Sever (Slayer Society #1) Read online

  None of them dared to undermine their parents’ ruling over the weekend, respecting the keepdistancefromallyourfriends stipulation they had so heavily handed them. But the following Monday, as the second week of school was set to begin, none of them knew if they could keep up the intense isolation.

  As the morning was barely alive with the chirping of songbirds and barely lit from the still rising sun, Mercer was driving his 2005 Jeep Wrangler, still surprised that his dads hadn’t revoked his driving privileges with the lockdown in effect, even though they were totally tracking his whereabouts through his mileage. He was driving to Westbrooke High, turning down a neighborhood as a shortcut when he passed Kirby walking along the side of the street.

  Concerned, Mercer decided, against all the lectures he had heard over breakfast, to pull over just ahead of her. His dads didn’t need to know about his little detour in regards to the social fasting. Mercer got out of his Jeep as it idled quietly, surveying the desolate, dark and chilly street before he started walking toward her.

  “We’re not allowed to talk, remember?” she shouted as she kept strutting toward him in her heels and black capris, causing Mercer to shake his head when he noticed she only had on her leather jacket over her white tshirt.

  “Aren’t you cold?” he laughed. “You shouldn’t be out here alone, Kirby.”

  “Ha!” she mocked him. “You’d never make it with New York’s weather. And please. I used to walk the streets of Manhattan by myself at thirteen. I can surely handle walking down the street alone in a small town in New Hampshire.” She passed him at this point, though she was sure he was following her, judging by the loud footsteps clamoring after her. “I had to convince my mom that I was catching the bus before she’d leave this morning.”

  He shrugged. “I can give you a ride to school.”

  “No need, I’m fine.”

  “Kirby, Sumner saw you take that picture of him in the cemetery. It’s not safe.”

  Kirby screamed in anger, stopping her walk and turning around to face Mercer. “I’m so tired of hearing what is and isn’t safe. If Sumner is here in Armor Falls, then, from what Google could tell me, nothing’s going to stop him from getting what he wants.”

  “You’re probably right, but why risk it?”

  After a moment, Kirby just laughed, brushing off her earlier defiance when she took in his shabby grin, showcasing his surrender. “You’re lucky you’re cute, Meadows.”

  He chuckled. “So is that your way of saying yes?”

  “Once couldn’t hurt. And my mom doesn’t need to know.” She winked.

  They laughed together, making their way back to his Jeep. Mercer loved how easy it was to talk to Kirby. And it didn’t hurt that they were now safely in his Jeep on the way to school. There was something about being out in the open that made him afraid that Sumner would pop out from behind a tree at any second and pester his skin with sharktoothed lacerations.

  “So,” Mercer started as he swatted away his fears. “Where did your mom go that she’d agree to let you take the bus?”

  “Her job. In New York, she was managing a boutique. Fashion is her passion.”

  “Not much of that in Armor Falls.” he commented.

  “Right,” she agreed. “Since she wants to stay here, she plans to open her own store here in town eventually. In the meantime, though, she’s putting her nursing degree to good use.”

  “Oh? Where at? Westbrooke Nursing Home?”

  “No,” A quick glaze came over her eyes. “That’s something that’s been bothering me. Why are some things around here called stuff like Westbrooke High instead of Armor Falls High?”

  Mercer nodded, having had this asked to him before. “Calliope Westbrooke founded Armor Falls way back when. Some stuff is named after the actual town while some stuff is named after the person.” When Kirby tilted her head in understanding, he pressed his earlier issue. “So if your mom isn’t at Westbrooke Nursing Home, then where is she?”

  “Oh, she’s at Arclan.”

  Mercer almost jerked the stirring wheel and swerved his Jeep into the guard rail. “Did you say Arclan?”

  “I know, it’s weird giving the whole Sumner thing now. But she said it’s really good money.”

  Mercer dropped the subject and drove the rest of the way in silence, too encased by the thought of Athena Wheaton working at Arclan Asylum.

  As students enveloped the halls of Westbrooke High worrying about their classes, Faith’s mind was too preoccupied with the social lockdown her parents were inflicting upon her life to think about whether she was going to drop French for creative writing. All weekend, she had waited on telling Straton. She wasn’t exactly sure how the lockdown and curfew was going to affect her relationship, something she was sure her parents hadn’t even thought about when all the parents had decided to restrict their children’s lives. Faith understood the reasoning, but that didn’t keep it from sucking any less.

