My fingers squeeze the cigarette tightly as I look around campus. I haven’t seen Penelope in days, and something about that makes me antsy as fuck.
Where could she be?
I know she told us to leave her alone, and we did what she asked … but that didn’t entail her skipping out on classes.
What the fuck is she up to?
My feet tap the asphalt as I try to listen to the conversations around me, but I can’t fucking focus.
“Dylan,” Alistair says, bumping into me. “Hello? You there?”
“Huh, what?” I mutter.
“There’s a party tonight at the Phantom house.” He leans in to whisper, “Wanna fuck some shit up?”
I shrug. “No, thanks.”
Alistair frowns and leans back. “Whoa. Are you serious?”
I take another drag. “Not interested.”
His jaw drops. “Wow. Dylan Caruso, not interested in a party? That’s a first.”
I ignore him and fish out my phone to scroll through my messages until I find her.
Sex_God: Where are you?
There are dots. And then it stops. More dots. And then it stops again.
Sex_God: You have class.
More dots. Then nothing.
Sex_God: Goddammit, Penelope, stop ignoring me.
The messages go silent, and they infuriate me beyond anything else.
God, I normally never cared this much.
When did I start getting so fucking invested?
Just one girl managed to pull me off my axis.
“She’s not answering my texts either,” Alistair says.
I know she told us to leave her alone, but that didn’t involve her ruining her own education.
“What the fuck is she doing?” I mutter to myself. “Hey, have you seen Felix, by any chance?”
Alistair frowns. “No, I thought you’d know. I haven’t seen him in hours.”
My eyes narrow. Suspicious. “He hasn’t told me anything.”
Ali shrugs. “I don’t know. Last I saw him was at the Skull & Serpent Society. He was fixing his bike. Said he’d be busy today and told me not to bother him.”
Strange because I don’t recall him telling me a single thing.
Suddenly, my phone rings. A private call.
I pick up, wondering if it could be her, and she got a new phone. “Penelope?”
“You still haven’t gotten rid of that girl?”
The raspy voice on the other end definitely tells me all I need to know.
“Dad …” I grit, and I move away from the group of people we were standing with. “What do you want?”
“Since you still talk about that girl, I take it you’re still in contact with her?” he asks.
“Why do you care?”
“Because someone entered the sorority house she was a part of last night and destroyed some of the evidence,” he says. “And if it was her, I need to speak with her immediately.”
“How do you even know it was her?” I frown.
He wasn’t there, so he couldn’t possibly know.
“Just because it’s her sister’s room doesn’t—”
“I have credible sources who say they saw her entering the room with their own eyes. I’m on my way to the school now.”
Credible sources? What the fuck?
“Look, I don’t know where she is, and I’m not interested in helping you.”
“Dylan,” he warns. “Remember who you are.”
Who I am. Of course, he always dangles the Caruso family name in front of my face like a fucking carrot.
But I don’t need to be reminded of that.
“I have nothing to do with her. Leave me out of this.”
And I click off the conversation before he can do any more damage.
Penelope
I slip into the back entrance of the school, mindful of who sees me. Anyone connected to those boys could give away my location, and seeing them is the last thing I want right now.
I just want to focus on my studies. Or at least, what’s left of them.
After culling the classes that I share with Dylan, Alistair, or Felix, there weren’t many left. Even the ones with Crystal and Kayla had to take the fall. But I’m sure if any of the boys see them, they’ll surely ask them about me. I just can’t risk Kayla and Crystal telling them where I am.
Before I know it, those boys will come and find me. Trap me in a room. Force me to yield until I can no longer run.
They’ve done it before, and they’ll do it again.
That’s just who they are.
Vicious.
Inescapable.
And I cannot let myself fall for that ever again.
I sigh out loud and move through the hallways in my hoodie, clutching my bag tight, hiding my face underneath to make sure no one recognizes me.
But Kayla’s voice still makes me turn. “Penelope?”
Fuck. Just one second was enough for her to spot me.
I turn and run off.
“Wait, Penelope!” she calls, but I can’t risk it.
It’s too dangerous, even for her, now that I know what those boys have done.
I glance over my shoulder to check if she’s following me, but no one is there. I’ve shaken her off my tail. Phew.
I turn my head and walk straight into someone else.
I’m knocked back to the floor, the contents of my bag spilling out. But the person in front of me doesn’t even seem to notice I’ve bumped into them.
A whole bunch of students have gathered like they’re looking at something.
I swiftly pick up my books and try to peek between the restless feet, skittishly walking around something in the middle of the circle of people.
But when I spot a hint of blood, my fingers drop the books.
I get up and push past the people, desperate to know if my suspicions are true.
At the front, I come to an abrupt halt.
On the floor in the hallway, in the midst of a circle of people, is a body.
Cut with a thousand slices.
Eyes pulled out of its sockets.
Mouth wide open, tongue sliced off, a stump all that’s left.
I gulp, and I drop to my knees.
People begin to scream.
The entire hallway swarms with people, running in and out, after realizing what they just witnessed.
But me? All I can do is stare at the nameplate on the front of the body’s jacket.
Peter Young.
The same boy who was in my sister’s diary.
Hours later
Several students who saw the body have gotten counseling and will probably need a follow-up. But it doesn’t appear that anyone else saw what happened to Peter. Apparently, the body was put there when all classes were in session and the hallways were empty.
But whispers floating around talk of a snake slithering down the hallway.
And I doubt they mean the animal.
“Are you sure you saw nothing?” the police officer asks me.
I swiftly shake my head.
The police officer puts his paper away and sighs, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Look, witnessing stuff like that is tough. I know that.” He tucks a note into my hand. “Give this place a call if you need someone to talk to.”
He pats my shoulder and leaves. Kayla is right behind me, watching me from the sidelines, but I don’t go to her. I don’t dare.
If I get too close, she might die too.
The body is gone, along with the trail of blood, but I won’t forget.
I saw it with my own eyes.
Those wounds …
They weren’t just inflicted by a killer.
They were my exact words.
Only one person could have done this.
It was a reckoning.
Some shuffling is audible behind me, and I flick my head in the direction of the sound. I swear I could see someone disappear into a room up ahead.
I run to it and open the door, but when I look inside, no one is there.
“Felix?” I call.
But no one answers.
“I know it was you,” I say.
Still, no reply.
Did I dream it all up, or did he leave that body for me to find?
Like a message?
A gift?
A shiver runs up and down my spine.
I told him to kill for me.
And he promised to bring every one of my enemies hell.
One by one, the people who tormented me and my sister fell.
He’s seen the pages, so he knows them by name.
All he needed to do was find and destroy them.
Just as he vowed he would.
And so he did.
They’ll never stop.
I open the door again and exit without looking back.
I can’t. I can’t go back.
No matter how big the gesture.
No matter how imposing the obsession.
I have to stay away.
