Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of its characters.
A/N: Hey guys. First of all, sorry this one took so long after promising to be quicker on the updates. I have no real excuse except that it was a real challenge to write. It's like everything was coming down to these next few chapters and I knew what I wanted in there and the outcome, but had trouble getting it to work the way I wanted. I'm still not too sure about it and may make some changes after a while, but I've kept you waiting long enough, and any changes I make will not affect what happens, but rather only how it's written…lol. I hope you like it.
Off subject, I almost cried when James got eliminated off American Idol, and then Haley the very next week. I really wanted those two in the finals together. Loved them. I'm so disappointed, but what can you do, right? I can't even vote…lol. But if I could, out of the two left, my vote would totally go to Scotty, who I wanted as third place after James and Haley. No offence to Lauren fans (I know there are plenty of them…lol) I'm just not all that impressed by her. Anyway, I'm blabbing and you're not here to see my American Idol picks so I'll get on with it. LOL. Enjoy, or at least try to…hehe.
…
"Lucas Scott," Mrs. Jenkins called out. No reply. "Haley James." Nothing. "Marvin McFadden." She shook her head as she called the names of Rachel Gatina and Jimmy Edwards. "Is there a holiday I wasn't aware of?" she asked, surprised to have so many of her prize students away.
In another class, Mr. Barns called out Brooke's name, along with Skills, Junk, and Fergie, using their proper names of course. Mr. Barns was a little less surprised by the missing students.
And yet in Miss Peterson's class, Nathan, Peyton, and Damien's names were called. Silence on all counts. Miss Peterson was not surprised by the absences at all.
...
"You're never gonna get away with this," Luke said as he momentarily stopped what Damien had instructed him to do. "The teachers are gonna notice we're not in class and wonder what's up."
Damien sent him a condescending look before replying, "And why's that? No kid's ever skipped class before? Especially near midterms?"
"Maybe you guys," Luke answered. "But not us."
"Ok, Saint Lucas," Damien sneered. "Just tie the knot and let me worry about the rest. And make it tight. I don't trust him not to pull something 'heroic'. He likes to show off like that."
Luke sighed and proceeded to do as told, which was use his hoodie to bind Nathan's arms to the steel pole behind him. It wasn't an easy task in such a cramped space, especially since the side of the boiler plate sat just inches beside them, the heat radiating from it, causing a sweat to an almost nauseating degree. Damien definitely wanted Nathan feeling the heat. As for Lucas, he was allowed to stand back with the others after he'd accomplished the job.
Nathan, whose eyes were trained on the gun held to his fiancé's head, was to have a front row seat of whatever was to come. He couldn't believe this was happening, that Lucas was right about Damien. They were friends. Sure he'd recently suspected him of betraying him by trying to move in on Peyton, but this? This was insane. "You're a fucking dead man when I get out of this," he told him.
Damien had nerve to chuckle and shake his head in amusement. "Even in these dire circumstances, you have to run off at the mouth, but do you really think playing tough guy is the best idea right now? Cuz, you know, since I'm the one holding the gun, I'd say I'm in control here, not you."
"For now," Nathan answered dryly. "That's probably not even a real gun."
"You wanna find out?" Damien asked, cocking back the trigger.
"No!" Nathan said, panic in his voice. Taking a chance on Peyton's life wasn't something he was willing to do.
"You can't kill us all," Rachel piped up, hoping she sounded careless.
"Says who?"
She laughed at him. "Look around, genius. There's too many of us and you can only shoot one person at a time."
"Ahh yes," Damien replied. "But who's it gonna be? Is there anyone in here that you're willing to risk?"
"You're bluffing," Luke said.
Damien snickered at the comment. "Am I? Funny, that's what Katie thought too, just before I made her pay for crossing me. Oh and hey, why don't you ask your buddy Mouth there how it felt to have a knife to his throat," he gloated.
"You're a sick son of a bitch," Lucas muttered, his eyes narrowing as he took in Damien's admission. "But since neither one of them are dead, it doesn't prove anything."
"Oh, you need proof?" Damien mocked.
"No, don't," Nathan once again protested. "Shut the fuck up," he told both Lucas and Rachel. "If you two get her killed, I swear you're next," he threatened.
"Why's everybody yelling?" Peyton came out with, oblivious to the danger around her. "And why's it so hot in here?"
"You picked the place, sweetheart," Damien replied. "I simply came along for the ride."