  “Faith,” She craned her neck to see Willa approaching her. Willa put up a hand. “I know, we’re not supposed to be talking to one another, which I still think is stupid since we weren’t friends with the maniac, but whatever.”

  “No, it is really stupid.” Faith couldn’t help but concur. “It’s such a crappy situation. I don’t even know if I’ll get to see Straton.”

  Willa couldn’t argue with how badly everything felt currently. “Speaking of Straton, has Abram mentioned anything to you about him?”

  Faith’s brow furrowed curiously. “Why would he? He doesn’t even know Straton.”

  “You’re right, he doesn’t. But I do.” Willa paused. “Sort of.”

  Her eyes flared with interest. Before she could say anything, Willa pressed on.

  “I don’t want to stir up any drama, but Straton...I don’t think he’s being completely honest with you.”

  Folding her arms across her chest, Faith practically snarled. “About what?”

  “About Sumner,” Willa exhaled. “That night of the Heartmyth start of second semester party, I met Straton. Because Sumner is the one that tried to set us up.”

  Faith’s gaze fell to the floor. She couldn’t even see Willa standing in front of her anymore. Straton was friends with Sumner? How? Why would Straton keep something like that from her?

  “Faith, I—”

  She put a hand up, silencing Willa instantly.

  “I’m really sorry.”

  “No, no, it’s fine. I’m glad you told me.” Faith admitted.

  “I just thought you deserved to know.”

  “Actually,” A sly look appeared in Faith’s eyes, making Willa wonder if she was truly grateful or consumed with ravenous rage. With her lashes fluttering like little blood thirsty blades of grass, Faith said, “Can you do me a favor?”

  Much later, Bridge was totally breaking curfew. Not because he was meeting a boy or participating in any more murders. He just needed a damn night out. After finally telling everyone about his missing parents, Mrs. Llewellyn had stopped allowing him to stay in a nearby hotel by himself and had basically forced him into staying with the Llewellyn’s neighbor, who just so happened to be none other than Paige Honeycombe, the school’s new guidance counselor and Ben’s fiancé, whom he thankfully hadn’t seen since the lockdown.

  To say it was torture would have been putting it way too mildly. Paige was excruciatingly nice and watched his every move like a hawk, which Bridge would have bet his life was Adelaide’s idea. But all Bridge had to do was feign a migraine and claim he needed some rest and Paige had finally left him alone for the night. Then, he had fluffed the bed to make it appear like he was still there, snuck out of the window, and ran to the bus stop a few blocks away.

  And now, he found himself trying to sneak into Core, a hot gay club right on the border of Hanover and Armor Falls. But the bouncer was claiming that his ID was fake. Which it was, but that wasn’t stopping Bridge from fighting for its validity.

  “Dude, I swear to you, my ID is real. I’m a junio
r at Heartmyth.”

  “Beat it, rookie,” The broad, totally hunky guy with a shaved head told him, tossing the ID back at him. “This isn’t my first fake.”

  Bridge was about to argue some more, but he noticed a stylish girl coming up and not even bothering to get in line with the other people waiting to get in, groans spurring from the crowd behind Bridge.

  Faith gave the bouncer a small smile, too focused on her night’s mission to initially notice Bridge.

  “You know the rule,” The bouncer told her. “Ten minutes.”

  “Thanks, Stenchel.”

  Faith went to enter the club when her eyes fell on Bridge, a wicked grin settled on his face as he looked her over a few times. She looked floored to see someone else that was dealing with the lockdown out and breaking curfew. And out of all of them, Bridge was the least one she expected to meet out and about.

  “Bridge...what are you doing here?”

  He gave her a smug smirk. “Took the words right out of my mouth.”

  Panic coursing through her, Faith glanced at the ID hanging from Bridge’s fingers. She turned toward Stenchel the bouncer and grasped his shoulder.

  “Stenchel, he’s good. He’s my tutor from Heartmyth.”

  After a couple of stares between the two of them, Stenchel gestured toward the door, allowing Bridge and Faith to enter the techno thumping atmosphere of Core.

  “I can’t believe we’re both breaking curfew.” Faith shook her head, her emotions flooding with guilt.

  “Honestly, I’m surprised we all aren’t out after that prison ward of a weekend,” Bridge said as they made their way down the elongated hallway with over the top scarlet hued velvet walls. “Surely the heavy word of Adelaide Llewellyn hasn’t diminished since I last stopped by. So how’d you manage this grand escape?”

