“Shut up, Caleb!” I snap.
“I’m just saying, Evan. It would have been nice to know what she’s capable of beforehand.”
“I know what she’s capable of. She just doesn’t yet. Trust me, I’m right about this.”
Maybe I should have let Piper get a taste for the kill before I did this, so she would know firsthand what it feels like to be a god, but I couldn’t do it. What if she didn’t win?
She’s like a doll—a beautiful, petite doll who has no idea of the fierce, deadly woman hiding within. Her ability to stay calm and even crack jokes in the face of terror proves everything I need to know for now.
Piper is one of us. I can’t wait for her to realize it.
“Evan, we need to go,” Matt snaps. In the distance, I hear the faint sound of sirens. The fire is raging now, smoke filling the sky.
Another pane of glass from the windows at the front is smashed out. I grin.
So what if there’s years of hard work being burned to the ground? It was beginning to get dull anyway. I need more. I want to do something different next. I don’t even know what that is, but the possibilities are endless, only restricted by my imagination. Thankfully I have a good imagination.
It’s been a hot summer; there are forest fire warnings and barbecue bans all across town. I knew the second Piper suggested setting the place alight that it wouldn’t take long for the fire department to come. But that only makes it more thrilling. It’s time-sensitive. We’re minutes from being caught, and this isn’t over yet.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins.
“I’m not leaving without her! End this and let’s go,” I tell him.
“No, you’re insane. We can’t take her. She’s a damn liability, man. Why can’t you see that?” Matt shouts.
I turn as he throws his hands up, shaking his head at me with disgust plaguing his face.
How dare he.
My stomach is burning hotter than the building next to me. I reach out and grab Caleb’s gun. Without hesitation, I aim and shoot.
Matt falls to the ground. The wound in the center of his forehead seeps blood.
Turning my gaze to Caleb and Owen, I ask, “Either of you want to leave her behind?”
Caleb’s response is immediate. He shakes his head. But Owen hesitates.
“Owen?”
“Man, I’m on your side. I always am. But there are people looking for her, so don’t you think we have a better chance of getting away if the cops turn up here and find all of them dead?”
Wrong answer.
I don’t hesitate that time, either.
Owen’s body slams to the gravel, blood trickling from the hole in his chest.
Looking up at Caleb, I say, “Why do they have to be stupid?”
He opens his mouth and snaps it shut. With wide eyes, he stares at Owen and Matt’s lifeless bodies.
“Caleb?” I prompt.
Oh God, don’t tell me he’s upset by this?
Shaking his head, he glances up and smirks. I get the old him back. Who cares if Matt and Owen are dead? They had no major role, merely right-hand men, there to do as they were told. It’s me and Caleb who drives this. We do all the real work, the thinking. We’re responsible for what we’ve created. Without us, Matt and Owen would be bored out of their minds, playing good little citizens and always wanting something more.
They would also still be alive, but what’s the point in living if you’re stuck inside a bubble of what you should do?
Caleb clears his throat. “Matt has always been stupid. I’m surprised by Owen, though. I thought he was more dedicated than that. While I can’t disagree that it would be easier without her, we both know there is no fun in easy.”
He gets it. He’s always been my right-hand man. I can count on him.
“Do you want to chase them or…?”
I swing around. Piper, Hazel, and Priya are running.
Sighing, I shake my head. “My poor Piper hasn’t realized she’s not the lamb anymore.”
“How much more of a head start are you going to give them?”
“Five, four, three, two, one.” I smirk at him and step over Lucie and Theo’s bodies. “Let’s get my girl.”
We take off, sprinting toward the woods where they’re now lost. I know the forest like the back of my hand. They won’t get far.
39
Piper
Dead.
Lucie and Theo are dead. So are Owen and Matt. So much death.
This place is pure poison.
The warm wind whips around my face as we run with everything left inside of us. It’s hot today, so the breeze is welcome. Every step is getting me closer to my parents. The only problem we have is that we’ve run deeper into the woods, rather than toward the road. We had to. If we’d gone the other way, we would have ran past them and that was too risky.
It’s a miracle we got away at all, but as soon as Evan focused on his friends—if they can be called that since he showed no mercy when he shot them—we had to go.
Hazel is holding one of my hands and Priya the other.
“Which way?” Hazel asks, panting.
“We need to circle back and head to the road,” I reply.
Priya gasps and lets go of my hand. She doubles over and holds her chest.
“Priya, we have to keep moving,” I tell her. “I didn’t hear them come after us, but I don’t think they’ll be far behind.”
“Sorry,” she rasps. “I can’t keep going at this pace.”
“Then you’ll die!” Hazel snaps.
I glare at her and turn back to Priya.
“Okay, we can slow down a little, but we can’t stop.” I look around us, turning a full circle. “I can’t see or hear them yet.”
It’s now three against two, since Evan shot half of his sick and twisted team.
“Doesn’t mean they’re not seconds behind us,” Hazel whines, tugging on my arm.
