Page 45 of Insane Obsession

“They’re spraying graffiti on the wall,” Finn mutters. He leans forward as he watches Levi write on his front door. “What does it say? ‘Little cunt.’ Oh wow, I—” He looks away, hurt. “I don’t know why they hate me so much.”

I don’t like that small voice.

“Because David is a frustrated asshole,” Castor grumbles, accepting the warm drink I hold out for him. “And he knows he got set up. By you, of all people. The boy he kissed. The boy he threw away and used as the outlet for his sexual frustration.Even if he wants to get back into his daddy’s graces, he realizes he has fucked up. So he’s come for revenge.”

We watch as the group on screen laugh at the words Levi sprayed on the wood. Finn shivers. “If we hadn’t been caught by his friends, we could have stayed a secret.”

“No.”

“Back then, I mean,” Finn backpedals. “Not since I met you.”

“No,” Castor’s voice is nothing but a low boom. He snatches a hand around Finn’s throat and pulls him closer to him. “You are no filthy secret, baby. You are a treasure.”

Ours ours ours.

Castor looks up, and our eyes meet. “Shall we up this game a little?” He throws his phone onto Finn’s lap. “This is the app for the security camera. Fucking amazing. We had it personalized so we could fuck around when you were inside the asylum.”

“How did you know that I would be here?”

“You wouldn’t want to miss our grandmother’s seventy-year horror show, would you?” Castor wiggles his eyebrows and then grabs the phone. “Look. What do you want to do?”

Dropping my ass next to Finn, I watch as he checks out the options.

“Voices, smoke—oh, that would be pretty cool—footsteps…footsteps?” He looks up. “Like you did with us?”

“Yeah. Those were pretty cool, right?”

Finn frowns. “So you weren’t really up there?”

“Nah, we were here—” Castor pats the empty spot beside him. “On the couch. Watching you.”

“And with every step you took, you came a little closer. It was such a beautiful night,” I add.

“And then you came knocking on our door,” Castor winks, humming in satisfaction.

“I didn’t come knocking on your door,” Finn mutters, his gaze back onto the phone. “Horror laugh,” he reads. “Yes. I’ll go for that one.”

“Good choice,” Castor praises. “Press the button, flower. The floor is yours.”

Finn hesitates, but right before I want to encourage him to go for it, he clicks the option himself.

We all peer toward the screen, where a loud, screeching sound fills the silence. All four intruders flinch.

“Finn?” The guy with the spray can halts and looks up. “What the hell, dude? We know you’re in there. We know that you set us up. Why are you playing us like this?”

“Playing us,” I snort. “Assholes.”

“Let’s just go, Levi,” Lea says. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“Come on, babe, don’t be such a coward,” the blond girl says. “We know the asylum isn’t abandoned. Who placed those damn cameras?” She raps against the door. “Finn! Open the damn door.”

“Here, let me,” David kicks against the door until it finally yanks open.

Next to me, Finn moves restlessly. “I can’t believe they would do that. I could have been upstairs, lying in bed. Alone,” he shivers.

I lean back, smiling. It’s incredible what the right information at the right time to the wrong person can cause. And all that because of shame of your own flesh and blood.

The screen changes, and next, we see the long, narrow corridor.

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