Conrad

by Emily Rose

  “Alright,” Noah said before he pulled out of the parking spot and took us back in the direction of the accident.

  No one said a word and the closer we got to the scene, the more nervous I became. When we came around the curve Luke had taken before side swiping the BMW, my panic only worsened. All of it was gone, except Lucas’ car. It looked as if nothing had ever happened and Luke had simply run off the road on his own.

  “What the fuck?” I heard him.

  “I know there was a BMW there and I’m pretty sure one of the three men was dead in the car. Did they all become fucking zombies and walk off?” Noah added and then slowed down until he came to a stop in front of Luke’s car.

  The memory of what Miles had said to the man with amber eyes flashed through me and I remembered him saying something about the man’s boss coming to clean up the mess. I didn’t know how Miles knew that, but it was clear that he was right, because there was literally not a single speck of evidence indicating the BMW or any of the men had ever been there, even the tire marks that were on the pavement were washed off.

  I sat numb in the backseat, staring at the now empty roadside.

  A chill ran down my spine at how well it was cleaned up. Like we had dreamed it.

  Whoever that man’s boss was clearly had his foot in some very high places to have all of this gone in a matter of hours.

  And that worried me.

  Lila’s warning came to mind and I realized that at the time, I hadn’t taken it as serious as I should have and I was letting my curiosity get the best of me, but now I was.

  Now I saw just how serious this was.

  They were deep in something big, something much bigger than any of us high school kids could ever imagine. This wasn’t a joke and people had really died tonight, even if there was not a single piece of evidence proving it. It happened. I knew it did, because I saw it.

  I witnessed it.

  It wasn’t a dream and I couldn’t let my mind brush it off like it was, or it would block it out entirely to keep my sanity in check.

  “We need to make a deal right now. This doesn’t leave this fucking car. We don’t say a word to anyone, and we don’t talk about this night ever again,” Lucas said.

  Noah met his eyes. “What about Miles? He’s clearly batshit crazy. He brought this on Lesley and not to mention, he’s staying with Lila. Who knows what he got himself into?”

  “I will take care of Miles. Don’t worry about that,” Lucas said as he gazed out the window at his partly wrecked car.

  I spoke and stared straight into the darkness of the trees, “No, you can’t. He is family, Lucas. I have to deal with him, and I don’t need you guys getting any deeper into this mess my family is mixed up than you already are,” I said numbly.

  He turned around to look at me, but I didn’t pull my gaze away from the tree line. I knew he would try to argue with me and he did.

  “Lesley, I’m not about to let you go talk to him by yourself,” he said evenly.

  Slowly, I turned my eyes toward him. “You have to, Luke. This is my family and it is my decision,” I said.

  “But you are my family,” he shot back.

  “He will kill you, Luke. Miles will kill you. Do you understand that?” I said with as much conviction as I could possibly conjure up.

  He blinked, but he never altered his gaze from mine. “And what makes you think he won’t do the same to you?” he asked hotly.

  I took a deep breath before I responded. “Because he wants me and I can use that as long as you are not there,” I said.

  Noah spoke then, “I fucking knew it! I knew he wanted you.”

  The amount of anger that took over Luke’s gaze should have worried me, and it maybe would have if I hadn’t just looked directly into the eyes of the Devil himself. Nothing, no amount of anger would ever come close to that. I would forever see those eyes, that soulless look Miles had, and it was the scariest thing I ever had to witness.

  “What about you?” Lucas asked with controlled anger lacing his tone.

  “What about me?” I asked.

  He held my gaze steadily. “Do you want him?”

  I didn’t hesitate or think about my answer. I just responded with the first thing I thought of. “No,” I said.

  Lucas stared at me for a whole minute before he turned around to face the front and then opened the door, “We need to get out of here before someone shows up,” he said and then got out, walking around to the back of Noah’s car to tap on the trunk.

  Without saying a word, Noah got out too and they went to work on hooking the chain he had brought from his house to the front of Lucas’ Mustang. Slowly, I got out and stepped away from the cars to wait as Noah hopped back into his own car, while Lucas got in his. The Nova’s engine revved and he started to pull the Mustang out of the ditch.

  ****

  Later that night, I walked numbly into my house and closed the door quietly. It was pitch black inside and silent, but I didn’t bother trying to turn on any lights. Instead, I leaned against the door and took a deep breath as I tried to process the events of the night. Tonight was meant to be full of happy memories, but it was far from that.

  It was full of nightmares.

  Someone died tonight, and someone else ordered those men to kidnap me. As these thoughts raced through my head, tears of fear formed in my eyes. My life would never be the same after tonight, even if I did find out exactly what was going on here. I would never be able to live from day to day without thinking about tonight or looking over my shoulder for those damn masks.

  Closing my eyes, I beat my head back against the door and ignored the pain that shot through it as I slid down to the floor, wrinkling my dirty black prom dress around myself. I don’t know how long I sat there in complete darkness, letting my emotions have free rein before I finally stood up, walking toward the living room.