“Okay! Come on, Priya.” I grab her hand and pull her forward.
Among the trees are patches of thick bushes. We could hide in those if we really need to, but stopping and letting them catch up to us is the riskiest plan. I don’t want to play hide-and-seek, I just want to get out.
We run and run until my thighs and calf muscles cry in pain. I plant my feet as we come to a circle of grass where the trees have all been cut down in the middle. It’s small, so probably not enough to raise alarm if anyone were to see this from the sky.
“What is this?” I whisper.
Hazel and Priya get a few steps closer before they come to a stop.
It looks like they’ve made a circle of seats from tree stumps and in the middle is a burned patch of ground.
What do they burn here?
Who do they burn here?
I can’t think about that.
“Come on,” I say, and run across the circle and out the other side. We’re back in trees. But we’re not running for long.
Priya lets out an ear-piercing scream that sends a shiver down my spine.
My eyes bulge, and my hand flies to my mouth. Bumps in the ground, lined up in a row, all looking like grave sites. And Kevin.
He’s been torn apart. Naked aside from boxers, he’s lying on the cold, damp ground, palms in the air, chest sliced beyond recognition.
How many stabs?
They were getting ready to bury him when we set the fire; that’s why they were slow to react. But who killed him?
My blood turns to ice. Evan. He’d been gone for longer than usual in the last few rooms he’d done.
“We need to go right now,” Hazel snaps, tugging a sobbing Priya sharply. “Wait, shh,” Hazel hushes, splaying her arms out so I stop, too.
I clamp my mouth closed and focus. In the distance, I can hear footsteps. My heart sprints
faster than we were.
“Where are they?” I whisper, turning around and around. If they’re gaining on us this quickly, we’re going to have to hide, but we don’t know how to disguise ourselves.
“Piper, come out, come out wherever you are,” Evan sings.
I whip my head around to the direction I heard his voice. It’s past us. How has he gotten farther into the forest than us? Unless we changed direction without knowing.
“Piper,” he calls again.
My heart drops.
Oh God, he sounds like he’s right on top of us.
I whip my head around. “There!” I say, pointing to a large, thick collection of bramble bushes and overgrown weeds. “Behind the bush!”
I dig my toes into the damp ground, trying to go as quick and quietly as I can. We crouch down and shuffle into the bush. The brambles scratch at my face and hands, but I shove myself in farther. Priya and Hazel do the same, and we huddle together, making ourselves as small as we can.
The thick trees block a lot of the beaming sun, so it’s not too bright down here, but it’s nowhere dark enough to guarantee they won’t see us behind the bush.
I duck my head and watch through the leaves as Evan comes into view.
Only Evan.
Where is Caleb? I didn’t hear another gunshot, so he’s probably not dead.
There are so many graves here.
I can’t help but look at them as I search for Caleb, too. Subtle bumps in the ground. If you didn’t know what was going on here, you probably wouldn’t notice at all. To us, it’s glaringly obvious.
“Piper,” Evan calls, drawling out my name like this is some sort of game.
To him, of course, it is. He has some delusion that I could actually still like him after this. How delusional is that? I hate him for what he’s done to us all. And I hate him double for making a fool out of me by getting me to care for him.
Well, that’s all over. I don’t care what happens to him now, though it would be perfect karma to watch him be locked up.
Priya sobs, against the palm of her hand.
“Hello, girls.”
My blood runs cold. Hazel takes off, Priya screams, and I slowly turn around. Caleb is standing above us.
“You might want to go with Hazel,” he says with a chuckle.
I grab Priya’s hand and drag her up with me. We take off back in the direction we came since that’s where Hazel is sprinting. Two sets of footsteps thunder after us.
I move faster, my legs like jelly after all of the exertion.
“Piper!” Evan shouts, his voice hitching up. He sounds excited. This is what they wanted when the doors were left open. This could have been me and Theo.
I push harder, my lungs burning, throat dry as a desert as I pant. A stitch stabs into my side, but I press on as fast as I can.
We dodge trees, I plant one foot to spring my body around a tree, and then another and then another.
“There!” I shout. Ahead is the clearing and beyond that is the building on fire. And flashing lights.
Flashing lights! The emergency vehicles are here.
“Run!” Hazel screams.
I push my legs harder, asking the impossible of my tiring body.
Priya’s hand is ripped from mine as she falls to the floor.
Gasping, I reach down and grip her upper arm. She pushes herself to her feet as I help by tugging her up. We run again, my body aching from the burst of exertion. I dodge trees, plating my feet as carefully as I can around roots and fallen branches.
We get closer. I reach my hand out, but the next thing I know, I’m slammed into the floor. My face hits dirt, moss, and twigs.
“No!” I scream.
“Shh,” Evan hisses.
We’re too close. Hazel and Priya run ahead.
Hazel turns around, her eyes wide as she spots me on the ground with Evan. Caleb stands above us.
“Go,” I yell at her. “Go!”
She mouths sorry and turns and runs with Priya.
