Hate, Love, and Sex Appeal

“Hey mis..sime?”
Logan’s greeting words sluggishly slithered out of his occupied mouth as he foolishly grinned in my direction, a burning blunt dangling from his desert lips.
“Sure did, Buddy.”
Tony jokingly confessed as Logan gladly handed the smoldering drug that he’d been eyeing, over to him. Tony instantaneously cracked a lop-sided smile as he gratefully inhaled the drug; lazily blowing out effortless smoke rings. I never understood how people were able to do such an act, I could hardly blow bubbles with my gum. It amazed me every time something such as that was bestowed upon my awaiting eyes.
Logan’s sturdy arm adorned my vacant shoulder as my skinny arm snaked itself around his well-built waist. My head automatically fell onto his slumped shoulder as he lightly pulled my head in to gently place a kiss on my forehead. His sweet cologne sailed and playfully hit my senses as he tugged me a bit closer.
Tony relinquished the stubby blunt and Logan immediately swiped it up with eagerness pelting out his eyes.

“Hey, dude, careful. Don’t overdo it, remember?”
Logan raised an eyebrow and shot a death-inspired glare in Tony’s exact direction and Tony looked unaltered as he slightly cocked his head in a knowing response before taking another swig of his what must have been room temperature beer.
“Hey-ey-ey, just a suggestion, Lo.”
Riley had replied quickly as she snatched a glance at the laser darts shooting from Logan’s preoccupied eyes.

Could you have déjà vu when you were never really in the same situation? It felt as though this had happened before. That’s impossible due to the fact that I’ve never been here and have never met these people. Yet, for the strangest reason, it occurred to me that this wasn’t a first time thing. I snagged a peak at something that had appeared where we stood. I watched on as they all backed down from him. Almost afraid? Alarmed? As I’ve probably said before, I watch way too much animal planet but I recognized what was going on. They were backing down as followers back down from the pack of the leader. I’ve seen it dozens of times before, it wasn’t unrecognizable.
“I’m fine.” Logan spat out as he eyed them all out.
“Didn’t say you weren’t. Just easy does it, right?” Tony shot back, his voice equal in defiance. I watched as his fingers clutched harder onto his beloved cup, but his face remained the same; unreadable yet bold.
Logan’s stare was stiff as he briefly nodded, teeth toying around with his inner lip.

“Well, I’m gunna take her around, introduce her, so…”
He inhaled deeply as he trailed off but everyone got the gist of what he was about to say anyway.
“Yeah, alright, go get ‘em.” Tony arose from his seat and grabbed his hand and tugged him closer for that half hug that almost every guy gives to their best buds.
He then grinned in my direction with that smile that was increasingly growing to be one of my favorite smiles and pulled me to him in a full fledged bear hug. I felt his hot breath whisper in my ear.
“Take care alright, butterfly? Come find me if anything happens, if he gets out of hand, anything.”
His voice danced around quickly but I’m sure I heard every word.
He let go and smiled back down at me. “It was nice to meet ya, see you soon, yeah?”
“Of course, I’ll see you guys soon. It was nice to meet you.”
The girls smiled as they both nodded. “Take care.”
“Sure will.” I smiled at them and glanced up at Logan for an instant.
He nodded at them and directed me away from them.
“Watch over them.”

I was unsure as to whether I really heard the last statement or not. Logan hadn’t heard it, or at least he didn’t show any sign of hearing it. Otherwise, he was quite skilled at hiding reactions.
“So, are you having a good time?”
Logan said over to me as loud as possible in able to be heard as he delicately rubbed his hand over my covered arm.
“Yeah, thanks for bringing me. How come I’ve never met them?” I secretly nodded over at the newly found trio.
“Honestly, I dunno. I should have introduced you earlier. Sorry bout that, darlin’.”
“Naw, it’s alright. I was just curious. You seem really close to them.”
“Yeah, they have my back, you know?”
He discreetly squeezed me tighter to him as we continued our walk around the crowded areas of the house. I certainly wouldn’t want to be here to clean up in the morning.

Faces seemed to start morphing together like edges of butterfly wings as I was introduced to a ridiculous number of people. Everywhere that I turned, there was a different pair of eyes gawking at me. I felt out of my skin but I was here and I wasn’t about to change it. My obscured memory was melting like make-up off of a face on day in the summer. My mind was physically aching from seeing so much at one point in time and yet my feet shuffled along as I met more people. There was always a different cup in Logan's hand every other time I looked.

