Sever (Slayer Society #1)

by Jesse Grey

  Sleep didn’t happen for them easily. They kept replaying the night over and over. After finding the bloody stake outside of the RV, they were horrified. It reminded them eerily of the night that Sumner attacked them at the cemetery. Working through their panic, they took the stake and burned it, just like first time.

  So many questions kept them tossing and turning through their respective sleepless night. Was Sumner really the one outside the RV? Whose freshly coated blood was on the wooden stake? And if it wasn’t Sumner, then who was it, and did they know about what they had done that night?

  The next morning at school, they all decided to meet back up in their little nook in between the cafeteria and the science building from the whole table incident. They all stared at each other for a little while, backpacks slung over their shoulders.

  “How’d everyone sleep?” Abram scoffed.

  “Are you kidding?” Bridge said sleepily. “I’ve slept more during sex.”

  “Maybe you’re just a lousy lay.” Mercer chuckled.

  “Like you would know, Virgin Mary.” When Bridge saw Mercer’s hurt facade, he sighed. “Sorry. I’m a bitch when I’m tired.”

  “We remember.” Alex smirked.

  “How do you know I didn’t get laid when I was in Louisiana this summer?” Mercer said, placing his hands on his hips in frustration.

  Bridge gave him a stern look. “Did you get laid in Louisiana this summer?”

  After a couple seconds, Mercer looked defeated. “No.”

  “Look at that, case closed.” Bridge rolled his eyes.

  “Okay, you definitely need this more than I do.” Alex handed Bridge his cup of sugar overdosed espresso, the latter of which took it with glee.

  “Bless you.” Bridge said eagerly, taking a grateful sip.

  “We need to do something about Sumner,” Alex finally said, bringing them back to the issue at hand as he pulled his jacket closer to his body on the cold brisk morning. “He could have killed someone last night. That blood had to come from somewhere.”

  “I’m not convinced that this was Sumner. None of this fits him,” Mercer solidified. “The body slams in the side of the RV and not showing his face after? He’d want his ownership of scaring the shit out of us, especially after all this time.”

  “All the more reason for him to keep his distance.” Alex rebutted.

  “Who else could it be?” Bridge wondered aloud.

  “I think someone saw us that night.” Mercer began. “In the woods.”

  “That's impossible. No one saw us. This is Sumner.” Abram defended.

  “But what if someone did? There's always a chance, Abe. Do you think, without any doubt, that Sumner would be stupid enough to try and attack us again? Just to freak us out or keep us paranoid after being gone for so long?”

  Abram hesitated, clearly already second guessing himself. “Okay, I guess it might not be Sumner, but I just don't know who would possibly want to mess with us like this.”

  “I'm telling you, someone saw us.” Mercer reiterated.

  “Well until we find out it's Sumner or some mystery maniac, we need to forget about it.” Abram demanded.

  “I still think we need to go to Arclan,” Bridge said, finishing his newly awarded coffee. “If Sumner did come to the RV last night, at least we could try and confront him about it.”

  “If he doesn't kill us first.” Alex sighed.

  “So I'll talk to Kirby today about the plan.”

  “Whoa, what?”

  Mercer scoffed at Alex. “How do you expect for me to get her mom’s badge?”

  “Mercer, if you wanna date Kirby, great, try mini golf. But I don't think we should bring her into all this.” Bridge stated.

  “I’m not saying we tell her anything specific, just that we might know where Sumner is and that we need her help to get into Arclan.”

  Abram and Alex were both about to argue, but Bridge put his hand up, putting aside his differences and stepping up to Mercer.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked him.

  “I don’t think we have a choice.” Mercer nodded.

  “So when are we doing this?”

  Alex shot Abram a look, both of them realizing that they couldn’t actually get into Arclan without some kind of help. Mercer was right. Kirby was their best shot at getting into Arclan.

  “Saturday.” Abram breathed easily.

  “But whether we find Sumner or not, we have to stop sneaking out before our parents catch on to us.” Alex continued.

