“I entered the barn and found him leaning against the haystack. He had that glint in his eye, shit from mucking out the pigs smeared on his hands. Something inside me snapped. He lunged at me, and I ran into the haystack. My hands closed around the shaft of the pitchfork. He laughed, and the laughter was all the wrongs he’d done me. I swung. The fork went in easily, like testing a fresh-baked cake with a skewer to see if it was cooked. He might have screamed, but I didn’t hear. Everything felt far away, like I was watching a movie on mute. But maybe he screamed, because the neighbor came running, and he called the police.”
I could never imagine what Loretta had been through. Home had always been my safety net, the place I ran to when the outside world was dangerous. She didn’t know the meaning of ‘home,’ or ‘safety.’ Home had been a place of terror, where her abuser took advantage of her body and where the other adults in her life had looked the other way because their god said she was broken.
In three strides I closed the chasm between us and wrapped my arms around Loretta’s shoulders, encasing her in a hug. Loretta stiffened at my touch, but I flexed my muscles and refused to move, to relent. We were locked together in a battle of wills – she determined to keep her walls up, me desperate to smash them down.
Finally, Loretta’s shoulders sagged, and she collapsed against my shoulder, tension fleeing her body as she relaxed into my embrace. She didn’t cry. I suspected her tears had dried a long time ago.
“I’m sorry for what happened to you,” I said. “I’m sorry that I didn’t know before, that I wasn’t a good friend.”
“It’s not your job,” Loretta said.
“Maybe not, but I want it. I want to be your friend. Honestly, you deserve someone better than me, but I’m here if you want me.”
She sniffed, wriggling away. “Greg was my friend… until Courtney said I couldn’t be seen with him.”
“You can help me to help him, and then you can be friends again. All I need to know is what happened when you were sacrificed—”
Loretta’s eyes fluttered closed as she remembered. “During last period, Ms. West requested I meet in her office to discuss pulling up my low merit points. She had her secretary make tea for us. I guess my cup was laced with drugs, because the next thing I remember was waking up in the dark with my wrists bound.” Loretta clutched me, her fingers digging into my shoulders like claws. “I floated in and out of consciousness, and there was this… presence inside my head. It sounded like a hundred children screaming.”
“That’s the god’s voice.”
“Yeah.” Loretta sniffed again. “He called and called to me and after a while, I longed to join him. Because it had to be better than this school, these people, then living with my memories. They strung me up and lowered me into the hole. I couldn’t see anything, but it felt heavy, like the darkness was already full. Something wet and sticky slid over my skin. It wrapped around my legs, tightening, cutting off circulation. I closed my eyes. I pushed aside the fear, because this was what I wanted. The creature asked me to join him, and I said I would.”
Loretta hiccuped.
“And then the screaming inside my head erupted. It hurt more than anything I ever felt before. ‘You are not the one. You do not carry the flame.’ Over and over and over those words pounded against my skull. The next thing I know, I’m flung out of the hole and I hit the cave floor. I lose consciousness again. I wake up in the cave, and I managed to find my way to the gym, where Ms. West and Courtney found me. They took me upstairs to a new bedroom. Courtney gave me a makeover. She told me I was her friend now, but if I spoke to any of the scholarship students again, they would kill all of you.
“So you see.” Bitterness soured Loretta’s voice. “I’m such a failure, I couldn’t even die. No one wants me, not even the creature. He only wants you.”
Her nails dug into my back.
“I’m not going to give you platitudes about everything turning out for the best and blah blah blah.” I chose words as carefully as I knew how. “You and I have both been through enough; we know that’s not true. But you’ve been through too much to let this stupid fucking school beat you. That’s the only way I survive – out of sheer spite. And I can tell you that—”
Something rustled in the bushes beside us. Loretta and I snapped our heads around, searching for what made the noise.
We didn’t have to look for long. Andre stepped out of the bushes, his jaw set tight. One look into his eyes and I knew he’d heard everything.
Shit. Shit. He’s heard everything we just talked about. He knows there’s a god under the school and that he was planned as a sacrifice.
