Sever (Slayer Society #1)

by Jesse Grey

  Taking a break from cooking the breakfast he was preparing, Mercer tried calling Kirby again. He had invited his friends over for breakfast before school to discuss the anonymous message that was left in Abram’s locker yesterday, but before that happened, Mercer wanted to get a hold of her. They’d had plans to see a movie yesterday, but he never heard from her, not even after several texts and calls. It was starting to really worry him, especially since he could really feel himself falling for Kirby.

  “I think you’re burning the omelets.”

  Bridge entered the kitchen then, gesturing toward the stove where Mercer’s omelets were getting a little crispier than he had originally planned.

  “Damn.” Dropping his phone on the counter, Mercer ran to the stove, tending to the omelets before they were inedible. As he did so, he felt Bridge’s scrutinizing burning a chasm into his back.

  “Are you okay?” Bridge questioned, taking a seat on a stool at the kitchen island. “You seemed pretty bummed during our musical marathon last night. You didn’t even sing ‘Light My Candle’ with me.” he chuckled lightly.

  “It’s Kirby.” Mercer sighed.

  “She still hasn’t texted you back after blowing you off?”

  He shook his head. “Something’s wrong. I can tell she’s not telling me something, something that’s really bothering her.”

  Bridge shrugged. “I told you, she’ll tell you when she’s ready, Merce. Especially if it’s something big, which, judging by the lack of contact, I’d say it is.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Mercer scoffed, finishing some more omelets and setting them on a plate before taking a tray of cinnamon rolls out of the oven. “My dads said the same thing before they left this morning.”

  A knock on the door echoed through the kitchen as Bridge grabbed the remote for the small kitchen TV.

  “Come in.” Mercer yelled to the front of the house.

  “I’m gonna turn on GMA. Halsey is on this morning.” Bridge said, already flipping through the channels to find his program.

  “You and Halsey.” Mercer shook his head as the front door opened.

  “Hey, I love her. She’s my queen.”

  “Who’s your queen?”

  Alex and Abram appeared from the front of the house, carrying a tray of Starbucks and setting it on the kitchen island’s marble counter top.

  “Halsey’s on Good Morning America and Bridge is fangirling.” Mercer smiled.

  “I love her.” Alex grinned, gesturing to the miscellaneous coffee. “We got everyone’s favorite.”

  Bridge cooed when he grabbed his iced caramel macchiato and took a small sip. “Now you are my queens.” They both laughed, and Bridge couldn’t help but notice the genuine smile on Abram’s face. “You feeling better?”

  Abram grabbed his own white mocha, nodding as Mercer set out a couple plates to put the food on, laying down a breakfast buffet consisting of omelets, cinnamon rolls, and bacon on the kitchen island while Mercer and Alex grabbed their own coffees. “Yeah, I’m okay.” he agreed. “I think just talking about how I was feeling after Arclan helped a lot.”

  “You can always rely on us to get where you’re coming from.” Mercer mentioned, mewling into his mint chocolate chip latte. “Everybody dig in.”

  They all got their own portions of the delectable food, gnawing on the food and sipping on their sugared up coffee drinks. But the nice morning moment didn’t last long, since they were there for business.

  “So,” Bridge started between biting into a cinnamon roll that had the most icing on it. “When are we crashing Shadows Manor?”

  “And why would we do that?” Mercer asked, finishing his omelet.

  “Because we need to know what those papers have on them.” Bridge displayed, gesturing wildly with his cinnamon roll. “Whoever stole them took them to Shadows Manor, so let’s go get them back.”

  “It sounds like a trap to me.” Alex added. “Why give it back to us at all? And why take it to Shadows Manor for us to retrieve?”

  “It’s a game,” Abram said, not fully realizing it until he voiced so, taking one last bite of bacon. “Whoever took the papers is in control of their own selfconjured game, and they want us to play along.”

  “For what reason though? They want us to tell the police about everything that happened that night. Why give us back something to deter us from that?”

  “Mercer, this person just wants to play with us so they know we’ll do what they want, just like they want us to start confessing.” Abram explained. “The papers probably aren’t even there.”

  “Then why go?” Alex said, sipping into his entirely black coffee save that for the added single packet of sugar.

