AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I… no,” she admits finally.
Good. Whoever did this clearly isn’t mentally stable, and I didn’t want her or Penelope near them. Just the thought of them crossing paths with whoever was behind this makes my blood chill.
“See? Even if we reported it, we don’t have anything to go off of.”
“We can’t do nothing about it! Somebodythreatenedyou, Bash.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “It wouldn’t be the first time or the last, apparently. It doesn’t matter, I’ll just…”
“What do you mean it wouldn’t be the first time?”
Well, shit.
I stop in my tracks at the even tone of her voice. I’ve heard it before. It was deceiving, the calm before the storm.
“It doesn’t ma—”
“Cut the bullshit, Bash,” she snaps, that familiar fire blazing in her light irises, making them seem more gray than blue. “When did something like this happen?”
“Back in L.A.” I run my hand over my face. “Just after…” The memories of what happened back then slam into me, but I shove them back. I can’t deal with that. Not right now. “Anyway,” I clear my throat. “There were some nasty texts back then, and then one night I got back home late only to find a message written on the wall of my house.”
Even thinking about it had the hairs at my nape rising. I was stumbling back home at the crack of dawn after drinking my weight in alcohol the previous night, trying to forget everything that had happened, trying to erase that suffocating pain and loss. But when I spotted the words written in bright red paint, visible even in the dim light, it was like a bucket of ice water was thrown over my head.
Killer. You’ll pay for what you did.
My stomach recoiled at seeing those words so much I started to throw up. The night was a blur, but I remembered the cold sweat washing over me. The way my hands shook as I called the police. What felt like an endless wait.
The guilt.
So much guilt.
“Somebody left a threatening note written on yourhouse? What the hell, Bash! Why didn’t you say something?”
“It didn’t matter,” I shrug. “By that point, a few people were involved, my mother and police included, but they couldn’t find who was behind it. And it didn’t even matter since I already knew I’d be leaving. I couldn’t stay there. The memories…”
That feeling of shame rises inside my chest, making it hard to breathe. While I was waiting for the police to arrive, looking at those words written on the wall, I knew something had to give. I couldn’t keep on like this. Not if I wanted to live.
I duck my head, my fingers curling into fists by my sides. It seemed like no matter what I did, no matter where I went, there was no way to avoid what had happened. No way for me to atone for my sins.
Seraphina’s hand lands on my shoulder as she moves closer. “It wasn’t your fault.”
But wasn’t it?
“I’m not doing this,” I pull back, not wanting to open this particular box. “I’m going over to Penelope’s. Tomorrow we’re leaving for L.A., and I don’t want to spend my last night here recapping the past.”
I try to walk around her, but she places her hand on mine, tugging me back. “You can’t brush this off. Somebody sent you a freaking box with a threatening message. Who knows what they might do next?”
“Do you think I don’t fucking know that?” I fire right back. “But I have zero idea who it might be, and the police were useless when they were trying to figure it out back in L.A., so what’s to say things will be different this time around?”
“You should at least report it so they’re aware of what’s going on.”
“If I report it, it’ll only bring even more attention to me, which is the last thing I want. It’ll stop. It did the last time.”
“The last time it stopped because you left the fucking town, and nobody knew where you were.” She lets her hand drop by her side. “If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for Penelope. You don’t want her to get hurt, do you?”
I shake her hand off of me, my fingers clenching into fists so tightly I can feel my nails biting into my skin. “That was a low blow.”
“I don’t care. I just want you safe.”
