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Just tell me what you want and you can have it.
This has clearly been about me. You want me to be miserable, so take me. Let her go and take me. You can do whatever you want with me, just don’t do this to her.
But the answer that comes tells me they’re not going to cave.
This has always been about her.
“Fuck!” I roar, just barely resisting the urge to throw my phone across the parking lot. “Okay, think, Hayes. Think.”
There has to be an answer to this. If they wanted to kill her, they would’ve done that and then used her body to get their revenge on us. They wouldn’t have sent some cryptic riddle.
You can find her hidden away in sacred secret places.
Mali is racking her brain right along with me. “Is it the rink? Did you do anything there? The wordsecretmakes me think it has something to do with when you two were fooling around.”
My eyes widen, and she realizes it at the same time I do.
“The abandoned beach!”
CAM GRIPS THE OHshit handle of his Jeep, looking like he’s fearing for his life as I speed down the road. He tried to get me to let him drive, but there was no way in fuck that was happening. The sooner I get there, the better chance I have at saving her. And if I let him drive, there’s a very likely chance I may have literally pushed him out of the fucking car.
I rip the steering wheel to the left, and the whole thing goes up on two wheels as I turn. I almost think it’s going to tip, making it the second car of the day that’s ruined. But Mali thinks quick and throws herself to the other side. It falls back onto all four wheels and bounces from the impact.
Jumping out, I rush toward the sand, but it’s too fucking dark to see anything. Maybe if the moon was out, it would help, but the clouds block it from shining through.
“Go turn your high beams on!” I order Cam.
He books it back to the Jeep and does as I say, lighting up the area a little better.
“Where are you, Lai?” I whisper, squinting as my eyes struggle to scan the area.
And then I see it.
My old hockey jersey.
“Laiken!” I scream, taking off and running like hell.
I fall to my knees next to the jersey and begin clawing at the sand. My hands work desperately to get to her. Cam and Mali both help me, all of us rushing to uncover the box in time, until I finally feel something hard beneath the surface.
“I’ve got it!” I shout.
Mali moves out of the way while Cam and I use all of our strength to grip the cover of the box and pull it open. The wood creaks as the nails give way, but nothing can withstand the sheer force of our adrenaline.
Finally, it gives way and we get the lid off. Laiken blinks up at me, almost like she’s in disbelief. She’s crying and she’s weak, with dried blood on her face from the injuries she must have sustained during the accident.
“Thank God,” I breathe.
At the sound of my voice, she finally moves, sitting up and holding her arms out to me. I wrap my arms around her and pull her to me as she breaks down, sobbing hysterically while I hold her.
“I’ve got you, baby,” I cry with her. “I’ve got you.”
My dad usedto tell me that fear was all in my head. That if you don’t give it the power to make you afraid, it doesn’t exist. But if he truly believes that, he should try being buried alive. Then we’ll see just how much he thinks it’sall in your head.
All I can remember is the crash. It felt like it was all in slow motion. The car came out of fucking nowhere and as I screamed Mali’s name, there was nothing she could do.
It was too late.
The crunch of the metal was one of the worst parts, and it never seemed to end. I watched Mali go unconscious as the airbags deployed and the plastic sliced through the top of my head. And as the car rolled over and over, all I wanted was for it to stop.
