CLOVER
Ikeep having to roll my eyes to avoid my eyelids lowering. I feel like I’m walking around in a fishbowl, the music thudding against it and making my head throb. My legs are wobbly, and I keep stumbling into people. But no one reacts.
They never react.
I’ve learned throughout my life how many people look the other way. They’re good at pretending, these people that act as if the world is made up of entirely good—and they’re entirely good—and yet they don’t stop the bad.
I’m unsure if I’m one of these people. I may be doing all of this to find out what happened to Zoey, but the things I’m doing and the things I’m not doing…
Am I any better than these people at this party, wearing their masks that they only slip on at night so as only to be seen under the stars and moonlight?
“Hey, I’ve been looking all over for you,” Jason says as he drapes an arm around my shoulder.
The weight of it is heavy, and I nearly fall to the floor. But he grabs onto my other arm, his fingers delving into my flesh with so much force, I’m sure I’ll have bruises.
I always have bruises, though. Sometimes visible. Sometimes not.
“Easy,” he mutters, his lips brushing my ear. “If you get sloppy, I might have to fix that.”
I’m unsure what that means, but I manage to get my legs steady under me. It makes my skin crawl, how much I’ve been biting my tongue lately, how much I’ve been complying. I used to burn with fire, and anyone who touched me felt that spark. Now I’m nothing but a withering ember at the bottom of a firepit surrounded by men, watching me smoldering into ash.
“I need you to talk to these girls that are here.” Jason drags me down the hallway, his grip on my arm tightening. “I need you to get them to come with us later. And I need you to put this in their drinks.” He retrieves a vial from his pocket and sticks it into my hand. “Don’t fuck this up, Clover. I’m serious. Get your shit together. I didn’t let you in so you could become a fucking junkie.”
I want to remind him of why I do drugs all the time, that he was the one who started feeding me the poison. But I think of Zoey. Was she one of these girls I’m headed back to convince? Did she get drugged? Was she me?
The latter question is really starting to haunt me, because from what little pieces I’ve learned, there are two ways this can go if this group decides to target a girl. Either you vanish and are never seen again, or you join their group.
But for how long?
Because I feel like the clock is ticking.
Times running out, Clover.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
11
AVA
The place that Clara’s mom rented for us is a single-story house located near the foothills. Other houses are in the area, but they’re spread out by acres of land that’s flourishing with overgrown grass and flowers. The land that encompasses the house we’re staying in is billowing with blooming daisies, something I’m attempting not to overthink about, but am miserably failing.
“You should keep the doors locked,” I tell Clara after I’ve hauled the last of my belongings in.
She sinks onto a sofa that’s in the living room. “I was planning on it.”
It features an open floor plan with a hallway that leads to three bedrooms. I told Clara to pick whatever bedroom she wants, and I'll take one of the two that’s left. I’m not planning on getting settled in until I talk to Ellis. I’m unsure I’ll ever be able to be settled until this mystery is solved.
“Are you sure you don’t want to unpack first?” Clara asks, frowning. “And maybe order some food.”
I tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I really need to leave. Ellis texted me that he was back at the hotel, and he’sbasically just waiting around for me. I mean, he didn’t say those exact words, but I can tell that’s what he’s doing.”
“Are you going to tell him about your creepy cousin?” She gives a dramatic shudder. “That guy has some of the worst creep vibes.”
“He’s been that way forever,” I mutter, my stomach clenching at all the vile things Trystan has done over the years. And who knows what other secrets are rotting inside him that I don’t know about.
The silence that stretches between us is heavy.
