Page 114 of Dare To Take

Relief floods me, and I check the message with shaking hands. A photo appears. Miles is lying on a bed, face pale and eyes closed. There’s a bandage over his left temple, a red stain in the middle of the stark white.

The fear inside me blossoms, growing stronger at the image. My attention shifts to the message underneath.

Unknown number: Next time, he won’t come away breathing. We told you there would be consequences for breaking our rules. Keep your mouth shut. Be ready to play soon.

Chapter 69

Eli

My cell buzzing rouses me from sleep, and I grope around the floor for it. Lifting it to my face, I squint at the screen.

Kellan: Miles slipped and banged his head, so I stayed in medical with him last night. I’m probably going to skip classes today and catch up on sleep. I’ll meet you for breakfast first, though.

Me: Okay. Let me know if you need anything.

He replies with a thumbs up. I toss my cell back to the floor. I debate on going back to sleep. . The problem is I’m awake now, so I roll out of bed and throw on a pair of sweats, and a t-shirt, grab a hoodie, shove my feet into sneakers and go out for an early morning run.

‘I’m ok’ by Call Me Karizma is playing when I reach the cemetery, and I pause by Zoey’s plaque to catch my breath.

“Hey, ZoZo.” I rest my palm against her name. “It’s your favorite day on Friday. I’ll bring you some chocolates. The ones Kellan hates. I never could decide if you decided you loved them most just because he doesn’t.” I tap pause on my music. “I’m sorry I haven’t been by lately. Everything has been so fucked up since Christmas. You’d laugh your fucking ass off if I told you it all.” I laugh softly. “Or maybe you wouldn’t. You always said there was something weird about Churchill Bradley that messed with people’s heads.” I break off when I see movement on my right.

Turning my head slightly, I see a flash of color. Is it Arabella? She spends as much time in the woods as Zoey used to. Part of me wants to follow her and see what she’s doing, but the louder part—which oddly sounds like Kellan—convinces me it’s a stupid idea and I need to go back to my room and get ready for class.

I turn back to Zoey and trace over her name. “I’ll be back to see you on Friday, ZoZo.” I tap my music back on and set off back through the woods.

Kellan is walking out of the medical building when I cross the grass and he waves to me.

“Do you want to grab breakfast now? I’m going to get something for Miles to eat and take it back for him. The nurse thinks he’ll be able to go back to his room later today, but he’s got to take it easy.”

“What about his friends?” I fall into step beside him.

“None of them have been by. Not sure they know he hurt himself. He was alone. Good thing I said I’d meet him. He could have drowned.” We walk into the cafeteria, and as usual, Kellan grabs the food and pays for it.

“Can we get it to go, please?” he asks the server, who smiles and bags everything up. “Where are you going now?” He hands me my drink and bag.

“Back to our room for a shower. I went for a run after you woke me up. I have art first, so I’ll be working on my sculpture all morning.”

“I’ll come and get you for lunch.” He waves the bag of food at me as we walk back out of the cafeteria. “I’m just going to drop this off to Miles, make sure he’s okay, and then crawl into bed for a couple of hours. Those plastic chairs are just as uncomfortable in medical as they are in hospital rooms.”

We part ways, and I push through the door that leads to the dorm rooms. When I reach our floor, it’s to find a small crowd gathered in front of the door to my room.

“Eli’s here,” someone calls out, and the students part to let me through.

I frown at them as I walk through the path they’ve made until I’m standing in the doorway. My gaze moves over the room. The television is hanging off the wall. The mattress has been dragged off Kellan’s bed, while mine has been ripped apart. Two of my blank sketchbooks have been torn into pieces and scattered around the room. Both our dressers have been opened, and the clothes and drawers thrown around, while the closet door is open, and the hoodies hanging up have been slashed.

But the thing that clenches my jaw and wipes all reason from my mind are the words spray painted on the wall.

You’re just a fucking monster. You should have died alongside your mother.

Chapter 70

Arabella

“Bella, please call me back. Stop ignoring me. We need to talk.”

Miles sounds so fragile in the voicemail. I haven’t answered any of his text messages. I don’t dare. I’m too scared of what will happen if I do.

He got hurt because of me. I never should have tried to say anything to him.

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