"Baby," she said to Nathan as though she just remembered he'd come. "Come here. There's so many things I wanna do to you right now. Dirty things," she said sexily. "Except," she added, her eyes scanning the small space around her. "Where did everybody come from? It was just supposed to be you and me."
"I know, babe."
"Then why did you bring so many people? I only wore this skirt for you, you know," she pouted.
"I know."
"And you said it was hot," she said.
"It is."
"But you were late. Were you with Shelly?"
Before he could reply she revealed that Damien had said he was with Shelly in the janitor's closet.
Nathan shook his head. "Don't believe him; it's a lie."
"Oh come on now," Damien scoffed. "Tell her the truth. You think she doesn't know? Tsk, tsk, tsk, why must you disappoint her every time?" he ridiculed.
"Look, this is nuts," Nathan said. "Why are you even doing this?"
Snickering, Damien replied. "The better question would be, why not?"
"We're friends, man," Nathan replied, though he couldn't really say so now. "At least I thought we were."
"Friends?" Damien scoffed. "I'm sorry, but friends don't try to outdo each other every chance they get."
"What?"
"Let's just say you pissed me off one too many times," Damien replied. "And from the looks of you," he added, indicating his beaten appearance, "I guess I'm not the only one."
"Did you get in a fight?" Peyton asked him as though Damien bringing it up just made her realize.
"Something like that," Nathan muttered in reply.
"Was it your dad again?" she inquired, too out of it to consider the others around them. "Cuz remember he said he wouldn't…"
"It wasn't him, Peyt," he cut her off.
"Why don't you let her finish her sentence?" Damien roared.
"It's ok," Peyton brushed off and then whispered, though it was pointless since everyone could hear her. "He doesn't like to talk about that in front of other people. It's a secret." She realized then that she'd just let it slip and scowled as her gaze bore into Nathan's. "I'm sorry, baby. I messed up again."
Nathan shook his head. That kind of slip up might usually upset him, but it was the last thing he was worried about right now. Besides, he'd blown that secret himself just moments before when he was yelling at Lucas outside. What had he been thinking? He hadn't been. He'd just blurted out what came to mind. He was really bad for that. Then again, he was pretty sure his home dynamics weren't as much a secret as he'd hoped to keep them. Not that that was important right now. "No, you didn't," he told her.
"You ok?" she asked him, concern crossing her features.
He smiled a little at that. Even all drugged up she was worried about him. If he lost her….no, he couldn't think about that. Somehow they would get out of this and she would be fine. Damien, not so much. "Yeah," he replied. "I'm fine."
She sent him a sexy smile. "Come here and let me kiss it all better for you."
He wished he could. His heart nearly jumped in his throat when she shrugged and decided she would go to him instead, causing Damien to push her back in place. "Hey, don't hurt her," he warned.
Damien smiled, enjoying the desperation he heard in Nathan's voice. "Don't make me."
"Ok, just tell me what I have to do."
"There's nothing you can do. I've been waiting for this moment a long time," Damien said. "When I could finally see you go down. I've tried just about everything, but somehow you always manage to come out on top. Well, not this time."
"What the hell, man?" Nathan questioned, growing more tense and confused by the second. "Why do you hate me so much? What'd I do?"
"What'd you do!" Damien exclaimed. "You can't seriously be asking me that question! From day one, ever since you came to this school, you've been pretending to be my friend, all the while stepping on my toes at every opportunity!"
"What? How have I…? I don't know what…"
"First with my team…"
"Your team?"
"You know I was the first freshman to ever make varsity?"
"Yeah, so what?"
"So what?" Damien mocked. "Everyone was so impressed by me, the coach said that by the time I was a junior, I would own the team."
Nathan cocked an unbelieving eyebrow, doubtful that Whitey would have ever said anything remotely close to that.
"But then you showed up the next year and stole the show," Damien snorted. "All of a sudden, it was like a new star was born, and I didn't even exist anymore. It's been that way ever since."
"Are you even serious right now?" Rachel huffed. "All this is about him stealing your thunder? It's just a game, moron."
"Ask Nate if it's just a game," Damien countered. "And if so, why it was so important to beat me out all the time?"
"What was I supposed to do?" Nathan questioned. "Downplay my talent so that you could shine instead?"
"Oh no, you'd never do that," Damien spat viciously. "Because you don't do anything that doesn't glorify you."