  With trembling hands, I pulled the curtain back and glanced out the window into the dark street for any sign of the masked men, but I didn’t see anyone. I was about to turn away when I saw his Chevelle sitting across the road from my house, completely hidden in darkness. My fear spiked, but I pushed it aside as I dropped the curtain, heading toward the front door.

  I knew I would have to face him. It was what I wanted to do, but that didn’t mean I didn’t feel the fear coursing through me at the idea of it.

  With my hand on the doorknob, I took a deep breath and tried to calm my racing heart before I pulled the door open, stepping onto the front porch so that he could see me. I couldn’t see him inside the car, but I knew he saw me. I could feel his eyes on me. I kept my gaze in the general area of the driver’s seat before I turned away, walking back inside and leaving the front door wide open behind me.

  Standing barefoot and with my back to the door, it wasn’t long before I heard his boots on the stairs right outside. My breath caught and my heart sped up even more, but I kept still until I heard him stop. It didn’t sound like he had stepped into the house and I tried to let this idea give me some relief, but none came.

  And then I spoke. “How did you know those guys were coming after me?”

  “An old friend told me,” he said.

  My body trembled, because I knew the old friend he was referring to was probably the same one who had warned me at prom, but I went on with my next question. “Have you ever killed anyone before?”

  “No,” he said, filling the silence with his deep, calm voice.

  I released a long breath and then spoke again, “But you’ve wanted to kill?”

  “Yes.”

  My nerves ignited and I shivered, but I kept my back to him and continued. “Will you kill to end whatever this is?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said without any hesitation whatsoever.

  The fear returned, but I took a deep breath to try and control it. “How did you go from a bar owner to being able to say you will kill another person without hesitating?” I asked.

  “That’s a long story,” he
said.

  This time, I spun around to face him. Miles had changed clothes. He wore jeans, a black hoodie with the hood pulled over his head and his hands were shoved into the pocket. He leaned one shoulder against the doorframe and watched me evenly.

  “I don’t even know what to think about you right now,” I admitted.

  He stayed silent and just watched me, so I continued.

  “You are crazy, you are secretive. You have a dark past obviously and you’re deep into God only knows what. You willingly admit that you will kill to end all of this and yet you don’t seem affected by anything. It’s like your heart, the thing that makes you human, is dead. It’s like you don’t even have a soul anymore and let’s not even mention the fact that Lila told me that you’re supposed to actually be dead right now. That you’re a ghost,” I said in one long breath.

  Miles held my gaze, and something flickered in his eyes at my words. I couldn’t read what it was, but that was always true with him. I could never read it. I could never understand it, but I could feel it. Like words didn’t have to explain it to me. I felt what I saw in him and despite what he told me to do, I couldn’t stop reacting to it.

  To him.

  “So, why haven’t you turned me in yet?” he asked.

  I blinked and then shook my head, because my answers were absolutely insane. “You are my stepbrother,” I said.

  Miles pushed off the doorframe and stepped into the house without taking his gaze off of me, “Is that it?” he asked as he continued to come toward me at a slow, even pace.

  I started backing up and responded. “Isn’t that what family does? Protect their own?” I said before I bumped into the wall behind me.

  He didn’t stop until he stood directly in front of me, leaving only a few inches between our bodies, and forcing me to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. My heart skipped a beat and I swallowed hard without breaking the stare down.

  “Yes,” he answered my previous question and studied me.

  Under his intense gaze, I felt my breathing start to pick up and I spoke with a somewhat shaky voice, “Lucas knows that you want me,” I blurted, losing my original train of thought.

  Miles blinked slowly, but he didn’t respond.

  “I told him,” I admitted, even if I wasn’t completely sure if Miles actually wanted me or not.

  “Did you?” he asked, but again, he showed no emotion.

  I nodded quickly and then went on, “But I need you to know that I don’t want you. I was just going to use you to get the whole story,” I said.

  Miles took a smooth inhale before he moved. I shoved my back against the wall even more and turned my face away from him, but it was the wrong thing to do, because then I could feel his hot breath directly on my neck, close to my ear.

  And he spoke in a low, deep whisper. “I don’t believe you.”

  Goosebumps raced down both of my arms and legs. I sucked in a tiny breath at the sudden sensation and pulled my bottom lip between my teeth.

  “And I know, because I can hear your breathing escalate every time I’m around. I can see the wild, untamed look in your eyes. I can see the way your body is screaming to be touched,” he whispered.

  My heart started racing and my breathing hitched yet again, but I stayed frozen where I was as he continued.

  “You can say whatever you want about me. You can think whatever you want, but I’m not blind,” he said and then paused just for a moment, “But I’m a lot older than you and I need you to know that fact is the only fucking thing stopping me from giving you what I know you want and it’s making me crazier than you already think I am. You can tell Lucas that you don’t want me, you can tell him that I’m crazy, you can tell him whatever you want, but for your own sake, don’t lie to yourself, Lesley,” he finished.

  My eyes turned to him on their own and my chest lifted with quick breaths as I looked up at him, noticing the way the moonlight casted a glow over his face now.

