I head back to my room in the sorority and close the door.
The silence is overwhelming, but I can still hear the screams inside my mind.
I killed someone.
Not on accident.
Actual fucking murder.
I raise my hands, gazing at the blood on my fingers. His blood.
Blood of the person who hurt my sister.
And good God, does it feel powerful.
A big grin spreads on my face, and I bury my face in my hands, rubbing the blood all over my skin while laughing.
The bathroom door opens up, and Kayla steps out, only to pause like she’s suddenly turned to stone.
“Pen…” She shudders, her eyes widening. “Is that … blood?”
The smile on my face dissipates. “I … hurt myself while walking back from a party.”
She clutches the bathroom door, her hair still wet from the shower. “That doesn’t look like an accident. Did someone hurt you?” She walks toward me, clutching her towel. “Oh God, should I call for help?”
When she grabs my wrist, I jerk away, and her face contorts in confusion. She sniffs. “Why do you smell like a fire?”
“There was a bonfire,” I reply.
It’s not a lie. But also not the full truth.
She swallows, visibly shaken. I must look like a serial killer’s escaped victim.
Maybe it’s not even that far from the truth.
“I’m fine,” I say, adding a gentle smile. “Don’t worry about me.”
I try to pass by her, but she blocks my way. “No way. This ain’t right, Pen. Whatever you’re going through, you can’t do it by yourself.” She pauses. “I’m your friend. Let me help.”
Man, that just fucking shatters me.
I know she’s my friend.
I want her to be my friend, and I want to confide in her so desperately that I have to physically force my lips to stay shut.
I can’t fucking involve her in fucking murder.
“I can’t,” I say through gritted teeth. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“So it’s something real bad,” she says. “I knew it. It’s those boys, isn’t it?”
I shake my head. “This wasn’t them. I promise.”
She frowns. “But they’re involving you in some crazy shit, aren’t they?”
I sigh. “Look … just believe me when I say, it’s best if you don’t get involved.”
I head into the shower and lock the door behind me before she tries to convince me again to tell her all about what I did tonight.
But I’d rather die than have another innocent soul involved in all this darkness and all this depravity.
I look at myself in the mirror, at the blood staining my skin. A mark of honor.
I straighten my back and lift my shoulders, breathing out a sigh of relief.
One down.
Plenty more to go.
But I will hunt them down one by one until all of those fuckers from her diary are burned alive.
Just as that fucker Josh.
Dylan was right.
He got what he deserved.
My dreams are riddled with blood, sex mingling with violence, a twisted and volatile combination. My sleep is restless, and the moment I wake up, I’m drenched in sweat.
I sit up straight in bed and look around, but Kayla’s already gone. I stare at the window, reminding myself I’m awake. But what happened weren’t dreams or nightmares, they were reality.
Suddenly, I’m pulled from my thoughts as my phone buzzes.
Crystal: Are you coming? It’s time for our shared class, but you’re not here?
My eyes widen.
Shit. Did I forget because of everything that happened?
I scramble to get my schedule off the floor, and fuck me, she’s right. It starts in two minutes.
I jump up from my bed and throw on some proper clothes. A black hoodie and a pair of gray leggings. Inconspicuous, just as I intend to be when I walk through that school.
I run out the door and rush down the stairs.
“There she goes again,” someone jokes from the kitchen, but I pay no attention to it.
I know I’m often late. I don’t mean to be, but I guess it’s what happens when you’re busy trying to find your sister’s bullies while simultaneously trying to juggle three horny sicko boys.
I head straight for the main building and bolt inside, then pretend I was walking slowly even though everyone can see me breathing like a crazy person.
“Pen! Here!” Crystal waves from across the hall.
I wave back and smile, but the smile on my face immediately dissipates when I spot someone familiar with a bandage wrapped around his hand, a plastic boot on his leg, and a cane in his hand walk straight toward her.
My stomach drops into my shoes.
He’s already back at school?
How? Why?
I would’ve expected him to stay away for a long time, but now he’s here in the flesh.
But the worst part is that he’s staring right at me with deadly fire in his eyes.
Does he know we killed his Phantom friend?
I swallow.
Too late to turn back now and pretend I was never here.
Sweat drops form on my back as I approach them.
