by Mae Doyle
If croissants, scrambled eggs, and fruit can help me get through the day, then I’m going to eat them.
By the time I finish and change, there’s already been a rap on the door. “I’m coming!” I call out, hurrying to pull on my sneakers. I know that I should probably wear the clothes that Aunt Serafina bought me, but now that I have my regular clothes back, there’s no way that I want to give them up.
Swinging open the door, I have a grin on my face. Sure, life sucks right now, and my arm is going to be a painful reminder of last night for a few days, but I have my devils, and they have my back. Parker promised he’d come back to walk me to homeroom, and as soon as we’re there, I’m going to get to see all of my devils.
Everything is perfect.
Except it’s not Parker who’s knocking on my door.
Chapter 14
“Abigail?” I frown at the girl standing in the hall. I think that’s her name. She and I have algebra together, but I’ve always been so caught up in trying not to fail the class that I haven’t gone out of my way to try to make friends.
Well, that and the fact that most of the students at Meyer’s Grove aren’t interested in being my friend.
“Can I come in?” She glances nervously down the hall, like she thinks that someone’s going to come looking for her. I hesitate for a moment, but there’s something about the way she’s hunched over a bit that makes me think that maybe I should hear her out.
“Make it fast,” I tell her, swinging the door open so that she can walk through. “I don’t have a lot of time before I have to get to homeroom.”
It’s a little silly to tell her that, since she’s in the same boat as I am, but she just flashes me a smile and scoots past me into my room. It’s not until I’ve shut and locked the door that she finally looks like she relaxes a little.
“Okay, thanks for letting me in. I know that you’re probably a little wary of letting random students into your room, but I promise you, I’m not here to do anything to you, okay?” She has short black hair cut into a pixie cut and cat’s eye glasses that are outlined with sparkling stones.
Probably diamonds, especially if the jewels around her neck and on her wrist are real, which I’d bet that they are. Everything is real at Meyer’s Grove, except for people being friendly, which is why I’m a little wary.
“What are you doing here?” I don’t sound very friendly, but then again, I’m not feeling particularly nice. Only a few people have shown me real kindness since I came to Meyer’s Grove, and I hate to say it, but Abigail hasn’t been one of them.
“You can’t go to class today.” The words rush out of her in a single breath, like she’s been holding them in for too long and she was afraid of what would happen if she tried to talk slowly.
I raise an eyebrow. “Why not?” Even though I try to look cool and collected, there’s a part of me that’s starting to scream. I just want to be normal! I just want everything to go back to the way it was! I don’t want to have to deal with all of this, but I don’t see an end in sight.
“Because they have something planned for you.”
I scoff at her and turn to pick up my backpack, but what she says next freezes me in place.
“The same people who put rats in your room last night. They’re not going to stop, Kiera, and if you want to survive, you can’t go to class. I…”
A loud knock interrupts her and we both gasp, spinning to the door at the same time. It has to be Parker coming back to get me, but I’m still a little nervous when I open the door.
He pushes through it, smiling at me, but the smile fades off of his face as soon as he sees Abigail standing behind me.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Parker steps in front of me, positioning himself between the two of us, and I grab his arm to pull him out of the way.
“Parker! She came here to warn me about the day. She said that if I go to class that I’m going to get hurt. She knows about the rats, Parker.” I know that I sound desperate, but I don’t want him to come in here and be mean to her. She’s the first person to give me any information or help outside of the devils and Sophia, and I don’t want to push her away.
“Yeah, she knows about the rats probably because she helped put them in here, don’t you think? Is that it, Abigail? You felt so bad about the rats that you decided to come and tell Kiera to watch out? How much trouble are you going to get into when your little friends find out the truth?” He’s pissed, angrier than I’ve seen him before, and his face is turning red.
Abigail’s jaw drops open and she looks from him to me, her eyes begging me for help. I want to intervene, I really do, but now I’m not sure who to believe.
Is it possible that she’s working against me and this is all just a trick? My knees suddenly feel weak and I sit down in the chair by my desk, keeping my eyes on the two of them.
Abigail exhales, a huge breath that seems to wear her out and tears her eyes from Parker to look at me. She looks so sad and apologetic that I don’t want to hear what she has to say.
“I’m sorry,” she says, and her voice is barely a whisper. “I knew about last night and I think that I probably could have stopped them, but I didn’t and now here we are. It’s just that people are scared with you here. They want you gone so that Eric can come back. His parents are demanding his spot back, and everyone’s at risk.”
She turns to Parker, taking a step towards him, but he immediately steps back away from her. “You have to believe me. I never wanted to hurt Kiera, most of us didn’t, but we don’t have a choice.”
“Who?” His voice is deep and dark and it makes me shiver. “Who the hell thinks that attacking Kiera is a good idea? Who put the rats in her room? And what’s going to happen to her if she goes to class?”
Abigail bites her lower lip and I stand up to take her hand. “Please,” I say, giving her hand a squeeze. “Please tell us who it was and what’s supposed to happen today. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to be scared.”