Nathan frowned at that, but he noticed that in Damien's rant, he'd pulled the gun away from Peyton and was flailing it around. That was somewhat better. Hopefully he could distract him away from her so that somehow, some way, someone could take him on without putting her in immediate danger. "Come on," he scoffed. "No one would do it. Why would they? If you want to be as good as me, you should train as hard as I do."
"Oh, you're just so full of yourself, aren't you? Always have to think you're better than everyone else."
"I am better," Nathan returned, hoping to draw Damien closer to him. "How do you think I was able to take over the team?" He stole a glance at Peyton, wishing she'd take this as an opportunity to bolt. Why wasn't she? He cursed under his breath when he noticed her eyes drooping shut. Damn it. "Look," he said, his tone changing tremendously. "Your problem's obviously with me so why don't you let the others go?"
Damien cracked a smile and shook his head. "How noble a suggestion," he sneered. "But I'm not quite ready to be arrested just yet," he added, retaking his spot near Peyton. "You should have come alone like we expected you to," he taunted.
"Hey," Peyton murmured. "Could you guys take this somewhere else? I'm getting so sleepy."
"What did you give her?" Nathan demanded to know.
"Just some liquid X," Damien replied carelessly. "Nothing you haven't used yourself or given to her and other girls."
"Never without their okay," Nathan argued. "I've never snuck it in anyone's drink."
"Oh my bad," Damien replied smugly. "But guess what? The effects are the same nonetheless."
His eyes narrowing, Nathan caught the implication. "If you touched her, I'll…"
"You'll what?" Damien ridiculed. "Oh, that's right, kill me," he added unperturbed as his hand touched Peyton's leg and glided upward. "You know, you were right this morning. She does look hot in this skirt, and it's so easy to get into."
"You bastard, I swear if I get my hands on you you'll be fucking begging me to kill you," Nathan threatened harshly as he fought against the constraints, cursing when his arm grazed against the boiler plate.
"Careful now," Damien warned with amusement. "Don't wanna burn yourself . You're already banged up enough as it is."
"How much did you give her?" Nathan asked when Peyton's only reaction to Damien's touch was to sigh sleepily. In the few times that he and she had taken liquid X together, she'd never reacted like this.
"Not enough to cause any damage," Damien replied.
"You sure about that?" Nathan challenged. "I think you gave her too much. She never falls asleep with it."
"Oh, I'm sure she does eventually," Damien returned patronizingly. "But you should have seen her an hour ago. A real firecracker. Of course, you missed it because you were late, but no worries, I'm more than happy to provide you with an encore presentation."
"Get your filthy hands off her, you freak!" Brooke spoke for the first time.
Damien simply chuckled at her outburst, clearly unaffected by anyone other than Nathan's reaction.
Only Nathan's suffering mattered. That much became abundantly clear to everyone involved. Except maybe Nathan himself, who continued to thrash around and threaten Damien's life, evoking in Damien a pleasure none of them could have imagined. Every time Nathan's arm brushed up against the boiler plate, the bigger Damien's grin became.
That's when Nathan became aware of just how much Damien was enjoying this and he ceased his struggles, sitting defeated as he watched Damien apprehensively. "Look, I'll quit, ok," he offered desperately, not knowing what else to do to protect Peyton. "With everything going on lately I haven't gotten to play anyway. I just won't go back. Ok?"
"Don't do me any favors," Damien replied harshly. "You're too late for that. Besides, you're not going back anyway."
"Then just kill me already," Nathan said provokingly. "Get it over with."
Damien snickered. "So soon? Where's the fun in that?"
"Look, your beef is with me. Why hurt Peyton?"
"You're the one always hurting her," Damien snapped. "Crushing her spirit, screwing around. How many girls have you hooked up with just since you've been out of jail? And don't say none cuz I'm not as gullible as she is. I don't buy this whole 'you've changed' act. The only thing that's changed is you've gotten better at hiding it. Nice touch with the engagement ring though. Guess you had to resort to drastic measures to get her back this time. That's pathetic, really fucking pathetic."
Unable to prevent herself, Brooke huffed at the comment. Damien could call anyone pathetic? "Doesn't get any more pathetic than wanting to screw a girl who's barely even conscious," she snorted in disgust. "I guess you knew that's the only way she'd have you. Oh, but just think, you could set Nathan up for it. Again."