  “We need those papers. Who cares why this psycho is offering them back.” Bridge stated, slurping his coffee with no abandon.

  “What if they can’t figure it out?” Alex prompted. “Maybe Sumner put something down only we’d know or understand and they need us to solve it. This person likes being in the know, obviously, so maybe they need our help to achieve that with the papers.”

  Bridge nodded eagerly. “That actually makes sense.”

  The TV changed from the morning talk show to an important news bulletin, splitting their attention to the television.

  “We interrupt your programming for a special news report. After a violent outburst, a patient has escaped from Arclan Asylum.”

  “Jesus.” Bridge said.

  “The incident left three patients injured,” the newscaster went on. “Police suspect that Sumner Shadows could be connected to how the patient was able to escape.”

  “I’d hate to be Dagger right now.” Mercer admitted.

  “Sumner wouldn’t risk his own safety to break someone out.” Abram said. “The media has no clue what really goes on with anything their reporting.”

  “Maybe the person Sumner called broke them out as a distraction for him.”

  Everyone looked away from the TV and latched on to Alex’s features as they gawked at him while he just sat there with his arms crossed over his chest.

  “What?”

  “What are you talking about ‘the person he called’?” Abram asked him.

  “Hugo, remember?”

  “Who the hell is Hugo?” Bridge croaked.

  “I didn’t tell you guys about Hugo?”

  “Are you talking about Hugo Krcmaric? As in Harley’s older brother?” Mercer sparked.

  “I don’t know, maybe.” Alex shook his head. “I started telling you guys yesterday, but then we got the letter in Abe’s locker. I must have forgotten.”

  “So what’s going on?”

  “Faith went to have lunch with Straton yesterday and overheard his roommate telling him that he saw Sumner the night he tried to recruit Straton for help. And he was calling someone when Hugo saw him.”

  “Who?”

  “No clue.”

  Bridge scoffed. “That’s all you have?”

  “That’s all I know!” Alex lamented. “Short of talking to Hugo himself.”

  Mercer raised his shoulders as a gesture of complacency. “Not a terrible idea.”

  “I’ll see what I can do, I suppose.”

  Bridge groaned as he glanced at his phone. “We should head to school.” Shoveling in a couple more pieces of bacon into his mouth, he groaned in satisfaction. “Thanks for breakfast, Merce.”

  He smiled. “Nothing like talking about crazy people trying to destroy our lives to work up an appetite.”

  “See you at school. We gotta go swing by my house and get Faith.” Alex established.

  As Abram and Alex left, Mercer grabbed his phone, which didn’t have any new texts from Kirby, and slipped it into his pocket with a sigh.

  Bridge clapped Mercer’s shoulder. “Talk to her at school since it’s bothering you so much.”

  “I will.” he nodded, sighing again as he grabbed his car keys. “I’m just afraid of what might happen once I do.”

  Kirby walked into Westbrooke High
that morning, unable to leave the thready cocoon of her mind, the turbulent thoughts leaving her unable to hone on much else. Ever since Priscilla had contacted her, Kirby had been practically comatose, her actions condemned to autopilot. She’d been avoiding Faith and Willa and their constant iseverythingalrights and areyouokays. Even Mercer had made his way onto her Must Avoid list. Priscilla’s call had reminded her what week this was for her, and the reminder was all too heavy, a mountain of jagged baggage on her lungs. Especially when the one person who understood how she was feeling was unable to reach her.

  She quietly made her way to her locker, void of all thought, digging through its contents to attempt to locate her Spanish textbook. All she wanted was to disappear until she forgot this week, until the residual pain from her past ceased to resonate at the surface of her psyche.

  “Kirby?”

  Hearing his soothing voice, Kirby couldn’t resist the urge to turn to Mercer, only to see his forlorn features, darkening her already cloudy thoughts. Still, Kirby forced a vibrant smile to her face, hoping it was at least quasiconvincing.

  “Mercer, hi.” She continued her stern command to look anything but devastated.

  “Kirby, talk to me.” He neared her, closing what already little distance remained between them, making her yearn for his touch, though she knew she’d fall apart in seconds if he consoled her. “Something is going on. I’m not mad at the silence, I’m just worried. I know we never said anything about us being official and dating, but you can tell me. I’m right here. Just let me stay.”

