I was angrier at myself more than I was at the twins. This was who they’d always been. Had I heeded all the warning signs maybe I wouldn’t be sitting in a roadside diner throwing a pity party for myself.
A rattling sound had me coming to rapt attention, any lingering drowsiness vanishing as my pulse spiked. I looked around, frowning when I spotted Xavier outside the diner’s entrance.
What the heck was he doing here?
Now that I thought about it, not a single person had attempted to stop by the entire time I’d been here. That couldn’t be a coincidence. This was a twenty-four-hour establishment with some of the best food in town.
Scooting across the vinyl bench, I stood slowly and walked over to the door. Xavier watched me from behind his pop bottle lens, brown eyes studying me closely. I couldn’t say I was relieved to see him, but it sure was nice to look upon an actual face and not another mask.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, not bothering to waste time pussy footing.
“Can I come in?”
“Do pigs shit gold?”
He pushed his glasses higher up on his nose and shifted nervously. “You don’t have to be scared of me Raelynn.”
I almost laughed.
I was as afraid of him as I would be a kitten. Then again, looks could be deceiving. He came off as a cute, dorky grocery store clerk. With the luck I’d been having he was really a Jeffrey Dahmer copycat.
My character judgement wasn’t too be trusted, though. I thought Kaiden was the biggest sweetheart not too long ago. Before I knew he was responsible for an entire wall of missing girls.
Whatever. If I was going to die in some retro diner might as well let the nerd be the one to take me out. How would my twins feel about that? Ew. My twins? Internally rolling my eyes at myself, I unlocked the door and let Xavier come inside.
“Were you planning on working?”
I looked down at the uniform I’d changed into, then back at him. He wasn’t joking. That had been a serious question.
“I’ll let you figure that one out on your own,” I replied.
I walked away from him, going to sit on one of the round bar stools. After a minute, he did the same, leaving one empty between us.
“I’m one of the good guys. You don’t have to worry about me doing something.”
Running a hand back and forth across my brow, I shook my head. “I don’t think any bad guy openly announces they’re the bad.”
He cleared his throat and shifted nervously again, which irritated me. “Why did you come here? I know it’s on the twin’s behalf.”
“Once you get a call, I’m supposed to ride with you to wherever you’ve got to go.”
“…and that’s it?”
“I didn’t have much of a choice,” he mumbled.
I hadn’t considered that he may have been an unwilling participant in these antics. It’d explain why his whole demeanor changed when we first met.
He’d seemed cheery until Jace and Kaiden came around.
“What are they holding over your head?”
Looking surprised I’d asked; he readjusted his glasses. “I’m not allowed to say.”
Of course, not.
I checked the time on the wall clock. It was nearing four in the afternoon. I’d been here all day. What could they possibly be doing? Did I want to know?
Silence stretched on for a few more beats, breaking when the phone began to ring. Xavier and I looked at one another, neither making a move to stand and go get it. In the end, he was the one who got up and retrieved it from the booth I’d been sitting in.
When he retuned to my side, he offered me the phone without saying a word. We both knew I had to answer it. There was no point in delaying the inevitable.
I took it from him and accepted the call.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Rae,” Kaiden chirped, sounding in a much better mood, and breathing a tad heavy.
“Where do I have to go?”
“A place that sustains our fortune.”
Why could they never answer anything with a simple response? “Am I supposed to know what that means?”
“X does.”
X was obviously referring to Xavier, whom he had just confirmed was here because of them.
“And then what?”
I could practically see the smile that came across his face when he replied with a simple, “I’ll see you soon.”
Without looking back at the screen, I knew he’d hung up. That line was becoming infamous for he and his brother.
I slipped the phone into the small pocket of my waitress uniform and then focused on Xavier.
“Did you hear what he said?”
He shook his head no.
“You need to take me to a place that sustains their fortune?” It came out as more of a question than a statement. I was hoping he’d explain to me what—where—that was.
From the flash of instant recognition followed by a severe frown, he obviously knew. “How long do you have to get there?” he asked.
I eyed him warily. He knew an awful lot about all this to be a ‘good’ guy. “I wasn’t given a countdown.”
Straightening, he adjusted his glasses for the hundredth time, then turned and started walking towards the exit.
“We need to go, quickly. I’ll explain more on the way.”
“Why? What’s happening?” I asked, following him.
“Can I drive? You should let me drive. We’ll get there faster.”
Oh, shit.
Xavier went outside, his one-track mind and clear-cut panic making him unaware I’d darted back to the booth for the fob I almost forgot about. By the time I exited the diner he was standing beside my driver’s side door. I took that to mean he’d decided he would drive whether I approved or not.
It didn’t matter much to me. I just wanted this to be over with, and the odds in my favor. I passed him my key fob without comment, then rounded around to the passenger side of the car.
He said nothing at first, driving in a direction I’d never gone before. I leaned my seat partially back and crossed my arms, watching the scenery blow past. I didn’t trust this guy as far as I could throw him, but he hadn’t tried to kill me yet. That had to count for something.
