AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I back out slowly from the room, when Veronica unhooks the keys from the hook and turns around to close the door.
"What the fuck was that?"
She giggles. "Campus security for the church," she teases.
I shake my head in disbelief. "That is so fucked up. How many people go to him and confess?"
"I'm sure he has heard plenty, but they are hired by the Order. The real one is old and comes during the day. If you want to confess your sins, I would start there."
We are back outside, and the cold air greets us. The hot and cold are getting to me, causing me to sneeze.
"Get it all out. You wouldn't want them to hear you."
"Who's them?" I ask, trying to keep up with her.
She smiles. "You'll see."
* * *
After the last step up to the fourth floor, I catch my breath, and there it is, blocked off by a door. Veronica looks up at the camera and, with the key in the lock, waits for the green light to the camera pointing down to turn red, then she turns the key, releasing a lock that makes a buzzing sound.
She pulls the door, and it sounds like an air pocket being released from an air lock. She pulls open the door, and when she moves forward, the smell of a sterile hospital burns my nose.
She wasn't kidding. The entire floor looks like a hospital. White walls and shiny floors in a dimly lit hallway with sealed rooms on either side. Another hallway with carpet leads to what looks like doctors’ offices.
"That is where you get therapy and prescribed medications. There is a receptionist during the week."
My eyes scan the hallway and the doors, filing it away to memory. What Gia told me is true, Kenyan is full of surprises and fucked-up students with money.
"This is where the wealthy, not rich, send their kids. I'm not talking about Beyoncé rich. I'm talking about middle eastern rich. The kids that are sent to Kenyan are from U.S. leaders. Not the people you see on TV. The ones behind the scenes telling them what to do. All those people are bottom feeders compared to the Order."
"That is why everyone is losing their shit over Gia."
"For you too, I'm afraid. It is either they will kill you, or they keep you. So, you can kiss leaving here goodbye. You know too much. You will not graduate here without being married to a monster or ending up in a box buried in the cemetery. The fucked-up part is that whoever you choose, you will lose your right to do whatever you want and will be at their mercy. All the safe ones are taken. Unless you marry Garret, his family will not allow it, and Reid and Valen would probably drown him in the pool and call it an accident."
"You're giving me too much credit."
Her telling me this sets a smoke alarm in my brain, suffocating me. That is Michael's sick plan. Blackmail me to agree, but he isn't sure how to approach the Order. I have figure out how to outsmart him and end his sick twisted mind games.
We pause in front of a room with a glass window, and she stops like a tour guide and shows me an exhibit at the zoo.
"This is where they are keeping him," she says, pushing a button, and a light turns on.
I let out a gasp, my hands flying to cover my mouth. "What the fuck?"
Warren is in a straitjacket talking to himself. The weird look in his eyes I have seen lately makes sense. He keeps shaking his head and talking to himself with his eyes and lips moving.
"The Bedford twins don't fuck around. They don't want to worry Gia, but according to the medications they are feeding him, it is melting his brain. He will be dead in three days. They allow him out for a bit. He was at the ball, but I came to get you when they brought him back. This is one of the reasons the twins have security around Gia all the time: to ensure Warren doesn't go nuts and do something when he is out. People will wonder too much if he doesn't show up. Ask questions."
I purse my lips and gaze at the ground, looking at my worn-out bootleg Uggs. Observing a person suffering that deserves it messes with your head. You think it's inhumane, but what he did to Gia was irredeemable. What doesn't add up is Veronica's interest in Warren and the fact that his parents don't do anything.
"I thought you were into him? And why don't his parents do something? Retaliate."
Her lips twitch. "He broke the rules like my best friend did, and she paid the price. There is nothing anyone can do. As for me being into that pervert, he forced himself on me before freshman year began. He cornered me, and when I told him I wasn't interested, he shoved me against the wall, and I did what I had to do."
I raise my brows to my hairline. "Which is?"
"I played possum and let him think I changed my mind by luring him to my bedroom, and then I fucked him in the ass with my dildo. He screamed. I laughed. He came. He left me alone after that, and I made it seem like I was obsessed with him."
