Page 117 of Darkest Obsession

“We can do both.”

Sylvia already has her phone out and Thomas has his shoes back on. We need another weapon. I grab that knife I stole from Jude and stuff it into my hoodie pouch as Sylvia opens my bedroom door. We have ¾ of a mile on the trails before we get to the boathouse. If we don’t run, we won’t make it before the cops. Outside the dorm door, Thomas glances over at both of us. “I hope dancing got you girls in good shape.”

“We can make it,” Sylvia huffs. “We can get to her.”

“Let’s go,” I grunt, exerting as much force as I can to sprint down the trail to the boathouse. The three of us run together, trying to match Thomas’ really fast pace. We run as fast as we can and after around painful minutes, we arrive at the boathouse. I hurry down the hill toward the river water, thinking that Kola would be in the water drowning or something, but as I get closer to the dock, I see her right where Spicy Freak told us to expect her.

“SHE’S THERE!” I shriek. It’s Kola. She’s naked and it’s cold out. I don’t want Thomas to look at her. I don’t want anyone to see her like this. I run over to her and touch her face. She’s warm. She’s alive. But there’s something definitely wrong with her. Blood all over her thighs. Cuts all over her body. She looks beat up and bloodied.

I throw my hoodie off and cover her. Thomas gets close but once he realizes she’s naked, he turns around. Sylvia’s still on the line with the police and she’s trying to describe the trail. Cars can’t get down here easily and they have to call the campus first to get permission to come on because it’s private property. Kola’s alive, but something horrible happened to her.

“Kola,” I whisper. “Kola, are you awake?”

She doesn’t make a sound, but when I touch her, she groans and shrinks up into a ball. Thomas has all his shirts off and he throws them to me so I can cover her up.

“Keep her warm,” he says. “Keep her warm until they get here.”

When the paramedics arrive, we have to go through everything again, except this time it’s worse. I can hear them talking about “signs of sexual assault”. I can hear them discussing Kola’s condition and then the deans come. We aren’t blamed for leaving the dorms because we still have hours until check-in.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. We found Molly. We locked her away. We can’t have someone running around raping Kola. Even if everything else was about some fucked up hatred of Thomas Bainbridge, this can’t possibly be the motive for what happened to her. Thomas puts his arm around my waist once the paramedics and deans get ready to dismiss us.

He leans forward and whispers into my ear, “This is the last night you sleep in fear. I promise.”

He can’t possibly promise that, but I lean back into his arms and let Thomas hold me for once without running away.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Thomas

The security guard at the back door of Blackmoor Sanitorium opens the door for me. Everyone owes my family favors. Richard worked security at my fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays. Dad paid well for keeping his children safe. I’ll give him what credit I can muster for that. It doesn’t matter that she’s a Fox. The cops cleared Jude Fox of suspicion and I spoke with my connection to the Fox family. Molly’s related, but it’s complicated. The information might come in handy later.

“Thanks, Richard,” I say to the security guard, shaking his hand firmly. “What room?”

“Cameras off,” Richard says. “Room Seven.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll be off to the shop for forty-five minutes. Whatever mess you make, you clean up, Mr. Bainbridge.”

“Of course, sir. I wouldn’t leave any trouble at your doorstep.”

Like most people who know my family’s reputation, he fears me. That started when I shot up over 6’4”. People who thought I was just some runt kid began looking at me the way they looked at my father. I’m still not used to the undeserved respect. I still feel like an idiot kid sometimes who dresses punk and paints his nails when he’s bored in class. I don’t feel like a Bainbridge, whatever that means.

Richard leaves the door and I shut it behind me. She’s asleep, the rooms are soundproofed, and I have the key.

I promised Clover she wouldn’t have to worry about her safety, and I meant it. I love her. I don’t care if she gets all prickly or if she elbows me each time I say the wrong thing. I love kissing her. I love fantasizing about a world where I’m not fucked up — where I’m a good enough man to deserve a girl who dances as if every cell in her body has its own rhythm. I’m not good enough to deserve a girl with a special, beautiful smile.

She’s always been too good for me. That doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if Clover loves me the same way as long as I can keep her safe.

My feet carry me swiftly up the stairs. The sanitorium is one of the few buildings around here with a basement, so I climb up to the ground floor. No nurses on duty for three hours. No cameras. There’s no one here to witness what I’m going to do.

Dad always said there were some jobs you have to do yourself. The best help is no help at all. Killing a person is just like killing a buck, Thomas, and I made sure you were great with a gun.

I find Room Seven and unlock the door. The sleeping girl doesn’t budge. She’s either disoriented from psychiatric meds, faking, or properly sleeping. Either way, it doesn’t matter. I lock the door and stick the key in my pocket, flicking on the light.

That gets Molly’s attention and she sits straight up in bed, horror on her face even as she squints. Her horror only intensifies when she puts her glasses on properly and realizes it’s me standing at the foot of her bed.

“You wanted to get to me,” I tell her softly. “You’ve gotten to me. Congratulations.”