  “Alright,” Mercer nodded, agreeing to the terms. “Saturday will be the last night.”

  “We should get to class.” Bridge said. “Let us know what Kirby says.”

  “Will do.” Mercer smiled. “Thanks guys, I’ll see you in calc.”

  They all went to go their separate ways when Ben came up to them.

  “Ben, I’m fine.” Abram scoffed. “No checkup needed.” He lightly punched Ben on the shoulder.

  “Your parents wanted me to see if you were still talking to your friends.” Ben glanced at the rest of them. “I see that their worry is justified.”

  “Are you seriously spying on us for our parents?” Alex accused pointedly.

  “Ben, can I talk to you for a minute?” Bridge said sternly.

  “Why do you need to talk to Ben?” Abram contemplated.

  “Because we’ve been having sex.”

  Ben’s eyes flew open with wide terror as Bridge’s friends looked completely floored.

  “Uh, yeah, see you in calc, B.”

  “Definitely.”

  “Bye, Ben.”

  The three of them left for their classes as Ben swatted Bridge as soon as they were out of earshot. “The hell is wrong with you?”

  “Why are you spying on us, Ben? Why would you agree to do something like that?”

  “Mr. and Mrs. St. James were just worried that you guys might be sneaking out behind their backs.”

  “Don’t follow us around.”

  “So it’s true.” Ben scoffed angrily. “All of you guys are breaking curfew. I mean, aside from your little trip to Core.”

  Referencing their exploit was acid liquefying his skin, the metaphoric sizzling of his flesh the final straw in upholding his conversational decorum. “It’s none of your business! You don’t have anything to do with what we have going on. Stay out of it.”

  “I’m worried about you, Bridge.” Ben said, inching closer to him, but Bridge trembled in disgust and backed away.

  “Your fiancé could be anywhere.”

  “Bridge, please.”

  “Ben, you’re getting married to Paige. Stop trying to act like we can be something when you’re planning to marry the woman whose house I’m staying in.” Bridge sighed, pausing to see the hurt expression Ben wore, but he knew that he had to do this. “I’ve had a good time with you. A really good time, but it’s over. I hope you and Paige have a beautiful life together.”

  Ben grabbed his arm when Bridge went to leave. “I’ll break up with her.”

  Bridge choked on his tongue. “What?”

  “I’ll break it off with Paige.” Ben nodded. “I’ll call off the wedding. Paige...Paige is a great person. But what I feel when we’re together...Paige and I haven’t...not since I met you.”

  “Ben,” Bridge felt so conflicted. Doing this to Paige didn’t feel right. He didn’t want to do that to her, but he had wanted to hear Ben say things like this to him ever since they had met. “No.” he said, finally swallowing his urges. “Go back to her. It’s the right thing to do.”

  “What if the right thing isn’t what I want?”

  “Enough is enough. I’m not having this conversation again. No more talking.”

  Bridge left Ben once more, hoping that it would be the last time he’d have to do so.

  Walking into Westbrooke High that morning, Kirby was really trying to stay true to the promise she gave her mom to make more friends, besides Mercer. Which was so frustrating, because sh
e liked Mercer. She might have even really liked Mercer, but she had promised her mom that she’d stay away from the throngs of the Sumner Shadows case. Not that she had been doing such a great job at it so far with Mercer giving her a ride to school earlier in the week.

  She’d put her mother through so much over the past year and the last thing she wanted to do was upset her by staying close to Mercer and his friends. No matter how badly she wished she could.

  Kirby made her way to her locker, quickly rummaging around for her history textbook, wondering how hard it would be today to ignore the cute way Mercer licked his lips when he was taking notes in class.

  “Kirby.”

  She whipped around to see two familiar faces, though she wasn’t quite sure what the girls’ names were.

  “Hi.” She grabbed her textbook and closed her locker, giving her full attention to them. “Do I know you two?”

  “Sort of.” The taller girl smiled. “I’m Faith Llewellyn.”

  “And I’m Willa St. James.”