  “I can’t.” she breathed in hitched parts, tears swarming around her eyes, breaking her vow of faux positivity. “This, us...I just can’t right now.”

  She threw her locker door, allowing it to slam shut and rattle its neighboring lockers. She went to leave, but Mercer hustled to stand in front of her, obscuring her path.

  “Just like that? Kirby, whatever it is, you know I’ve endured my share of dark times and—”

  “Mercer,” Kirby grabbed his free hand that wasn’t covered up by his sling, concentrating on keeping it together, looking into his dreamy ocean eyes. “I’m not okay. I’ve been okay until now because this investigation has been a blessing of a distraction and you’ve been so amazing to me,” she laughed lightly. “I mean, look at you.” She nodded toward his sling. “You saved my life at Arclan.” Her somber sensations returned. “But this week, and definitely today, I’m not okay. I don’t want to drag you into this.”

  “Kirby—”

  “Remember when you wanted to keep me away from everything involving Sumner? It’s just like that except now the roles are reversed.”

  “And just like then, I’m already in this.” Mercer squeezed her hand tightly. “Don’t push me away when…” he sighed. “When I’m already falling for you.”

  “Don’t,” she sniffled, pulling her hand away from him. “I’m sorry, Mercer. I just can’t.”

  Mercer went to stop her, but Kirby rolled his attempts away by storming down the hall, patiently waiting for a break from her turmoil, all while tears broke their bubble and spilled from her eyes like faucets turned to full capacity, for Mercer and for her happiness.

  They had almost forgotten what the inside of an interrogation room looked like until Dagger had called them to come down after school. They had spent the rest of the school day trying to console a stoic and silent Mercer to keep his mind off of Kirby. And it wasn’t helping to be sitting back in front of Detective Alston Dagger again.

  “I’m sure you’ve seen the news about Arclan.” Dagger started.

  “This is about that patient that escaped?” Alex sighed collectively for them.

  “Yes and no. It’s about Sumner.”

  “Isn’t it always?” Abram sneered, avoiding Dagger’s gaze.

  “We believe that the patient may have escaped using the underground tunnels that Sumner was hiding in.” Dagger explained. “Just one of my many theories.”

  “But the only way out is through Shadows Manor.” Bridge added.

  “That we know of.” he countered.

  “You think there’s another way out of either passage?”

  Dagger shrugged at Abram’s unconvinced tone. “Or another way out entirely. We don’t know. Until we do though, Arclan Asylum and Shadows Manor are under close police supervision.” He ignored the glare between the friends at that statement. “But it got me wondering what else I don’t know about Sumner.”

  Scoffing, Mercer adjusted in his chair. “You want more Greatest Hits of Sumner Shadows.”

  His friends looked totally out of their comfort zones, but Dagger pressed on. “Yes. I know this is tough, with the Arclan attack fresh on your minds and all but—”

  “Spring break.” Alex huffed.

  Slightly off put by the outburst, Dagger honed in on him. “What?”

  “Spring break, freshman year, just a couple months after he faked us out at Arclan.” Alex went on, looking at his friends. “Remember?”

  “Unfortunately.” Bridge snorted.

  “Great,” Dagger pulled a nearby chair up to the table, sitting down eagerly. “Tell me about spring break.”

  Mercer was really enjoying Sumner’s parentless pool party, mainly because he was making out with a pretty girl for the first time in his life. It was spring break and things between his friends and Sumner had been pretty great since the Arclan incident. But the fact that a girl had taken interest in him was even more of a miracle than Sumner behaving himself the past couple of months.

  The beautiful redhead with him pulled away from their kiss, immersing Mercer back into his surroundings, which consisted of Sumner’s huge backyard behind Shadows Manor. Mercer was sitting in a gazebo overseeing the pool area, which contained pretty much the entire school splashing in the water and hanging out by the perimeter of the pool.

  “You okay?” Mercer asked her, hoping his kissing wasn’t as awful as he had imagined it would be.

  “Yeah,” she smiled wide. “I just still can’t believe that I’m kissing one of the most popular boys in school.”

