Page 141 of All Your Hate

I keep watching them, feeling like I’m having an out-of-body experience. Like I’ve actually died and I’m in the room observing them from the afterlife.

Noah knows where they are. But how long has he known and why hasn’t he told me?

30

WYNTER

“Wynter,” Noah says slowly and I startle, quickly closing the computer tabs, but he must know what I’ve seen from the expression of horror that I’m sure is on my face.

“What the fuck is this?” I ask shakily.

He doesn’t say anything.

I get to my feet and slam my palms down on the desk. “Where the hell is my sister?”

“She’s safe.” He holds his hands out in a gesture of peace, but fuck peace.

I can’t bear to look at him. To be lured in by his sweet lies again. “Where the fuck are Summer and Charlie?”

Then it dawns on me. He just left the building they’re in maybe two minutes ago. They’re somewhere on the property.

“The groundskeeper's place,” I say to myself.

“My love, I swear I only did it to help you.”

I hear him coming towards me and I grab the computer keyboard, yanking it free, and throwing it at him. He blocks it with his forearms and keeps coming my way.

“How long have you had them here?” I circle the desk, keeping my distance from him.

“When I found out your real name, I started looking into her for you. It wasn’t long after that I took her in.”

They've been here all along?

It never crossed my mind that he would do something like this. I never thought to question any of it. All those times he told me he was looking for her were a lie. When I went to my old apartment building, he told me Charlie was safe. I suppose in his eyes she has been. But it was still a lie.

“Why?” My voice breaks. “She’s just a little kid!”

“I’ve not hurt her, I swear, I’d never do something like that. You know that.” He doesn’t stop coming towards me.

“But why? Why not tell me?” My voice cracks.

“I wasn’t going to just leave her to rot in the system. I had every intention of reuniting the pair of you. I just wanted you to be ready first. After we killed Grayson I thought you were, but then you asked for the deal. I could hardly say no when you had just agreed to be mine.”

When I agreed to sign my body and mind over to him. I think I might be sick. He used me. All this time he’s been using me.

“And after that?”

“I knew if you saw her you wouldn’t be able to kill anyone. She’d have been your conscience keeping you away from the dark parts of yourself. The ones that I craved from you. The ones that you do too.” He’s got me cornered against the door now. His silky voice and honeyed words trying to trap me again.

“So you turned me into a killer for your own sick fantasy. You made me think she was dead or being fucking abused! After everything that happened to your mom and sister, why did you think that was okay?”

He dips his head, his face is so close to mine now. “I almost broke so many times when you were hurting. But you came outof it each time and then you started to love me. If I told you at the wrong moment it would have ruined everything we built. I’ve made sure she’s been happy here.”

Shaking my head, I push at his chest. I need space to breathe, to think. But he doesn't give me that. This is all so fucked up. “Were you ever going to let me see her again?”

“Yes. I just wanted to make sure that your urge to kill was stronger than your need to be good for her. Once you had that then we could be a family. You and I could go out and kill together then come home and live the perfect life, just the three of us.”

My heart beats faster at the thought of his warped fantasy. It calls to me like a deadly siren's song. But it’s not what I want. It can’t be. I’m not a killer, I only did what I had to do for revenge.

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