  Kirby nodded, awareness soothing out her unfamiliarity like a wave of rain. “You’re Alex and Abram’s sisters.”

  Faith smiled. “Yes.”

  “We know that your mom is participating in the lockdown and curfew.” Willa explained.

  “Right. And we know you’re not supposed to get close to anyone involved in the investigation, but Willa and I have been talking it over and we don’t agree that we should be punished for all of this.”

  Kirby shifted in place. “I’m not sure I’m getting what you’re trying to tell me.” she laughed nervously.

  “We’re saying that the three of us should get to know each other.” Willa finished.

  “Plus, we’re pretty sure the guys are still hanging out behind our parents’ backs.”

  “Why do you say that?” Kirby questioned.

  “My car was gone last night,” Willa sighed. “And if I can wake up from a dead sleep and notice, it won’t be long until my parents can too.”

  “Anyway,” Faith concluded. “We don’t think we should be suffering the consequences for pseudoknowing a psycho.”

  “You guys wants to be friends?” Kirby laughed lightly, regarding them with wide inquiring eyes.

  “We know it’s your senior year and you’re new to Armor Falls. Which must suck, by the way.” Faith said, scrunching up her nose in disdain.

  “I have Abe and Faith has Alex, but I can’t imagine being thrown into this mess without having someone to go through it with.” Willa commented.

  “Also, we really need a photographer for Yearbook, if you’re interested.” Faith said hopefully.

  Kirby couldn’t help but laugh. “And how did you know I even like photography?”

  Faith and Willa eyed each other hesitantly. “Well,” Willa cleared her throat. “We just figured…with the polaroid.”

  Kirby looked to the floor uneasily for a second. Neither of them needed to explain what exactly the polaroid consisted of.

  “Not too often someone uses a Polaroid camera anymore.” Faith furthered. “The earrings are a pretty good indicator too.”

  She laughed again, lightly tapping at one of her Polaroid earrings with her freshly painted cobalt nails. “I see. And I would love to help out and actually have people to talk to, but I don’t think I can. My mom—”

  “Kirby,” Faith pushed. “Our parents didn’t think this through. If anything, your mom was pressured into the lockdown by my mom.” She stopped her speech to sigh. “We need to talk to each other to keep from going crazy.”

  “And we really need a good photographer for Yearbook.” Willa smiled wide.

  With newfound delight, Kirby guffawed, giving them a bright grin. “Alright. I’ll join Yearbook.” Faith and Willa slickly highfived each other. “But I can’t do what the guys are doing, the sneaking behind our parents. I’ve put my mom through too much to do that to her.”

  Faith shook her head. “We’re allowed to talk to each other if we join an extracurricular, remember?”

  “That’s why joining Yearbook is genius,” Willa gestured to Faith. “She’s seriously this generation’s Stephen Hawking.”

  “Please,” Faith chuckled. “Maybe this generation’s Judit Polgar.”

  Both Kirby and Willa donned perplexed looks. “Um, who?” the latter quipped.

  “Never mind.” Faith shrugged, a giggle curtseying from her lips. “So, Kirby, now that you’ve agreed to all of us getting to know each other, enlighten us. Who taught you to dress?”

  “Seriously, that blue blazer has me living.”

  Kirby laughed as the three of them started to walk down the hall when Abram, Alex and Mercer came in through the side door at the end of the hallway. The boys spotted them, eagerly ambling up to them as the threesome stopped for their looming march.

  “Told you they were still close.” Willa whispered, just out of earshot of the guys.

  “Well this is interesting,” Abram smirked. “I guess the lockdown can’t stop you guys.”

  “Just following your lead.” Willa gave her brother a sarcastic smile.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You took my car last night.”

  The three girls watched as the guys wore worried facades, just as Bridge burst in through the side door, making his way over to the now large group in the hallway.

  “What did I miss?” Bridge scoffed.

  “Apparently, my little sister here has her car lowjacked.” Abram sighed.

  “Please,” Willa dismissed her brother’s claim. “I woke up in the middle of the night and passed by my window to see my car was missing from the driveway.”