  He laughed. “I’m not, really. People just think that because I’m friends with Sumner.”

  “And Sumner is Westbrooke High,” she grinned, looking a little shy all of the sudden. “But he’s not the one I’ve been interested in. Would you maybe want to go out sometime?”

  Mercer, a little surprised, laughed lightly at his luck. “I’d really like that, Harley.”

  Harley pulled him into another kiss as they started making out again, only for a strong hand on his shoulder to pull him away from her instantly.

  “Whoa, slow down there, stud.” Mercer looked up to see Sumner standing over them, a grin from ear to ear on his face.

  “Oh, hi, Sumner.” Harley blushed, pushing her long scarlet strands away from her face.

  “Nice seeing you with my boy.” Sumner beamed. “Having fun? Besides the obvious.”

  She just nodded enthusiastically as Sumner put a hand on Mercer’s shoulder.

  “Mind if I borrow him? I promise I’ll bring him back in one piece so you two can continue...getting along.”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll talk to you later?” Mercer smiled at her, just as Sumner steered him away from Harley and they walked down closer to the pool.

  “Damn, Merce.” Sumner cackled, shoving him playfully. “Only an hour into the party and you’re already heading to second base.”

  “Not at all. Harley’s cool. I think we might actually hang out.”

  “Take it from me, play the field before you settle on one sport.”

  Mercer just shook his head, Sumner leading them to a small gathering just by the diving board of the pool where Bridge, Lissa, and Abram were all waiting on them while a small crowd hung around.

  “Heard you were interrupted.” Bridge laughed.

  Mercer chuckled back. “More or less.”

  Sumner and Mercer took their seats around their friends and other various bystanders that
looked eager to be included, even if it just meant overlooking the event.

  “The masses want a round of truth or dare.” Sumner told them. “And I never disappoint when I’m hosting a party.” he purred with another smile.

  “Who goes first?” Lissa wondered.

  “Obviously, I do.” Sumner scoffed, as if she should have known without asking. “Bridge, truth or dare?”

  “Dare.” Bridge said, not wanting to wuss out on the first round.

  “I dare you and Mercer to make out.”

  “Really?” Bridge sighed, not impressed by Sumner’s selection.

  “We’re like brothers.” Mercer agreed.

  “You had no problem making out with Harley.” Sumner countered.

  “Mercer isn’t even my type.”

  “Wait, why not?”

  “Jesus. You’re attractive, Merce, but I’m into fellow gay guys, not open minded straight friends of mine.”

  “Just do it.” A frustrated Sumner bellowed. “You said dare, so do it.”

  “Fine.” They both exclaimed, scooting closer to each other to accurately perform the dare.

  “Just be glad I’m even agreeing to this, considering you have fresh female on your tongue.”

  “Bite me.” Mercer grinned.

  “You’d like it too much.”

  Mercer grabbed Bridge by the shirt until his lips collided against his own, both of them opening their mouths to make out, earning them hoots and hollers from everyone around. After a fair amount of time, they pulled away from each other, laughing at each other while people clapped for them loudly.

  “More tongue, Merce.” Bridge laughed sarcastically.

  “You actually could use more tongue.” Mercer admitted with another laugh.

  “Now I’m gonna dare myself.” Sumner said, diverting attention back to himself, like usual. “Who dares me to jump into the pool from the roof?”

  The crowd erupted with roars of approval, but his friends shared glares of worry.

  “Sumner, don’t.” Abram pleaded.

  “Quit worrying, I’ll be fine. I’ve done it before.”

  “It’s too dangerous.” Lissa stood up, using her bubbly hazel irises to try and reason with him.

  “Will you guys quit being such party poopers? I’ll be fine.” Sumner groaned. “Living safe is boring and I refuse to not excite myself. Okay? Good. I’m jumping.”

  He left them then, jumping on a patio table to access the lowest part of Shadows Manor’s roof, which was the dining room, and quickly jumped onto the roof.

  “This is bad.” Bridge sighed.

  “As if any of us can convince Sumner to not do something.” Abram told them, not that he had to, all of them nodding as Sumner got to a higher point on the roof overlooking the pool.