“Hey Lo?”
“Yeah babe?”
I instinctively cringed at the pet name that I was solely used to Frank calling me. I fumbled with his fingers as his tanned hand remained clasped in my smaller one like a kid that used plastic wrap for the first time and snagged himself in the layers.
“How come Poot and Mac couldn’t make it?”
“Not into the scene. Besides they’re probably off with each other anyway.”
I cocked my head to the side in curiosity.
“Together?”
“Yeah, I think they’re together.”
I nodded in acute notice.
“You know…you’re really sexy when you’re confused.”
Crimson charged to my pale cheeks as he let off a goofy grin as he continued to pull me through the puddles of people.

Up another set of stairs and a window frame caught my eye. A pulsing rush of horror replaced my stomach in the fraction of a second. Outside on the old-fashion wooden deck were the guys who harassed me on the beach, only this time Gerard and Frank had not followed me. I was out in the battlefield alone and going to hold my own.
“Logan, do you know them?”
He paused momentarily and glanced at me then out through the sweating window. His grin was something I’d see on the Joker.
“Actually, yeah. That’s Steve-o right there. They’re my best friends. Want me to introduce you?” He gestured while looking at me through sunken eyes.
My body went rigid with fear as the words left him and if I hadn’t kept my mind I wouldn’t still be standing.
“Naw, it’s fine. They look like they’re busy, anyway-”
“They wanna meet you though.”
“No, Logan, it’s fine, later?”
“What’s the matter, darlin’?” A sly grin peaked through mockingly.
“Nothing, it’s just--”
“Just what?”
“Nothing. I’ll meet them later. So where were you taking me?”
He angled his head and stared silently with the hint of the attempt to ridicule me.

He harshly tangled his hand within my icy one, recapturing the heat that pressured against my fingers as he tugged me along beside him. He nudged me up the stairs that would ordinarily creek if it hadn’t been for immense amount of sound blasting through the interior of the house.
“So how do you know my friends?” He whispered close to my ear, close enough for my to note the alcohol- laced within the spaces of his breath.
“I’ve seen them at the beach. Lo, you feeling alright?”
“Never been better. So, you want a tour of the upstairs?”

I hesitated on the idea but escaping from the entire heated hectic atmosphere sounded refreshing.
“Sure,” I answered nonchalantly as we walked up the rest of the stairs. Loud bass lines drummed through the plaster of the walls, leaving the house buzzing like static.
A shimmering glint of forest green struck my view and ignited curiosity almost instantaneously. I easily released myself from the fingers that held me and walked towards the momentary apple of my eye.
“What?”
I refused an answer that incorporated vocal usage; however I bent down and picked up the object of attention.
It lay chilled in my grasp, the edges jagged yet not so much as to snag my skin. The ceramic forest green eye hidden by a rainbow of dark eyelashes. I lifted the porcelain host, along with the jagged edge and my mind had been struck with a perspective. The distinct sound of Logan’s chuckling infiltrated my ear drum as I continued to watch the motionless doll, as if I were waiting for a change.
“Bri, what are you doing?” His slurring had relieved to a degree, however was still present as his velvet tone dripped from his lips.
“I don’t know, the doll, it’s broken…”
“Yeah, so what?”
“I want it to be fixed.”

His olive eyes pierced me with his astounded amusement.
“Baby, it’s just a broken doll. There’s no point in fixing it when it’s gunna be broken again.”
The small figure adjusted to the shape of my hand along with the chipped away face.
“I guess so.”
“I know so, so don’t worry bout it.”

He appeared briefly perplexed before shutting the door behind him.
He gently pulled me up from the place I sat, still intrigued by the broken pieces that occupied my hands. He carefully cradled me in his arms and stared down with a Cheshire cat grin.
My flimsy frame became best buds with the thickly stained wall as he slyly pushed me with his wide body. His tanned hands molded to my hips like they were stone as his salty sweet drug-lines lips enclosed mine into a lustful kiss.

His loving hands had an almost animalistic turn as the urgency in his body grew clearer than crystal.
“Lo?”
“Mm?”
His head rested in the crook of my neck, leaving multiple trails of butterfly-soft kisses.
“I don’t want-”
“Sh, it’s okay.”
His hips feverishly grounded into mine as his muscled hands became one with mine almost immediately. I remembered where I stood and the pit of stomach was wailing engulfed in flames.
“Logan, I don’t..”
His lips discontinued my sentence as his body went from a blanket to a straight-jacket.
His movements became exceedingly frenzied as his hands traced the outlining of my panicking figure, descending lower at an obvious rate.
The music electrified the walls of house, making it increasingly difficult to hear anything but what was close. This sent my stomach into a rage. It’s like that on the outside too.
The bottom of my jeans was no longer all done up and the places where the pockets should have been were replaced with his desiring hands. That’s my shirt on the floor. A low moan escaped from deep within his throat coated in poison, chilling me to the bone. I tried to grab him by the shoulders-
“Baby, come on, it’ll be fine.”
“Logan, no, I don’t-”
“Bri, it’s alright.”
His movements grew harsher with every passing second. Dizzy spells crashed on top of me, harder to breathe as my torso was trapped under a greater weight. It’s not going to stop, he’s not going to stop.
“Logan, stop.”