  “You guys snuck out,” Faith stated, eyeing Alex eagerly. “It’s cool.”

  “Just to talk about everything without worrying about our parents and Dagger.” Mercer stepped forward.

  Luckily for the guys, the bell rang, signifying the start of first period.

  “Saved by the bell, boys.” Willa smiled, hooking arms with Faith. Mercer stepped away from his friends and up to Kirby before she could leave with her newly formed sisterhood.

  “We need to talk.”

  Though slightly confused, Kirby agreed and nodded at Faith and Willa as they went to their classes. Mercer waved goodbye to his friends, planning on heading to class with Kirby when Principal Cobbins approached them.

  “Wait,” She bellowed to his friends as she stopped before Mercer and Kirby, waving the rest of them over. “You can head to class, Ms. Wheaton. Mr. Meadows will join you shortly.”

  Kirby gave Mercer a quick nod, leaving for their history class as his friends joined him, standing beside Mercer as the principal leaned toward them.

  “I just got a call from Detective Dagger,” she began. “He wants to see the four of you again. He’s calling your parents as we speak, whom I’m sure you’ll hear from soon. He wants you down at the station after school. Now, get to class, boys. If your teachers question your whereabouts, have them call me.”

  Thalia Cobbins left them to ponder on why Detective Dagger suddenly wanted to speak to them, all while they gave each other paranoid filled glances as last night’s events blared in their memories and waned their repose.

  “Thanks for making it down so soon.”

  Detective Dagger walked in front of them, pacing as they all sat in the all too familiar interrogation room. He stared at each and every one of them, pausing his pacing to lean on the table they sat before.

  “I appreciate you and your parents’ continued cooperation.”

  “Detective Dagger,” Alex spoke with extreme caution, fearful that a simple edge in his tone would bring out the worst attributes in the detective. “Is there something specific that you called us down here to discuss?”

  Dagger shifted his head, taking his seat at the table. “Well, as a matter of fact, there is.” He looked at all of them intensely. “I want a Greatest Hits.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” Mercer mirrored his friends’ expressions of disto
rted concussion.

  “I’ve been thinking this case over and over. I’ve got the facts memorized. I can practically recite the police reports.” Dagger paused to laugh slightly. “But I don’t have enough sense of who Sumner is. I was just beginning to when you told me about the night of your first time at Shadows Manor. I want the Greatest Hits of Sumner Shadows. The top handful of moments of when you all started to realize that he wasn’t all...there. I want to get into his head through your memories.” He stopped to shrug his shoulders, a gesture of reluctance. “If you’ve got some memories in mind, that is.”

  “I don’t know about you guys,” Mercer said to his friends before eyeing Dagger. “But my already developing inklings about Sumner were solidified the night we snuck into Arclan.”

  “That night changed Sumner in all of our eyes.” Abram agreed.

  “Alright then,” Dagger ran a hand through his light brown hair, primed to hear more about the infamous Sumner Shadows. “Who wants to start?”

  Abram was getting suddenly weary about breaking into the asylum the closer they got to it. Shadows Manor was about a half a mile hike from Arclan Asylum. It sat on top of a slight hill at the very edge of the Shadows’ land. All they had to do was hike through the wooded area, and they’d be at Arclan Asylum.

  “Dude, why the hell does your dad have all this land?” Abram questioned as he followed Sumner through the Shadows’ property.

  Sumner just laughed. “Gramps wanted his kids and grandkids to have a bunch of land to work with.” He kept leading them toward the asylum. “Instead of a massive playground, we got the asylum.”

  “Where is your grandpa? Why is your dad opening it back up?” Lissa called from behind Abram.

  “Dead.” Sumner spoke evenly, with no evident emotion present. “He died about a year ago. Dad said his last wish was to open the asylum back up and help as many people as he could. Dad left his job and decided to manage Arclan.” Sumner pushed through some tree branches as he switched concerns. “BMerce, you two still back there?”