  Faith scoffed. “Willa, actually. She drove my car and parked it behind the library earlier, concocted a story about how our AP Bio teacher paired us up for a project and refused to repair us. From there, I was shocked at how cavalier Mom was being at allowing me and Willa to work at the library together.”

  “Let me guess. She agreed, if she drove you both there.”

  Nodding, Faith kept leading them down the hall. “How’d you bypass Paige?”

  “Luckily, she believed the migraine I faked. Plus, her windows are super easy to climb out of.” His smile faded. “I just needed a break from everything. Is that why you risked curfew?”

  Faith approached the curtains that blocked the hallway from the heart of Core. They both pushed past the dangling purple fabric, the noise of music and drunken hollering suddenly surrounding them.

  “Not at all,” she finally said. “I have to talk to Straton.”

  “Who the hell is Straton?”

  “This not talking thing is really getting old.” Faith said, spotting a shirtless Straton serving a tray of drinks to a table in the back of the club. “Straton is my boyfriend.” Faith gave Bridge an inquisitive glance. “I’ll find you later. We better head back soon. My mom is picking me up from the library in twenty minutes.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Bridge waved her off. “Go find your boyfriend while I find a drink.”

  As Bridge drifted toward the massive bar in the center of the huge, high ceiling room, Faith stormed her way over to Straton as the guy he gave his last drink to slapped his tight denim covered posterior.

  “Straton.”

  He turned around, smiling from the huge tip the customer had just given him, to see a slightly flustered Faith before him.

  “Faith? What are you doing here?”

  “Who’s this, handsome? Your sister?” The very drunk, very handsy tipper said, his words shaky at best.

  “No,” Straton said, putting on another smile for the guy and his friends. “This is my girlfriend.”

  “Pity,” One of the guys’ friends sighed, running a hand through his bleached platinum blond hair. “The sexiest guys always seem to be straight anymore.”

  “Can we talk for a minute?” She whispered to him.

  “Sure.” Straton set the tray in his hands down and gave the group of guys a perfect halfsmile. “Be back in a bit, fellas.”

  They all groaned in annoyance, but Faith finally got Straton alone in the back room of the club. Once Straton closed the door behind them, his friendly facade was replaced by one of worry.

  “Faith, are you alright? You look pretty upset.”

  “I know you’re working and I haven’t responded to your texts and calls this weekend. I’ll explain all of that later, after you explain something to me.”

  Confusion changed Straton’s expression completely. “Okay, I’m not sure where this is going, but obviously I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

  “Good.” Faith breathed harshly. “I want to know why you didn’t tell me.”

  “About what?”

  “About Sumner.”

  His eyes quickly clouded. “What are you talking about?”

  “No games, Straton. I’m jumping through enough hoops at home and I really don’t need them from you.”

  “I mean, I heard about the sighting,” Straton scoffed, putting his hands on his hips. “That’s why I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all week. I’ve been worried about you and Alex—”

  “I know that you were friends with Sumner.”

  Without missing a beat, Straton was engulfed with fury. “Faith, have you lost your mind!? You know that I only know Sumner from the news. I’ve never asked you or Alex about it because I know how hard that must have been for you and all your friends.”

  Regret began to bubble in her veins, but it was quickly replaced by determination. “Willa told me—”

  “Enough!” Straton shrieked. “All I have ever been is supportive and there for you. And now you’re accusing me of, what exactly?”

  “You knew Sumner. Before he attacked my brother and his friends.”

  “Why are you with me if you don’t trust me? I don’t know why you think I know Sumner, but I don’t. And I don’t want to be with you if you don’t believe that.”

  “Straton—”

  “Go home, Faith. I have to work.”

  Straton walked back out into the throes of the club. Faith followed him, but he must have disappeared into the dancing crowds of people.

  “Straton!” She tried to call to him, but he was gone.

  Back at the bar, Bridge was enjoying his third tequila shot, already feeling the wonderful warmth of the alcohol. Now that he had some eightyproof courage coursing through him, he supposed he could dance and possibly make out with someone. But just as he was about to get up from the bar, Ben sloppily leaned against the bar right beside him, whom had apparently been enjoying his own night out.

  “Breaking curfew,” Ben tsked. “Willa told me about it. Probably not a good idea going against it.”

  Bridge, though not exactly sober himself, could still make out the stinging aroma of alcohol on Ben’s breath.

