Synister: The Push Series - Book 1 (12 page)

I really wanted Synister to come to my last show. He had even offered to reschedule their show for tonight, but I immediately refused to hear such a thing. In my typically badass chick exterior, I told him I was fine without him being there. And I was. I wanted this night to be about the girls. With Synister there, their focus would change, and selfishly, I wanted these ladies to myself for the night. He reluctantly agreed and promised to meet me outside the club afterward.

It was one a.m., and the Push show would have been over for an hour, so I knew Syn and Tony would be waiting outside for me. Rushing to the front of the pack, I wanted to get changed and to him as soon as possible. For a minute, I knew he would have spent the last two hours with women hoping they would get a chance with him at the meet-and-greet. They were so misguided. The best was when fangirls spent time trying to convince Hendrix they had a “proposition” for him. I had sat backstage so many times and just thought,
Honey, that train
doesn't even come close to hitting your track
. It was always fun to watch them walk away dejected. Honestly, nine times out of ten, the entire time the chick was trying to win Hendrix over, he was either checking out their boyfriend/husband or some random stage hand. Synister and I never let jealously enter our hearts; there was simply no room for it.

I was snapped back to reality when every girl stared, giggling and screaming in excitement. There was such a flurry of activity in front of me I could not see what all the craziness was about.
Was it Synister? Did he come to surprise me?
That would be totally him. I smiled and felt my heart thump faster in my chest at the possibility. My arm was pulled, and my shoulder pushed as the estrogen level went through the roof. When the sea parted, I noticed a vase with a dozen red roses beside my station. No big deal, right? It was the person holding them that created all the fuss.

“Brooklyn, what’s up?” So casual. Except that every woman in the room was moist in places that you could only imagine. The words slid off the poisonous tongue of Zeke. I knew all the girls were hoping to get his number or in his pants. I just wanted to get out of here and put some distance between us. Where was Synister?

“Zeke, what are you doing here?” I leaned forward, taking the flowers. I loved every member of Push like a brother, but Zeke I trusted as far as I could throw him. He always gave me a bad vibe. I wasn't afraid of him, just that nauseous feeling that only women understood.

“He’s out in the SUV. He asked me to just leave the flowers and then get back to the car. These damn women caught me mid-drop-and-run.” Zeke smiled and gave me a pat on the back.
Now this is really odd. Of all the band mates, why would Syn send Zeke in?
Everyone else was most likely still partying, so Zeke would have been the only option.
Ugh.

As Zeke walked to the exit, I was surprised to see that he even signed a few autographs. Out of every guy in Push, he was the one I knew the least about. He kept to himself, didn't travel with the band, just showed up before the show and for practices. Other than that—nothing, no interaction. I watched Zeke’s backside as he pushed through the door. The minute the door closed, everyone’s head turned to me, and instantly, all the noise stopped. You could have heard a pin drop.

“Okay, Brooklyn Reigns, you need to start explaining your connection to Zeke Trettin of Push and why he is bringing you flowers,” one of the girls said.

I was seriously worried they were going to hijack me if I didn’t start giving them answers.

“He’s my friend. Well, actually, he is my best friend’s friend.”

“And who would your best friend be, Brooklyn?” The voice came from the back of the room.

“Synister Smith.” Turning away from the crowd, I grabbed my black trench coat and the flowers. Mumbled
Oh my God
and
You have got to be kidding me
filled the space. Synister had to be close, and tonight, I was finally going to answer the question that he had been asking me over and over for the last two weeks since Chicago.

I had no idea that tonight would be the night, but everything was falling into place. My days of gracing the Bally’s stage with my sequins and headgear were done. A perfect ending to that chapter of my life. Push was on a mid-tour break, so Syn and I were going to get time together alone from the band and the chaos of life on the road. I had put in for a leave at work, and although I told them I only needed a week, there was an odd sense of finality the last time I swiped my card to exit the firm’s employee parking garage. I was ready for a new chapter. Synister was even thinking about buying a permanent residence in L.A. so we could chill like real people when life permitted it.

