Deadly Perception

Here I was standing in front of my large purple covered bed stressing over which dress I should wear to the dance, which was exactly one day away. It was a semi-formal meaning I needed to dress up. I'd never been to anything like this before so I was excited. Yesterday after telling Mrs. O'Keiff the news about Nick and I, she had taken me shopping claiming that I could buy as many dressed as I wanted. Oh, the joys of being rich.

I settled on three-purple, pink, and yellow-and now I had to narrow it down to only one. I could faintly hear the Channel 7 News playing on my TV in the background as I decided which dress to try on first. I reached for the strapless ruffled purple one and slipped it on over my clear strapped bra. I went over to check myself out in the mirror. The dress came to about mid-thigh and hugged my curves nicely. I checked the price tag. Holy shit! $184 for this piece of fabric, if you can even call it that. Regardless, I liked the dress and therefore it's a keeper.

"As delicious as that looks on you, I'd prefer it off and on the side of my bed." I didn't need to turn around to know who was standing in my doorway. It was Jack. Who else would make a comment like that? I pointedly ignored him and searched around for the remote control. Jack decided to fill the silence.

"Who's the lucky bastard?" He asked in the nicest way he probably knew how. I felt obligated to answer.

"Nick Grant," I said smugly. I glanced out of the corner of my eye trying to see Jack's reaction. He just had on his usual amused smirk. Oh, how I wished I could smack it off permanently.

"You're kidding, right?" I shook my head turning up the volume on the television. "You're dating that jerk off?"

"Yeah, we're going out officially as of today," I answered proudly. Jack scoffed and folded his arms shaking his head in disappointment. I ignored him and tuned into the report on TV.

BREAKING NEWS:
James Middleton, 18 years old, was found dead in Jefferson Park.
The teen had gone missing a few days ago. Police were able to
make out two very distinct gun wounds located in his neck and chest.
Investigators were able to connect this murder tactic with the earlier
death of Michael Grant, 17 years old. Not only that but-

Jack snatched the remote from my hand and clicked off the TV.

"Oh my God! Jefferson Park, that's right down the street from Brookdale." I ran a hand through my hair in worry. Was there a murdered on the loose so close to school? That's when something else clicked. Grant? That's Nick's last name. Michael Grant, must've been his brother! And James Middleton. Middleton? I'd heard that last name before. I turned to Jack whose eyes were narrowed on the blank TV screen. Jack had said that name the other day. He was talking on the phone and...

"J-Jack?" I called tentatively. He turned to glare at me and I shrunk back.

"What, Riley?" He demanded.

"Did you know James Middleton? Personally."

"Riley, what the hell would give you such a stupid idea?" Jack reprimanded me his tone defensive and guarded. I stepped back in fear and bumped into the edge of my bed. I fell over onto my back on the soft material. This wasn't a good position to be in. I propped myself onto my elbows as I talked.

"B-But I heard you say-"

"Shut the fuck up, Riley! You didn't hear anything! You don't know anything!" He was yelling at me now and I flinched as I tried to scrunch up into the tiniest ball possible. Before I knew it, Jack's large hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked into backwards so that I was flat on my back. He got on the bed next to me and grabbed each of my shoulders leaning down so that we were eye to eye.

"Look, Riley, jumping to conclusions is a very bad habit. It gets you into a lot of trouble," he said seriously. One of his hands let go of my shoulder and moved teasingly slow down my body before wrapping under my thigh. "And I'd hate for anything to happen to you just yet." The way he said that made me uncomfortable especially the evil glint in his eyes. Shit! I knew that look.

"Get off!" I shouted squirming to get away. I knew what he was thinking. I knew that look. There was no way I was going to let him do this. Jack only chuckled an pressed himself tighter against me to calm my struggles. I felt something hard against my thigh and I began to panic.

"You know, if I were you, I'd stop squirming. It's a huge turn on-" He stopped for a minute to think, A wicked smile appeared on his face. "Better yet..." His hand roughly pushed up the bottom of my dress to my stomach. "Keep squirming."

I was out of options so I did the only thing that came to mind. I punched him. The only problem was that in my current position, I couldn't get enough force so it barely did anything except piss Jack off. His hand came down hard on my cheek and my head snapped to the side.

"I thought I would make this somewhat enjoyable for you, but now I changed my mind," he said harshly as tears prickled my eyes and my cheek stung. I was relieved of his wight for a second as he pulled his shirt over his head. No, no, no... not this way, I thought as he hooked his thumbs into the sides of my underwear. He slid them down achingly slow trying t build up my fear and his own anticipation.

Just as his fingers slipped down between my legs, the front door opened and Mrs. OKeiff called out to us. My savior!

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Jack growled as he rolled off of me. I didn't waste any time, and immediately straightened out my clothes and moved as far away from Jack as I could. I wrapped my arms around my knees and pulled them tight to my chest. I was shaking now. That had been much to close for comfort. Before I had been a little freaked out by Jack, but now I was downright terrified.

"Jack, come down here for a second," Mrs. O'Keiff said. Jack mumbled something angrily as he grabbed for his shirt. I watched him cautiously.

Oddly enough, my eyes were drawn to the tattoo on his shoulder. For a minute it captivated my attention. It was a skull, dark and eerie, covered in blood. A silver dagger ran straight through the skull. There was fancy lettering underneath it, but I couldn't make out the words.

Jack finally pulled his shirt on covering the tattoo completely, which snapped me out of my trance. He turned to smirk widely at me. "We'll continue this real soon, princess. Don't you worry about it." With that, he left without a second glance and I felt incredibly sick.

I ran to the bathroom, knelt over the toilet, and let out everything I had eaten that day.