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He frowns at Bax. “Are you going to chop that hair off, young man?”

Bax grins. “No way, dude. Long hair is a way of life. It’s the essence of my soul. Gotta let my freak flag fly, man.”

Coach rolls his eyes, taps his pen on his clipboard, and softens his expression as he looks at me. “You and Remy better figure out your issues, son. I’m sick of your fighting.”

I cast my eyes down, like I can control that Remy suddenly hates the world, and me. “Yes, Coach.”

“Alright then. Two miles, Tommy.”

My stomach twinges, thinking how controlling my father can be.

Bax offers me a sympathetic glance. “Hey, man, when you finish, you up for ditching class and getting burgers?”

I glance up and spot Cindy with her cheer squad waiting for us at the edge of the track. I’m not sure I’m in the mood for her today, and definitely won’t be after I finish my run.

Screwing the preacher’s daughter the way we did was the biggest mistake of my life. I was drunk, and we got carried away. She didn’t deserve that.

“Nah, man. You head out. I’ve got some math homework to do.” My failing grades are part of the reason Coach is working me so hard.

If I keep failing, he won’t let me run anymore, and not even my father can stop that from happening.

Cindy struts by in her blue and white cheer uniform, her perfect curls bouncing unnaturally, trying to get my attention. Bax’s head drops to the side as he stares at Cindy’s juicy ass.

“You coming, Tommy?” she calls over her shoulder.

I keep my focus down, regretting the fact I had screwed her a few weeks ago. “Not today.”

She frowns, then shifts her attention. “Bax?”

He grins like a kid in a candy store. “Oh, hell yeah I’m coming,” he shouts after her and slaps me on the back. “Later, dude.”

He does a groovy dance and saunters over to her, his long hair swaying as he walks, before he wraps his arms around her and tickles her. She tilts her head back and laughs, slapping his hand off her, and Remy joins them.

Baxter, Remy, and I’ve been tearing it up for years, and we were unstoppable.

Now, Remy won’t even look at me, and Bax is caught between us, a fractured line separating us.

I sigh, re-lace my shoe, and begin my two-mile jog, immediately replaying the song in my head that’s become an unexplainable obsession, consuming my every thought.

We all have our coping mechanisms, I guess, for the tragedy that shattered everyone at the beginning of the year. Daniel Jenkins’ murder left its mark, and whoever did it is still walking among us. At least, that’s what I think.

Getting stabbed fifteen times and left for dead on a busy trail should be an unusual occurrence, but in Kinsmen, events like that are not uncommon. Everyone thinks this place is cursed, and whispers of a serial killer have been circulating for years.

But I’d bet a silver penny it wasn’t Remy Vital that killed Talia’s boyfriend.

The investigation is ongoing. They couldn’t find any evidence it was Remy, other than he was the one who found him.

That was an emotional kill.

When Talia found out, she never got over it. She dated Daniel Jenkins for four years before it happened. They were high school sweethearts, and both attending Kinsmen University.

She was investigated, of course, but I could never imagine a tiny girl like that taking down a guy my size. She went away after that to rehab or therapy or some shit with some hippies in the forest—and she’s still there.

Everyone in this town is superstitious, but the real issue is this town is messed up. The longer people live here, the more they get sucked into this hellhole, and the more people go insane.

That white-haired girl just walked into a deathtrap.

I’m in a piss-poor mood as I finish my laps under the searing spring sun. I do an extra mile, just to spite everyone, and by the time I’m done my legs are like Jello.