  “Jesus, Ben. Have you been chugging gasoline?”

  “Letting off stream. Isn’t that why you’re here?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Ben snaked an arm around Bridge’s waist, which the latter normally would have protested, but the alcohol in him was making him really enjoy the human contact.

  “Ben—”

  “Do you know how hard it’s been for me this weekend?” Ben slurred. “You’re at my girlfriend’s house for fuck sake.”

  “I thought it was fiancé?” Bridge burped, trying to hold down his liquor. “It wasn’t my idea. I can’t help it that Paige lives next door to the Llewellyns. Didn’t mean to interrupt your precious time with her.”

  “Bridge,” Ben smirked. “It hasn’t been hard because of Paige.” His hand on Bridge’s waist tightened. “It’s been hard because of you.” he sniffed. “I’ve missed you. You’ve been so close but with Paige...I couldn’t come over.”

  “Ben, stop.” Bridge’s head was fluttering like butterfly wing
s. He couldn’t comprehend what was coming out of Ben’s mouth. What was Ben saying? That he’d missed him? No, he had to have heard wrong. Even if Ben had said that, it was just the liquor talking.

  “Ben,” he said again. “No, we—”

  Ben’s lips were on his and he forgot everything else. Nothing but their kiss even registered in Bridge’s head. Their kiss intensified and before he could tell what was happening, they were in the bathroom of the club, kissing in between tearing each other’s clothes off of their bodies. It wasn’t until Bridge starting pulling Ben’s pants down and the bathroom door swung open that they both froze in place and took in their surroundings.

  “Bridge, are you in—”

  Faith burst in and stopped midquestion to see a shirtless Bridge and Ben, the latter of which had his khakis around his ankles, his bare posterior facing her.

  “Oh, Jesus.” Faith shrieked.

  “I’m not gay.” Ben testified, the alcohol still slightly slurring his speech.

  “Shut up, Ben.” Bridge said, buttoning his pants and grabbing his discarded tshirt and pulling it over his toned torso while Ben started pulling his pants up, searching around for his polo shirt.

  “I’ll, uh, wait for you out here.” Faith ran out of the bathroom as fast as she could.

  Once she was gone, Ben somehow found the valor to speak. “Bridge, what does this mean?”

  He ignored Ben as he started buttoning his favorite Ralph Lauren powder blue shirt.

  “She saw us. What does this mean?”

  “Shut up!” Bridge blurted. “This was a mistake.” He watched as Ben finished dressing. “Do you even remember what you told me at the bar?”

  “Of course I do.” Ben reached for Bridge’s hand. He started to recoil, but felt too vulnerable to pull away, Ben’s fingers skimming the younger man’s palm. “I meant it. I just...I don’t know what this means or what to do.”

  “You still say you’re not gay.”

  “Because I’m not. Or maybe I am. I just, I don’t know what to call it or if it even needs to be called anything. I just know that I haven’t been able to focus on anything but you since the night we first met at that party.”

  “Stop.” Bridge’s head finally began to clear, fog lifting from his senses. “Ben, you know that I like you, but you’re engaged. To a woman.”

  “Bridge,”

  “It’s not right. I just…I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.”

  Bridge left Ben in the bathroom before he could call after him or stop him from leaving. Without looking back, he made his way toward the entrance. He found Faith right at the curtains that obscured the entry hallway. Just as he approached Faith, his cell started buzzing in his jeans pocket. A picture of Mercer hugging him and placing a kiss on his cheek enveloped his screen. Bridge sent Mercer’s call to voicemail as Faith looked him up and down.

  “Please don’t.” he said, dismissing her glance.

  “I almost forgot how entertaining you guys are. Alex is going to love this.”

  Pushing past the curtains, Bridge led them down the dimly lit hallway. “You can’t tell Alex. You can’t tell anyone.”

  “Because?”

  “Because that guy you saw me with is getting married to the school’s new guidance counselor?” He ended with a question, wincing as he waited for her reaction.

  “Bridge!”

  “I know, I know. We hooked up before, before I knew. Tonight…tonight was just the tequila. It’s over.” he paused, telling himself to truly believe what he was reciting. “What about you? How’d the meet up with the boyfriend go?”

  Sighing, she shook her head. “Nothing like your bathroom escapade. I think we might be over too.”

  Bridge made a sad face, grabbing her hand. “I’m sorry, Faith.”