  “You’re a killer, Miles…” I whispered in a shaky voice.

  He leaned down again, so that he was speaking into my ear once more. “But you secretly like it, Lesley. You can’t get enough of my darkness. You fucking crave it and I keep trying to ignore you, but eventually, I won’t be able to,” he said.

  I sucked in a sharp breath and caught his gaze as he started walking backwards, toward the front door. Our eyes never left each other’s and then he turned around, vanishing back into the night.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Lesley

  “So, did you talk to him?” Noah whispered to me as he leaned against the locker beside mine with his book bag hanging over his shoulder.

  I sighed, searching for my College Algebra book. “Yes.”

  “And?” He went on.

  Finally digging my book out, I held it with one hand and shoved my locker closed before I turned to face him. “Noah, I don’t think we should talk about this in school. There’s…” I allowed my words to trail off when a group of students passed us and then lowered my voice when they were far enough away, “There’s a lot going on here. This is serious. People have died and we could all go to jail for this. Do you realize what’s at stake?” I said.

  He blinked and then nodded. “Yeah, I mean… wow, you’re right.”

  Shaking my head, I turned my back on him and started heading toward class, but he fell in step beside me.

  “I’m sorry, Lesley. This is just so… crazy. I don’t even know what to think or how to react,” he said.

  I kept walking, but I responded. “Yes, I know. It’s exciting to you, but this isn’t a game, Noah. This is my family we are talking about and whatever they are involved in is dangerous to all of us now. I mean someone tried to kidnap me just the other night. I seriously doubt they are just going to give up that easily. We might have bought ourselves some time, but I have a feeling they will be back to finish whatever job they started,” I said catching his gaze for a second before I turned away.

  He was quiet, like all of this was just settling on him. Hell, I wasn’t even sure I had fully accepted it yet. It wasn’t like I was an expert at being a criminal. I had no idea what was going on or how deep this all actually went. All I knew was that I was in danger, my friends were in danger, and it all traced back to my family somehow. Lila had said as much and if I trusted anyone, it was her.

  Pushing these thoughts aside, Noah and I walked into class and I saw Lucas already seated in his usual spot. This was literally the only class we had together and normally, I was looking forward to it since we all sat at the same table, but today, not so much. I knew Lucas would have just as many, if not more, questions than Noah had.

  And I wasn’t sure how to answer them, especially after the other night. Miles had seen right through me. He had spoken the words I refused to believe, but I also knew I couldn’t keep lying to myself. Miles was right about that at least. I needed to get my shit together and either tell Lucas the truth to see if we could work it out or just end things completely.

  It wasn’t fair to him, but at the same time, he was already as deep in this as I was. He was the reason those guys died. He wrecked their car and then he decided to never speak of it again, so he was in this, even if we actually did end up breaking up, that would never change and I had no idea what to do with that thought.

  “Hey,” Luke said as Noah and I took our seats.

  “Hey,” I said, placing my stuff on the table and trying to ignore the curious gaze he was currently giving me, but it didn’t last long.

  “So…” he went on.

  Luckily, Noah saved me.

  “She doesn’t really want to talk about it right now. Too many ears,” he said.

  Luke met his gaze for a moment and then looked straight ahead, clearly understanding that I was right. I couldn’t risk someone overhearing us and then starting some crazy rumor. I definitely couldn’t risk saying Miles’ name out loud. Despite how confused I was when it came to him, I still had the urge to protect him and that s
tarted with not saying his name around people who could potentially cause a scene.

  “Fine, but we are going to talk later,” Luke said, more to me than Noah.

  I glanced sideways at him, but he was still holding his gaze on the teacher, who had just walked into the room. The bell rang before I could respond and then all the conversations around the room stopped as class started.

  Thirty minutes into class, I literally hadn’t taken a single note and I wasn’t even sure what Mr. Vincent was teaching. Instead, I stared out the window at the way the trees blew in the wind, lost in my own thoughts until suddenly, the bell rang. I jumped at the sudden noise and my heart hit my throat as I glanced around the room to see that everyone was leaving. Even Noah had already walked out, but Luke stood next to the table, watching me with a concerned look in his eyes.

  “You okay?”

  Blinking, I gathered my stuff quickly and then stood up, walking around him. “Yeah.”

  “Ok,” he said, but I could tell that he didn’t believe me just by the sound of his voice.

  Ignoring that, I headed out of the room with him trailing behind.

  ****

  Later that evening, I sat quietly in the passenger seat of Lucas’ Mustang as we drove out of the school parking lot. Noah had decided to drive today, so I was left alone with Luke. I knew the questions were burning in his mind, but he was cut short of asking them when my phone rang from inside my pocket.

  I pulled it out and saw that it was Lila.

  “It’s just Lila,” I told him and then answered the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “What are you doing tonight?” she asked.

  I blinked, surprised that I didn’t hear any kind of panic in her voice. I wasn’t sure if she just didn’t know it had happened or if she was just that used to crazy shit. Either way, I tried not to let her pick up on the fact that I was seriously panicking.

  “Uh… nothing?” I said in a questioning tone.