“I don’t know why I spoke to him,” I reply honestly, my eyes flicking between hers. “Sometimes I feel so fucking empty.”
Her hand falls away and she leans back against the metal wall. The action draws my attention to the slender column of her throat. “This is not the time for bonding.”
“I’m not trying to bond.” I settle beside her, wrap my arms around my knees, and stare at the wall opposite, then whisper, “We might not be alive this time tomorrow. I want to speak my truth for once.”
She stays silent, her gaze burning the side of my face. I don’t know what it is about this moment that makes me feel safe with her, despite the threat that lingers over us like a dark storm cloud. I almost wish death would claim us tonight, so I don’t have to face my truth tomorrow.
“I don’t know who I am.” I look at her as I taste tears on my lips. “Have you ever felt like that? Like you’re suffocating inside? I’ve been a cheerleader for as long as I remember. I was barely four when Mom sent me to my first class. If I didn’t win the gold medal, she’d be disappointed in me. She didn’t say it outright; she’s too polite for that. But it was there in the look in her eyes. Then, when I grew older, there were other expectations.” I avert my gaze. “To get the perfect grades, always smile and look happy. Don’t let the world see the cracks in your facade.” Drawing in a deep breath, I rest my chin on my knees. The van bumps, forcing me closer to Melanie. “When my mom met your dad, I was uprooted from my life back home. Then Jaxon showed an interest in me.” My eyes return to her, and I shrug. “We made sense, another puzzle piece.”
Her glassy eyes pierce mine before she looks down and draws in a breath.
I don’t let her speak. “I’m not in love with him.”
“But he’s in love with you.”
A rueful smile finds its way to my lips. “He thinks he is, but in truth, he’s in love with himself.”
Her soft laugh rings out in the back of the van. “I think you’re on to something.”
I watch her profile, mesmerized by the feminine sound of her amusement. I want to hear it again.
Her eyes clash with mine, and I quickly look away, busying myself by crawling over to pick up her phone.
I hand it back to her, and we sit in silence while she holds her phone in the air, hunting for a signal with no success.
“It’s no use,” she whispers after a while.
I go to reply, but the van pulls to a stop, causing my eyes to widen.
Gritting her jaw, her gaze flicks past me when the doors open.
Chapter four
Melanie
Moonlight streams in, and the men’s shadowed figures motion for us to exit the vehicle.
It’s instinct to move in front of Jessica. I owe it to Dad to keep her safe now that he has finally found his dream family. The last thing I want is to take that from him.
I’ll never be what he wants me to be, and my mom’s shadow will always live in me, but Jessica and her mom can be his new future. They’re perfect, untainted in a way I can never be again. Hatred lives inside me, putrid and bitter.
Jessica shakes with terror behind me, but I don’t fear death.
“Ut, jenter!” the man shouts.
I don’t understand him, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he wants us to exit the vehicle. I bare my teeth in the moonlight, feeling more like a feral animal than a human right now.
“Jævla hore,” he growls, climbing into the back. His big hand wraps around my arm, and he hauls me out of the van onto the snow-covered ground. I scurry up on my knees just as he disappears back into the van to grab Jessica.
Her fearful cries cut through the silent night.
“You have a lot of fight in you,” the man by my side drawls, reaching out to stroke his fingers through my hair.
I move out of reach. “Don’t touch me!”
His hand shoots out and he fists my hair, tearing out strands in the process. “Fighting will get you no-fucking-where.”
“Fuck you!” I hiss, reaching behind me for the knife tucked into my jeans. I pull it out and sink it deep into his thigh.
