That’s when it happens.
A sharp pain against the side of my skull. It’s like … my head’s been shorn by a barber, but his buzzer is made of fire. My hand comes up to touch my hair, and there’s a lot of wet, hot crimson on my fingers.
I blink a few times before Vic knocks me to the ground and the woods flash by above me. I’m lying on my back, bleeding everywhere as he curses and parts my hair, the whites of his eyes bright in the headlights from the parked cars. Victor Channing is scared, I think absently, but then my eyes flick to the left and I see Callum in a black hoodie wrestling on the ground with a mountain of a man. No way that guy’s in high school.
Oh, and I bet he isn’t.
Hired thugs again? Ophelia must make a lot of money off those stolen, sex-trafficked little girls.
Callum rises to his feet, aims a weapon down at the man, and pulls the trigger. It’s a quick execution, far quicker than the man probably deserves. And then Cal turns, and his blue eyes flash silver in the moonlight.
He stiffens up, and then scrambles down the hill, appearing at our side in the span of a few blinks.
“She was shot,” Vic says, holding his hands on my head as he probes at the wound. I must be running on crazy amounts of adrenaline because I just slap at him as Cal joins him, a pair of wolves fawning over me like a cub.
“I’m just fine,” I murmur, but holy shitballs there’s a lot of blood. It’s hot on the side of my face, running down my neck, soaking my pretty pink dress. Looking down, I realize that my outfit has suddenly become a hell of a lot more appropriate. This is me. Bernadette Savannah Blackbird. Pretty in pink, but tainted by blood. “Let go of me.”
“It’s a head wound; there’s bound to be a lot of blood,” Callum murmurs as Oscar circles around us, revolver at the ready. Nobody else has noticed that I’ve been shot. Hael is still singing; the crowd is still bouncing. Seems like my shooter had a silencer on his rifle. “But she’s right: she’s okay. The bullet just grazed her.”
“Thanks to you,” Vic says gratefully, and Cal nods briefly, brushing his thumb across my lower lip. It’s meant to be an affectionate gesture, but he has red all over his hands, so I just taste the copper of my own lifeblood. “Let’s blow this joint.”
“Not happening,” Oscar says, and when I sit up to see what he’s looking at, my head spins and I get so dizzy that I almost retch. So much blood. So, so much of it. With a groan, I put my head between my knees as Vic sits back with another curse. Pretty sure he says something weird like fuck a succubus’ cunt, but I also might’ve imagined it. My head is spinning like crazy. “These guys are professionals. They aren’t Ophelia’s hired thugs—this is the GMP.”
“You’re kidding me?” Vic snarls as I lift my head up and open my eyes. Cal has dragged the man down the hill, using the shadows of the woods to keep the body hidden from the wandering eyes of partying students. He kicks the man over and then pushes his sleeve up, revealing a tattoo that looks like a graffiti tag.
“The GMP?” I murmur, swaying slightly as Vic removes his button-down, bundling it up and pressing it against my head wound. He takes my hand and places it over the shirt, encouraging me to hold it there.
“The Grand Murder Party,” Victor says with a long sigh. “It’s a fucked-up white supremacist gang from Portland.” He wraps his arm around my waist, lifting me off the ground. I sway a bit when he sets me down, but Vic doesn’t let go, so I have time to find my feet. “No goddamn clue why they’d care what happens between two baby gangs in Springfield of all places.”
“I told you this was a possibility,” Oscar says, his gun in one hand, phone in the other. He’s sending off texts like crazy. “They were supplying product for the Charter Crew, but that doesn’t explain their presence here.”
“Unless we’re starting to scare them,” Callum commented, his eyes scanning the trees. “Bet you we find another dozen of them lurking around. This feels like a planned hit.”
“Agreed.” Vic grabs onto my hand, squeezing too hard. “Oscar, get Hael. Cal, start searching the trees.” The boys nod and break away from us, but not before Oscar’s eyes meet mine and narrow slightly. If he were any other person, I might think he was worried about the blood gushing out of my head. “Come with me.”