  “Who wants me to jump?” Sumner yelled, instantly met with wild howls of esteem.

  Without warning or asking for a countdown from the crowd, Sumner ran off the roof and dove into the pool, prompting more cheers from everyone gathering around the pool for the spectacle as Sumner penetrated the water with ease. Even his friends reluctantly joined in on the clapping, their expressions turning from grim to glee while the crowd continued their jeering for their unrequited king.

  But then too much time passed as Sumner remained underwater, a scary amount of time, and the applause started to subside.

  “You don’t think he hit his head, do you?” Lissa croaked with concern.

  “Sumner!” Abram yelled from above as the bubbles dissipated and Sumner’s form was finally visible.

  He wasn’t moving.

  A girl screamed so loud it caused several people to jump, chaos breaking out across the grounds of Shadows Manor. People started running around frantically, fleeing in every direction imaginable for fear of being connected to what was happening.

  “Sumner!” Lissa cried, tears coming to her effortlessly as she tried her best to keep it together.

  Abram jumped into the pool without hesitation, diving in to retrieve Sumner from the water. He struggled to get to his friends once he got to Sumner, finding it difficult to carry Sumner while also trying to get himself to the edge of the pool. Bridge and Mercer helped pull Sumner out of the water, Abram lifting him up so they could get him out of the pool and onto the concrete next to them.

  “Should we call his parents?” Lissa stated, already shaking from the sight of Sumner.

  “No.” Mercer and Bridge said together.

  “He needs CPR!” Lissa screamed.

  “I can do it.” Abram told them, looking down at Sumner’s motionless chest, suddenly really afraid. “I, uh, I think.”

  “Pinch the nose, tilt the head.” Bridge nodded, urgency in his voice.

  “Right.” Abram did as Bridge directed, taking a deep breath before leaning down to give Sumner the breath of life.

  But when Abram pursued his mouth, Sumner started laughing.

  “I like you Abe, but I don’t like you enough to let you kiss me.” Sumner laughed. “I’ve been training myself for months for this.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Mercer exclaimed, throwing his hands up in mock defeat. “I’m done.”

  “Mercer—”

  “Fuck you, Sumner.” As Sumner got to his feet, Mercer shoved him, causing him to stumble back towards the pool, almost falling back in. “This is not some fun game that we’re just going to forgive you for.” Mercer scoffed. “You’re crazy. You’re in need of psychological evaluation.”

  “After what you did at Arclan, you said you wouldn’t do something like that again.” Bridge’s voice was getting more and more irate with every new syllable. “You fucking promised, Sumner!”

  “I gave all of Westbrooke High the party of their lives tonight! When we show up at school next week, we’ll be the subject of every whisper and the reason behind every stare! We’ll rule that school even more than we already do.” Sumner smiled mischievously.

  “And you’ll be enjoying that alone, because this is it for me.” Mercer said sternly. “I’m done with you.”

  “Cue the dramatics.” Sumner scoffed.

  Walking off heatedly, Mercer left them standing there with Sumner, heading inside to grab his stuff and go home. Bridge stepped up to Sumner, his nostrils wide with rage. “When are you going to learn that being the topic of small town gossip isn’t the most important thing in the world?”

  “I don’t want to be a small town subject,” Sumner seethed back. “I want to be a national headline.”

  “This just in: Psycho teenager locked up, friends don’t give a shit. There’s your damn headline.” Bridge abandoned them for the house.

  “You’re such an asshole!” Lissa screeched, running up to him and throwing a mean right hook, hitting Sumner square in the jaw, exerting just enough force to knock him back into the pool, his limbs splashing about in the water.

  When Sumner got his bearings back, wiping the water away from his eyes as he stood up, he saw anger and finality in Abram and Lissa’s eyes. “So that’s it? Everyone’s done with me after a couple of jokes?”

  “Yeah,” Abram said. “That’s it.”

  They started toward Shadows Manor, further enraging Sumner beyond the point of reason.

  “You’ll be nothing without me!”

  “A king is nothing without a kingdom,” Lissa told him. “Your reign is over, your majesty.”

  Lissa spoke with as much venom as a deadly black mamba, grabbing Abram’s hand as they retreated from Sumner as he screamed shrieks of malevolence, making them glad they got out of the world of Sumner Shadows while they still had their lives.