I watch them cut through the trees, and then they’ve made it. I can’t see anything now. They’re too far away and the fire is raging. But they’ve made it!
“Up we go,” Evan calls.
I roll over as he gets off me. The first thing I notice is Caleb holding the gun down by his side, pointing to the ground.
“They’re getting away!” Caleb snaps.
“We’ll catch them, stop stressing!” Evan shouts. He’s losing his cool with Caleb, eyes wild and pinning his equally sick friend down.
They’re distracted.
This is my chance.
With my heart beating so hard it’s all I can hear, I push myself onto my feet and leap up. The gun is loose in Caleb’s hand, his fingers not even curled all the way around it. I snatch the gun and yank.
I have it. I have a gun!
Taking a step back, I aim. “I will do it,” I growl. “Back up.”
Evan’s eyes widen. He holds his hands up. “Piper, give me the gun.”
I walk toward the sirens, and they take steps back, keeping a distance from me. “No chance. You are going to walk back there with me right now, or I will shoot you both.”
“Do you think that will stop us?” Evan asks.
“I’m done listening to you.”
Caleb clears his throat. “We can’t go there, Evan.”
“Shut up, Caleb!”
I point the gun over their head and shoot. They both flinch, almost falling to their knees.
“Let’s follow the lady, Caleb,” Evan says with a goofy grin.
What’s he doing? He wants to be caught?
Don’t overthink it.
I don’t need to get them to do anything because all of a sudden, there are cops running toward us. They got here quick.
Probably due to the fire department finding four dead bodies.
They storm in and grab Evan and Caleb. One stops beside me. “It’s okay now. Can you hand me the gun?”
Gladly!
With trembling hands, I gesture for her to take it, and she quickly removes the gun from my grip. Another cop wraps her arm around me, but I can’t focus on me because Evan’s dead eyes are staring me down. His gaze is full of a promise that makes my stomach churn.
“Get me out of here,” I say.
Then I’m whisked away.
40
Hazel, Priya, and I are bundled into a car and raced to the station. We sit in the back, holding hands and unable to speak.
I watch the cornfields whizz past, a sea of yellow dotted with the pretty purple weeds. It’s never looked so beautiful.
Priya shakes beside me, her body rocking as she sobs. She and Hazel and I are all holding hands.
We’re not too far from the station now. Soon, I will see my parents. I have never wanted to be in my mom’s arms more. I need the car to hurry up. I’ve missed them so much. They will know by now. They get one of their daughters back. There was no hope with Penny—the infection kept getting worse and she wasn’t responding to any antibiotics, we knew she was going to die.
The car slows as we turn into the station and the cop parks.
I take a breath while I wait for the door to be opened. With shaking legs, I get out and brace myself against the front window.
“It’s okay, Piper,” the cop says. “Let’s get you inside.”
Hazel, Priya, and I power walk behind the cop, practically bursting through the door.
I feel like I’m in a movie as we’re led into the building. The events of today and the last month are taking their toll, and I can feel myself becoming distant. I don’t want to talk about it, even though I know the cops will make me.
I just want to go home.
The second I’m inside, I spot my parents. They jump up from a seat. They go
t here first, of course. Our house is about five minutes away.
“Mom!” I howl, falling into her arms.
She hugs me, her arms so tight as if she’s trying to fix everything that’s happened in the last month.
There is no fix. No amount of time or hugs or therapy. Nothing will erase my memory, the only thing that would help, so I have to learn to be okay with that.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” she chants, stroking my hair.
Dad is behind us, wrapping his strong arms around me and Mom, protecting us both.
I have been through hell, and so have they.
“No one will ever hurt you again,” Dad says, his voice rough but full of promise.
“I want to go home,” I whimper. Evan and Caleb are in this police station, and I don’t ever want to be in the same building as them again.
“We will soon,” Dad replies.
Soon means I’m not allowed to leave yet. My parents have been primed on how this is going to go down, and I’m not getting out of here before I’m interviewed.
The cops gave me, Hazel, and Priya some time together with our families, but not long enough before we were separated from one another to give interviews. Dad came with me to do mine. Hazel took her dad, and Priya’s mom went with her.
In the interview room, Dad and I are given cups of coffee.
I thread my fingers together, the now-empty Styrofoam cup between my hands. My shoulders are hunched and my eyes are heavy. I’m drained, mentally and physically done with everything.
The cops sitting opposite me, two women, smile warmly. They had introduced themselves as Leah and Miranda.
Dad’s face is ashen, and he hasn’t said a word. He’s listened in silence with his hand covering mine. As I spoke about my experiences in those rooms, his fingers curled tighter around mine.
Leah leans forward. “We’re done, Piper. I’m sorry it’s taken so long. You can go home.”
“Thank God,” I breathe. I feel like I’ve told them everything five times over. The clock on the wall tells me I’ve been here for almost two hours.
Leah and Miranda stand, and Leah takes my cup. I rise to my feet with them, stifling a yawn. I follow them back to my parents and tuck myself into my mum’s embrace.
The Lost Page 21