That meant I’d officially broken my oath to the god. Greg and Andre were no longer protected.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Andre yanked out his pad and pen, but his hand trembled when he tried to write. While he scratched his pen across the page, he glared from me to Loretta, daring us to speak.
He didn’t need to write. His questions and accusations etched themselves across his expressive face. He finished his page and thrust it at me.
‘WHY DID YOU KEEP THIS A SECRET?’ was etched in angry letters, the pen pressing so hard it had torn through the paper.
I glanced at Loretta, but she was in no state right now to answer. “Andre, I wanted to tell you, but it was complicated. Ms. West was going to sacrifice Greg. To save his life I made a deal with her that I would offer myself up at the end of the year, but she couldn’t hurt either of you. She agreed, but only if I didn’t tell you about the god.”
He shook his head, scrawling furious words across the page.
“You should have told us. Greg and I had a right to know,” I read aloud for Loretta’s benefit. My chest tightened at how angry his words were. “You think you’re the only one who wants to stop what’s happening at this school? My girlfriend had her tongue mutilated. We both deserved the chance to right our wrongs. You don’t have a monopoly on pain or secrets. You two think you’re the only ones who know anything about murder?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Loretta squeezed my hand. Andre tore a fresh page and continued writing.
“My father was high up in a gang. He owned a lucrative drug operation. I spent a lot of time surrounded by other gang members, hanging out at the abandoned house where they cooked. There was this one guy – my dad’s best meth cook. He made such good shit and he was so cheap that he’d risen quickly in the business, but he thought that made him a god. Dad trusted this guy, so he would leave me in his care while he was out. This guy tormented me, called me names, sent me to do jobs that required talking so he could laugh at my inability to speak.
“One day, he told me to order pizza. He was playing around – they wouldn’t order pizza to the house. But he wouldn’t let up until even the other guys weren’t laughing anymore. He didn’t know that my dad came back early and had heard everything. Dad flew into a rage. He whipped out a gun and shot the guy in the chest, right there in the backyard. A neighbor saw and called the police. My dad went away for twenty years. He’ll probably die in jail, and it’s my fault.”
Fuck. So much pain. So many broken families. Too many kids who’d seen far too much. Wordlessly, Loretta and I went to Andre, wrapping our arms around our gentle giant.
“It’s not your fault,” I whispered.
“You can say the words, but you can’t make me believe them. I know all about murder. I know how it twists you up inside.” Andre tapped his pen on the spine of his pad, thinking about his next words. “I know that it leaves a mark on a person’s soul. It makes sense that if you were a creature that devoured souls, you’d find that murderers tasted different. Brussels sprouts instead of chocolate.”
Loretta laughed as she read the words over his shoulder. I hadn’t heard that sound… ever. Her laugh twinkled with mirth and melody – sweet and lifting. Too soon, she reined it back in, drawing into herself and wiping her features clean of mirth. “I like Brussels sprouts,” she said stubbornly
.
“Gross.” I wrinkled my nose. “You’re weird.”
On the corner of his pad, Andre doodled a monster with seven eyes poking its tongue out at a plate of Brussels sprouts. I shifted a laugh. “If only it was that easy to be rid of the god’s influence.”
“What will work?” Andre asked.
“It’s complicated. I’ll explain everything to you. To both of you.” Everything except the fact that Loretta’s right – the god wants me, and I’m going with him in exchange for your freedom. “Our first step is to make sure every student knows exactly what’s going on and exactly who’s behind it. Then, we need to get Ms. West to tell us how to reverse what’s been done to them, and somehow make sure the Eldritch Club doesn’t come after us and the god doesn’t eat any more souls. It shouldn’t be a problem. Easy peasy.”
Andre scribbled, “Whatever you need me to do to help you to break this, count me the fuck in.”
Chapter Thirty
“There’s an Eldritch Club meeting immediately before the performance,” Trey announced as he slipped in that night.