She takes a shuddering breath and looks up at me before giving me a little nod. “It was Lila and Clementine last night. I don’t know how they got the rats, but everyone knew.”
My stomach drops. It feels like I’m on a roller coaster that’s suddenly plummeted back to earth. I swear, the room feels colder than it did a moment ago, and it’s almost impossible for me to catch my breath.
They’re my friends, or I thought that they were. Along with Sophia, they were the only two here at Meyer’s Grove who cared for me when I first came. And now, to think that they would turn against me?
I can’t.
I can’t even think right now.
Luckily, Parker is still here. “What are they planning today?” He’s already accepted the fact that my old friends are two of the people leading a crusade against me. I can’t wrap my mind around it, but I’m so glad that he can.
I need him right now.
Abigail shakes her head, and I gasp when Parker grabs her arm and pulls her so that she’s facing him. “What are they planning for today? You said that Kiera shouldn’t go to class because they were going to hurt her, and I need to know exactly what they’re going to do.”
At that moment, the bell tones, letting us know that we’re about to be late for homeroom. Abigail pulls back on her arm, trying to rip it out of Parker’s grasp, but he just squeezes her tighter.
“Please, they’ll know that I came here to talk to her! You have to let me go. If I’m late then I know that they’re going to do something terrible to me. Please!” Her voice gets louder and more hysterical, but Parker doesn’t let her go.
He’s acting like he has all the time in the world, like there’s nothing he needs to do right now, almost like he’s bored.
“Abigail. You’ve come here talking about a threat to the girl I love and I’m not letting you walk out of here until you tell me everything that you know, do you understand?” His voice is full of gravel and I tear my eyes away from her face to look at him.
What did he just say?
The girl that he loves?
Abigail is talking, and I know that I should pay attention to what she’s saying, but I can’t stop looking at Parker. His jaw is clenched so tightly that I can see a muscle twitch in it, and his eyes are so dark that they look black with rage.
He loves me?
Suddenly he scoffs and releases Abigail’s arm, pushing her away from him. “If all of that’s true then I have some shit to handle. You need to get out of here and I don’t ever want to see you again, do you understand?”
Abigail whimpers and nods before she throws me a glance and practically runs for the door. Parker and I stand in the silence after she slams it and stare at each other.
“Do you want to stay here or go with me?” For the first time since he saw Abigail in my room, there’s compassion in his face.
There’s only one thing that I want right now, and that’s to never be separated from him or my other devils ever again.
“I’m coming with you. You can’t leave me here, okay?”
Parker nods and gestures to the door. At the last second, I grab my backpack, even though I don’t really think that I’ll be doing much learning today. Hell, the idea of even going to classes seems ridiculous right now, especially if there’s a group of angry students out to get me and the safest action for me is to apparently stay in my room.
But after my parents were killed, I learned one thing.
You can’t hide from evil people. They’re going to find you, no matter what you do.
So you might as well try to beat evil people at their own game.
Chapter 15
The other three devils are in the quad when we stalk across the grass. Parker’s holding my hand, but he’s walking so fast that I practically have to run to keep up with him. It looks like the rest of the students have already disappeared for class, but I’m not surprised that Asher, Caspian, and Luca are waiting on us.
“Everything okay?” Luca sees the look on our faces and walks up to us, grabbing me by the other hand and turning me so that he can look at my face. “What’s going on, Kiera? Are you hurt?” His eyes slide over my body and I shake my head.
“No,” I manage, but Parker cuts me off. I’m glad, because the last thing that I want to try to do right now is explain to them what just happened with Abigail.
I’m still not sure if we should trust her, but Parker believes her, and I trust him, so I’m going to do as he tells me. There’s no way that I’m going to ignore the possibility of being in danger, especially if he thinks that it’s true.
“Abigail came to visit Kiera while I was getting changed and warned her to stay in her room today because some of the students here are planning something to hurt her.” Parker turns to glance at me and I feel Luca squeeze my hand.
“What are they planning?” Asher’s always pragmatic, and he immediately tries to take control of the situation. “If we know what it is, then we can easily stop it. Did she say? What are we supposed to look out for?”
I shake my head. “She didn’t say. She just made it sound like I’m going to be in danger if I’m out walking around between classes. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“Nothing’s going to happen,” Caspian says. His hands are clenched tightly at this sides and his face is angry. It’s dark and his mouth is a flat line. “There’s nothing that they can do to you, not with the four of us around you, okay?”
I relax a little. Caspian’s right. If I have my four devils with me all day long then there’s really nothing that the other students can do to me, no matter what they want to try. They certainly can’t kill me, not with my devils looking out for me, and I’m going to make it really hard for them to separate me from them.
Safety in numbers, right?
Who would have thought that I would seek safety with the devils?
“Are you sure?” Luca sounds worried and he’s got his fingers squeezing mine so tightly that I think I’m going to lose circulation in my hand, but there’s no way that I’m going to pull away from him. “Are you really sure that we can keep people from attacking her? If they want to take her down, we all know that they’ll do everything in their power to do it.”