Victor crouches low and I copy him, letting him drag me through the maze of cars. We weave between luxury vehicles, minivans, and clunkers, the stark socioeconomic difference between the vehicles noticeable, even in such a high-octane situation. Traditionally, on Snow Day, the Oak Valley Prep kids leave their keys in their cars. Prescott students can take them for a joyride provided they’re back by sunrise. If they’re not … well, Oak Valley brats don’t give a shit anyway. Mommy and Daddy will just buy them a new Lambo, right?
“Here.” Vic opens the door to a black Aston Martin. It’s a keyless start—of course it is—so he doesn’t bother handing the keys to me, but he does check the cup holder to make sure they’re inside the car. “Get in and drive back to town.”
I look at him like he’s just grown horns.
“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m not going anywhere until I figure out where Aaron is. You saw Kali tonight. She is done with the Charter Crew, done with Prescott. After tonight, we might never see her again.”
Vic growls at me. Like, literally bares his teeth and snarls.
“Bernadette, I’m not speaking to you like a lover. I’m telling you as your boss to get your tight, little ass in this car and drive.”
I glare back at him, my hands clenching into fists. The air is tense, but the mood is strange. Music is still booming, kids are still laughing, and there aren’t exactly gunshots peppering the night air, but the danger is still very, very real. I swipe some blood from my face and flick it at Vic, spattering him with red.
“What about fucking Kali?” I snap back. Mostly because of Aaron. Yes, I want to cunt-punt the thieving, little bitch, but mostly I need to find my man. That’s the driving force here. Only Aaron matters. Revenge, vengeance … that’s all secondary. My heart stutters as the realization finally comes to.
I … didn’t go to Havoc for revenge, did I? Not really.
It’s secondary. Secondary. Always secondary.
“You’re just begging for another spanking, aren’t you?” Vic asks, standing up. I follow suit, and then he grabs me by the arm, shoving me into the car and slamming the door, holding it closed when I try to open it. “Your head is okay?” he clarifies through the glass, and I swear to god, I almost decide to run him over with the goddamn Aston Martin that I’m bleeding all the fuck over. “You’re good to drive?”
“Fuck off, Victor Channing,” I murmur, starting the car and wondering how Hael would describe the purr of the engine. It’s nice, even to a car-noob like myself.
“Call me and leave the line open, just in case,” Vic tells me, tapping the roof and then stepping back as I roll the window down. A second later, the passenger side door opens and Hael slips in. “Make sure she gets back to the house safely.”
“A babysitter, how exciting,” I growl out, furious that I’m being sent away like a child.
“A partner,” Hael corrects, kicking one boot up on the dash. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive? I mean, considering you’ve had all of one lesson in your life.” I ignore him and put the vehicle in reverse before someone else pulls up behind me and blocks us in. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“Didn’t know you could sing,” I murmur, to keep my mind off the situation at hand. Kali is a world-class liar. I bet she doesn’t even know where Aaron is. My throat closes up as I lean back in the seat, turning the car around in the narrow road and heading back toward town.
It isn’t so hard to drive an automatic, now is it?
“Yeah, well,” Hael starts, shrugging his shoulders loosely, his eyes on my bloodied head. “Just a back-pocket talent I pull out every now and again.”
“Back-pocket talent?” I ask, trying not to think too hard about the fact that we’ve just left three of our
boys behind at the party. Or about nearly getting my brains blown out. Or … Aaron.
“Something you keep hidden until you have a use for it,” Hael explains, shrugging and wetting his lower lip. He’s still staring at me though. I see now that the boys and I have entered a new phase, breaking out of our tenuous love-hate sort of tension and into … whatever this is. All of them trying to take care of me. How exciting. “You sure you’re alright? And I don’t just mean physically.”
I narrow my eyes as the headlights cut through the darkness. Am I? Not really. But what else can I do? We’re in the middle of a situation here.
A flash of gold catches my attention in the trees, and I slam the brakes on.
“What the fuck?” Hael growls, but I’m already throwing open my door and taking off after the shimmer I just saw. Kali’s purse. What else would shine gold in the woods like that? Of course, more than likely it’s just a teenage couple, wandered too far from the party to fuck.
“Bernadette!” Hael shouts, catching up to me at the edge of the trees. His fingers wrap my bicep and yank me back.