I looked up from the circle on the floor, where Quinn, Andre, Loretta, and I were putting the finishing touches on our decorations. “How do you know? I thought you weren’t part of the club any longer.”
“I overheard Tillie and Courtney whispering about it. Senior members only. No students allowed—hey, what are you in doing here?” Trey narrowed his eyes at Andre. “Hazel, you know he can’t be here in case he learns too much and the pact—”
“He already knows. He found out the secrets of Miskatonic Prep today,” I said. “Not my doing. I had to talk to Loretta about something, and he snooped on our conversation.”
Trey lunged forward, grabbing Andre’s collar and yanking him to his feet. “Do you know what you’ve done?” he growled in Andre’s face, an impressive feat considering Andre was at least half a head taller than he was.
“Trey, stop it!” I grabbed his wrist, twisting until Trey was forced to let go. “It’s not Andre’s fault. Even if he hadn’t overheard us, he’d put most of it together from things Sadie told him and what we said. There didn’t seem any point keeping the rest from him.”
“Now you’ve lost your protections, and it’s open season on all the scholarship students,” Quinn sighed.
“We’ve survived worse.” I glanced at Loretta and Andre, who both nodded. “If we stick together, we’ll survive this.”
“What was this conversation you two were having, anyway?” Trey narrowed his gaze at Loretta. “I thought you were Courtney’s new BFF? What changed?”
Because we’re the murderers. I smiled at Loretta, who gave me a shaky smile back. “We realized we both want the same thing. Now we have Andre and Loretta on our side, so I call that a win. We can stop worrying about it and focus on the production.” I hoped Trey wouldn’t fixate on the fact I avoided his questions. “Will Ms. West be at the Eldritch Club meeting?”
Trey shook his head. “No teachers are ever invited. The Eldritch Club wouldn’t allow anyone from the middle-class to be privy to their secrets, even if the teachers of this school did sacrifice their lives for the club’s ends. There was enough of an uproar when Gloria Haynes wanted to become a member.”
Andre scribbled on his pad and handed it to Trey. “I don’t understand the old money/new money thing. All money is the same.”
“It’s not,” Trey said, with a hint of bitterness. “Gloria could buy and sell this school and everyone in it. But she lacks something money can’t buy. Respect. A family name. Power. What good is money if you can’t do anything with it? If she wants power and influence, she needs to have people like my father and Quinn’s parents on her side.”
Which is exactly why the teachers chose her as their kidnappee.
“That’s the whole reason I was dating her daughter,” Quinn shrugged. “Daddy said so.”
“But why?” I asked Quinn. “It’s not like you’ll ever grow up and get married.”
“Because our parents have always treated Miskatonic Prep like a chessboard, using us as pawns in their own game.” I’d never heard Quinn sound so bitter. “That didn’t stop just because we died.”
“If there’s drama here, it’s reflected in their machinations out there,” Trey added. “And vice versa. That’s why us shagging you was such a big deal.”
“What about Loretta?” I threw my arm around my new friend. “Surely Courtney befriending her counted as major drama.”
“Oh, it was. But right now everyone wants a piece of Courtney’s mother’s fortune, and they thought allowing Loretta back into the student body would further weaken you, so they had to let it slide. Not that any of it has helped. From what I’ve heard whispered around the school, my dad isn’t the only one losing his youthful good looks and power.”
“This meeting is probably about you, since they think you’re responsible,” Trey glowered at me. “And now you’ve escaped and they can’t find you… you’re not the club’s favorite person.”
I held up my hands and flashed an innocent smile. “I’m just over here, innocently trying to help my friends. If they happen to be suffering because of it, that’s no problem of mine.”
Quinn tipped his head to the side. “You want to be at this meeting, don’t you?”
“Damn right.” Behind me, Trey groaned. “Do we know where it’s being held? In the cavern, I suppose.”
Quinn shook his head. “Hell no. The Eldritch Club don’t want to see the god if they can help it. They don’t like to face the reality of what they’ve done. The meeting will be in the reading room of the faculty wing.”
