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Nothing.
No footprints, no rustling bushes, not even a peep.
Am I going crazy?
The sound of my phone dinging nearly makes me jump out of my own skin. It’s not a text message alert, but an email. I hurry back inside and engage all the locks on the door. Better safe than sorry.
I return to the table and open my email app. I half expect it to be another gossip reporter trying to reach me for a comment, but when I see that it’s from MCAT, my heart leaps into my throat. My test scores are here. With a shaky finger, I open the email, quickly scanning through the irrelevant information until I see…
525.
My jaw drops open. “Holy shit!”
The exam is measured on a score range from 472 to 528. I may not have gotten a perfect score, but I came pretty damn close to it! I can hardly believe my eyes. With a score like this, I’d easily be able to apply to some of the best medical schools in the country. I’m so excited that I can’t stop shaking, two seconds away from vibrating out of my own skin.
“Oh my God,” I half-giggle, half-sob. “I did it! I can’t wait to tell H—”
Elation leaves me the second I even think of his name. Of all the people in the world that I want to celebrate with, Hunter is the first and only person that really comes to mind. I’m still pissed at my mother. Dad and I haven’t spoken since the hospital. I could maybe call Taylor? But it’s late and I know she’s probably busy with work, so I don’t want to disturb her.
My hand falls to my stomach as a bittersweet laugh bubbles past my lips.
“That’s okay,” I say to the baby, or maybe I’m trying to convince myself. “We can celebrate together. You’re proud of your mama, right?”
The rest of my evening is quiet. I finish dinner, wash the dishes in the sink, and promptly go to bed. As I snuggle in for the evening, I can’t help but reminisce, thinking about my childhood summers spent in this very lake house. Things seemed so much simpler then, less scary and overwhelming. A part of me really wants to go back to relive those memories.
Roasting marshmallows over the campfire, swimming in the lake, staying up to watch the stars. In all those memories, my family was there. It boggles my mind to think of all the problems brewing just beneath the surface, all the arguments and the money troubles that my parents managed to keep hidden from me. It all seems so obvious now, and yet…
Thud.
A loud noise outside makes me jump. I sit upright in bed and flick the bedside lamp on. Could the wind have knocked over the trash can? Maybe there really is a raccoon scurrying around out there.
That’s when I smell it.
Something’s burning.
The smell becomes harsher, heavier. I see the first waft of grey smoke seeping into the bedroom through the small gap beneath the door. I carefully press the back of my hand to the doorknob. It isn’t hot, but the fire is definitely coming from the other side.
I yank the door open and find the couch in the living room ablaze. The south-facing wall has gone up in smoke, too, quickly spreading up to the ceiling. The whole cabin is made of wood, providing the fire the perfect kindling. The heat is growing hotter by the minute, baking me alive.
I don’t hesitate. There’s still a clear path ahead of me, so I take it, snatching up my jacket and phone before sprinting outside. I put as much distance as I can between myself and the lake house, watching in dismay as the fire spreads with speed and ferocity. As I call 911, I take another step back and accidentally land in something wet. When I glance down, I realize it’s not water I’ve stepped in.
Judging by the smell and the bright red cherry can someone’s abandoned a few feet away, I realize it’s gasoline.
This wasn’t an accident.
Someone set the lake house on fire.
And I’m pretty sure they did so with the knowledge that I was inside.
Chapter 40
Tip #40: Never make a deal with the Devil.
HUNTER
When was the last time you went outside?Mei-Lee asks me.
I can see her signing out of the corner of my vision, but I’m not paying attention. I don’t have the energy. Instead, I sit in my recliner and stare blankly at the projections being cast on the screen. I’ve been nursing the same glass of whiskey for about three hours, the ice in it having melted and watered the whole thing down.
