disappeared?”
“After.”
She reddens with frustration, fighting to keep her cool. “You know, I find it highly suspicious that you were at a party Laden Miller attended and then he disappeared. And there were witnesses that said they saw you peeling off in your car right after Laden drove away with another girl.”
Witnesses ? “I had somewhere to be… my mom… she needed me home for something,” I lie, but not very well.
She sifts through the notepad. “Actually, if I read the note in the file right, your mother’s been a pretty inactive parent. In fact, she gave up her custody of you and sent you to live with your father when you were four.”
“Inactive or not, she asked me to be home early that night because she needed my help with something.” I make an effort not to fidget, or she’ll use it against me.
Her eyes scrutinize me. “Where were you between the hours of two to four a.m. on Saturday?”
Crashing into a lake, drawing crazy notes on my wall, blacking out. Shit! “I was with Asher Morgan.” It slips out of me and I instantly regret it.
Her eyebrows arch. “And he is?”
“A friend of mine.” I’m digging myself a giant, coffin-sized hole. I grip onto the armrest, hoping she doesn’t notice my uneasiness.
She writes Asher Morgan down at the top of the notebook and then tucks it in her pocket. Then she hands me her card. “We’ll be in touch.”
I take the card, stuff it into my back pocket, and leave the office, not looking back.
Chapter 7
Everyone in the town is calling Laden’s disappearance the Angel of Death Killing. The rumor spread about the detective interrogating me right on campus. It’s like I’ve relapsed back to three years ago, right after my dad vanished. The halls are fluttering with whispers of “Freak,” Psychopath,” and “Murderer.” But I walk with my head held high. A little gossip and dirty looks are nothing compared to being plagued by death every day.
I’m contemplating bailing out on my last class of the day, but Raven still hasn’t shown up yet and she hasn’t called or replied to any of my texts, so I go to the McDonalds next door to get some lunch. I’m waiting for my order to be put on the tray, when Mackenzie Baker comes brushing by, knocks her shoulder into mine, and nearly breaks a high heel trying to recover her balance. Ropes bind her wrist and mouth. Darkness devours her. Come out, come out, wherever you are. It’s a game and Mackenzie loses, lost in a sea of blood. I’ve seen her death before and it never gets easier.
Glaring at me, she flips her hair and quickly returns to the conversation with the girl she’s with.
“So was I right?” The soft touch of Cameron’s voice sends a rush of adrenaline through my body and I quiver.
I step back and elongate the distance between us, but really I want to move closer to him. “Were you right about what?”
“About your poem,” he says with a charming smile.
“You think I’m in pain?” I ask as the cashier sets French fries down on my tray
“I think your heart carries a lot of pain.” He steps forward, reducing the already limited space between us. “But that you hide it, just like you hide a lot of things.”
He’s striking a nerve. “Isn’t everyone hiding something?” I ask.
“Now those are the words of a true writer.” He reaches behind me, missing my arm by an inch, and steals some of my French fries. “But the question is, what are you hiding, Ember?”
There’s accusation in his tone—he’s heard the rumors. “Bodies in the basement of my house and a burner full of ashes,” I say darkly.
He’s unfazed, tipping his head back and dropping the stolen fries into his mouth. “Weird, because that’s the same thing I have in my basement.”
“I’d be happy that we share something in common, but we both know that neither of our houses have basements.”
“Yep, but they have attics,” he says and it no longer sounds like
“After.”
She reddens with frustration, fighting to keep her cool. “You know, I find it highly suspicious that you were at a party Laden Miller attended and then he disappeared. And there were witnesses that said they saw you peeling off in your car right after Laden drove away with another girl.”
Witnesses ? “I had somewhere to be… my mom… she needed me home for something,” I lie, but not very well.
She sifts through the notepad. “Actually, if I read the note in the file right, your mother’s been a pretty inactive parent. In fact, she gave up her custody of you and sent you to live with your father when you were four.”
“Inactive or not, she asked me to be home early that night because she needed my help with something.” I make an effort not to fidget, or she’ll use it against me.
Her eyes scrutinize me. “Where were you between the hours of two to four a.m. on Saturday?”
Crashing into a lake, drawing crazy notes on my wall, blacking out. Shit! “I was with Asher Morgan.” It slips out of me and I instantly regret it.
Her eyebrows arch. “And he is?”
“A friend of mine.” I’m digging myself a giant, coffin-sized hole. I grip onto the armrest, hoping she doesn’t notice my uneasiness.
She writes Asher Morgan down at the top of the notebook and then tucks it in her pocket. Then she hands me her card. “We’ll be in touch.”
I take the card, stuff it into my back pocket, and leave the office, not looking back.
Chapter 7
Everyone in the town is calling Laden’s disappearance the Angel of Death Killing. The rumor spread about the detective interrogating me right on campus. It’s like I’ve relapsed back to three years ago, right after my dad vanished. The halls are fluttering with whispers of “Freak,” Psychopath,” and “Murderer.” But I walk with my head held high. A little gossip and dirty looks are nothing compared to being plagued by death every day.
I’m contemplating bailing out on my last class of the day, but Raven still hasn’t shown up yet and she hasn’t called or replied to any of my texts, so I go to the McDonalds next door to get some lunch. I’m waiting for my order to be put on the tray, when Mackenzie Baker comes brushing by, knocks her shoulder into mine, and nearly breaks a high heel trying to recover her balance. Ropes bind her wrist and mouth. Darkness devours her. Come out, come out, wherever you are. It’s a game and Mackenzie loses, lost in a sea of blood. I’ve seen her death before and it never gets easier.
Glaring at me, she flips her hair and quickly returns to the conversation with the girl she’s with.
“So was I right?” The soft touch of Cameron’s voice sends a rush of adrenaline through my body and I quiver.
I step back and elongate the distance between us, but really I want to move closer to him. “Were you right about what?”
“About your poem,” he says with a charming smile.
“You think I’m in pain?” I ask as the cashier sets French fries down on my tray
“I think your heart carries a lot of pain.” He steps forward, reducing the already limited space between us. “But that you hide it, just like you hide a lot of things.”
He’s striking a nerve. “Isn’t everyone hiding something?” I ask.
“Now those are the words of a true writer.” He reaches behind me, missing my arm by an inch, and steals some of my French fries. “But the question is, what are you hiding, Ember?”
There’s accusation in his tone—he’s heard the rumors. “Bodies in the basement of my house and a burner full of ashes,” I say darkly.
He’s unfazed, tipping his head back and dropping the stolen fries into his mouth. “Weird, because that’s the same thing I have in my basement.”
“I’d be happy that we share something in common, but we both know that neither of our houses have basements.”
“Yep, but they have attics,” he says and it no longer sounds like
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