His words fall on us like a heavy blanket, and I’m the first to speak again. “We don’t have a choice,” I say, trying to sound braver than I really feel. “If I’m going to make it through my time here and be allowed to stay at Meyer’s Grove then we have to play their game.”
“We’ll keep you safe.” Parker turns to me and pulls me to his chest. The rest of the devils wrap around me, their hard bodies pressing in on me.
I feel a surge run through me and I have to push it down. Now is not the time to want them, even though I can feel their muscles twisting as they lean around me and hold me close.
I want them, though. I want to be with all of them. I want them all around me, loving me and supporting me. I still haven’t processed what Parker said about me.
That he loves me.
It’s too good to be true, and it’s something that I know I’m going to hang onto, especially right now. Especially when it feels like everything’s falling apart.
“Let’s go.” I have to wiggle a little to get my devils to let me go, and I’m sad when I finally squeeze out from their hug. It’s safe and warm and the only place that I want to be right now, but I have other things to take care of.
Like passing my classes.
“Just stay alert.” Asher leads the way, his head on a swivel as he looks around for anything that may be dangerous. “And make sure that if you see something that looks out of place that you let us all know so that we can avoid it, okay?”
We all agree and we start off to homeroom together. We’re dreadfully late now, but that doesn’t matter to any of us. We have a plan, and we know what we’re going to do to make sure that we all stay safe.
I haven’t forgotten the thought that the devils could get hurt in all of this, but I have managed to push it out of my mind as best as possible. I don’t want to imagine that anything bad could happen to them, but it’s a possibility, especially if the other students here get tired of waiting for an opportunity to get me on my own.
That’s why the five of us are going to stick together. It’s the only way that we can all make sure that we’re going to walk out of this in one piece.
***
After getting in trouble for being late to homeroom, our group is a little more subdued. We’re on our way to our first class when I stop and turn to them in the hall.
“I have to pee. Look, the bathroom is right there,” I say, pointing behind them at the door, “and I don’t think that there’s anyone in there right now, so I’m going to be okay. I just have to pop in, pee, and I’ll be right back.”
Before I’m even finished, they’re all shaking their heads.
“Not a chance, darling,” Luca says, his slow way of drawing out the A in darling making me wet. “We can’t keep eyes on you if you’re in there, and that’s the name of the game today. There’s no way that we’re going to let you out of our sight, or did you happen to forget that little fact?”
“I didn’t forget. I just don’t think that the four of you need to follow me in to pee. Honestly, it’s the bathroom. There’s nothing bad that can happen in there.” I can’t believe this. I love them all, and I’m so glad that they all care for me and want to keep me safe, but this is a little bit ridiculous and I’m not going to stand for it. I have to pee.
That’s that.
I can tell that Parker’s going to say something. He’s opening his mouth, but I turn away in a huff. I know that they want to keep me safe and protect me, but I have to pee.
But as soon as the bathroom door shuts behind me, I wonder if I’ve made a mistake.
“Hello?” My voice rings back at me and I shiver. “Is anyone in here?”
What, like they’re going to answer me if they are? I don’t know why I’d think that anyone would call out t
o me, but it at least makes me feel a little better that I tried to look for people and didn’t find anyone.
All of the stall doors are open except for the one in the middle, and while I want to bend over and look under the door for feet, I manage to fight the urge. That’s insane.
There isn’t anyone here.
Quickly, I slip inside the first stall and lock the door behind me, my heart beating wildly. All I have to do is pee, wash my hands, and get out of here. Even if there is someone in there with me, which I don’t think that there is, there’s no way that they can do anything to me in that short amount of time, right?
Right.
I pee quickly and pull my pants up in a hurry. The bathroom is completely silent except for me yanking on my clothes, but the silence seems to push in on me, making me nervous.
It hurts my ears.
It feels like something is going to burst out screaming at any moment.
I slam the stall door open and don’t even have time to scream at what I see in front of me before the person rushes me, pushing me back into the stall, their hand over my mouth.
When I thrash, I only end up hitting the stall walls. My knuckle sting and I try to focus on hitting the girl pinning my arms to my side. She’s shoved something in my mouth and I can’t spit it out.
I’m screaming as loudly as I can, but the sound is so muffled that it sounds like a quiet moan.
“Shut the fuck up and stop screaming, Kiera, or this is really going to hurt.” The girl has her mouth right by my ear and my skin crawls when she threatens me.
Taking a deep breath, I force myself to try to calm down and look at her. I recognize her from one of my classes – English, maybe? – but I’ve never talked to her.
“Who are you?” I ask. It comes out ooh aaa ooo, and she just shakes her head.
“You don’t even know my name?” I think that she sounds a little disappointed, but there’s a bright flash of anger in her eyes. “I’m Eric’s girlfriend, you dumbfuck. You know, the guy you got kicked out of Meyer’s Grove so that you could come here and make your aunt and uncle proud? Yeah, him. And I’m going to get him back.”