Leaning my head down, I took a long pull of the amazing scent the roses were giving off. A huge smile spread across my face. I was happy. I hadn’t been this excited about what the future held since...well, I guess I had never been this positive about what was to come.

I think the girls were all still in shock as I pushed through them and out the door. I was bitching out by dropping the Syn bomb and then bailing, but I didn’t want to explain us. Honestly, I really did not know how to explain us. What were we really? I had always hated labels, so I steered clear of calling these last two weeks anything but amazing. I refused to put it in a box of this or that. I was just going to be. Like a leaf in the breeze, I was going to follow the path in front of me and decide what came next when the decisions presented themselves.

As I entered the alley outside the club, I placed the flowers on the stoop and threw my black trench coat over my shoulders. Still in my heels and corset, I pulled the belt around my waist and tied the coat in front of me. Picking up the flowers, I noticed a figure at the end of the alley. My heart almost leaped out of my chest as I realized Synister was standing with his hip resting on the side of the SUV. He was looking down the street toward the front of the club. This was perfect. He was expecting me to come out the main entrance with the other dancers. This would give me the chance to sneak up on him unnoticed.
Yes!

Taking the first steps toward the end of the alley, I watched Synister turn and place his forearms on the roof of the SUV. Oh my God, this is even better. He was always scaring the shit out of me with pranks, so when I had the chance to get him back, I was going to take full advantage of it.

Making my way toward the SUV, I began plotting all the ways I was going to scare him. I never realized how dark the alley was, and I half-tripped as I stumbled to step over a beer bottle.
Shit!
As I righted myself, I saw Zeke make his way to the SUV. After a short exchange, Zeke gave Synister a fist bump and took off down the street. Man, he was an odd bird. If Synister hadn’t seen him like a brother, I would have been more concerned about his mild psycho, silent but deadly tendencies. As the breeze ripped through the alley, I realized that in my haste to get out of dodge I was practically naked in the cold early morning air. Well, cold in Vegas terms. Bringing my hands up to my chest to hold my coat closed brought the flowers closer to my nose. When the scent of the beautiful roses overwhelmed my senses and the vision of the man in front of me took over my eyes, I was happy. Happy was not something in my life for a long time so I was going to cherish it. We had both spent the better part of a decade being the roadblock to a relationship. I wasn’t sure if what we had was traditional. Hell, we were not traditional.

I was so wrapped up in Synister that I did not hear the footsteps behind me. If I had, maybe it would have made a difference. I didn’t know; everything happened so fast. I watched the flowers fall to the ground. The beautiful red color quickly turned to a mixture of red and brown as the roses became covered in mud. Just a minute ago, the vibrancy of the colors was a bright spot in the darkness. Now…now the flowers were tarnished and ruined. As his words filled my ears, I was confused and frightened. “You fucking scream and I will kill you. Trust me, you bitch, I’m not playin.’”

Before he was finished talking, I felt his hands on my shoulders. I was spun around so quickly I felt an overwhelming dizziness. My jacket was ripped from my body, and I heard the beads and crystals as they plummeted to the ground. I wasn’t sure if it was the darkness or the fact I was scared out of my mind that had heightened my senses, but every noise was supersonic loud. Every scent total overload. The way his breath smelled. How when he leaned in closer to me his scent was a mixture of soap and bleach. When he pulled my head back, the burn of hair being ripped from my scalp brought tears to my eyes. I could tell you every second of the assault, every sensation, and the details of my surroundings to the precise minutiae. I felt his hand as it connected with the side, front, and side of my face again and again. He was so angry, and I kept asking myself over and over what I did to deserve this. In a flash, I saw the glint of the moonlight off what I later was told was a knife. My face was so numb from all the hits that I couldn't tell that he had begun using the knife on my face, neck, and chest. I tried, God, I tried with all my might to free my hands, but they were pinned underneath his knees. He was kneeling on them with his body directly over me. He was breathing so heavy. I could see the puffs of breath increasing with their intensity as he started exhaling faster and faster.