“Hael, stop!” I shout at him, something breaking inside of me. I wrench my arm from his grip, and he lets me. If he hadn’t, I doubt I’d have gotten anywhere. There must be something in my voice though, some shard, as sharp as glass and ready to cut.
“Vic’s orders were pretty clear, babe,” he tells me, looking defeated but resigned. “Please get back in the car.”
“That was Kali’s purse,” I hiss at him, pointing my finger into the darkness of the woods. The way he looks at me, I wonder if I’m not starting to lose it. “She says she knows where Aaron is. She says she …” I can’t make my lips form the words, so I don’t bother. “If she’s here, I need to find her.”
“Bernie, don’t make me pick you up and carry you back to the car,” Hael warns me, but then his gaze sharpens and lifts up to look over my shoulder. When he grabs me and yanks me against his chest, turning and slamming his back into the trunk of a tree, I don’t resist. Clearly, he sees something I don’t.
The dirt in front of us explodes, like a shot’s been fired, but the sound is muffled and strange. A silencer, with subsonic ammo. That’s what makes it real quiet, according to the guys. I’m learning all sorts of fun things, being a part of Havoc.
“Motherfucker,” Hael grumbles, scooting me to the side so he can bend down and retrieve his own gun from his ankle holster. “Bernie, Vic is going to turn your ass red for this.”
Hael stands up and waits, counting breaths before turning around the side of the tree trunk and taking a single shot. It’s loud, like a car backfiring, but I don’t bother plugging my ears. Instead, I join Hael, putting my shoulder up against his as he takes another shot. There’s a man on the ground about three yards away. It’s hard to make out much detail in the dark, but one of his boots is caught in the headlights of the Aston Martin.
Pulling out his phone, Hael turns the flashlight on and walks over to the man, kicking at him with his own boot.
The guy doesn’t move.
“Jesus Christ,” he grumbles as my phone vibrates, and I realize I’ve forgotten to call Vic.
Yep, most definitely getting my ass beat for this later.
“Do you have an allergy to following orders?” he snaps at me when I answer, but then I hear a rustling in the darkness that has my heart thumping like crazy. “Where are you?” I hand the phone to Hael and he takes it with a grim expression on his face.
“We’re in the woods,” he says, and that’s when I see my chance. The Havoc Boys are so fucking good at what they do, it can be annoying sometimes. I take off into the trees with the pistol in my hands as Hael shouts at me, cursing as he follows along behind me. He’s fast too, probably faster than I am, but then I’m ducking low and scrambling under a hole in the chain-link fence, the one that denotes the logging company’s property line. “Bernadette!” Hael snarls at me, starting to climb the fence.
The flashlight of his phone bobs around, illuminating the darkness, but I don’t need it.
Instead, I find myself in a dark playground filled with old, wooden play equipment. It looks nothing at all like a modern playground. In fact, if I didn’t know that was what it was supposed to be, I may have never even guessed.
I might be barking up the wrong tree here. Maybe Kali isn’t in the woods at all, and the gold flash I saw had something to do with the guy Hael just killed. Or even if I did see her, maybe she’s on the other side of the fence still. Regardless, I keep going, creeping underneath a massive slide held up by four rustic posts. Well, really, they’re pretty much just tree trunks, cut and stuck here for long-ago children to play on.
“Kali,” I call out as I hear Hael cursing behind me. If he catches me, I’m in trouble. He’ll throw me over his shoulder as promised, and I’ll end up in the passenger seat of the borrowed Aston Martin. “I know you’re out here.”
I creep forward, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. There’s a sound not too far off, and I decide to follow it, jogging lightly across the packed dirt area toward a short fence made of river rocks and mortar. There’s a break in the solid stone structure, likely where a gate once stood, that I use to slip past. On the other side is a pioneer cemetery. Pretty fucking creepy, to put a playground right next to a graveyard.
Just seeing the old headstones triggers me a bit, and my pulse begins to race against my will, remembering the Thing, chasing me while I stumbled around Penelope’s final resting place in handcuffs.
Still, it would be poetic justice if I got Kali here, wouldn’t it?