  Bridge finished telling the story, Dagger scoffing while his friends looked on with strained faces at the retelling of the memory.

  “So, you stopped being friends with Sumner after he went back on his word for the Arclan thing?”

  Together, they confirmed his question by shaking their heads positively. Dagger got up from his chair, pacing in front of them while the story rang
in his ears like church bells that weren’t quite as pleasing as they once were.

  “Why would he do that again, after it obviously upset you so much?”

  “He’s crazy, detective.” Abram scratched at his developing beard. “We don’t know why he did anything more than you do.”

  “We didn’t talk to him for the rest of the school year after that.” Alex explained.

  “Why talk to him again at all?”

  “He gave a pretty convincing apology.” Bridge said. “He said he went to a doctor and—”

  “Detective,” The door flew open as Adelaide Llewellyn strode right in. “Time’s up. I think that’s enough for today anyway.”

  Dagger regarded them, taking in their tired expressions and then smiling at Adelaide. “Maybe you’re right.” He turned back to them. “Thanks again for your cooperation today.”

  They all got up to go, giving Adelaide a small smile as they left the interrogation room until just Adelaide was left with Dagger.

  “Don’t make us regret allowing you to ask our kids about Sumner Shadows.”

  “I don’t think they’re helping him, Ade. Really, I don’t. But there’s something they’re not telling me, something that ties this whole case together, I can feel it. I’m hoping these sessions will unlock what that puzzle piece is.”

  “Why are you here, Alston?” She let the door close, moving closer to him. “Why did you take this case, to torture me?”

  “This has nothing to do with you. I took this case because if I crack it, it’ll be the biggest case of my career. And it’s captivating and complex, and you know how much I love a challenge. It’s not about you, Ade.” he sighed. “At least, not just about you.”

  Her brow bristled. “Just?”

  Dagger grabbed her face and crashed his lips against hers in a sensual kiss. For about a millisecond, Adelaide leaned into the kiss, but she quickly thought better of it and ripped herself away from him. Not wasting any time after they were separated, Adelaide drew her hand back and slapped him as hard as she could.

  Grabbing his cheek, he begged with his eyes to talk to her. He knew he had made a mistake, old history enabling new confidence. “Ade, I’m sorry, I—”

  “Stay away from me.” she demanded.

  Adelaide left the interrogation room with feverish agony, making her way to the lobby of the police station, both angry at Dagger for his romantic pursuits, but also at herself for relaxing into their kiss for even a fraction of a second.

  “Mom?”

  Her son reaped her attention, seeing him and his friends waiting by the front doors.

  “You can go, sweetheart.” she gave him her best smile. “I’ll see you at home in a couple hours.”

  “You sure you’re okay?” Alex asked.

  “I’m fine. You all go.” She smiled at her son’s friends. “Have a good night, guys.”

  “Thanks Mrs. Llewellyn.” Abram smiled.

  She left them for other places within the police station, all of them looking to Alex.

  “Your mom looks really mad.” Bridge commented. “You don’t think she talked to Dagger, do you?”

  “I hope not.” Alex sighed. “Let’s go.”

  “Yeah. I’ve had enough of this place.” Bridge agreed.

  Together, the friends exited the Armor Falls Police Station and prepared to return to their respective homes when Kirby came up to the steps of the building.

  “Mercer,” She breathed like she’d been crying, not to mention she had ditched her usual chic New York fashion for an oversized sweater that had Manhattan scrawled across the chest and some black yoga pants, causing a smile in Mercer’s head when he saw that she was still wearing heels. “Your dads told me you were here. Can we talk?”

  He gave his friends a nod. “I’ll talk to you guys later.”

  “You sure?” Abram said, more than a little worried.

  “Yeah.” he assured him. “I’ll be fine.”

  Alex and Abram left for Alex’s car, Bridge hanging back for a second.

  “I’ll wait in the Jeep.” Not really wanting to, Bridge left them alone to talk.

  “Are you okay?” Mercer started, more worried about her than angry and upset, like he’d been throughout most of the day.

