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“We will have to keep an eye on her the whole time, she’s fucking reckless with herself, and we all know that she’s been unhinged since they took Mateo.” Finn lets out a massive sigh of frustration, his whole-body deflating under the weight of the stress we constantly find ourselves under.
“You think she’s only been unhinged since Mateo? I got news for you, bro. Mia has always been a little unhinged and damaged. I don’t know what happened to her before coming to Casbury, but someone hurt that girl, and she means to make the world pay for it.” I shake my head at the knowledge that we still don’t know who she is. I know she said it didn’t matter, but that’s bull shit. Of course, it matters; she came here with the intention of hurting the four of us. Just because fate intervened and we all caught feelings for each other doesn’t change that fact.
Who is Mia Stratford, and why did she want to hurt us? Does she still?
Chapter 35
Finn
“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” William Blake
“Youthinkshe’sonlybeen unhinged since Mateo? I got news for you; bro. Mia has always been a little unhinged and damaged. I don’t know what happened to her before coming to Casbury, but someone hurt that girl, and she means to make the world pay for it.” I watch as Carter shakes his head, his face filled with frustration.
His words feel like punches that my body is taking over and over.Someone hurt that girl, and she means to make the world pay for it.I know who hurt that girl. I understand why she came back here and why she wants to set fire to the world, to our worlds. Everything she’s doing and has done since she came to Casbury is in the name of vengeance. Vengeance on the four guys that tortured, bullied, and hurt her—retaliation against the kings of Casbury.
"Finn, please! Please don't let them do this to me!" Tears cascade down Amelia's red face. Her nose is bleeding from where Mateo smacked her with his backpack, and a giant welt on her cheek is already rising from the buckle of his bag.
"Finn, please, Finn, please! You sound like a donkey braying, you fat cow. Stop begging for Finn's help. He's one of us now." Carter shifts closer to Amelia, and I watch helplessly as he yanks on her hair, pulling thick dark stands out in his fist. A pained scream leaves her lips, and I feel tears at the back of my eyes.
Help her, my heart screams. But I do nothing, not even opening my mouth to tell my fellow kings to leave her alone. I'm a king now; they made me one, and losing that would destroy this new world that I have stepped in. I don't want them to turn on me next. I'm a coward, and I know it.
"Let's lock her in the cemetery shed; the groundskeeper doesn't come by on the weekend. Maybe, then she won't be such a spiteful bitch." Theo nods towards Amelia and the shed we can see in the distance. The building is decrepit and old, nothing more than a wood and metal shack holding the groundskeeper's equipment to maintain the cemetery plots. My stomach sinks; I know Amelia doesn't like to be in tight places, and she's afraid of the dark. It will be night in a few hours.
I watch as Theo, Carter, and Mateo push and pull her along while she tries to fight back until they reach the shed. I follow along behind them like a traitor and a yellow-belly coward. I should stop this; this is going too far. She never did anything to them. I don't even know why they hate her so much. Yeah, she's a little overweight and has a sharp tongue, but that's not any reason to hurt her the way they do. I want to ask them why they don't leave her alone. I want to demand they stop hurting my best friend, but I can't. We are no longer friends; I am now a king of Casbury. Just like my stepfather was when he was my age.
Mateo kicks Amelia hard in the leg, and she falls to her hands and knees. She's sobbing so hard right now that she's making awful gasping noises. Carter yanks her up by the back of the neck as Theo removes the lock on the door and opens it wide before Carter shoves her in there.
She tries to push against the door, but all three of them put their weight into it and manage to close and lock it before she can move it more than an inch. Her screams are muffled from inside, and they make my heart hurt. She's terrified; you can hear it in her voice.
"Let's go, asshole; you did nothing to help get her in there." Carter moves forward and shoves me hard on the chest. I take a step back before righting myself and pushing him hard right back.
"It took all three of you to get her in there. One measly girl, y'all a bunch of weaklings." I spit, getting ready to defend myself against his fists. Carter is violent, always responding to everything with his fists. I don't know what a little rich boy has so much to be upset about. He lives in a nice house, has two parents, and has all the food and toys he could ever want.
