Haunting Remington

REMINGTON

I always wanted a brother, and prayed for one desperately. But then I met Soren Gregory and I changed my mind. Some prayers should be left unanswered.

My fingers trembled around the bouquet of flowers I held on my mother’s behalf as we all smiled into the camera. Fear and panic thrummed in me. I glanced sideways—he wasn’t there. Gone as soon as the picture was taken. I dragged out a loud huff of air, relieved that I could finally be calm for a minute.

“The wedding’s over, this is the last picture. I need to sleep, Ma,” I whispered against my mother’s ear. There were still a few guests lingering around, but that wasn’t my main problem. I needed to get safe in my room before the grinning devil came back around.

Mom gave me a slow nudge, whispered a few words of thanks. Her husband, Clark, seemed way too busy with the guests. I turned on my heels, bolted up the stairs into my bedroom before exhaling so hard my shoulders dropped. I hadn’t even switched off the light but I had locked the door.

This was my mother’s fourth marriage. Should tell you a lot about me by now. She marries for the contracts, the business merges—nothing out of line. So you can imagine my shock when she actually fell in love with Clark Gregory. The famous hot dad with an even hotter son. Both with the dubious personality of having girls hang off their arms. I bet this wedding wouldn’t last. Clark might seem satisfied now, but the man always wanted more.

“You know, I intended to wait for you to sleep.”

Soren’s voice echoed behind me.

I gasped from shock, stepping backwards, panting heavily before flicking on the light switch in haste.

Soren sat back against my bedframe, legs spread wide. I’d been standing between them and hadn’t even noticed him shift.

Fuck.

“I almost smothered you with a pillow,” he murmured. “I could’ve choked you. I brought cuffs and a knife too, just in case.” His voice trailed off at the end of his words as a sinister smile crawled even wider across his lips before he kicked off his shoes on my bed.

“But then I changed my mind. You—pathetic, vile bastard—you shouldn’t get to die so easily after what you did to me. After everything. Oh… who knew this day would come?” Soren asked, letting the question hang in the air.

“Get out of my room!” I spat viciously, ignoring the part where I knew too well—he’d kill me if he so much as got the itch to do it. He was right. I had ruined him once before. Back in the past. We hadn’t known each other and—fuck—I slipped.

“Wrong answer, sin-doll.” He leaned closer, the tip of his knife resting between my thighs, poking straight through the suit I wore. “I knew this day would come. And why?”

He smiled. “I’ll do you the favor of letting you know. My father meeting your mother was set up by me. This marriage? Pushed because of me. Dad thinks I need a new mom ‘cause I won’t stop rambling about one. You think this marriage won’t last long? Makes you a fucking fool. Because they’re perfect for each other. And let me spell it out for you, my nasty little sin-doll…” His eyes glittered darkly.

“You and I are stuck in this house. And I will haunt you. Bleed you. Break you. And when I get bored, I’ll fix you back up to fit my perfection. And then begin the process all over.”

He shoved me backwards, sending me tumbling to my feet. I fell hard to the floor, my ankles and sides scraping against the edge of the bed, bruising as blood welled. My heart sank as he stood over me, mischief and malice swirling in his eyes. Now I knew it. He was set to ruin me. He hated me. My own stepbrother loathed me—and good heavens, I hated him too.

“Fuck off, Soren! Get the hell out of my room! And I’ll warn you, I bite harder. I’ll let this go just because it’s my mom’s wedding, but you pull shit like this again, I’ll bite right back,” I snapped, standing to my feet with an angry growl.

The bastard laughed—fucking laughed—in my face. Flashing his stupidly striking white teeth with an even more irritating, alluring wink.

“Sharpen those teeth, sin-doll. I love when you bite. Makes it more fun.”

With that, he opened the door and slammed it shut in my face. I waited no more than a second before storming to the door and bolting it locked. I flipped off the light and crawled under the duvet, my heart thumping hard in my chest.

“No… no…” I stuttered. It had been two years. Two years and five months, yeah? He should have forgotten. Let it go.

I didn’t mean to—or I did. It didn’t matter.

---FLASHBACK

There had been a playoff in school—Draycott High, my school, against Chastity Verse, another school. And when I knew who was on the team, I fucking lost it. Everyone knew who Soren Gregory was. Apart from the fact that his father counted heavy stacks of billions every day, ranked as the most eligible divorced bachelor every time, topping the pages of the wealthiest in the country—his son Soren was also on a whole other high.