  “No.” she admitted, sniffling. “Mercer, I’m so sorry for earlier. This week is so hard on me, today in particular, and I took that out on you and for that I’m really sorry.”

  “Here.” He gestured to a bench just outside of the station, both of them sitting down with affluence.

  “I owe you an explanation.”

  “Kirby—”

  “No, I do. I want to tell you, Mercer. You said earlier that we never made anything official, but I want us to be.” Kirby grabbed the only hand he had free, due to his sling, and squeezed his hand tenderly. “But the last time...this is just so hard for me to talk about. I spend all of my energy blocking it out most days, but this week, it’s impossible for me to do that.” New tears made themselves known on her now red cheeks.

  Mercer wrestled his hand free to swipe a tear from her face with his thumb. He found it completely breathtaking that even during her most broken down state, she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on. “You can tell me. Like I said, I’m sort of an expert on dark haunting pasts.”

  With a chaste breath, Kirby started her story, albeit with a very shaky voice. “Today is Bryce’s birthday.”

  “Okay.” Mercer said, grabbing her hand once more and squeezing it comfortingly. “Is, or was, Bryce your ex?”

  “No.” she dismissed, heaving lightly to keep the tears at bay. “As you know, I’m from New Hampshire originally. But I guess when my dad left, my mom moved us to Manhattan to pursue her dream in fashion. I grew up in New York and I loved it there. It was the city where I fell in love with photography, and with my dreams, I knew I could make it happen there. And that kept me happy for a while. But then, I wanted other things. Like love. Or at least the teenage version of what I thought love was.

  "When I was fifteen, I started dating this guy, my best friend who was a grade higher than I was, and I fell in love with something besides Manhattan and photography for the first time. Everything was finally perfect. So, we got carried away one night and…” Mercer’s eyes widened as he silently connected the fragments. “Nine months later, Bryce was born.” She paused, willing the tears and sobs to stay away from the surface of her emotions. “I always loved the name, but it just made everything so much harder, attaching a name to what happened.”

  “Oh my god, Kirby.” He held her hand even tighter, a tightrope begging to snap. “What happened?”

  “I did the only thing I could. I gave him up for adoption.” No longer able to keep them in check, tears flowed from her eyes like a forgotten hose. “To this amazing couple in New Jersey, Priscilla and Nathan. As much as I loved it in Manhattan, knowing he was just across the water ate away at me for months. So we left New York and found a school in Maine that not only had a nursing job there for my mom but one that also accepted me after the school year had started.” Her sobs took over then, shaking her frame to the point that Mercer felt vibrations in his hand as he held hers. “I know I made the right decision, but I can’t help but thinking what if.”

  Mercer watched as she cried, breaking his heart in every way imaginable. She sobbed heavily, holding onto his hand like her life would slip away if she let her fingers do the same. “You miss him.” he said obviously.

  She nodded. “It’s so hard knowing there’s a piece of me out there that I don’t know, which is crazy because it doesn’t hurt me that my dad is alive somewhere not giving a shit about me, but—”

  “It’s different.” he agreed, earning a small smile from her as she tried to gain control over her violent shudders.

  “Yeah.” she sniffled.

  “What about the guy, your ex?”

  “He stayed in Manhattan, as far as I know. That’s part of what makes this week so hard,” She wiped away t
he drying tears on her face. “He helped me try and come to terms with everything, but in the end it was just too much. When we moved, his mother thought it would be best for both of us if we lost contact entirely, and my mom agreed on some level because we changed our phone numbers before my first day of school in Maine. The only person who gets this, can’t even find me anymore.”

  “I’m so sorry, Kirby. Honestly, I would have never known that you were carrying this around.”

  Sniffling again, she just shook her head. “I can’t help but wonder if I was selfish in giving him up or if I really did it for him and not just myself. That phone call the other day? That was Priscilla, asking if I wanted to see him for his birthday. I’m trying so hard to put that part of my life behind me, but I can’t seem to, no matter how hard I push myself.”

  “You don’t know if you want to see him?” Mercer asked, a little surprised.

  “If I see him, I’ll want him back, regardless of what it would do to my life.” she cried. “I know Priscilla and Nathan are giving him the best chance at an amazing life, the life he deserves, but I wish I could know that he really is happy.”