“Bernadette!” Hael shouts, using his phone’s flashlight to illuminate the darkness. It only lasts a second and then it’s gone. My heart races, knowing that he won’t leave me out here. Not a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening.
Almost immediately, an arm wraps around my neck and Hael’s hot hand flattens across my lips, keeping my gasp of surprise from escaping.
“Not a word,” he growls, dragging me backward and underneath the rickety platform that holds the metal slide. It’s much higher than a modern-day slide; just the sight of it would give most parents the chills nowadays. “We’re being hunted,” he huffs, and then, after a moment, “and you’re an asshole.”
And it’s true.
I am.
“Bernadette.” I hear my name being called from the shadows of the trees and my blood runs cold. It’s fucking Kali. She must know that there’s no hope for her, not anymore. She must know that she’s going to die.
My hands tighten into fists as Hael releases his hold on my mouth. He doesn’t, however, release the arm around my neck. With good reason, too. He must feel the way I’m trembling, must sense the violence in my veins. It percolates through me, a feud in need of an abrupt ending, a destiny begging to be shrouded in blood.
Kali Rose has lost. It’s over. I just need to go in for the killing blow; I just need to finish it.
“Bernie,” she coos again, but Hael keeps me close against him. I can hear his heart thundering like crazy behind me, but as we wait there in the dark and the cold, the distant edge of metal music making its way to us, he slows his breathing until it seems like he’s holding it. But no, Hael’s just a predator lying in wait. “I gotta say, I can understand why you forgave Aaron.” A pause. She sounds a bit louder now, like she’s moving closer. “Why you took him back. That cock is legendary.” Her laugh echoes through the trees, and I decide then that she’s much worse than I even imagined.
A liar, a cheater, a thief, yes. But a sociopath? That’s a new one. Good work, Kali, you managed to surprise even me, and I’m not so easily surprised. The one female rapist in the entire county and I managed to get on her bad side.
I grit my teeth so hard that my jaw aches.
“Keep it together, Blackbird,” Hael murmurs against my ear, stoking the fire burning in my belly. The beast inside of me writhes, mixed up in a dark space between love and hate. I love Hael. I hate Kali. The intensity level
s are hard to separate. I feel both violent and horny at the same time.
“He didn’t seem to mind it either, me riding him into oblivion,” she muses, and a branch snaps nearby.
Hael shoves me forward so hard that I stumble, my knees hitting the dirt. And then he’s on this guy who’s dressed in all black and wearing a mask like covid-19 is making a comeback. I manage to get my feet just as I see Kali emerge from the edge of the trees.
Our eyes meet, and we both know that it’s time.
There’s no hesitation as she raises a gun with both hands and fires at me. She’s a crappy shot though, so the bullet lodges itself into the old wood of the playground structure instead. Kali fires off a second round as I take off, using the play equipment for cover. I go for Hael first because, like I said, I’ve finally realized what’s truly important, and it isn’t vengeance. It’s motherfucking family.
But then Kali aims at Hael instead, and my vision goes red.
I fire my own weapon at her, emptying the magazine as she ducks back into the trees and I follow after. I know that I probably shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself. We need to find Aaron. This might be my one and only chance to see what Kali really knows.
Bare feet pounding across the dirt, I take off in that stupid pink dress, running full tilt into the trees. Kali is expecting me. She appears from behind a wide trunk, gun in hand, but I’m moving too fast and she just isn’t good enough with that gun to get me before I slam into her.
We tumble into the bushes together, my pink flouncy skirts catching on blackberry thorns and tearing as we hit the ground hard. Kali lets out a grunt, her clawed hands scrabbling at me as I struggle to get my gun pressed to her skull. It’s empty, but she doesn’t know that.
“Where the fuck is Aaron?” I growl, and she laughs at me, actually laughs at me when I have a gun to her head.
“Like I’d tell you shit. You’re going to kill me either way.” Kali reaches up and curls her hand around the gun, forcing my finger to pull the trigger. The empty click makes her laugh, but I just pull back and pistol-whip her for the second time that night. She takes the opportunity to pull a knife on me, shoving the blade into my side before I can react. “You think you’re such a good person, Bernadette. It’s sad. You’re just as ugly and broken as the rest of us.”
Anarchy at Prescott High Page 6