Soren Gregory—the perfect fucking hockey god. Oh man, he was hot. You wouldn’t understand. It wasn’t performative of me saying this shit, but Soren was fucking gorgeous. Like most hockey players, Soren was six-four in height, black wavy hair always pulled into a bun, and when he let it all down… let’s leave that to your imagination. Pierced the top of his ears—not the tip. His godlike, perfectly built body had not a single scar or tattoo on it, well except behind his ear where there was a ghostlike tattoo.

I stalked his socials. Who wouldn’t? You would too. Soren was everything I couldn’t have. Why? Because unlike Soren I was a straight-A student, obeyed all the fucking rules, round glasses—a perfectionist. Teachers’ pet. Golden spooned. Anything. And also… Soren Gregory? He didn’t do guys like me. I recalled dying my hair red just to fit in for once. Everyone questioned it but it had been the only rebellion I’d shown so they let it slide.

I recall being happy seeing him play in my school and fucking win, beating our school a fucking five to one. Oh it made my day, seeing him warm up and skate around the ice. Except when I’d wandered away, checking through the list of things in our storage closet that night, preparing for our one-week-away school trip… I saw him.

Soren Gregory—the fucking hockey god—on his knees in front of the one woman I hated the most… Anna. His on-and-off situationship everyone knew about.

“Please Anna… you can’t do this to me… not him, please… don’t… fuck, Anna, choose me, please.” Soren pleaded, tears pouring down his eyes. My breath hitched as I pressed myself back against the shelves into the shadows. Soren never begged for anything—and why here?

“I can’t, Soren. I told you I wanted this situationship thing gone before. I don’t love you, Soren. I never have. So why the fuck would you do some shit like ask me to stay? I’m done. It’s over.” Anna retorted, her teeth spitting out those cold, heartless words that made my heart drop. Soren loved her. The situationship was a one-sided love?

“But please Anna, I love you, I’ll do anything for you, I… fucking choose me. Please, I’ll die if you leave me, I need you Anna, I need you to need me, why not me? Why? I’ll do anything…”

“I’m pregnant,” she said coldly, shoving his hands off her grasp. I froze. You wouldn’t believe my shock. My… fucking surprise. She was pregnant—for someone else?

“I’ll father it. My dad would get mad but… I’ll… fuck, you don’t have to tell David, let’s lie the child’s mine, you can abort it if you want you…”

A loud gasp from me cut his words short as both their eyes darted to my direction. I stumbled backward, the stuff on the shelf clattering to the floor. I held my breath, turned away, thankful for the darkness as I ran. He rushed after me. I could hear him calling out, asking who it was, but it was my school. I knew the grounds and I’d watched him, hidden in the pool section as he ran past, fear wide in his eyes. His darkest secret had been brought to light.

“Remi? What’s wrong?” Akeelah, the school’s leading cheerleader, asked, wiping off what seemed like cum stains from her mouth. Of course you could trust Akeelah to bang any dude she wanted. She was hot.

“I saw Soren. You know… I shouldn’t say this but… he was on his knees, begging Anna not to leave, begging that she choose him. I guess Soren wants her so bad, and turns out it was a one-sided love. She’s pregnant for David. His rival.”

I spat it all out. You could see the grin strapped to Akeelah’s lips, the fucking way she grinned, the glint in her eyes. Everyone wanted a piece of Soren. They hated and worshiped Anna for having him. And now… there was a way to finally split them apart.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, I just… fuck, promise me you won’t say anything?” I asked Akeelah who nodded but of course it was a lie. She placed her hand to her lips, faked a zip and tossed it behind her, but I knew she was thrumming, buzzing with anticipation to let it loose.

“It’s safe with me. Your secret.” Akeelah reassured, turning on her feet and heading back towards the hockey rink knowing her friends were still there.

And then I stood smiling, relieved. Anna didn’t deserve Soren. And god… Soren Gregory was a fucking yearner.

I wanted him. So bad. Soooo bad but I couldn’t have him. I guess Anna wouldn’t too.

— END OF FLASHBACK —

Hot tears streaked down my face as I slammed my teeth together.

Fuck. He saw me. He recognized me. Somehow that night when I fooled myself into believing he didn’t see, Soren had seen. He knew it was me.

The rumor had spread. Soren had tried denying but Anna kept the baby, and then the rumors were confirmed when she was seen with David. It ruined him. He was mocked. His name dragged through the fucking mud. He had to leave for a year. The secret ate me raw and after he left I felt better thinking it was all in the past. Until I met him a week ago. The night my mother got proposed to.

And now I’m stuck living under the same roof with a man who would taunt me and walk me to hell, holding a noose over my neck like I was some fucking doll to toy with.

My life would be hell as long as my new stepbrother was in it. I needed to get rid of him, fast.