My pleading words soared past his head and were instantly an echo, reverberating back to my own ears. My fists pressed up against his well-sculpted chest in attempt to regain anything at all. Control wasn’t something of an option any longer in my possession as he pinned my wrists to the sheets.
“Logan, stop it. I don’t want to do anything like that.”
“Shut up, it’s fine.”
His tone chilled me, like frost, down to my very nerves that were screaming at me to run, to let instinct take over, to get out. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
His burly body was like iron as he detained me in his handcuff grip. This wasn’t suppose to happen, I need to get out.
Panic increasingly flared into the crimson liquid crushing around my veins at full speed and I began flailing in attempt to relieve myself of his presence. Help.
His agitation was obvious as pain burst from my face from the backside of his hand.
“Shut the fuck up, it’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine, get off of me.”
My mouth earned me another flare of pain on the other side of my face.

Knock, Knock.
My eyes shown bright in hope and his flickered with annoyance.
“Logan, buddy you in there?”
His deviled eyes swiveled to mine.
“You speak and Frank’s really gonna get it.” He whispered in a stone cold tone that terrified me beyond anything.
Fuck.
“Logan, answer the fucking door.”
“I’m a bit preoccupied…dude.”
“Butterfly, you in there?”
“Answer him right, baby.”
I froze.
“Yeah.”
The tight grip around my wrists tightened and I winced in pain.
“You better fake it better than that if you really want Frank safe.”
“Are you alright?”
I felt the threat of tears slash across my eyes. My body was riddled in pain and it stung worse than anything that I could imagine.
“Please, don’t do this to me, Logan.” I whispered, desperate to just get out of here.
“Fucking answer him, so help me God.”

Something inside me ignited. That’s fucking enough. Intensified anger swept me up in a tornado of pure fury. No.
“I..I…Tony, help!”
A strong fist smashed into the side of my face and I felt liquid gush from my nose as I continued to try and block the blows heading my way. If I ached, I could hardly feel it. Pure fear controlled whatever I was doing and it left me numb to the point where I knew that I was fighting to stay alive.
The wooden door was knocked over instantly as Tony barged through without a problem.
“Logan, get the fuck off! She’s bleeding everywhere!”
“Fuck-”

Tony lunged forward and tackled Logan to instantly rip from me. Tony’s muscled arm connected with Logan’s face in a forceful punch the Hulk would be envious of. Blood spattered from Logan’s apparent broken nose as he wreathed underneath Tony’s stronger built body.
“Butterfly, get out of here!”
Logan’s fist right hooked and caught Tony’s arm in it’s orbit.
My horrified trance broken, I threw on my clothes faster than lightning, grabbed the broken doll pieces, and charged out the door faster then I have ever gone before. I earned a few horrified glances from a scattered few and I realized that I must look like train wreckage still walking. I swiped at the blood pouring from my nose as I tried looking for an escape route. Riley glanced and did a double take, in a picture of pure horror.
“We need to get you out of here.”
She tugged me gingerly by the elbow towards the kitchen, I believe. I was in a bit of a state and anxiety had rushed to my head. Not another attack. Please, not another one.
She drenched a few paper towels and retrieved ice from the freezer as she handed me the wet towels.
“Here.”
“Thanks.”
She gently cleaned my face of the already drying blood that had chunked in abundant amounts.
“Put this ice on..your face. Now where are they? Somebody went and already called the cops.”
“They’re...they’re in the little sister’s room.”
“Alright. Honey, I need to go get help. You need to get out of here. People are looking for you. Go home, be careful. I will see you later, okay?”
She looked at me, with surprising what looked like a mother’s care and scooted off.
“The door’s over there, creep out the back way, yeah?” She motioned to the door in the corner of the jungle like kitchen.
“Thank you so much.”
She briefly nodded and headed out in another direction.
I dabbed the ice on my face and lunged towards the outside world. I ran like there was no tomorrow. Down the beach way, because they warned me the street was someplace to keep away from in the dark.

Little did I know that the best place to walk would have been the street because that’s where the true safety lurked.