1 - Safe
THIS IS A DARK MAFIA ROMANCE, REVERSE-HAREM NOVEL. READER DISCRETION ADVISED. Chapters will contain mature content incluing but not limited to graphic violence, gore, blood, abuse, assault, torture, criminal activity, male dominance, crude language, explicit sex scenes, hard-core BDSM and other kinks, forced relationships, psychological issues, and taboo themes/fantasies. These triggers are throughout the book. This is your only warning. Keep negative thoughts and comments to yourself. Please remember this is a work of fiction. I hope you enjoy the story.
School. School is supposed to be a safe place. High School in this instance. A glorified daycare for pubescent adolescents that parents send their children to be protected and cared for while they are at work.
Kids are supposed to go to school and learn math equations that have absolutely no value in everyday society; learn the periodic table and chemical equations because again most people don’t need to know that stuff; read the same five “classic” novels every year so you can word vomit them by the time you graduate because heaven help us that we get to read anything exciting and relevant or interesting. School is supposed to be a safe, boring space.
Along with the basic foundations of education, you can explore the arts, music, computers, and various health classes. The dreaded PE course is an educational institution of government-approved torture. Even private schools focus on a well-balanced curriculum. There are a myriad of sports, clubs, extracurricular activities, and social events that consume your soul and fry your brain cells.
You practice fire drills, and tornado drills, and even have procedures for intruders. And I guarantee every single student ignores those instructions every year. Because you never think it will happen to you. You go to school thinking that there is no way a psycho person would come into your school and start shooting up the place or a tornado will come and tear the school apart in the middle of the day. It happens, but you never think it can happen to you, because school is supposed to be safe.
Okay, so what if instead of a psycho or two with machine guns storming your school, a literal fucking army comes in with guns? But they don’t shoot. No, that would be too easy. I mean what could a hundred muscled, God-sculpted, gun-wielding ninja men want so desperately in a well-known elite private high school? They came with guns drawn on a mission and they were willing to destroy the whole school for it. They were looking for something. Well, not something, more like someone. That someone was me. I’m Sophie Deltoro, this is my story.
School is supposed to be a safe space. I call bullshit!
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Sophie
“Have a good day kiddo” my big brother Caleb said to me as he cupped my face. We shared a sweet smile and then he kissed me on the forehead before he headed out the door. I was sitting at the kitchen counter on my usual barstool, enjoying the chocolate chip pancakes my brothers made me for breakfast.
“We’ll see you tonight. Think about where you want to go for dinner. Anywhere you want birthday girl!” my brother Kevin said, also kissing me on the forehead and then exiting our home to catch up with his twin Caleb.
My eldest brother Zach was reading the newspaper, sipping his coffee at the kitchen table behind me. I finished up my breakfast and put my dishes in the sink.
“You ready to go, sweetie?” Zach asked, folding his paper on the table. I nodded and rushed to grab my bag from my princess room. Yes, it was like a literal pink frilly princess room with all the trimmings. I’ve had it since I was five and never changed it even though I was eighteen. Today actually.
Zach took my bag when I re-entered the kitchen and he grabbed his keys as we walked out into the garage. His sleek cherry red convertible, the top already down and waiting, beeped when he unlocked the doors. He placed my bag in the backseat behind me and soon we were off to my school, St. Andrew’s Preparatory Academy for Gifted Minds. Although if you met all of the football team and half of the cheerleading squad, the word “gifted” didn’t apply. Honestly, most of the students were just rich, not smart.
I lived with my three older brothers. Zach is eighteen years my senior and the twins are thirteen years older. I was the surprise rainbow baby and so since I was born, I was always the princess. When I was two, my parents died. My brothers don’t talk about it and I don’t know exactly what happened. But my brother was already eighteen so he got custody of me and my brothers. Once my twin brothers came of age, they also became guardians and it’s been just us four. They are my parents and my brothers. They are my everything.
Zach kissed me on the cheek and wished me a good day like he did every day when dropping me off at school before speeding away. I headed into the SAFE, massive three-story French Château style building with the other six hundred preppy rich kids when the first bell rang.
The day was boring as usual. I didn’t have any close friends. I preferred to keep to myself. I wanted good grades so I could go to Harvard like my brothers. So now I am sitting in English, which is third period and the teacher, a nice young woman Miss Taylor, was just droning on and on about color theory in MacBeth. I had already done all the assignments for the week so I was spacing out, which I do a lot. This school is safe and boring. Just the way I like it. I blend in with the walls and no one ever pays any attention to me. Suddenly, a loud screechy siren begins to blast in the room. It is not the fire alarm, but a more ominous tone. It was the intruder alarm.
Kids begin to freak out. The teacher immediately begins barking orders. She closes the door and locks it with the two safety locks. She turns off the light and heads toward the windows. Three girls including myself go to the windows to pull the curtain. We are on the side of the main building and the windows face out to the main entrance of the school. We all freeze when we see at least 30 large fancy black SUVs parked outside, some on the front lawn, others blocking other cars. Big burly men were barreling out of the cars, they all wore black suits, and sunglasses, and they all had guns in their hands.
One of the girls, Candice, begins to scream. Yolanda, who was next to me started to ugly cry. I was frozen. The school was supposed to be safe. Most of the class runs over to the windows, much to the protest of the teacher and they all look out at the military-like force that is making their way around the campus.
Our teacher quickly closes the shades and barks orders that everyone needs to get over to the corner and follow the procedures. We were safe and needed to stay quiet. Safe. That word was supposed to be comforting.
So that is exactly what we did. We all stayed under our tables, holding our breaths waiting for the all-clear. The classrooms are all soundproof so we couldn’t hear anything except some distant yelling from outside. We were luckily on the third floor so the chances of them coming up here would be slim, right? Wrong.
The unimaginable happened. The intercom came on and a very gruff, mysterious, and downright scary voice came over the loudspeaker. It was not our jolly Principal. “Sophie Deltoro please come to the office. You have two minutes. Sophie Deltoro to the office.” The voice was powerful, even over the crackling archaic speaker system it demanded respect.
Pretty sure my heart started to flutter and the speed of light. I noticed many of my classmates staring at me, most with horror, some with rage. I cowered into myself. I didn’t want to go. Whoever these people were, they were here for me.
The teacher quickly whispered my name and motioned for me to come over to her. I hesitantly did what she said, trying to get my shaking legs to move faster. When I reached her, I thought she was going to escort me out of the room. I was instantly relieved when she took my hand and ushered me under her desk and sat in front of me.
Silence. It was very uncomfortable. But just as we all started to relax, there was a booming knock at the door and the handle jiggled fiercely. “Open the door, Sophie. NOW!”
Fuck!