She’s talking to him like she already knows him, and it surprises me.
“Hey Pen, how are you? I haven’t seen you in days,” Crystal says. “You’re barely on time for class.”
“Yeah, Pen … where’ve you been?” Nathan tilts his head.
I leer up at him from underneath my hoodie. “I could ask you the same thing, Nathan.”
“Hospital,” he says, and he holds up his bandaged hand. “Got a gnarly wound that needed sutures along with a fracture.”
“What happened?” Crystal asks.
Adrenaline surges through my veins.
Fuck, and here I was thinking the basement was the worst part.
Wrong.
It’s the aftermath.
What’s he going to say?
How long will it take until everything we did will come to light?
Will Crystal and Kayla hate me?
My body buzzes with anxiety.
“Oh man, I hope it doesn’t hurt too much,” Crystal says. “How did that even happen?”
Nathan homes in on me. “I got into a bad fight at a party. Some fuckers tried to accuse me of something.”
Is he intentionally insinuating he wasn’t the one who put that fucking note underneath my door?
“But I’m not easily intimidated,” he adds, his eyes narrowing.
“Maybe it’s because you were at a party with a rival frat house,” I say. I know I’m taunting him, but I can’t help it. “Can’t have been a smart thing to do.”
He steps closer. “Are you trying to blame me for getting injured?”
“It’s what they always tell us when some boy touches us without our permission.”
He’s right up in my face now, but I’m not scared of him.
If he chooses to spew the truth right here, right now, then I’ll show everyone that fucking note. He threatened me.
“You think you know what it’s like to lose a limb, Pen?” he spits in my face.
“Wow, guys, calm down,” Crystal says.
“I know what it’s like to lose my fucking soul,” I growl back.
“Sold it to the devil, huh?” he retorts. “So do you happen to know what happened to my buddies, Josh and Kai? They’ve suddenly vanished overnight.”
Flames erupt in my body when I hear their names. “Doesn’t ring a bell, asshole.”
“Guys, why are you fighting? You weren’t even involved?” Crystal asks, but she pauses and then looks at me. “Right, Pen?”
I take in a deep breath. “Right.”
Nathan snorts, shaking his head.
Suddenly, his eyes shoot up toward the hallways and his pupils dilate. He immediately bolts off into the class room to our right. But the second I try to turn around to see what scared him off, a hand lands on my shoulder, and a dark voice whispers into my ear, “Talking with some friends, Pen?”
I’d recognize Felix’s grip and voice anywhere.
“Remember what I said …” he adds.
“I didn’t say anything,” I reply, but he’s already moved on to Crystal.
“Who are you?” he barks, folding his arms.
She stutters, overwhelmed by his presence. “Uh … C-Crystal.”
“Crystal who?”
“Murphy,” she adds tentatively.
His eyes twitch.
“She’s a friend,” I offer.
“She’d better be,” he says, tilting his head.
Crystal takes a step back when he gets up in her face, but I curl my hand around his arm and pull him back. “Felix.”
“What?” he snaps.
“Can you act a bit more civilized?” I hiss at him.
He leans in and tells me with a low murmur, “You should be glad I didn’t kill Nathan.”
“You wouldn’t,” I mutter in disbelief.
“Believe me when I say I would gut him like a fish right in this hallway in front of everyone. Just for daring to fucking open his mouth at you.”
A blush spreads across my cheeks, and I struggle to even form a single word. “I-I…”
Suddenly, he slaps my ass. “Still wearing that plug?” he whispers into my ear.
Now my whole face turns red as I nod. “I only took it out to go to the bathroom.”
“Good girl,” he whispers, pressing a quick kiss on my neck. “Because you’re still mine, even if you don’t want to be.”
What?
Why is he acting like he didn’t fucking piss me off, questioning if I killed my own fucking sister? I won’t let him gloss over that.
I push myself out of his grip and stumble off, dazed by how lusty it suddenly made me when his hand landed on my ass. “Class is starting. I have to go.”
I’m not gonna let him do this. Especially not here in this fucking hallway in front of one of my friends.
“Yeah, you go study like a good fucking girl, Pen,” he says, loud enough for everyone in this hallway to hear. “I’ll see you in the Skull & Serpent Society after you’re done.”
