Tempting The Ice King

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The metallic scent of blood burned my nostrils. For a long time I just stood there, frozen.

Jia who was hyperventilating beside me, grabbed my wrist. "Hailey, that's an actual hand. What the f**k?" She muttered as tears streamed down her cheeks.

I snapped back to reality right as I heard those words from her. Before I could think I shut the door to my locker before wrapping my arms around Jia.

Rushed footsteps closed in on the locker room and Jia's body went rigid with fear.

Oliver came rushing into the room. "Hailey?" He called before pulling me away from Jia. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Don't touch me," I snapped before pulling back from.

"Oliver, what are you doing here?" Jia carefully questioned in fear. She slowly started backing away from him until she stood beside me.

And how did he get here so fast?

"I heard screams so I came as fast I could," he explained before checking Jia for any injuries. "Did something happen?"

Right as he asked that question the door to the locker room burst open, revealing Kyren. He stormed into the room, grabbing the back of Oliver's shirt to pull him away from us.

Emmett and Josh entered the locker room shortly after.

Kyren walked over to me before gently taking my face into his hands. "What happened?"

I wordlessly pointed toward my locker. Kyren's hands slowly dropped from my face. He pulled my locker opened, revealing the severed hand to the room.

"What the f**k?" Oliver hissed out. "Is that real? Is that a f*****g hand? We need to call the cops," he said, reaching into his pocket with trembling hands.

Emmett angrily snatched the phone out of his hand before smashing it against the floor. "No cops, rookie," he pointedly told Oliver.

"No cops? What the f**k does that mean? Do you know who did this?" Oliver wildly questioned.

"Who knows, maybe it was you," Josh uttered before leading Oliver out of the room.

"Let's clean this up," Kyren told Emmett, who simply nodded in agreement.

"Wait, we're not going to the cops with this s**t?" Jia wildly questioned. "Whoever did this needs to be put in jail," she yelled at the two men in front of us.

"We have it under control," Emmett assured her. "Hand me some bleach," he told her, pointing at a bottle of bleach near the showers.

"No, that would make me an accomplice. Do it yourself," she angrily snapped at him.

Emmett ran a tired hand over his face before grabbing the bleach along with a black garbage bag. He handed the bag to Kyren and I stumbled back from them.

It's strange how they didn't seem surprised to find a severed hand in my locker. Almost like they've done this a million times before.

I grabbed my phone from my gym bag, hoping no one would notice. My fingers moved of their own accord. I was on the verge of calling 911 when a message popped up on my screen.

Kyren stuffed the hand into the garbage bag and Emmett started cleaning my locker immediately after.

"Kyren?" I called while staring at my cellphone screen. "I just received a message from an unknown number," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

Kyren gently took the phone from my trembling hands. He clicked on the message, his jaw clenching tightly.

I took the phone from him, reading the message, and almost dropped it in the process.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell

P.S. I'm still here.

He's quoting the bible, what a disgusting monster. I blocked the number before switching my phone off at the side.

Kyren took my hand in his before walking us out of the locker room. I stopped as soon as we reached the hallway. I threw my arms around him, keeping my face buried in his chest.

For a second his body went rigid. He slowly wrapped his arms around, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead.

"I'm so scared," I finally admitted, my grip on his shirt tightening. "When is this nightmare going to end, Kyren?" I sniffled, and only then did I realize I was crying.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry you had to see that," he said, gently lifting my chin. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"Hailey?" My dad's voice sounded from behind us. "I thought you guys left ages ago," he continued.

Kyren gently loosened his grip on me.

My dad placed his hands on my shoulders to examine my tear-stained cheeks. "Why the hell is my daughter crying, Wolfe?" He angrily asked Kyren before pulling into a rib-crushing hug.

"Can I sleep at home tonight?" I asked my dad.

"Of course, sweetheart. You don't need to ask," he said, brushing a loose strand of hair out of my face.

"Can I also sleep over at your house tonight? My parents went to South Korea for a funeral," Jia explained.

"Of course, Jia. I think Hailey could do with the company, right sweetheart?" My dad asked me with a soft smile on his face.

"Can Kyren come too?" I asked and the hallway became unnaturally quiet.

"Under no circumstances," my dad said, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"Dad," I said, sending him a warning look. "I would like to formally introduce Kyren as my boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend? When did that happen?" My dad frowned, his gaze flicking between the two of us. "And now you're living together? That's unacceptable, Hailey."

"Dad, don't make it weird," I whispered.

"You've got some explaining to do, young lady," he pointedly stated. "And Wolfe, I'll deal with you accordingly," he warned and Emmett snickered.

Kyren shot Emmett a murderous glare and he instantly pursed his lips together, to prevent himself from laughing again.

"Since you're here, you should join us for dinner, Emmett," my dad uttered before leaving the arena.

Kyren's features twisted with concern as he watched me.

"Let's just pretend that none of that just happened. Let's pretend that he doesn't exist. Just for today," I uttered before he could ask me if I was okay.

"I second that," Emmett nodded in agreement.

"That'll be hard to forget, but I agree with Hailey," Jia sighed tiredly. "Let's just enjoy the dinner Coach Ronan cooks for us."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Kyren nodded.

"Where are we going?" Josh asked as he came walking in our direction.

"To Hailey's house. Where's Oliver?" Jia curiously questioned.

Josh shrugged, the corners of his mouth curving downward. "Don't know, he mentioned something about studying for an History test."

"History? I thought he was a biology major," Jia frowned at Josh.