Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Fuck.
I look at the clock, but the seconds feel like hours as they slowly pass while I chew on my lip and flip my pencil back and forth. I hate that I have my last class so late in the afternoon that the sun’s already setting because my stomach is rumbling, and I'm hoping for dinnertime soon. A dinner I doubt will happen because of my impending meetup with Silas and whatever the hell he wants to gift me.
I’m barely listening to the teacher anymore while I try not to succumb to the adrenaline slowly taking over my entire body. Every so often, I glance at Max who stares at me with equal worry marring his face. I wonder what he’s thinking. If he’d even say it out loud.
I swallow away the lump in my throat as the final minutes begin to pass. I still manage to catch some final words from my teacher before he tells us our assignments for next week.
I grasp my bag, stuff everything inside, and bolt off.
Max catches up behind me. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Shack,” I say. “ASAP.”
He chucks his bag over his shoulder. “What do you think Silas wants to show us?”
“I don’t know, but it can’t be anything good,” I reply, waltzing toward the exit.
“Wait, we gotta call Heath,” Max says, and he pulls out his phone and calls him. But no matter how many times it rings, he won’t pick up. “C’mon, dude. Don’t flake on me now,” Max mutters.
“Maybe he’s still in class?”
Max shakes his head. “It ended ten minutes ago.” He puts his phone back into his pocket. “Let’s just go without him. I’m sure Silas messaged him too. He’ll catch up with us later.”
“Sure,” I say, walking across campus.
He grabs my arm and drags me toward the Skull and Serpent Society house. “We’ll take my bike.”
“Oh God, why?”
“It’ll be much quicker,” he says, holding out a second helmet. “I promise, you’ll be safe with me.”
I take in a deep breath. “Okay, fine. You convinced me. Let’s go.” I put on the helmet and jump on behind him.
“Thank you for trusting me,” he says before he knocks down his visor and revs the engine. “Hold on tight.”
Max hits the gas and we race across campus, destroying a bit of grass and gravel in the process. He carefully manages to avoid people walking on the roads as we exit through the gates and head out onto the long winding road down the mountain. The wind blows through the forests around us and brushes through my hair, causing wisps to cover my helmet. I hold Max’s lanky body tightly as we zoom down the narrow paths right beside the steep mountain with loose rocks lying around everywhere, but he expertly zigzags around them all.
Finally, we get to The Shack, and as he comes to a stop, I jump off and throw my helmet on the grassy ground.
“Wait, don’t we need to prepare or something?” Max asks, following me inside.
“How? How could you ever prepare for Silas fucking Rivera?” I reply.
His mouth opens but quickly shuts again as he raises a finger. “Good point.”
“Let’s go.” I push open the door and look around the pitch-black house. “Hello?”
A loud, muffled scream from upstairs fills the house, and goose bumps scatter my skin.
“Up here.”
That was definitely … Heath.
A tiny sliver of light is peeking through the door to a room upstairs.
Clutching the railing, I walk up the familiar stairs that still haunt me. The last time my feet touched these steps, I was running for my life away from them … and now I’m slowly walking into their trap. Willingly.
All because of that one word.
Gift.
Something about it draws me in like a moth to a flame.
A promise of a life-altering moment … worth the risk of death.
Because what is it that he wants to give me so badly it would make him miss out on his own classes?
I swallow the lump in my throat as I approach the bedroom door. The same bedroom where I hid from them the first time they came to find me.
But now, both Heath and Silas are hovering over the bed like they already found their prey. And it’s not me they’re after this time.
Because on that bed, strapped to each post, are two guys, back-to-back, with their mouths stuffed, and all of their nails pulled out.
All the blood in my veins runs cold.
Not only because of what he’s done to them …
But because I know these two.
Silas glances at me over his shoulder and grins, in his hands a set of pliers still dripping with blood. “So glad you’re finally here. Isn’t it nice to see old friends?”
CHAPTER 52
Silas
She stares at them like she’s seeing two ghosts, and my, oh my, that fucking fear riddling her face is a sight to behold. God, it really gets me going.