  “Hey,” Mercer stroked her face before returning his hand to her own. “I’m sure he’s happy. You’re talking to the product of adoption right here, remember? I was adopted when I was barely a year old myself. I wouldn’t trade my life with my dads for anything.”

  She scoffed. “You’re not just saying that in an attempt to make me feel better?”

  He shook his head, eviscerating her question. “Seriously. Sure, I wonder about my birth parents sometimes like any other adopted kid, but my dads chose me, you know? Out of all the kids in the world, they chose me. It makes me feel special everyday knowing that.” He shook her hand, staring into her eyes. “Trust me, he’s not holding a grudge. He’s doing great. Plus, he’s a year old. Eating, sleeping, making messes that other people have to clean up. He’s living the dream.”

  Kirby actually laughed with him, clutching his hand and rubbing his knuckles with her fingertips. “There’s so much more that I should tell you, Mercer. About why we left Maine and ended up in Armor Falls.”

  “Not right now you don’t.” he stated. “You can tell me when you’re ready. We gotta have something to talk about on our second date as an official couple.”

  Smiling again, Kirby tilted her head, the setting sun vibrantly displaying her features in a whole new light that Mercer felt was overwhelming in the best way possible, like he was seeing her for the first time all over again. She clutched his hand, letting her grip wane. “A second date, huh? So you’re not totally freaked out by The Trials and Tribulations of Kirby Wheaton?”

  “Are you kidding? If having a complicated life was the deciding factor for dating, I’d never step foot in a restaurant again for the rest of my life.” They both laughed briefly. “And, I like to think that The Trials and Tribulations of Kirby Wheaton would mesh pretty well with The Attempted Murder of Mercer Meadows.”

  Grinning again, Kirby leaned in and kissed Mercer softly at first, mainly due to the latter’s shock at the sudden shift in dynamic. But their kiss grew in intensity while still remaining innocent and relatively calm, both of them reveling in the other’s touch. When they separated, Mercer looked at her in amazement, chuckling to himself.

  “What was that for?”

  “We can’t have a second date, especially as a real couple, without first sharing a kiss.”

  “True, considering Alex totally ruined my attempt the first time out in the quad.”

  “Oh, you were actually going to make a move?” she laughed.

  “I’ve still got plenty.” He laughed, placing his hand on her face as he brought her in for another kiss.

  Kirby smiled into it, though the kiss was much quicker than the first, as it went from a kiss to a tight hug that he must have known she needed, each holding onto the other with mighty vigor. Because they knew that together, rather than alone, they could conquer any demons that decided to break through the darkest places in their lives, whether they be past, present, or future.

  Bridge heard a rustling within his room, which was the Meadows’ guest room, stirring him out of slumber. Though a little groggy, he looked frantically around the room for the culprit behind the noise. That’s when he saw that it was Ben, and he was pulling the window in his room up.

  “Ben!” he scalded in a rushed whisper, trying to keep as quiet as possible so that he didn’t wake Mercer’s parents, or worse, Mercer himself.

  Finally getting the window open, Ben stepped inside and quickly pulled it back down after stepping into Bridge’s bedroom.

  “What the hell are you doing here!? We’re done doing…whatever it was, and you come in here, a house that isn’t mine, and you—”

  Ben put up a hand, walking over to Bridge until he was right next to the bed, taking a seat on the soft queen sized mattress.

  “Ben—”

  He shushed him by putting a finger up to his lips, giving him a sly grin, recalling words that Bridge had spoken to him before when they had ended things, deciding to use them against him now. “No more talking.”

  He slammed his lips against Bridge’s, the younger man caught off guard by the act. But when Ben started ripping off his shirt, Bridge took the opportunity to rip off his own boxer briefs before throwing Ben down on the bed, climbing on top of him as he resumed their kiss, giving in to all the passion between them and forgetting about pending weddings and things standing in the way of what he wanted and gave in to the pure, animalistic lust that throbbed within his body. As he helped Ben out of the rest of his clothes, Ben begged for more as his tongue invaded Bridge’s mouth, their raw desire fading into the late hour of the night.

  13

  INTO THE DEPTHS