"I didn't set him up for rape," Damien replied with a chuckle. "He walked right into it. And you know why? Because he's that much of an arrogant prick that he has to move in on every girl I'm interested in. Prove that he can get her before I can."
"Come on, man," Nathan said as he shook his head in denial. "That's not true."
"It is," Damien countered. "Starting with Taylor James," he revealed, causing Haley's eyes to widen in surprise at the mention of her sister's name.
"Who?" Nathan asked, no idea who this girl was.
"The team party, your freshman year, my sophomore. She and I had a thing going before you went and hooked up with her that night. It figures you don't remember her."
"Look, if that happened, I'm sorry."
"Listen to you. If that happened," Damien repeated scornfully.
"We weren't even friends at that point," Nathan excused.
"Right, cuz being friends stopped you from going after Peyton when you knew how much I liked her. Like I said, Taylor was just the first."
"I liked Peyton too," Nathan countered. "We both did. And I asked you if you were cool with it and you said you were."
"Oh, and you would have backed off had I said I wasn't?" Damien inquired doubtfully. "That's what I thought," he said when Nathan didn't respond.
"Look, she wanted to be with me too," Nathan returned. "You never had a shot."
"Of course not with God's gift to women stepping in there. Instead of being with the guy who'd treat her right, she went with the one who's done nothing but make her miserable. I cared about her, but you…you just wanted to prove how much better you were than me. Hotshot Scott, nobody beats him out, right?"
"That's not how it went down," Nathan denied.
"It's exactly how it went down."
"Fine, whatever. But if you care about her at all, you'd let her and the others go. This is between you and me, not them."
"I tried to move on, you know? Move past it," Damien continued, ignoring Nathan's request. "But you don't forget a supposed friend's betrayal or a girl you cared about so deeply. I hooked up with a couple girls but I couldn't get you two out of my head. You were constantly in my face. Then I met Haley James, a tutor. She was beautiful and smart, and I thought, maybe, just maybe, I'd finally found someone who could make me forget the stupid bitch who'd rather be with a selfish manwhore who doesn't respect her than with me," Damien ranted on. "Remember me telling you I liked her? That I asked her out?" he asked. "Remember!" he shouted when Nathan didn't reply.
"Yeah, I remember," Nathan answered. "And she said she was with Lucas," he added.
"You mindless prick," Damien hollered. "We both know Haley was single then because Lucas was dating Peyton at that time! Haley was going to be mine that night. We were talking, I was making my move, but as usual, you had to get in the way. You just had to have her too, didn't you?"
"It wasn't about you, Damien. You know I went after her to get to Lucas."
"Shut up! The hell it wasn't about me! She was just something else you could take away from me."
"She wasn't yours. Neither was Peyton."
"I was talking to her, and you just came up and blew me off. Sent me on a beer run, of all things, just so you could have her instead of me. How fair is that?"
"She didn't want you, man."
"Well guess what? She didn't want you either. I know you find it hard to believe, but not every girl on the planet is obsessed with you. The only reason she slept with you is because she was drugged."
"Yeah, thanks to you," Nathan shouted back. "You spiked her drink and you were gonna let me go down for it. Who does that?"
"Oh don't blame me. If you weren't so set on getting one over on me, I would have been with her and you wouldn't have been in that mess. Everything that happened from the time you sent me away is your own damn fault! I'm only sorry the judge didn't have the balls to stick with the jury's verdict. But hey, I guess money talks, right? How much of a dent did that put in Mommy and Daddy's bank account?"
Nathan shook his head, in awe of the extent of Damien's rage against him. He couldn't say he appreciated the insinuation that his parents had bought his freedom either.
But he had no time to think about that as Damien went on to tell him how he was going to show him how it felt to have his whole world shaken right before his eyes.
His free hand was on Peyton again, riding up her skirt, ensuring that Nathan could see his every move, including the shoving aside of her delicate panties.
Nathan's wild frenzy resumed at that point, but just when it seemed he might break through the knot Lucas had tied, Damien put a stop to it by positioning the gun between Peyton's eyes. It halted Nathan's actions instantly.
"Don't do it, dude," Skills tried to reason. "As of now you ain't done nothing serious, but murder and rape, dog, that'll get you life in prison."
"Maybe even the death penalty," Rachel said. "But if you stop this right now…"
"What?" Damien scoffed. "They'll take it easy on me?"
"They might."