  “I’ll deal with it another night,” She shrugged it off. “Let’s just get home. Before we’re both on lockdown until we’re fifty.”

  Mercer had tried calling Bridge over and over, but he wouldn’t answer. The next day at school, he was determined to talk to his friends. Ever since his talk with Kirby yesterday, he’d been unable to stop his mind from thinking back to when his friends and Sumner had snuck into Arclan days before its grand opening. And he really needed to talk to his friends about it.

  He made his way to the calculus class that he shared with his friends when he almost ran right into Kirby.

  “Hey.” he smiled.

  “Hey.” she nodded, finishing a text on her iPhone. “Sorry. My mom is driving me crazy about trying to make some new friends.” When Mercer looked a little hurt, Kirby went on. “No offense. It’s just because she’s really pressuring me with this whole lockdown thing.”

  “Right,” Mercer forced an additional smile, feeling completely unsure as to whether he’d ever be able to really be friends with Kirby after the lockdown fiasco ended. The bell blared loudly around them to help his thoughts wisp into the void. “I guess we should get to class. Good luck, uh, with the friend hunt.”

  Smiling weakly, Kirby nodded once more. “Thanks. Later.”

  “Bye.”

  Kirby left, only to reveal Mercer’s friends in her wake, smug looks on all of their faces.

  “When’s the wedding?” Abram laughed.

  “Shut up.” Mercer chuckled as the four of them entered Mr. Argus’ class, taking four empty seats in the back of the classroom.

  Mr. Argus stood up from his desk, assumingly to begin the days’ lesson, when another teacher asked to speak with him outside for a minute. He told them to talk quietly, stepping outside and leaving the class to their own conversations.

  “Hey,” Mercer started, leaning closer to his friends. “We have to break curfew tonight.”

  “What? Why?” Alex questioned.

  “Do you guys remember the night we snuck into Arclan?”

  “Obviously.” Bridge stated.

  “I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I wanna run something by you guys and I’d rather do it without the risk of being overheard.”

  “Breaking curfew twice in one week,” Bridge laughed lightly, begrudgingly tossing around the selfimplication. “Keep it up, Mathison.”

  “You’ve already snuck out?”

  “Mercer, if you were stuck staying with Paige, you’d have broken curfew already too.”

  “Is it really important enough to risk getting caught?” Alex raised an eyebrow.

  “Definitely. We have to meet tonight.”

  “Where?” Abram scoffed.

  Mercer stirred. “Well, I was thinking we could meet up at the RV.”

  He saw recognition flaring in their irises, which turned into the three of them looking to Abram. “What do you think?”

  Abram shrugged at Bridge’s questioning comment. “We’re already breaking curfew. We might as well add trespassing to the night’s offenses.”

  “I guess we’re revolting then.” Alex quipped.

  Mercer smiled, delighted. “Meet at the RV at midnight.”

  Mr. Argus reentered the classroom, bringing the class to his attention as the four friends waited for the darkness of the setting sun so they could collectively breach their lockdown.

  The hours seemed to lag and stutter by for all of them. They hadn’t spoken to one another after their calculus class. They all had bid their time at their respective homes, waiting as the sky changed from burnt auburn to midnight blue, a hue that seemed to scream danger. Only fitting, since they’d all be breaking curfew in the middle of the night.

  Alex had just finished showering in preparation of their late night meet up, staring in the bathroom mirror and smiling at the muscular chest he had worked so hard to achieve after his top surgery, his mind wandering to his friends. It was funny. When his friends first found out about him, he wanted to fall off the face of the Earth so he wouldn’t have to deal with everything. But now, with the lockdown in effect, all he wanted was to talk to them, explain all he had gone through during his transition. It didn’t help that Bridge was
now right next door.

  The chiming of his phone from his adjoining bedroom brought him from the depths of his thoughts as he exited the bathroom and entered his bedroom, grabbing a nearby shirt and pulling it over his head. As he quickly pulled on the rest of his clothes, he grabbed his phone from its spot on the bed. It was a text from Abram saying he was at the basement door.

  A little confused, Alex pulled on his shoes and quietly made his way through the dark Llewellyn house until he found his way in the basement, ambling over to the door, and opening it to see Abram’s smiling face.

  “We should get going.” Abram suggested.

  Alex stepped outside, closing the door carefully behind him. “What are you doing here? I thought the plan was to meet at the RV?” he whispered.

  “It is, but I figured your mom was practically tracking your car’s whereabouts.”