And then as quickly as the assault had started, he pulled back. I was free. I tried to scramble to my feet, but my left eye was completely shut from all the hits. My ears were ringing, and my head felt like it was a boulder on my shoulders. Realizing that I was not going to get to my feet, I pushed myself to my hands and knees and began to pull myself toward the light and Syn at the end of the alley. My head hurt so badly. I could feel the broken glass and pavement from the alley as it cut into my hands and knees. I was so afraid. I tried to scream.
Where did he go? Fuck, Brooklyn, why do you care? Get the hell out of here.

What did he look like? What was he wearing?
I needed to memorize as many details as I could for the police. The one detail that eluded me at every turn was his face.

I mustn’t have made it very far because the moment I felt a hand grasp my ankle I was being dragged on my stomach back into the darkness.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, whore? I didn’t say I was done with you.”

I began to claw at the ground, looking for anything to get traction to pull myself away from him. I used my free leg to kick. I was not going down without a fight. I flopped myself onto my back, giving everything I had to get away. I was able to land three quick kicks to his right leg and thigh, which only increased his anger. Reaching for me with his free hand, he managed to grab my other leg. I was convinced he was going to kill me. I was going to die here. I couldn't die. I had so much more I needed to do. Instantly, my mind went to Syn. Jesus, he could not find me like this. I had to fight. As my attacker pulled me toward him and pushed my legs open, the reality of his next move hit me in the heart like a bullet. I realized that he had my legs pinned, but while he was opening his pants, he had taken his attention off my hands. Pushing myself up off the ground, I raised my head and spit in his face.

“You dirty, worthless bitch.”

Those were the last words I heard. He hit me with such an intensity on the side of the head that I saw stars. The ringing in my ears turned to a loud hum. Both of my eyes were completely shut, and my face, hands, and torso were so sore. I had no more fight in me. If this were where my life ended, I would know that I had tried my best to get away. I had tried with everything I had to get to Syn. In that moment, my only regret was that I had not told him yes when I had the chance.

They say before you die your life flashes before your eyes. That you see all the good times and the moments that made your life your own. The only thing I saw was Syn. He was my life, and I would love him until my last breath. Laying my head back onto the pavement, I felt the pull of my pantyhose and panties as they were ripped from by body and then the forceful thrust of him taking the last bit of me that he hadn’t already ruined with his fists or his blade. No matter how badly I was hurting, I would not cry. I would not give him that satisfaction. If he wanted to draw out my inner fear, he would lose that battle. He might have been brutalizing my body and my mind, but he would not see it. Hell no. Some things you couldn’t take from people no matter how much you tried.

I felt his hands on my chest as he pushed me into the ground and the weight of his body on top of me. As he ruined me, I heard his grunts and finally the sounds of his exhaustion when he was finished. I quickly became as dirty and broken as the roses that lay beside me on the ground. I screamed for Syn, over and over again. He never turned around. Maybe I wasn't actually screaming out loud. Maybe it was all in my head.

I hated that I could feel my attacker in my body. I could hear his sounds and his enjoyment. The physical pain I was in was nothing compared to the pain for being broken to the core. As I felt the weight of him removed from my body, he had just one more insult to add. I lay there broken and bleeding, covered in sweat and fluids, and he decided that I was nothing more than a piece of trash. I felt the warm liquid on my chest and arms, becoming all too aware that he was relieving himself on me. An insult that after everything seemed the most degrading. How could someone I never met hate me so much to do this?

As my head rested on the ground, I could feel the heat on the back of my neck, indicating that I was bleeding from multiple places. With every punch to my face, a piece of me was shattered. As every second of the assault passed, I got farther and farther away from Syn. The alley turned into a tunnel before my eyes, and the only light I saw was not coming to my aid. Why wasn't Syn responding to my cries for help? I needed him, and he was just out of my reach but so far away. Why? Please, someone help me.

I opened my mouth to expel one last cry for help when my world went black.