"Yeah, nice try, red, but I saw the texts," he said. "The ones Brooke sent to Peyton," he elaborated. 'Look out for Damien,' he reiterated by memory. 'He set Nate up,' he added. "You think I'm stupid? You went ahead and talked to Katie, so I suppose I'm going to jail no matter what happens here. May as well make it worth it."
Brooke and Rachel exchanged glances. Katie hadn't actually revealed anything, but obviously Damien assumed she had. "Why did you beat her?" Brooke asked, trying to draw an admission from him. If they got out of this, she wanted everyone in the room to be able to say they'd heard him confess.
"I didn't have a choice," Damien answered. "Stupid bitch couldn't hold it together. She was gonna ruin everything. All the times I tried to get this asshole out of the way," he said, indicating Nathan "and got nowhere, I was finally getting close. For the first time, people were looking at him different, like maybe he wasn't such a great king after all. I was sure this would be the end of him. The jury would vote guilty, he'd go to jail and then everyone would say he deserved it and forget he ever existed, let alone ruled this school. But Katie wanted to go to the police and tell them everything. I couldn't let that happen. Not when Peyton was just starting to see me in a new light. You know she leaned on me even more than the two of you, who are supposed to be her best friends? When you both said to give her space, I was the one to find her and comfort her and take care of her. When she visited Nathan in jail and he was a complete ass to her, it was my shoulder she cried on, not yours."
"Well, not really fair since none of this would have happened if it weren't for you, so she wouldn't have been in need of comfort," Rachel countered.
"Oh please," Damien scoffed. "Like he wouldn't have done something to upset her in that time anyway. She would have gotten over it. Over him. And then she would have been with me, and I would have made her happier than he ever even tried to make her."
"Interesting plan," Rachel said.
"Sure, if it were even remotely possible," Brooke added snidely. "Which we all know isn't since even if, by some miracle, she did eventually get with you, she would have never gotten over Nathan."
"In time she would have," Damien insisted. "If he wasn't around to keep messing her up, she would have forgotten him. But of course he had to win this one too, and now we're right back to square one. Everything's back to how it was, with people worshipping him like he wasn't just accused of rape. They still flock to him like he's God. Why doesn't it matter what he does?"
Lucas, seeing an opportunity in Damien's words, spoke up. "I know how you feel," he said. It probably wouldn't work, but if he could get Damien to believe he was on his side, then maybe he could deter him from his current plan of action. It was a long shot, but worth a try. "I've been asking myself the same question for years."
Damien nodded in acknowledgment. "I suppose if anyone had any inkling to what I feel, it would be you," he said.
Surprised that it was so easy, Luke took advantage. "I do," he said. "All my life I've been made to feel like I'm somehow less than him. At school, on the court. Even at home. We've had to bust our ass for everything we've got while he's had everything just handed to him," he said, using all the fuel and rage he'd built up over the years to help him now. It seemed to be working.
"So you really hate him, huh?" Damien asked.
Luke's narrow gaze went to Nathan before turning back to Damien with his reply. "Aside from my dead beat father, more than I've ever hated anyone."
Damien offered a genuine, satisfied smirk. "So I bet you're enjoying this too."
Swallowing back the bile that came with playing friendly with the guy responsible for Haley's rape, Mouth's assault, all kinds of wrongs against his brother, and now this with Peyton, Lucas nodded affirmatively. "I enjoy anything that takes Nathan down a notch or two for a change. I'm sick of him acting like he walks on water."
"Yeah," Damien agreed, glad to finally have someone who understood, even though he was a Scott too and had once been the reason Haley had refused him. "You know, you're not so bad for a Scott."
"I wasn't raised as one," Luke replied. "At least not their version of it. If it weren't for my Uncle Keith bearing the name first, I'd actually be ashamed to carry it."
"Wow, I do believe your loathing of him almost rivals my own."
"I can't even put into words how much I despise him," Luke responded.
" Yeah? Care to be tested on that?"
"Tested?" Luke asked, Damien's question taking him by surprise. "How?"
Damien jutted his chin toward the boiler plate. "Put his arm up against it. See how much he squirms."
The statement caused an eruption of angry outbursts from the others, but Damien ordered them to shut up as he stared at Luke, waiting for him to comply with his demand.
Lucas glanced from Damien to the boiler plate back to Damien. Was he serious? Unfortunately, he was deadly so. "Wh—you want me to…?"