  Alex scoffed. “Not practically. Actually.” He shook his head. “I just planned on walking to the bus station a couple blocks away.”

  “No need. I’ve got Willa’s car parked on the next street over.”

  Smirking, Alex started walking away from his house with his exboyfriend. “She doesn’t mind?”

  “She doesn’t know.” Abram smiled a halfsmile. “She’s knocked out, just like Mom and Dad.”

  “Is Bridge meeting us?” Alex silently slid into stride next to Abram as they made their way down his street.

  Abram shook his head. “He’s already out apparently. Maybe he’ll ride with Mercer or take the bus.”

  The rest of their brief walk was silent. Willa’s car was parked on a side street right under a tree, shrouded in shadows.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Alex said as they got into the car. “My parents will kill me if they find out I snuck out.”

  “All of us are risking a lot.” Abram admitted. “Whatever Mercer has to tell us, it better be worth it.”

  Abram started the car and turned off the street as he messed with the radio, not wanting to inhibit silence among the two of them as they drove to the RV like he had on the way to pick Alex up. The CD in Willa’s car started to pick up where it had left off and Alex’s voice came blaring from the radio from before his transition.

  “That was ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ by Def Leppard, probably Abe’s favorite.”

  “Oh…my God,” Alex laughed as he heard his younger self do the same. “Is this our CD?”

  Younger Abram answered before the one sitting beside him could. “Maybe it is my favorite, but the next one is yours, Liss.”

  Abram looked just as stunned as Alex as their younger selves droned on in the background, their adolescent voices coming out of the car’s speakers with guided ease. “I guess Willa has been listening to it.”

  “God, I can’t believe we used to pretend to be radio hosts, let alone record ourselves.” Alex chuckled.

  “Hey, our mutual love of eighties music should be celebrated.” Abram smiled.

  “This was before Sumner.” Alex’s eyes became suddenly distant. “Before everything changed.”

  “Forget about that,” Abram pleaded, then smiled at Alex as he turned down another street. “Do you remember what song is coming up?”

  Alex was about to say that he couldn’t ever forget what was about to come out of the speakers when the song started, causing him to smile as he recognized the opening bars of ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ by Starship.

  Abram began singing the male lead of the first verse, eyeing Alex occasionally, probably because years ago Abram used to sing the male lead and Alex would sing the female lead, followed by them singing the chorus together.

  He kept eyeing Alex further as the female lead closed in on them. Finally, Abram finished his part and then looked to Alex to continue the song. Laughing, Alex began singing his usual part of the song, causing Abram to head bang and smile in response to Alex’s participation.

  Once they got to the chorus, they both started belting out the words, singing loudly and smiling at each other. They sang the rest of the song with ease, all while they continued their drive until they reached the parking lot of Westbrooke Storage Lot.

  As another eighties love ballad ended, Abram turned down the volume on the radio. Alex was laughing from how into the music they had just gotten, Abram mirroring his infectious hysterics.

  “When was the last time we sang eighties music together?” Abram asked, winding down his cackling.

  “Practically forever.” Alex stated. “I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed it,” Staring into Abram’s gorgeous cerulean orbs, Alex’s mind flashed to earlier times, times without police interrogations and social lockdowns. The memories swelled in his heart, stirring a deep aching within him. “Honestly, there’s a lot of things I didn’t realize I’d missed.”

  Abram gave him that heartwarming halfsmile that used to make Alex’s leap on a daily basis, one that he just so happened to experience right then and there for the first time in months. They inched closer together on impulse, Alex almost expecting them to kiss when there was a loud knock on Abram’s window, causing both of them to jump at the abrupt interruption. Luckily it was only Bridge trying to get their attention.

  Sighing, Alex gestured toward Bridge. “We should go.”

  “Yeah.” Abram scoffed.

  The pair got out of Willa’s car, suddenly staring at Bridge and Mercer’s faces.

  “You two ride together?” Abram asked, locking the car doors.

  “You think my dads aren’t tracking my gas mileage?” Mercer huffed. “No. We both just so happened to take the same bus.”

  Bridge nodded. “I was already out, shooting some hoops. Paige only agreed because I told her my parents would have wanted me to keep practicing.” he shrugged. “She’ll just think I’m still practicing my hook shot at the twentyfourhour gym down the street.”

  “Yeah, let’s get to why we’re here so we can get back as soon as possible.” Alex suggested.

