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Kyler barks out a laugh. “And tell them what?”
Her hand goes out, and she shoves him in the chest. “That there’s some masked killer out there!” she shouts.
“And when they ask why we think there’s a masked killer, what do we tell them? Do we tell them about the blood that saidmurdererin the boat? While we’re at it, maybe we should tell them the real story about last year,” Archer barks. He looks agitated as he shoves his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, really good idea, Posie.”
I drop my head forward into my good arm, tears dripping down my nose and falling to the counter beneath me. I sniffle, closing my eyes as the attack replays in my head, over, and over,and overagain.
I don’t know who he was, but I know what it was he wanted. He wanted medead.
I shiver.
A warm hand goes to the back of my neck, and I tilt my head up. Reign stands behind me, his sharp jaw clenched as his eyes fill with chaos, a storm brewing behind them, bringing an entirely new level of fear in me. I try to ignore the way my stomach stirs, the heat that drips between my legs. I was near death, and the mind turns to the dirty, dark place that Reign has always pulled me in, regardless.
“We’re not going to let anything happen to you, Lakyn. You got that?” he rasps.
I wipe at my eyes. “How can you be so sure?” I cry out. “No one knew he was out there. I can’t always be around someone for the rest of my life.”
“I’ve had it with this shit,” Archer snaps, walking toward the back door. He rips it open, looking around outside. “Are you out here? Come and fucking see me.I dare you,” he growls.
My body tenses, anticipating a black figure to step out of the shadows. I don’t even realize I’m gripping Reign’s hand until his fingers drag across my skin, his thumb swiping back and forth across my knuckles, comforting me. I glance up at him, fear in my eyes.
“I’ve got you,” he rasps.
“There’s no one out here,” Archer says, closing the door. He goes to the security system, arming it. Only when I hear it beep do my limbs slightly relax.
“There was,” I whisper, glancing around at my friends, watching all of them stare at me in confusion, a little bit of apprehension, and concern. “I’m fucking serious!”
Archer takes a step back, shaking his head of dark hair at me. “I’m not high enough for this shit,” he growls, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of bourbon.
I chew at my lip, wondering if I’m crazy and imagined the entire thing, or if they’re playing a game with me.
Or maybe, possibly, one of them wants to hurt me.
CHAPTER SIX
LAKYN
Iscroll through my phone, still feeling awkward and clunky after not having it for eleven months. It’s weird seeing what everyone has been up to on Instagram and Facebook, checking out all the new TikTok trends. You don’t realize how much you really don’t need a phone until it’s gone, and how quickly the world changes when you aren’t a part of it.
How the world changes, whether you change with it or not.
My phone buzzes, and a text message appears at the top of my screen. My brow furrows, not recognizing the number. I click on it, seeing it’s an unfamiliar area code.
Unknown:Meet me at the beach by the docks.
My stomach drops, and my blood whooshes in my ears. A shake begins in my fingers as they hover over the keyboard. Dropping my phone to my bed, I sit up, glancing out the window. It’s dark out now, as it has been for hours. My gaze slides to the forest, to the trees which look black at night.
The days have slipped into nights, and I can barely keep track of them anymore.
I haven’t left in two days. At least, I believe it’s been two days. I’ve barely spoken to the guys, can’t even find any words to say to the girls. They’re worried about me, about how I’m closing in on myself. I can’t help it. The world feels as if it’s shrinking, the walls tightening around me, suffocating me.
I can barely breathe.
I’ve suffered being away; that fateful night stuck in my mind on a loop. I couldn’t grieve, couldn’t even process. I’ve been alone, having no one to speak to.
I’d hoped coming home would allow me the time to move on, heal, grow from my mistakes.
But I can’t, because my past is coming back to haunt me, literally. I’m afraid to leave this house. I don’t know where to go.