  After Lissa was Bridge in their little followtheleader line up while Mercer brought up the end of the group. Bridge was making the hike with ease while Mercer was heaving more and more with each progressing step.

  “Still alive, if that’s what you mean.” Mercer was barely able to speak, his lungs laced with lead and overexertion.

  “How much longer?” Bridge asked.

  Sumner turned around and gave them all a sly grin. “We’re here.”

  As they all came out of the woodsy area, their eyes were suddenly assaulted by the blinding white building that was Arclan Asylum.

  “It’s huge.” Lissa scoffed.

  “Gramps wasn’t into subtly.” Sumner laughed. “Let’s see what secrets lie behind these asylum doors.” he crooned eerily.

  “How are we getting in?” Bridge questioned.

  As Sumner led them around the side of the building, he snickered. “I’ve already rigged the door so it’s not locked.” he gave them another smile. “I’ve got everything figured out.”

  They quickly approached the back of the building, where there was a sole door waiting for them.

  “Are you sure that no one is here to bust us?”

  “Quit being such a wet blanket, Merce.” Sumner commanded. “We’re fine.”

  “Wait,” Lissa said as they stopped before the door. “If you’ve already rigged the door, you must have planned on bringing us out here.”

  Sumner played coy except for the devious simper spreading across his broad face. “Guilty.”

  “How’d you even fix the door? Don’t you usually need a badge or a keycard?” Abram asked.

  “Will you guys relax? Let’s just have fun.” Sumner rolled his eyes. “Quit asking pointless questions.” He pulled something out of his pocket and placed it near the keypad next to the door, the keypad scrambling various numbers and letters until it clicked, unlocking the door in a matter of seconds.

  “We’re in.” Sumner smiled.

  They all slithered into the empty asylum, all of them feeling all too cautious being surrounded by the white stone walls. Sumner led them out of the kitchen, where they had entered, and made their way into the main part of the asylum.

  Patients’ rooms lined both sides of the hallways, making it too bizarre that patients would fill the halls in only three days. Completely rid of his earlier fears, Mercer ran into the nearest room, Room 26, and began admiring the creepy factor as his friends stopped their walk and joined him.

  “This is so surreal,” Mercer said. “In a few days, they’ll be grade A crazies in here.”

  “Maybe they’ll be some psycho murderer in this very room.” Sumner flexed his eyebrows suggestively. “I’m gonna make sure Sal isn’t here.” When he saw their faces, he sighed. “Security guard. Chill out. He’s not supposed to work tonight; I’m just going to double check. I’ll be right back.”

  Sumner left them in Room 26 to admire the room. Mercer kept close to the window, staring out into the front lawn of Arclan.

  “Can you imagine being locked up in a place like this?” Mercer stated in disbelief. “Shut away from the rest of the world with no say in how your life goes after they throw away the key.”

  “I’d go crazy.” Abram scoffed.

  “Most people that come here will probably need it.” Bridge said. “Or at least deserve it.”

  Lissa zipped up her powder blue hoodie, crossing her arms over her chest. “This wasn’t nearly as fun as I thought it would be.”

  “Yeah,” Bridge added, getting up from the tiny twin bed and joined Mercer by the window. “This place is just really sad and I’m not here for a depressing time.”

  There was a sudden loud buzzing that shook them suddenly aware like a clown bursting from its jackinthebox coffin.

  “What was that?”

  The door to Room 26 abruptly swung close of its own accord, buzzing again once it was closed, locking them inside. They all ran to the door, panic thumping between them rhythmically.

  “Sumner!” Lissa screamed.

  Abram grabbed the door handle, pulling on it with every muscle in his body, but there was no opening the door. It was locked beyond his capacity.

  “Dammit!” Abram exclaimed.

  “Sumner! This isn’t funny!” Mercer yelled.

  He came running up to the door, fear overturning his smooth features as he grabbed at the door.

  “It’s locked!” Abram told him through the door.

  “Guys, someone is here.” Sumner’s eyes were wide porcelain saucers. “Someone knows we’re here.”

  “Get us the hell out of here!” Lissa cried.