  Mercer glanced at Abram. “You got the keys?”

  He held up Willa’s. “Willa and I keep spares on our car keys.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  Westbrooke Storage Lot was an open parking lot full of discarded, forgotten, and vacation only vehicles. The only thing besides the random vehicles was a petite building where people could register their vehicle on the lot, but of course, no one was there as the time ticked towards midnight. The four friends made their way toward an RV that was a few years old, but still looked like it was fresh off the dealership’s land. It was surrounded by other vehicles, but not enough that it was too cramped for them to make their way to the average sized RV. Abram choose the right key from Willa’s set and unlocked it, everyone following him inside.

  The inside of the St. James family RV was the personification of November St. James’ personality. Lavish decorations donned the place, like the faux marble countertops in the moderate kitchen, two full sized beds that lived in the high hallway walls that bore thousand thread count bedsheets, a queen sized bed inside the small bedroom in the back complete with a small 32inch TV built into the wall, and a rather spacious shower that perfected the ambiance of the RV. The small living room consisted of two plush, though smaller than normal, couches on either side of the RV directly in between the driving cab and the small chic kitchen that housed all the essentials.

  They hadn’t all been inside the RV since right after Sumner had attacked them, since the morning after they had all given their statements to the police and had had a rather pointless night of trying to sleep. Mercer cleared his throat as he and Bridge sat on one side while Alex and Abram sat on the other.

  “Alright,” he began. “I guess I should get to why I brought you guys out here.”

  “That’s a decent place to start.” Alex agreed.

  Mercer exchanged a pure inhale of air. “I was talking to Kirby yesterday and—”

  “Kirby?” Bridge butted in immediately. “Are you kidding me?”

  “Why are you even talking to
her?” Alex added.

  “Chill out, guys. I gave her a ride to school.”

  “Mercer, Dagger told us—”

  “Jesus, get off my ass about Kirby!” Mercer stood, anger setting in at Bridge’s last attempt at speaking. “We’ve already broken curfew, some of us twice, I might add, we’re all talking to each other right now and I’m getting shit about literally just driving her to school? You guys have got to lay off. Until Dagger proves that Kirby helped Sumner back into town, enough speculating. And so what if I like her? All the more reason for you guys to show some support and eightysix the Kirbyisguilty campaign.”

  Tension crept around their ankles as Mercer breathed heavily, his frustration settling and evaporating into the air. His friends bore somber features, clearly bothered that they had upset him so deeply.

  Abram was the first to break the silence among them. “I’m sorry, Mercer. It’s just such a coincidence. But you’re right. We shouldn’t judge her based off of our paranoia.”

  “I’m just scared.” Alex admitted next. “I’m completely terrified by the thought of someone helping Sumner and him being back in Armor Falls. He could be anywhere, plotting anything, and I can’t help but think it’s only a matter of when that he’ll strike and put his plan into action.”

  “We’re sorry, Merce.” Bridge concluded.

  “Now that we’ve covered that, the fact that Sumner could be anywhere is sort of why we’re here.” The three of them were overcome with interest at his statement. They shifted toward Mercer as he sat back down in his seat. “Anyway, I was talking to Kirby and she got me thinking about Arclan. Do you remember the night of our first sleepover at Sumner’s?” He paused as they all nodded. “Sumner was bragging that he had found a secret passage in his room? What if that’s where Sumner is hiding? What if he’s been hiding there all along?”

  They all took in the theory for a moment before Abram, per usual, spoke up. “That’s an interesting idea.” he nodded. “But even if he is hiding out there, we have no idea where that passage leads.”

  “Yeah, it’s not like we can waltz up to Shadows Manor and ask his parents to see Sumner’s supersecret passageway.” Alex quipped.

  “Why would we waltz?” Bridge questioned.

  Alex waved him off, dismissing his inquiry. “I just mean, we have no idea where it ends.”

  “That’s the best part,” Mercer grinned. “I think I have an idea of where the passage leads.”

  “Where?” Bridge prompted.

  Something in Mercer’s eyes shined like light reflecting off glass. “Arclan Asylum.”

  Abram stood up quickly. “I knew it!”

  “You expected him to say Arclan?” Bridge said, eyebrows raised.

  “Abram already told us,” Mercer nodded. “When we visited him when he was at Arclan, he told us that Sumner was visiting him by hiding in the walls. That’s where the passage leads. Straight to Arclan.”

