Page 27 of Pretty Little Psycho

She hops off the counter and puts the tub back in the freezer, licking her spoon one last time. “You don’t get it, Blackwell. This town, this school… it all belongs to them. They’ll never let you leave.”

A raven squawks at our window. I flinch as it pecks the glass. Fuck. “We’ll see about that. I’m going to bed.”

Her eyes bulge out. “You’re not going to shower first?”

I look down at the floor as the shame threatens to swallow me whole. “I’m… too tired.”

“Fuck,” she quips. “They won’t let you. You’re in so fucking deep.”

“Goodnight, Libra.”

I slam my bedroom door behind me and collapse against it. I need to find a way to get the upper hand. I can almost guarantee those psychos have some skeletons of their own hidden away. I refuse to be the broken girl they want me to be.

But for tonight, I’ll play along. So, I peel off my dirty clothes and slide into bed, utterly disgusted that I’m sleeping in this filth.

As soon as I turn off my bedside lamp, my phone lights up. I groan when I see Valentin’s name flash across the screen.

My stomach flips when I read his text. Good girl.

Fuck.

Can he see me? Or is he just so arrogant that he assumes I’ve obeyed him?

I hate myself so much right now.

I have to find a way to get out of this mess before I lose every ounce of self-respect I have left.

My phone lights up again, and I think I’m going to be sick. It’s from an unknown number but I know exactly who it is.

If you had watched your back, Firecracker, you’d still be wearing clean panties.

Sweat beads down my back and it carries the scent of the woods in it. My fingers fly across the keyboard as I text back: Fuck off, Riot.

He texts back as soon as I hit send.

Meet me in the library tomorrow night if you want me to keep your dirty little secret.

What the actual fuck? Valentin said he wouldn’t tell him anything.

I’ll pass, thanks. I hit send and instantly regret it. I’m just winding him up even more.

The typing bubbles on the screen make me shudder as I wait for his response.

When two boys go missing on Halloween night

And a pretty little Firecracker is the last to see them alive,

On raven’s wings, she takes a hurried flight.

And disappears by morning light.

Oh, that fucking secret.

Fuck.

It feels like the room is spinning out from under me. I clench the sheets, squeezing them until my fingers ache. How could he possibly know anything about that night?

I start to text and then erase it. Fuck. I don’t even know how to respond. He could be bluffing.

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