“There’s no way you can get to it,” Trey added, slapping the floor for good measure.
I turned to Trey. “Didn’t you say there was a passage that led from outside the school into the faculty wing?”
“Yes, but—”
“Great. We’ll use that. Problem solved.” I held up an image of Sadie’s face we’d cut from her file. All around our feet were craft supplies – ribbons, sequins, washi tapes and pinking sheers we’d stolen from the art department. “Now, everyone get busy. I want four lines of cheesecloth with these faces stuck on.”
“I can’t see how this craft project is going to scare everyone,” Trey grumbled.
“Of course you can’t. It looks like trash. But it tricked hundreds of people for decades. Add a little low light, some smoke machine, and a room full of gullible people who already believe in the supernatural, and you’ve got mass hysteria… I hope. Even after Helen Duncan was utterly proven to be a fraud, there are still people today who believe she was a real psychic.”
Trey sighed. “Very well. Pass me the squiggly scissors. I want my cheesecloth to look extra classy.”
Chapter Thirty-One
The day of the school production arrived. Trey went off to have his makeup done and costume fitted with Parris’ book wrapped up under his arm to return to Ayaz. I wish we knew why he needed it back so bad, but I didn’t want to break my promise.
Andre and Loretta left shortly after to get certain things set up. Quinn and I were just about to head out when my phone vibrated. A text from Deborah. “You haven’t left for the production yet? Call me.”
I lifted the phone to my ear, whispering. “It’s me. We’re just on our way to crash an Eldritch Club meeting.” As quickly and quietly as I could, I filled her in on our new plan.
“Be careful, Hazel. I’m worried about you.” Even though it was dangerous to speak like this, my heart lifted at her voice. The line was bad, but we were lucky to get anything at all. Reception at Derleth was practically third world. A dog barked in the background. “That’s Leopold. He’s excited about a road trip.”
“Road trip?”
“Yes. I’ve got the DNA tests for you and Trey back from Gail today. There’s nothing wrong, but I think we need to discuss them in person.”
“In person? You’re coming here?”
Quinn’s eyebrow lifted as he listened to m
y end of the conversation.
“Yes. I’ll be there in a couple of hours. I figure with all the cars arriving for the production it’ll be easy for me to sneak up without Hermia recognizing me—”
“No. Bad idea,” I growled into the phone. “I don’t know exactly how it’s all going to go down tonight, but it could be dangerous. Trey would kill me if one of the dogs got hurt. You need to stay away. Get a room at the Arkham Grand. I’ll come and see you as soon as I can. When it’s safe.”
Deborah didn’t like it, but she agreed. I hung up the phone and immediately forgot about the DNA tests. Whatever she wanted to discuss would keep until after we got through tonight. If it was life or death, she would have told me.
Quinn took my hand. We went through the tunnel out to the pleasure garden then picked our way through the forest to the north until we came to a row of tiny cabins.
“These are the cabins you used when you pretend to be with your families.” I admired the modern fiberglass pods, so unlike what I imagined when Trey had told me about them. Each cabin had one wall completely made of glass oriented to give views out over the forest. They looked like something you might see on an architecture blog.
“Yeah. They installed these in the first year of ‘Derleth Academy’.” Quinn used air-quotes around the school’s name. “Ayaz drew the design and an architect friend of Vincent Bloomberg II made them a reality. Ataturk got a ton of extra merit points for it. Trey was so pissed.”
“I can imagine.” I smiled. “They look so peaceful. Did you like coming out here?”
Quinn shrugged. “It was kind of like a vacation. We didn’t have to pretend we had a future. We could completely live in the moment, so you bet I fucking loved it. It was a non-stop party. They gave us this as a reward for hurting the scholarship students. They’d ship in crates of the finest Champagne, all the A-class drugs you could imagine and some you can’t, all courtesy of the Eldritch Club. They made it very clear that they weren’t supervising us out here – that as long as we toed the line we could be as wild as we liked.”
Possessed: A reverse harem bully romance (Kings of Miskatonic Prep Book 3) Page 20