"Finn, please let me out of here!" Amelia bangs hard against the shed door.
"I better not find out that you caved and let her out, Finn. Your heart is too soft where that cow is concerned. If I find out you helped her, you're not a king anymore." Theo grabs onto the front of my shirt, chest bumping me hard. My fists tighten, and the desire to punch his stupid face fills me. He's always threatening me with taking away my title as a king. I don't even know if I want to be a king if it means being like them.
Then I remember my stepdad's face when I came home with the king's pin on my jacket, how his eyes lit up. How happy he was that I was following in his footsteps. I can't disappoint him; he's been so good to me, treating me like I'm his real son. You're not, though, are ya? You're a fake son and an imposter king.
I turn away from the thumping on the shed door and walk back through the cemetery, the other three hot on my heels. With one look back towards the small building, I exit the grounds, hoping that someone visiting a grave finds her before it gets pitch black out here.
No one found her that night or the next. She was locked in that shed for two days before the groundskeeper showed up to work and let her out. Her momma was frantic, looking all over town for her. We did that to her; we locked a twelve-year-old girl in the dark for two days with no food and water just because we didn't like her. I've carried the shame of that for years. It plays on repeat in my nightmares. I am a monster and I know it.
We are the reason she is filled with anger and schemes for revenge. We are the ones that hurt a young, innocent girl, one who was shy and awkward. This Amelia is strong, willful, and determined. This Amelia is Mia Stratford, who is filled with hate and dreams of destruction. Unfortunately, we are the ones she is determined to destroy. I know she said it doesn't matter anymore, that her plans have changed, but I don't believe that completely.
Her plans changed because of the circumstances we found ourselves in with Carter, then Theo's dad. Theo and Carter almost dying were a massive blow to all of us, and now Mateo being shot, and taken, has pretty much destroyed any chance of peace we had. Mia's changed since that first moment when we brought Carter to her door. I see glimpses of my old friend Amelia, and I can't believe I didn't see it before my mother confirmed my suspicions.
The problem is that once we are all safe and the dust has settled, I'm convinced her need for retribution won't abate. That her original plans to destroy the kings of Casbury, and make us pay for everything we did to her, will be back on the table. I would like to believe they won't. That we have somehow proven to her that we are not those same boys that hurt her, but I know that's a falsity. We tried to control her and bend her to our will the moment she stepped into Casbury.
All four of us have control issues, Theo perhaps being the worst. There is no way that once we are all safe, that those control asshole tendencies won't quickly make a reappearance, and we won't have Mia, once again at our throats. She has proved over and over that she will not be controlled. Can we give up on our natural instincts to force her hand?
From the beginning, I have had this weird pull towards her. I felt instantly drawn to her when I first saw her at school. Every moment spent in her company had me wanting more of her time. When she seemed untouchable and unmoved by our presence, my mind couldn't rationalize why I was holding on so tight. Why I felt I needed to make her want me.
Now I know why. Amelia and I were always drawn together as children; my mom used to say we were two sides of the same coin and inseparable. That is until my mom married Jack, and everything changed. I was the cause of all the damage between us. It was me that allowed all of that bullying to happen to her. I failed my best friend and allowed strangers to hurt her repeatedly while I stood watch.
Whoever is leaving the messages that I am a traitor is one hundred percent correct. I am a traitor. I abandoned my best friend, the one that had always looked out for me. The one who had stood up for me when kids teased me about being biracial. She always stood firm by my side, and what did I do at the first opportunity for a better life? I betrayed her and left her behind. I'm a pitiful piece of shit that deserves everything she decides to serve me. Maybe if I bleed enough, it will help to subside some of this gnawing guilt that lives inside of me.
"She's still controlling the school too. I got word today from Jeremy Mortlach that she set up Jessie as her proxy and has ripped apart another two families that tried to take power." Theo's eyes gleam with what I think might be pride. The psycho is proud of her continuing to control the school and destroying people's lives to do it. Every day a little more of the old Theo makes an appearance. I just wish it weren't his worst traits coming back.
