopped of the two of us together.
He’d been living a totally phony relationship with me in his own head. The
police profiler told me Clay was delusional—he really believed us to be a
couple—and none of this was my fault. But he was dead now. That felt like
my fault.

I’d woken up in the hospital attached to
I.V.’s, which had been used to help flush the strong date rape drug Clay had
given me from my system. Hunter was the first person I asked for. They said
he’d been flown by helicopter to a larger facility, but no one would tell me
how he was doing. I tried calling his cell phone, but it said the number had
been disconnected.

Chris came to the hospital when he heard I’d
awakened. He asked me a lot of questions about what had happened with Clay that
night. I kept waiting for him to tell me something about Hunter, but he never
did. I finally asked him.

“I can’t discuss Hunter with you, Cami, since
this is part of an ongoing investigation.” He looked really sad. “But I promise
you’ll get answers as soon as possible. You’re going to have to trust me,
okay?”

I snorted. Trust. Who knew what that word meant
anymore?

“Can you tell me if he’s alive, at least? He
did get shot trying to protect me after all.”

“He’s alive.”

Relief washed through me.

“Is he going to be okay?” I had to know.

He stood and went toward the door. “He was
listed in critical condition the last I heard. I’m on my way to see him now. Is
there anything you want me to tell him?”

A million things raced through my mind, I love
you being first and foremost. “Tell him I
 . . .
” Confusion raced through my heart, making me
second-guess everything. What if he didn’t really feel the same? What if it was
just an act? He’d pulled away from me so many times. He had to be several years
older than me. Could he really be in love with a teenager? “Tell him thanks.”

“Is that all?” Chris asked, his eyes full of
concern.

“Are you really his uncle?” I wanted to hear
the truth about something from someone for a change.

He shook his head. “No. I’m actually his
brother-in-law. At least I am until his sister gets ahold of me. She’s gonna
have my head for allowing him to get hurt.” He sighed, rubbing a hand over his
face. “The whole family is in quite an uproar over everything.”

“I’m sorry he got put in danger because of me.”
The tears began leaking from my eyes without my permission, and I tried to
rapidly blink them away. I felt like I was barely clinging on to my sanity by a
thread.

Chris came over and grabbed my hand, squeezing
it. “None of this is your fault, Cami. Hang in there, okay? I’ll see to it you
have the answers as soon as I’m able.”

He walked out the door, and that was the last I
heard from anyone. The next Monday at school a dozen kids were arrested in a
giant drug sting. I knew Hunter had to be alive then. Someone had given them
names.

Yet, still I heard nothing from him.

I walked into my room when I got home and threw
myself on the bed, desperate to escape all the stares and whispers that
followed me the whole day.

“Can I get you anything, Cami?” my mom asked,
coming to check on me. She’d hardly left my side, coming home from work early
so I was never home alone.