  Sumner fell then, almost like someone had struck him as he fell out of view from the small window in the door.

  “Sumner!” Lissa screamed in terror.

  “Holy shit,” Bridge said. “We’re gonna die in here.”

  The loud buzzing returned as the door swung open immediately, causing them all to stumble out of Room 26 and out into the hallway. They all looked around, but Sumner was nowhere in their field of view.

  “Sumner?” Bridge bellowed out into the open.

  “Shut up!” Mercer whispered. “You never yell out when you’re being pursued. Haven’t you learned anything from horror movies?”

  “I know how to watch horror movies, Merce, not star in them.” Bridge said, more quietly than before.

  “Who would follow us here?” Lissa pondered aloud as they continued to move very slowly down the hall, all of them holding on to one another.

  “Practically anyone.” Abram affirmed.

  “Especially with Sumner’s reputation.” Mercer added.

  There was a loud clamor just down the hall, around the corner that led into another hallway that they had yet to explore upon their visit. Inching quietly, they made their way toward the noise.

  “Sumner?” Abram said loudly.

  “What did I just say!?” Mercer chastised.

  Abram waved him off
with the hand that wasn’t holding onto Lissa’s tightly. “Sumner?” he repeated as they continued to slide over to the other hallway. “Sumner?”

  A blur of movement assaulted their eyes as Sumner practically fell out from the other hallway, clutching his stomach.

  “Jesus. Are you alright?” Lissa said from behind Abram.

  His eyes looked glossy and distant. “Run.” Sumner moved his hand from his stomach, where there was a huge blood stain.

  “Sumner!”

  Backing away instinctively, their eyes stayed glued to Sumner as he laid still on the linoleum. Lissa screamed as tears cascaded down her tanned face.

  That’s when Sumner started up a boisterous laugh.

  The four of them stared aghast as Sumner got up from the floor, still laughing at the change of expression on his friends’ faces.

  “I tried to keep it together for the best effect but that scream, Liss.” Sumner cackled again, lightning cracking over a dark sky. “You were so convinced.”

  Mercer stormed over to Sumner and pushed him roughly, making the other stumble slightly down the hall. “What the hell is wrong with you!?””

  “Calm down. It was just a joke.” Sumner scoffed, a smile still plastered on his face and an elated ringing to his tone.

  “That wasn’t funny!” Abram yelled. “Why did you do that?”

  “What’s the point of coming to an asylum and not getting scared? I was just trying to freak you guys out.”

  “It worked!” Lissa screeched. “Why would you cut yourself on purpose like that?”

  “I didn’t,” He took his bloody hand and licked his fingers eagerly. “It’s fake. Mostly some corn syrup I found in the kitchen the other day.”

  “You’re insane.” Mercer said, his tone clearly still hostile. “Completely insane. You should be locked up here.”

  “Oh, please. Quit being such a drama queen.” Sumner took in their still angry features, rolling his eyes at how irate the looks they were giving him were. “Come on, I was just trying to liven things up. Make it more like American Horror Story. Look, I’m sorry. It was supposed to be funny. I suppose I went a little too far. Forgive me?”

  They all looked between each other, all glances of discomfort and rage as they looked back at Sumner.

  “Don’t do shit like that.” Mercer demanded.

  “Scout’s honor.” Sumner swore, miming a salute for added effect.

  “Can we please go back to your house and forget all of this?” Lissa prompted with an exhausted sigh.

  “Sure.” Sumner said with an eightfold sigh. “This place is boring me anyway.”

  He led them back towards the back door at the back of the kitchen, while his friends hung back and wondered why Sumner would do something like that. And if he’d keep his word and ever do it again.

  Abram finished spinning their dreaded past as Dagger stared at them in amazement. The four friends sat uncomfortably in front of him, avoiding his persistent glare.

  “He made you all believe that he was attacked?”

  Still silent, they all nodded simultaneously.

  “Why were you even friends with him?”