“How do they get away with all of this?” I wondered aloud. It wasn’t something I had just thought of, I’d been trying to figure it out since I became aware of the sheer number of girls, they’d done this to.
“It’s not hard to make someone disappear. The difficulty comes in not getting caught once you’ve done it.”
Okay. That made sense, but my question remained. “I can see pulling this off once or twice, but over six. Thirteen? No way.”
He shrugged as if those numbers weren’t a big deal. Maybe he’d become desensitized to it. He’d been vague about how he was forced to be involved in this.
“The family has been doing this long enough to of mastered that. It doesn’t happen every year. The circumstance is never the same, and whenever anyone comes to town asking questions, there’s solid answers.”
“In other words, no one has the balls to speak up,” I stated.
He gave me a look that was too fleeting for me to decipher. “Who would be that dumb? In any case, it always goes away. Like the girls did.”
That response had a chill racing down my spine. “What would happen if I just left?”
“Left?” he asked, scratching the top of his blonde head.
“You know, drove out of town and never looked back?”
His knee jerk-reaction had him applying too much pressure to the brakes. The Lexus squeaked loudly in protest as it came to a grinding halt.
If I hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt, I probably would’ve become one with my dashboard.
“Woah! Don’t stop like that!”
Ignoring my outburst, Xavier twisted his torso so that he was facing me as full on as possible.
“You can’t. They’d never let you. Maybe they would allow you t
o think you’d gotten somewhere, but it’d only be another game for them. Others would be hurt. Possibly even you.”
I brought my seat back to its normal position. “How can you be so sure about that?”
He sat normally once more and tightened his grip on the steering wheel, allowing the car to start coasting forward.
“I know them. And as you’re aware, you aren’t the first girl.”
“I’ve gathered that.”
“You’ll be the last.”
My eyes narrowed at that implication. “Care to clarify what that means?”
“I don’t know what you did, but whatever it was, you’ve sealed your fate with them. They’ve already gotten the ring picked out.”
“Ring?” I parroted.
“We’re about to arrive.”
Momentarily forgetting his ring comment, I turned my head to search our surroundings. What was he talking about? We were surrounded by trees. Town had kissed us goodbye some miles ago.
Was he taking me to the woods?
I got my answer when I spotted two moss-laden pillars serving as despairing guards on either side of a threshold straight out of a horror movie. A pair of tall wrought iron gates was situated between them. A massive sign above read BLACKWOOD CEMETERY.
I recalled Jace or Kaiden telling me what their family did for a living—made coffins. I hadn’t realized that gig came with an entire graveyard. I would have felt better if this had turned out to be what I’d assumed seconds ago. Xavier stopped the car a few feet away from the gates, making no attempt to put in park.
“They’ll be waiting for you,” he said.
I glanced at him, seeing he was staring straight ahead.
“And what about you?”
“I’ve done my part.”
Slightly taken aback by his grave tone, I re-crossed my arms. “All you did was drive my car. That was your contribution to…this?” I waved my hand in the air.
“I tried to warn you. I came to the diner that day trying to save you. I was too late.” He reached across me suddenly and began trying to open my door.
“What the hell are you doing?” I shoved him back to his side of the car.
“I made them mad for no reason!” He shouted, shoving his glasses up so roughly, I knew it had to hurt. “You’re going to run out of time if you don’t hurry.”
“Run out of time for what?” I yelled back.
“To save Kayla,” he replied through gritted teeth.
As soon as I heard her name, I was grabbing for my door handle. “Why the hell didn’t you say that an hour ago?”
“I’ve said too much as it is.”
I could have slapped the shit out of him. I tossed open my door and undid my seatbelt in record timing, bolting from the car. He pulled off without my door being shut, taking my only means of transportation to god knows where. I couldn’t worry about right then.
I approached the iron gates; glad I’d changed into an old pair of tennis shoes.
The had been left open, my arrival obviously expected. I slipped inside, stepping onto a neatly lined gravel path. My phone vibrated against my breastbone, I pulled it from my pocket and answered without a second’s hesitation.
“You’re just in time, Rae.” Kaiden said.
There was that word again.
“Time for what? Where’s Kayla?”
“It’s a little hard to see you. Keep walking the way you’re going.”
I picked up my pace, nearly jogging down the pathway.
“There you are. You cleaned yourself up. So pretty,” he sighed. “We’re going to play truth or dare. That’s simple, right?”
I glanced around and didn’t see anyone. How the fuck were they keeping this up?
“Where is Kayla?”
“It’s not your turn to ask anything,” he reprimanded. “Now, truth or dare?”
“Truth,” I spat.
“After Clark fell to his agonizing death, did you come?”
I faltered, unable to shake the image that question recalled. What Jace did inside the house of mirrors…
“You already know the answer to that.” I paused at the end of the path. Left, or right?
“Surely you’ve played truth or dare before. All I need is a simple confession.”
“Yes,” I hissed. “I came. Hard.”
