Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
“Fixing our forever.”
The card slipped from my hands, fluttering onto the counter like the punchline to a macabre joke. I dug through the excessive layers of tissue paper. The rustling was deafening. My fingers brushed against something gritty and I paused.
I carefully peeled back another layer of tissue paper. Seeing what I had just touched, I recoiled with a curse, knocking the box onto its side. Amber's head hit the island with a grotesque thud and the room erupted into chaos.
Jason ran to the sink and threw up. Cherish grabbed me, her nails digging into my arm as I stumbled back, my legs barely holding me upright. Her face was almost unrecognizable except for one side. One side was flattened, covered in dried blood. A single glassy eye stared lifelessly, the other lost missing entirely.
Gabe’s expression was a mix of horror and disbelief, his eyes glued to the head on the counter. Naija let out a choked sob, backing away until her shoulder hit the wall. “Who the fuck… who would even…?” she trailed off, her hands trembling as she covered her mouth. Daniella had her hand pressed over her stomach as if she were going to be sick.
My heart raced, my mind spiraling as I stared at her disfigured face.
My sister shook her head. “No. No, he’s not this unhinged.”
Ryan stepped closer to the kitchen island. “Who?”
I couldn’t bring myself to say his name. Of course, Naija sharp as ever, was already piecing it together.
“Is this… is this about Wilder?”
Gabe’s brows shot up, his expression shifting from confusion to alarm. “Holy shit.”
Jason turned the tap on and rinsed his mouth, not quite keeping up but getting the gist. When he turned back around, he glanced between all of us, his brow furrowed. “Wilder Carson? Your boyfriend?”
Cherish corrected him immediately. “Ex-boyfriend.”
Liza shook her head. “Wait, he’s the one doing all of this?”
“It’s clearly not just him. I’ve never seen that freak from the gas station a day in my life,” Daniella replied.
“When did you two break up?” Ryan asked.
I stared down at my hands, trying to summon some kind of strength to explain. My heart pounded as memories of Wilder’s intensity, his obsessive nature, and the look in his eyes the last time I saw him rushed back all at once.
“Two weeks ago,” Cherish answered for me.
“Two weeks?” Ryan repeated, incredulously.
I finally looked up. “It can’t be him. He… he’s not this…”
“Unhinged?” Daniella finished, using my sister’s adjective, but with bitter sarcasm.
“No,” I snapped. “He might be obsessive, possessive, sure, but this… this is different.”
“Do you guys think someone is still inside? Watching?” Liza whispered just loud enough for us to hear.
“We just searched this place top to bottom for our phones. There’s no one here,” Cherish replied.
“That was before we got that.” Daniella gestured to Amber’s head. “Who’s to say they didn’t sneak back in? Or that they don’t already have a way in we haven’t found?”
I instinctively glanced at the windows. Most were still uncovered, the curtains pushed to the side, leaving us exposed. “We should close all the curtains, and double-check the windows are all locked. If we can’t go out there, then we sure as hell can’t let them or whoever get back in here.”
Ryan glanced at me. “I’ll start with the back windows. You coming?”
I nodded mutely and followed behind him, pulling my sister along.
The others spread out and followed our lead. Every movement felt too loud, too slow, like we were racing against an invisible clock.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Daniella and Jason, their tense whispers barely audible over the pounding of my heartbeat. As we moved from room to room. A sudden memory surfaced, nearly making me stumble. The necklace. The delicate gold chain with the diamond A.
“Fuck,” I whispered, realization crashing down on me like a wave.
Ryan and my sister both looked at me.
“What is it?”
I looked at Cherish. “I think he’s been here. The whole time.”
She understood straight away, but Ryan didn’t.
“What are you talking about? Who?”
“The necklace,” I stammered. “I found a necklace in the upstairs bathroom last night. It wasn’t mine. It’s the same one Amber always wore.”
His jaw clenched, tension radiating off him. “Are you sure?”
“She can’t exactly message the bitch and ask if it’s missing, so I think it’s safe to assume she’s sure,” Daniella interjected.
My sister tugged at her hair, exhaling heavily. “Are you saying Wilder’s been in the house with us this entire time?”
“I’m saying someone put Amber’s necklace here last night. Was it Wilder? I don’t know.”
Ryan cursed under his breath. “Okay. We need to tell the others, now.”
“No,” Daniella whispered harshly, grabbing his arm. “We need to stay calm and figure out what the hell to do next.”
Ryan studied her for a moment, his lips pressing into a grim line. “Fine,” he said, his voice tight.