"You hate him or not?"
"Yeah."
"Then prove it. Remember everything he's put you through and go to him, pick up his arm and hold it against the plate. I guarantee it'll feel good."
"I don't want to sink to his level…" Luke began. "I'm bigger than that."
"Quit being such a fucking saint and go make him pay for how he's treated you. It's the only way he'll ever regret it. And the only way you can prove you hate him as much as I do."
Lucas stood there for a moment longer, but finally decided he had no other option. If he wanted Damien to believe him, he was going to have to act as though this were something he both wanted and enjoyed. But first he had to give a reason for his hesitation in the first place. "I don't want to get in trouble," he said. Lame, he thought to himself, but the only thing he could think of in the spur of the moment.
"Be a man," Damien scoffed. "Nothing here goes beyond this room."
Luke nodded and took the few steps to Nathan, who was already starting to squirm at the prospect of being burned.
"Make him stay still," Damien ordered.
"I'm trying," Lucas said as he attempted, to no avail, to hold his brother still. Nathan simply wasn't having it and was cursing up a storm, making Luke wish he could tell him to just cooperate without Damien overhearing. But as it was, the room was too small for that.
"Come on, show him who's boss," Damien shouted, clearly wanting Lucas to be more aggressive in his handling.
That was what Luke didn't want to do. He wasn't sure what kind of injuries his brother had sustained during the earlier beating and didn't want to hurt him any more than he had to. "What do you think I'm trying to do?" he shouted back at Damien. "But he won't…"
"Stop being a wuss," Damien raged. "He's tied, you're not. You have the advantage."
Knowing he had no choice, Luke used his full force to outstrength Nathan and pull his upper arm to the boiler plate.
Nathan grunted as the pain shot through him, and Damien smiled in contentment. "Good, good," he said, causing Luke to let go. "Now do it again, only this time hold it there."
Luke nodded and reluctantly did as told. Nathan's tortured cry filled the room, drawing sympathetic tears from all the girls and even a few of the guys.
Damien threw his head back in pleasure.
"Are you actually getting off on this, you freak?" Brooke exclaimed. "You're freaking sick, you know that!"
Damien paid her no mind. "Do it again," he said. "The whole arm now."
"Uh," Luke answered, watching Damien uneasily. "It won't reach," he said. "I'd have to untie him for that," he said, hoping this meant that in his quest for revenge and satisfaction, Damien was getting sloppy.
No such luck. Damien came out of his trance and shook his head. "No, hold off on that for now," he said. "Just keep going as you are," he added. "We'll get the rest of him later."
"Sure thing," Luke replied, making as though he was getting as much out of it as Damien was.
"You're really getting into now, aren't you?" Damien asked when Luke burned Nathan's arm for the third time.
Luke nodded excitedly. "If I'd known torturing him would be this exciting, I'd have done it a long time ago," he responded enthusiastically. "Hey, you know what would really get to him," he asked with insane energy. "Is if we did this to her."
Nathan's head snapped up to glance at his half brother. The look they shared somehow told him that Lucas wasn't on Damien's side at all—that he was merely doing what he thought would best ensure everyone's safety. He was thankful for the suggestion to bring Peyton to them. Maybe then they could overpower Damien without the risk of getting her shot.
"I like the way you think," Damien returned, clearly having missed the silent exchange between the brothers. "But all in due time, my friend," he added. "First, the real torture."
"What do you mean?" Luke asked.
"You keep with the arm while I," he began, shocking everyone when he reached into his gym shorts to pull out his already hardened shaft, stroking it as he positioned himself between Peyton's legs, "take his girl right before his eyes," he finished. " Make sure he watches."
"No, don't do this," Nathan pleaded, beyond desperate now. "Don't punish Peyton to get to me. Please, I'm begging you."
He frowned when Damien turned his head around, tugging at his erection. He was quickly learning that begging and squirming was playing directly into Damien's torture fantasy, but he didn't know what else to do.
"Begging now, tough guy?" Damien ridiculed. "Nice."
"You just finished saying you care about her," Nathan tried again. "If that's true, you wouldn't want to hurt her."
"She thought she could go back to how things were before you were arrested," Damien snapped. "That she could just toss me aside when you came back in the picture. She needs to learn that it doesn't work that way. She can't tease me like that and then run back to you," he sneered. "Oh, but don't worry," he said condescendingly. "This won't hurt a bit. Like I said, it's only an encore for your benefit only," he said, pushing closer to Peyton, clearly intending to penetrate her that very second.
