Page 33 of The Favorite Girl

“Raina!” I breathed out as her presence immediately comforted me. She looked up at me over her teacup and smiled. My face sunk as soon as I saw a small bag next to her. She had brought my things.

“Demi! Wow, one day at the Ivory Estate and you look like a changed woman!” She jumped up and gripped my elbows, tugging me into her. I took a deep breath and realized her scent was so very familiar.

Peonies.

“Hey Rain,” Conrad said behind us. I turned over my shoulder and looked at him. He acted like they barely knew one another, yet he had a nickname for her.

“Hey Con.” She winked at him. Oh no, did they date? Raina was married with a toddler. She was older than both of us by a good amount of years.

“Demi, I used to babysit Conrad.” She tapped me.

I don’t know why I felt so much relief considering I would never see any of these people again within a few hours. “Oh, okay. So, I was wondering if I could have a word with you? Privately?” I shot Conrad another look.

His jaw clenched as Raina grabbed my hand and led me out through the front doors.

As soon as the sunlight hit my face and we walked down the concrete steps, I wanted to take off in a full sprint. But I had nothing. Literally nothing. They’d catch me within minutes and drag me back in, knowing I had seen too much.

“Raina, I don’t want to work here. I think that they are doing something very dangerous and truthfully, very illegal. I was wondering if you could take me to your house so I could maybe apply to some other jobs. Don’t worry, I’ll find a spot to sleep tonight. I just need to get out of here.”

“What? Demi, why? This is such an amazing opportunity! I’ve known the family for years. You’re being irrational, sweetie.” She let out a small laugh but grew closer to me and lowered her voice. “What kind of things do you think they are doing that’s illegal and dangerous?”

“Raina, I saw this girl… this woman. She was in an all-white room, and she was clearly heavily medicated and… Raina, she was caged. I mean, they literally referred to her as a caged girl. And then, last night, this girl named Misha—who, apparently, was leaving the house for good—wanted to talk with me. But when I went to meet with her, her neck was sliced.” I motioned to my own neck while stumbling through my words as if I couldn’t get them out fast enough.

Raina blinked repeatedly with her lips tightly pressed together.

“The entire house is all white, and you have to wear these padded shoes and all white outfits. Everyone has blonde hair and green eyes, except… Did you know Conrad has brown eyes but wears colored contacts?” I couldn’t even believe the words that were leaving my mouth.

“Demi, Demi…” She brushed the hair from my face and looked at me with concern. “Sweetie, you need to take a few deep breaths and calm down. You know, I think that you have had a really rough life and, all of a sudden, you’re in this massive estate with a prestigious family and your mind is starting to go into overdrive.”

She didn’t believe me. Of course, she didn’t. I was the vagrant girl she found on the street in ripped clothes, smelling like a sewer. She probably assumed I was some disease-infested, drug addict stereotype.

“Raina, I’m not high. I’m not drunk. I’m not disturbed. This house…” I looked behind us at the sprawling estate with ivy running across the pristine white stucco. “This house has secrets. Deadly secrets. And I don’t think that girl in the room is the only one being held against her will. I think there’s more.”

“Demi, you are probably exhausted from all this overstimulation. Dr. Ivory is the best orthopedic surgeon in the southeast, and Mrs. Ivory is a socialite and philanthropist. People like them do not do dangerous things, because they have everything to lose. If you leave this house, you’ll be sleeping on a bench in the middle of Freedom Park, and winter will be here before you know it. Jax isn’t going to let you stay with us because of Kai. At the end of the day, you’re a stranger. I’m not trying to be malicious; I’m telling you the reality and magnitude of your decision.”

Raina held my face between her palms and smiled. “How about this, I’ll come by every so often and check on you? And you can come visit us whenever you want. We’re only about a mile down the road.”

Brushing my hair behind my ears, I thought about what she was saying. Homeless shelters were overflowing, and I didn’t have close to enough money for another night in a motel—which would take me easily a month of swindling to get it. I couldn’t use my legal name or social security to get a job even at McDonald’s. I didn’t have options, and if I left, I’d be killed or assaulted before my twentieth birthday.

Looking back at the house behind me, I nodded slowly. “What are they doing to that girl?” I whispered.

“Dr. Ivory helps women who have been otherwise dismissed by physicians.”

“But he’s not a psychiatrist… he’s a bone doctor?” I questioned.

“Honey, doctors go through the same training in medical school and even part of residency. I’m a dermatologist, but I still remember and know enough to deliver a baby if I had to. The Ivory family is running a free experimental study to help reset individuals who probably would have been dead if they didn’t get taken in.

“I promise, Demi, everything is legal. You just need to go inside, clean their house, do as they say, and enjoy a safe place to sleep, warm food to eat, and a roof over your head. Look, the pay is great. Save up for a year and then you can go get a place and a different job,” she reasoned with me.

“A girl had her throat slit in the garden…”

“Demi, you probably hallucinated. You didn’t sleep well; your brain is in overdrive. Going from life on the street to a mansion is a huge shock for your cognition.” Turning me around, she gave me a soft shove. “Go back in. I’ll check on you in a few days.”

Was she right? Was my mind playing tricks on me?

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

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