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“If any of the rest of you would like to leave, this is your chance,” she said.
I stared at my friends—Noelle, Ivy, Constance, Kiki, Rose, Tiffany, Portia, Amberly, London, and Vienna—and wondered what they were thinking. Some of them looked scared, others annoyed, others sympathetic. But it was Constance’s eyes that got me. She looked like she wanted to give me a hug.
I cleared my throat and stood, handing the empty glass to Noelle.
“Guys, I don’t know if I’m psychic. I don’t know if I’m cursed. And I definitely don’t feel like I have some unique amount of power,” I said, wiping my hands on my jeans. “All I care about … the whole reason why I asked you here … is keeping all of us safe. So please just … stay inside. Stay with your families. And if any of us calls anyone else, answer the phone.”
“Even Missy?” Amberly said, her voice thick.
There was a halfhearted laugh. “Yeah. Even Missy,” I said. “The best thing we can do right now is look out for each other.”
“And if anyone’s parents aren’t around and you want to stay here, you can,” Noelle added.
Slowly, everyone started to get up. They looked scared, but I could tell that they were glad they’d come. At least we knew we had one another’s backs now. At least everyone had all the information. I hugged each of them as they made for the door, and Constance held on to me longer than anyone.
“Hey, Reed,” Kiki said, pausing at the back of the group as the girls crowded through the doors.
“Yeah?” I said, suddenly exhausted.
“Call us if you have any more dreams,” she said.
This time, no one laughed.
“You’re nothing, Reed! Nothing! You should never have been accepted at this school! You don’t deserve to be here!”
My pulse thrummed in my ears as I backed across the Billings roof, Missy advancing on me with predatory ferocity in her eyes. Her black robe billowed in the wind, the hood jumping up and down on her back. As I tripped closer to the edge, my mind raced, trying to figure out a way out of this, praying that someone would glance up and see. I frantically looked toward Ketlar, willing Josh to run out the front door. Willing him to save me.
But something was wrong. Ketlar was not where it was supposed to be. I was looking at Billings from high above. I whirled around and realized that this was not the roof of my dorm at all. We were standing atop the Easton chapel.
How the hell had we gotten here?
“Everything was fine before you came here, Reed!” Missy continued ranting, her face practically purple with rage. “Thomas is dead because of you! Cheyenne is dead because of you! It’s all your fault!”
“No,” I said tearfully, even as the horrible guilt squeezed my heart. My head shook hysterically. “No. It wasn’t me. I didn’t do those things.”
“You can’t be that naive,” Missy scoffed. “Those things were done because. Of. You!”
With each word, Missy shoved me toward the edge of the roof. Through blurry, stinging eyes, I searched behind her for the door—the door through which Noelle had tiptoed that night long ago, coming to rescue me from Ariana. The door was there, even though we weren’t at Billings.
“You need to die,” Missy said as the backs of my thighs hit the stone turrets along the side of the roof. “It’s the only way. If you die, the curse will be broken.”
My mind screamed at me to say something. To come up with the words that would convince her. But she was insane. She was out of her mind. Just like Ariana had been. Just like Sabine.
Then, behind her, the door opened and closed. My veins flooded with relief. But it wasn’t Noelle coming toward us with a field hockey stick. It was Ariana. And her sadistic, murderous gaze was fo
cused on the back of Missy’s head.
“Missy!” I shouted. “Look out!”
She laughed. “Like I’m gonna fall for tha—”
Suddenly Ariana brought the hockey stick down across Missy’s throat. Missy’s eyes widened in surprise and terror.
“Ariana! No!” I screamed, buckling at the waist as tears poured from my eyes.
Missy’s hands flew up to grip the stick, but her actions were futile. Ariana jerked the stick back and up with both hands. Missy started to scream, but her neck snapped and the sound died.
“No,” I whimpered, as Missy went limp. “No, no, no, no, no …”