  “But we thought Abram was—”

  “Too heavily medicated to be making sense?” Abram acknowledged Alex. “Forget it. Honestly, I tried my best to forget about seeing Sumner once they transferred me to a different facility.”

  “You weren’t at Arclan the whole time?”

  Abram shot down the question. “I had scratch marks up and down my arms that were very real even if seeing Sumner and thinking he caused them wasn’t. They thought I was a danger to myself because of my accusations, so they transferred me to some highly recommended place in Maine. I think it was called Tarryn Hall or something.”

  Bridge shifted the conversation. “Okay, let’s assume that the passage does lead to Arclan. Wouldn’t Sumner’s dad know about it?”

  “He’d have to.” Alex agreed. “I mean, he opened the place back up, right? He’d have blueprints of the place, not to mention he obviously would know about his own house’s secrets. He would have told the police all about it.”

  “Not necessarily. Arclan Shadows is the one who built both Shadows Manor and the asylum. He could have easily gotten the passage constructed and linked the two together. It wouldn’t be that hard to leave out of both buildings’ blueprints.” Mercer told them.

  “You’re saying Sumner inherited his love of secret passages from his grandfather?”

  Mercer scoffed at Bridge. “Is it that crazy of a concept?”

  “Holy shit.” Abram said, still trying to wrap everything together in his head.

  “Even if all of this, which I’d like to add is all just theory, is true, what do you suggest we do about it?” Bridge asked.

  “Easy. We sneak into Arclan, find the passage, and bust his ass.” Mercer exclaimed, proud of himself for connecting all of the dots.

  “Or we should go directly to Dagger, especially if the whole secret passage being wiped off of the blueprints theory is true.” Alex said heatedly. “What if Sumner is there? You think it’s smart to go in there like we’re a band of vigilantes?”

  “What do you think Dagger will do to us if we tell him and Sumner isn’t there? You saw how he was with us last week, Alex. He’ll either arrest us or maim us and make it look like we did it to ourselves.”

  “We can’t risk giving Dagger anymore reasons to not trust us.” Bridge shook his head in agreement.

  “You’re onboard with this?”

  “Well I definitely don’t want to go to Dagger unless we have solid proof.”

  Abram grabbed Alex’s hand, looking deeply into his eyes. “We have to, Alex. You know we do. And if we do catch Sumner, this whole stupid lockdown crap will be put to rest and Dagger will get off our backs.”

  “Or at the very least, he’ll ease off.” Mercer added.

  Finally, Alex crumpled under the peer pressure to go attempted murderer hunting. “I can’t believe I’m even partially convinced.” He turned to Mercer. “How would we even get into Arclan? Obviously, not through the front doors.”

  “And why did talking to Kirby ignite this plan?” Bridge wanted to know.

  “Right.” Mercer winced, obviously not wanting to get to this part of the plan. “I was talking to Kirby on the way to school and, well, her mom is a nurse at Arclan.”

  “And?” Bridge waited.

  “And, we use her mom’s ID badge to get in.”

  Just then, before anyone could question Mercer’s methods, there was a loud crash from outside the RV, shaking the entire vehicle.

  “What the hell was that?” Alex said, speaking for all of them.

  Crash. The RV shook again. No one moved, too petrified to spring into action.

  “What could be—”

  Alex was cut off by the shattering of the small window just above the door of the RV, eliciting screams from all of them. Abram saw a rock skipping around on the floor, obviously the cause of the broken window. Without a thought, Abram dashed for the door.

  “Abe!”

  He barely heard Alex’s plea as he ran outside the RV, looking around for the culprit, but no one met his gaze. All he saw were the other vehicles and the shadows they cast down on the ground before them. All he saw was darkness.

  As the rest of them piled out of the RV, Abram turned to see two huge human sized dents in the RV, as if someone had thrown themselves against the vehicle a couple times.

  “Where are you!?” Abram yelled out into the open air, his friends scrambling to see the bent metal that were the body slams in the side of the RV. “Come on out, Sumner!”

  “Abe,” Alex tried to get his attention, the rest of them focusing on something else entirely.

  “Don’t you want to finish what you started in the cemetery!?”

  “Abe!”

  Abram turned to Alex, the rest of his friends’ faces tuned to horrified. “What?” Alex pointed to the ground, Abram moving to see what his friends had their eyes transfixed on. On the ground was a wooden stake.

  And it was stained with fresh blood.

  7

  BREAKING & ENTERING