I lock the door behind him, and sit on the lone red velvet couch in the corner of the room. Besides a lamp, and a bookcasethat has only nonfiction books on the shelf there's nothing else in here.
I feel like they could have planned this safe room out a little bit better. There's no entertainment and my phone won't work down here. I definitely don’t want to read a nonfiction book.
After an hour passes worry sets in, and I begin pacing around the small area. Being enclosed in a soundproof room with only my sounds to greet me is making me go bananas.
For him to be gone so long, whatever this is has to be bad. What if they're hurt and that's why they haven't come to get me yet? I need answers sooner rather than later.
I've spied on my stepbrothers before, and never gotten caught. As long as I take the east entrance to the courtyard there shouldn't be a problem. There's plenty of places to hide within the bushes on that side. My plan will only work if they’re still outside though.
My decision made, I unlock the door and quickly ascend the basement stairs. I’m definitely not a fan of the atmosphere down here, without Kai being with me, it's creepier than hell.
I hold my head high as I walk through the hallway, I don’t have to fake any confidence because the place is deserted. I shouldn’t receive any resistance when I head outside.
Which means they've put the place on lockdown. Alarm bells send my mind into a frenzy of doubt and intrigue. Something truly awful has happened. Will Sierra Rose be okay?
When I open the double doors that lead to my destination, the smell of blood and decay punches me right in the nose. It's strong enough to almost knock me on my ass.
Oh God.Lights from multiple police cars shine brightly through the trees as I wander into the abyss of the maze.
Voices weave their way toward me the closer I get to the crime scene. The police tape circles a large area in the middle of theclearing, lying within that perimeter all in a row are three dead bodies.
There's a reverence in how they were positioned. They are posed with their hands as if clasped together in prayer. Their vacant stares are turned toward me.
All three are women.
All three are dead.
All three are missing their hearts.
I don't know the first two, but the body closest to me is the Queen of Wonderland, Sierra Rose. I gasp when I notice the hollow crevice where her heart should be.
Her mangled breast hangs to the side, and almost makes me gasp. This was a brutal killing.
She's wearing a crown made of dead roses on the top of her head while her usual braided hair is undone. The raven curls cascade as if staged all around her and her white dress is stained with her blood.
My stepbrothers stand to the side talking with Dr. Jekyll who is pissed about what's happened.
What's most alarming is that seeing their bodies like this doesn't make me sick. I feel nothing, only numbness. Not for the first time do I realize something is very wrong with me, but this time I can't blame it on my mother.
NINE
Did You Put Something In My drink?
I've never seen Kai so angry, it was like he was an entirely different person.
-Presley
It's beentwo days since the courtyard deaths. My stepbrothers have been busy working with police for answers, and I haven’t had much of a chance to speak with them in person.
They’re on edge, and I have promised them that I won’t go anywhere by myself until after the powers that be catch the killer. I have to check in every couple of hours, and send proof of life pictures.
I've complied to every demand so far except giving them my class schedule. I've ignored every request for it, and I will continue to do so. Classes start on Monday, and while I know I need to be more careful, I won’t give up my freedom.
This is the first time I've disobeyed a direct order from daddydearest. Kai and I fight all the time, but I don't with Gunner. I always do what he says and he treats me like a princess.
He's not happy with my defiance, neither of them are, but I'm so tired of bending over backwards to accommodate what they want for my life. That stops now. It's time that I live.
My best friend Aurora Jane curls the last piece of my hair. "Girl, you look hot."