  “He had his moments.” Bridge sighed. “He was, is, completely insane, but he had these moments of making you feel...needed. Like you were different from other people. Special.”

  “We just explained away his behavior to him having a close group of friends for once.” Abram explained.

  “But all of us started to see him a little differently after that.” Alex added.

  “Alright.” Dagger stopped. “So Sumner liked to play games. What’s next?”

  There was a knock on the interrogation door, bringing them all to attention. An officer stepped into the room.

  “Detective, Ms. Wheaton is here.”

  They all looked at each other with inquisitive eyes as Dagger gave the officer a nod and told the officer to bring her in before he turned his attention back to the four of them.

  “We’ll finish this later. You’re all free to go.” They all got up to leave when Dagger added, “Expect a call sometime next week.”

  As they left the interrogation room, they all watched as the officer from earlier escorted Kirby towards the interrogation room. She gave them all a quick glance, lingering on Mercer a little longer than the rest of them as they watched her disappear into the interrogation room.

  Kirby entered the room, wishing that the officer would stay with her as she spoke to Dagger. There was something really intimidating about the detective. The biggest thing being that he caught criminals as easily as she had caught mono last summer.

  “Ms. Wheaton, thanks for coming.”

  “You can call me Kirby, detective.” she said, crossing her arms. “My mother is Ms. Wheaton.”

  “Right.” he nodded. “Anyway, I just wanted to tell you in person that I’m not going to be asking you down to the station after today.” When she looked slighted, he went on. “I don’t think you have any connection to Sumner, aside from the picture. I think you just happened to be at the wrong place when Sumner decided to make his dashing return to Armor Falls.”

  “Really?” She was stunned. Kirby figured Dagger basically thought she moved to Armor Falls just to get Sumner back to town.

  “Really.” he solidified. “Unless you give me a reason to think you’re guilty.”

  “Thank you, detective.”

  “I hope you know that calling you in was strictly protocol.”

  “I understand.” Kirby nodded. “Thanks again.”

  “Have a good evening, Kirby.”

  Kirby left the interrogation room and made her way out of the police station and saw that Mercer and the rest of his friends were talking just a few feet from the police station doors.

  She observed as Mercer came running toward her and away from his friends. “Hey.” he said, smiling.

  “Hi.”

  “We still haven’t been able to talk.”

  She shook her head in agreement. “Right. We never got a chance in history earlier.” she paused to give a small smile. “And now that I’m free from further interrogations—”

  “Wait, what?”

  She nodded excitedly. “Dagger cleared me.”

  “Kirby, that’s awesome.” His words confirmed as much, but his tone turned somber.

  “Why does the look in your eyes say different?” Kirby crossed her arms across herself.

  Mercer let out a heavy sigh. “Because it makes what I have to ask you even harder.”

  Her brow fidgeted in interest. “What is it?”

  “We’re pretty sure we know where Sumner is hiding,” he began at once. “And we need your help to get there.”

  “If you know where Sumner is then why didn’t you tell Dagger?”

  “Because we’re not a hundred percent sure.” Mercer looked around and made sure no one was listening. “If we tell Dagger and Sumner isn’t where we say he is, he’s gonna think we’re trying to help Sumner evade the police.”

  “Okay,” Kirby paused, wrapping her mind around his words. “Why are you asking me for help then?”

  “We think Sumner is hiding at Arclan. Well, sort of. It doesn’t matter, but we need your help because we have to get into Arclan.”

  “But why—” She stopped midsentence as his reason for asking her to help crashed down on her features. “The badge. I told you about my mom working at Arclan and you need to get in undetected.”

  He confirmed her assumption. “I know it’s asking a lot, especially with Dagger clearing you and everything, but we need for this to be over.”

  “Mercer,” she sighed.

  “I know. I know this is crazy but we have to do this.”

  “What do you plan to do if you find Sumner?”

  Mercer looked fearless as he shook his head. “We do what we have to until Dagger can get there.”

  Kirby rolled her shoulders in frustration. All of this was all too crazy for her. She thought her life before Armor Falls was
intense. Apparently, New York and Maine had nothing on New Hampshire.