I’m so fucking mortified I just grab Crystal’s hand and storm into the class. But I still can’t shake the image of that smug smile on his face right before I slam the door shut.
“Sorry, we’re late,” Crystal tells the teacher.
“Thank you, Miss Murphy. Please, sit, both of you.” The teacher sighs, waving at a few chairs in the back. “I’ve wasted enough time.”
“Sorry,” I say as we make our way to the back of the room while all the other students stare at us.
It’s only been a few minutes, but I know we’re late.
Boys.
Always those fucking boys.
“You okay?” Crystal asks. “What was that all about with Nathan?”
“Ah, nothing,” I reply. “Just some fighting going on between some of the frat houses.”
“The Phantoms and the Skull & Serpent?”
I nod.
“They’ve always had feuds, but no one’s ever gone to the hospital and disappeared for several days over it.”
She’s fishing, and I don’t know what to tell her without spilling the beans, which I’m definitely not going to do. Involving Crystal in this mess is the last thing I want.
“Probably, yeah,” I mutter.
“But you’re ‘friends’ with Felix and those other boys, right?” She makes air quotes with her fingers. “You must know something. I mean, he sure seemed protective over you.”
“Oh, you don’t wanna know, trust me,” I reply.
“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine, I just—”
I turn to look at her. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Her lips part, but nothing else comes out.
“I’m sorry,” I add.
“It’s okay,” she replies. “I get it.”
I place a hand on her arm. “You’re my friend. And it’s best if you don’t know too much.”
She nods a few times, but she still pulls back from me and focuses on the teacher instead, which is probably for the best.
I blow off some steam and grab my books while I try to pay attention to what the teacher says, but it’s hard to focus when my phone keeps buzzing in my pocket.
I pull it out and check my messages.
Dylan: Did you talk?
Penelope: No, did you?
Dylan: I need you to come to my dad’s office. Now.
Penelope: I can’t. I’m in the middle of class.
Dylan: Walk.
Penelope: No. I’ll flunk.
I put the phone away, but it keeps going off, and it’s annoying the shit out of me.
Alistair: Stop ignoring us.
Penelope: You in on it too now? I told you, I haven’t said a word to anyone.
Alistair: People are talking. They know the Phantom boys are missing.
Penelope: Yeah, well it wasn’t me. What did you even do with … you know.
I don’t want to say bodies. I don’t ever know who’s watching.
Dylan: Not here.
Penelope: Then where? I need to know if it’s even safe to walk around on campus.
Dylan: You’re safe when you’re ours.
Fuck. That doesn’t help me one bit.
Penelope: Nathan literally came to “talk” to me. You call that safe?
I suddenly get pulled into a group conversation with all three of them.
Dylan: Nathan’s back? You need to fucking tell us those things, Pen.
Penelope: It literally happened three seconds ago. There was no time. Chill.
Dylan: I don’t care how long it’s been. Stay away from him. I’ll deal with him.
Felix: No need. I was there, watching.
Alistair: You stealing my job, bro?
Felix: Fuck off.
Dylan: Looks like someone’s still mad.
Alistair: Don’t make it our problem, dude.
Felix: You boys did something, didn’t you? Tell me. Now.
Dylan: Not safe over text. We’ll talk after class. Pen’s coming too.
Penelope: I’m not interested in watching you three fight.
Felix: Pen…
Dylan: You’re coming, or I’m dragging you.
Alistair: I’m going to enjoy this.
I roll my eyes.
Penelope: Fine. Better be worth it.
Felix: We’re doing all of this for you, Pen. Don’t fucking forget.
I put my phone back down. I’m not interested in being schooled by them, and especially not by Felix. I’m still so fucking mad at him for even thinking I could hurt my sister.
Class can’t be over quick enough.
When I finally get to the Skull & Serpent Society, one of the dudes who opens the doors immediately escorts me to the private library. The same one where I almost choked on Felix’s cum, and the mere memory makes me squeeze my legs together.
“In here,” the guy says, and he pushes me inside and closes the door behind me.
But I’m completely frozen to the floor when I realize I’m not alone with Felix, Dylan, and Alistair.
“Well, hello there. And your name is?”
It’s the fucking dean. Dylan’s father.
