Page 58 of Twisted Empire

“She doesn’t hate you. She’s mad, but she’ll get over it. Just keep trying to talk to her,” he replied, rubbing my back in soothing circles. “Did you tell her the thing about Pri?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Give it time. She’ll do it. From what you’ve told me, she won’t be able to resist looking into a possible conspiracy theory, even if she feels like she hates your guts.”

I drew back and wiped my cheeks. “It just sucks knowing that she really thinks I ghosted her and said all that nasty crap about her. I would never.”

“I know that, Doll. She’ll know it pretty soon too.”

I nodded and let him hold me as my grief poured out of me all over again. It wasn’t just because of my friend’s rejection. It was the last few days in general; the ruptured cyst and all the emotions it brought up. For so long, I thought I was having a baby, and I’d finally come to terms with that fact and found joy in it only to have it ripped from me in an instant when the blood started to flow. It was heartbreaking.

I knew some people might think me overly-sensitive for my reaction, seeing as I was never really pregnant and I wasn’t even sure I wanted to have a baby until a few minutes before I ‘lost’ it, but I couldn’t help how I felt. Confused, despondent, shocked. Suffocated with inexplicable guilt.

Elias understood. He held me whenever I cried. Rubbed my stomach and back when they ached with cramps. Made me hot drinks and spoke soothing words. Lent me his strength until my tears dried up and a smile was back on my face.

He’d make a great father when we had a real baby.

He kept me distracted with a movie for the next couple of hours, and then he squeezed my shoulder and nodded to the phone again. “Want to try Greer again?”

I swallowed hard and gave him a determined nod. Then I picked up the phone and dialed the office again.

This time, Greer answered. “Hello?” she said impatiently. “Sorry, I mean, Roden Daily News.”

“It’s me again.”

“Thank god.” She lowered her voice to a hushed tone. “I’ve been waiting for you to call back. I’m so sorry, Tatum. You were right. I…” She trailed off for a moment. I heard her swallowing a lump in her throat. “I found a few of Pri’s old friends from New Zealand on her Facebook. I asked them when they last spoke to her. They all said they hadn’t heard from her in over six months, and her parents told them she was still here at Roden. But then everyone here was told the opposite.”

“That’s because she’s a prisoner at the Lodge,” I said quietly. “Unless we do something, none of them will ever hear from her again.”

“I should’ve believed you.” There was a raw note of pain and grief in Greer’s voice now.

“Don’t blame yourself. I know how crazy it sounds. I probably wouldn’t have believed me either.”

“Where are you right now?”

I hesitated. “In a safe place. I probably shouldn’t say more, just in case.”

I heard her breathe a sigh of relief. “I get it. I’m just glad you’re safe. How did you escape?”

“I was lucky. Elias helped me.”

“Elias King?”

“Yes.”

“But… you said his father is the ringleader of all the Crown and Dagger shit.”

“He is. But I trust Elias. He’s on my side. Our side.”

“Okay.” Greer cleared her throat. “You said the society pays off the cops to keep things quiet if necessary. Probably the mainstream media too. So how can I possibly help?”

“I need you to write down everything I’ve told you. You might need to speak to Elias as well, because he has a lot to add. Then I need you to turn all of that information into an article and release it on the student paper’s website. Make sure it’s shareable, and make sure every student gets an email notification with a link. The higher-ups will probably take the article down as soon as they see it, but not before people start copying and sharing it all over social media. Once it’s out there it’ll spread like wildfire, given the material.”

“I’ll do it right now.”

“Wait. Not yet. We need solid evidence to attach to the article first. We have a plan to get it, but it won’t be right away. So you can write the article and have it ready to go, but don’t publish it until we send the proof to you.”

“Of course.”

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