  “When is this going down?”

  “Saturday.”

  She nodded. “My mom is working.”

  “Damn.”

  “No, that’s good.” Kirby assured him.

  “How is that good? We need the badge to get in.”

  Kirby shook her head. “If she was off and you tried to sneak in, Arclan would know. Security isn’t just high for patients, it’s strict on employees too. Mom told me if a badge is swiped to get in, they instantly know, especially if they haven’t clocked in.”

  “So what does that mean?”

  “It means I can help you. Since she’ll already be at work, I can get the badge and let you in.”

  In a flash, Mercer disagreed. “No. What is your mom’s shift?”

  “Two to eleven, but—”

  “You can go early, get the badge and we can get in right before she leaves, so no one suspects her if things get crazy.”

  “I’ll get you the badge if I go with you guys.”

  “Kirby, no.”

  “Because of Sumner, the police have questioned me about why my mom and I even moved to Armor Falls. I want to help.”

  “Sumner is dangerous, Kirby. If you tag along and things get out of hand, I’d never forgive myself if someone innocent in all this felt the brute force of that.” He closed in on the space between them. “Kirby, please. If you can get me the badge, we’ll take care of everything else.”

  “But—”

  “Promise me.”

  Kirby just wanted everything to be over. Everything that heard Sumner Shadows’ name was cursed for life, and despite how short she had been involved in all things Sumner, she knew that things needed to end. Especially for Mercer and his friends.

  “Alright.” she finally said. “I’ll get you the badge and then I’ll stay away.”

  Relief overcame Mercer as he let out a huge breath. “Thank you.” He pulled her into a quick hug, one Kirby smiled into and reciprocated.

  “Just please be careful.” she commented as they broke apart.

  “Tell you what,” Mercer gave her a grin. “To make it up to you, how about I take you out, as a thank you.”

  Kirby laughed lightly. “Are you asking me out, on a date, Meadows?”

  “Definitely.” Mercer smiled.

  “Who knew you were so smooth?”

  He cackled loudly, earning long distance glares from his friends. “I never am, just ask them.”

  “What about curfew?”

  “I was thinking about a lunch date at school, like a picnic out in the quad or something.”

  Pursing her lips, Kirby toyed with the idea until she ultimately agreed. “I got to say, I’m pretty impressed.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “How’s tomorrow?”

  Mercer’s smile widened brightly. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  “Goodnight, Mercer.”

  “Night, Kirby.”

  Kirby walked down the sidewalk to call her mom to come pick her up as Mercer returned to his friends, closer to the doors of the police station.

  “Kirby’s in. She’s gonna get us the badge.”

  “Merce, did you just ask her out?” Bridge said, eyebrows to the sky in wonder.

  “Didn’t expect me to be so suave, right?”

  “Sure.” Bridge clapped him on the shoulder, smiling mockingly.

  “So Saturday’s officially on?” Abram said.

  Mercer agreed. “We’ve got to get in before eleven, so they don’t think her mom let us in.”

  “Alright. Saturday, and hopefully this’ll all be over.” Alex stated.

  They all settled on the reciprocated prayer and then subsequently parted, taking their various ways home as they hoped that Saturday would alter everything forever and finally bring them a single ray of ethereal inner peace.

  Walking up to her house from her car, Willa realized that no one was home yet. She figured her parents were probably just now leaving their separate workplaces, but she expected for Ben to have already dropped off Abram like usual. But all the lights were off in the house.

  Scrolling through her various keys, Willa found her house key and was just about to go into the house when she noticed something hanging out of the mail slot of the door.

  Pulling the item toward her, Willa was staring at a note. Written in red smudgy handwriting was a weird message.

  Maybe she’ll believe you now

  S

  Confused, Willa turned the message over when she tried not to faint as her eyes took in a photo of herself that she barely remembered posing for. But once she saw the other two people on either side of her, she understood the message clearly.

  Because in the picture, she was standing between Sumner and Straton.

  8

  CONFESS