Nathan looked at Peyton. Sound asleep. Fuck. "Lucas, get this off me," he ordered of the binds holding his hands back.
"Nathan…"
"Lucas, now!"
Luke shook his head, afraid Damien would kill Peyton if he did that. Nathan just wasn't thinking straight so he had to do the thinking. Except Nathan was fighting against the constraints and any moment could break loose, putting Peyton in that much more danger. And he was running out of ideas. "Wait, hold on," he shouted suddenly. "He's closing his eyes," he said when Damien turned.
"So?" Damien scoffed.
"So uh, well…I thought you wanted him to watch. How can he do that with his eyes closed?"
"No worries," Damien shrugged off, too far gone at this point to even consider stopping. "He'll still know what's going on."
"Why her?" Haley all of a sudden blurted out, knowing what Lucas was up to but also knowing he was fresh out of ideas. Nathan couldn't see past his anger and fear, and there was nobody else here that Damien would listen to. Except maybe herself. She may be the only one who could penetrate his crazy mind. Perhaps on a smaller scale than Peyton, but he had, at one time, been obsessed with her as well. At least enough to constantly ask her out and even slip her drugs to sleep with her. She had to make that count for something now.
Her heart pounding, she approached the guy who'd obviously lost all his scruples, hoping half a semester of drama classes would prepare her for the acting she was going to have to pull off here. Lucas attempted to stop her but, as terrifying as it was, she was their only chance now at distracting Damien.
"Haley, get back," Damien ordered.
"Why?" she shrieked, her trembling legs taking her all the way to where he stood. Only Peyton's leg stood between them. "So I can watch you have sex with her? I thought you wanted me!" she said, taking a chance by poking his chest just a bit.
"I asked you probably a dozen times," he said defensively. "And you said no."
"What, so you just… just…give up? Haven't you ever heard of playing hard to get?"
"A guy can only be shot down so many times, sweetheart, before it gets old."
"Which is why I was going to say yes at Mouth's party," she said, thinking fast.
"Yeah sure you were," he scoffed. "Excuse me."
"Why do you think I took that soda from you even though it was clearly spiked?" she asked him. "What, you think I didn't notice that the can was open? I'm a tutor, Damien. I pick up on things most people don't."
"Ok, why'd you take it then if you knew?"
"Because I wanted to be with you, but I was too shy to make a move. I figured a little liquid courage wouldn't hurt."
"You wanted to be with me?"
She nodded her head. "But you left me with Nathan…"
"I didn't know, Haley."
"And now you want to be with Peyton instead," she said, forcing a few tears from her eyes. "Why does every guy I know have to be obsessed with her? I thought you were different."
"I'm not obsessed," Damien told her.
"No?" Haley said, taking his hands in hers and pulling him away from Peyton and toward herself. Behind him, mere inches away, was the front of the boiler plate, and the Scott boys right beside it. If she could somehow get Damien to that point, she felt that all would be fine. She wound her arms around his neck, suppressing the urge to cringe when his exposed erection pressed into her stomach, and smiled sweetly. "Then why don't you forget about her, so that you and I can be together?" she said suggestively. "You think you can do that?" she asked. "Forget about Peyton?"
"That depends," he said.
"On?"
"On what you have in mind."
Again she smiled, and stood on tiptoe to kiss his lips, swallowing back the vomit that threaten to rise from the intimate gesture. She pulled back and noted how much closer to the boiler plate they were. She could almost reach out and touch it.
"Well?" he asked. "What do you have in mind?" he asked with growing excitement. "Something hot, I hope."
"Oh yeah," she said. "Something really hot," she added.
He nodded, urging her to go on.
"But not what you're thinking, you sick perv," she said as she shoved him with all her might against the boiler plate.
The scream he let out could have wakened the dead. "You bitch!" he muttered, striking the side of her head with the butt of the gun.
She fell back with the force of the blow and he pointed the gun at her, pulling back the trigger as he threatened to make her pay for that.
Lucas reacted instantly, but Nathan was closer and was able to catch Damien's legs with his own to send him toppling to the floor face first, the gun firing off a shot as it flew from his hand.
Before Damien knew what was happening, someone had untied Nathan and both he and Lucas loomed over him, sheer rage and malice blazing in their matching blue eyes.