“Geez. A simple yes would have sufficed. I already knew you enjoyed it. I heard you cry out.”
This….
I went to the right, peering over rows of headstone for any signs of another person.
“Your turn.”
“Where. Is. Kayla?”
“Oh, around. You should have gone left.”
I immediately spun on my heels to go the other way, frustration mounting.
“Truth or dare, Rae?”
“Dare!” I yelled. “That’s really what you want me to say, right? Fucking dare.”
“No need to wake the dead. You made the right choice. I dare you to…find Kayla before her time runs out.”
“Time again? What does that mean?”
“You’ve really gotten the hang of this, but it wasn’t your turn yet. I’ll still give you a hint. She’s only got around two hours left of air.”
“What?” I sputtered.
“Good luck.”
“Fuck,” I cursed, sweeping hair out of my face. Think Rae, think. We were in a graveyard. Kayla was here and running out of air. I eyed the tombstones.
Those fucking assholes.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Raelynn
I abandoned the phone.
I let it fall to the ground somewhere and didn’t give a shit enough to go back for it. I ran up and down rows of tombstones, weaving between them in search of a fresh burial site.
I found three.
There wasn’t enough time for this.
Kayla would suffocate long before I made it to her if I dared to unbury each one. I had no choice but to do my best with a process of elimination. Which site looked like older to newest.
I skipped one altogether, focusing on the other two. They were on separate ends of a plot, ensuring I had to run back and forth to compare them.
Before panic could consume my thought process entirely, I chose the freshest of the two based on how the dirt felt.
“Please be right,” I pleaded, dropping to my knees.
With nothing but my hands as a tool, I dove right into the cold, brittle soil and began to dig. It didn’t long for me to break a sweat, already feeling the effects of running around with zero clue where to go. Dirt caked beneath my nails, clinging to damp skin. A few worms were snagged or crushed due to my efforts. It was a hindrance I could only ignore.
I froze, my heart papillating thinking I heard something. When the sound came again, I started digging faster.
“I’m here!” I called through the mounds of dirt separating us, my voice raw and hoarse. “Don’t speak,” I advised in case she tried to respond. That would do nothing but take more of her oxygen.
The joints of my arms burned so badly I wanted to do nothing more than cry.
I kept going, digging in deeper, pushing myself beyond all the aches and pains. When sweat began to drip from my face, I used my shoulder to wipe it away.
“Ouch,” I gasped, scraping the top of a wooden box. “Oh, my god!” Moving frantically, I toss mounds of dirt any direction that would clear it off the top of what began to look more and more like a makeshift coffin.
“I’ve got you!” I yelled triumphantly, finally able to curl my fingers around the edge. I set my jaw and braced my feet apart, lifting with every ounce of leftover strength in my reservoir. The top of the coffin creaked, but ultimately came right off. I stumbled backward a few steps, tripping and landing at an awkward angle.
Not hearing anything at first, I pitched the lid to the side and lurched to my knees.
I crawled across the ground, letting out a mix of a sob and breath of relief when a pastel head appeared, and the sound of coughing reached my ears.
“Thank god,” I rasped.
“Rae?” Kayla choked out, gasping in deep breaths.
I held my hand out and helped pull her from the coffin as best as I could. My arm felt like a limp noodle. I scanned over her for any visible injuries, spotting a few bruises but nothing more serious than her being buried alive.
She was in the same exact clothes she’d been in the night she left my house in a hurried panic. Some tragic accident had killed her grandfather. Knowing what I did now, I was almost positive his death hadn’t been all that accidental at all.
“They took me,” she began, bursting into tears. “Why are they doing this?”
I had no words to console her. Guilt gnawed at my insides. They took her because of me. To get to me.
I didn’t reach out to offer a comforting touch, not wanting to traumatize her even more by coating her in the dirt she’d just been buried beneath. Her blue eyes darted all around, coming to a stop on something behind me.
“They’re here!” She launched herself at me, surprisingly fast for someone who had just been stuck underground. I swallowed another hiss of pain as her body collided with mine. She rose unsteadily to her feet, I clambered up beside her, enduring the crushing grip she had on my hand.
A fresh rush of adrenaline shot through my veins at the sight of them. Four people all wearing those damned masks. Two of them were on mopeds. They were watching us from a hill.
What looked like a massive house sat at the top of it. I hadn’t noticed it until now, too busy trying to save Kayla’s life.
One of the figures began to clap.
The motion caused the jacket of his tux to shift just enough that I caught site of the tattoo near the top of his neck.
Jace.
“Well done,” he called down. “No one, and I mean absolutely no one, has ever pulled that off.”
“We’re one and one now Rae,” Kaiden added from beside him.
“I can see you look a little worn out. We’ve got one last game to play. It’s my personal favorite,” Jace announced, bringing a hand to his chest. “There’s no acquisition without a hunt. Am I right?”
“Cut to the point you,” I replied, adjusting my stance.
“What are they talking about?” Kayla breathed, squeezing my hand even tighter.
Malady (Deviant Games Book 2) Page 4
