Page 49 of Valley

My blood ran cold as I read the words, the meaning sinking in like a stone in my gut. “What the fuck?” I growled, the words barely out of my mouth, when a sudden sense of danger prickled at the back of my neck. I started to turn, but before I could fully process the thought, a searing pain slashed through my head, and the world spun out from under me.

The last thing I heard before everything went black was the sound of my own voice, echoing in my ears, and the unmistakable feeling of someone standing over me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I HEARD Agroan. Was that me? The sound echoedin my head, low and painful, like a wounded animal. The groan came again. Yes. It was me, and fuck, my head hurt. Without opening my eyes, my mind struggled to piece together what had happened. How had I ended up here?

Madeline.

I was looking for Madeline, and someone hit me over the head. The memory came rushing back, sharp and disorienting. My eyes shot open, and a flare of pure agony lanced through my skull. “Fuck!” I growled, squeezing them shut again, trying to block out the pain. Instinctively, I tried to lift a hand to my head, but nothing happened. My hands were tied. The realization hitlike a punch to the gut, panic rising as I jerked my arms, testing the restraints.

“Jarrod,” a soft whisper came from beside me, laced with fear. “Take it easy, you’ve been hurt.”

My eyes opened again, slower this time, the pain still throbbing behind them like a relentless drum. Madeline’s face swam into view, blurry at first, then slowly sharpening into focus. Her expression was one of pure concern, her eyes wide and filled with a fear that mirrored my own. “Madeline?”

“Shhh, Jarrod,” she murmured, her voice trembling. “Your head is bleeding, and you need to be careful.”

“Where are we?” I mumbled, trying to make sense of the spinning world around me. Everything was disjointed, like a bad dream I couldn’t wake up from.

“I don’t know,” she replied, her voice cracking slightly. “He knocked me out with something, and I woke up here, in the middle of the woods, with you beside me. I’m still processing what happened, just like you.”

“Who’s he?” I asked, my senses sharpening despite the pounding in my skull. My body was screaming at me to stay down, but my mind was pushing against it, forcing me to sit up. “Is it Sean?”

“You can’t win a war if you don’t know who’s on the battlefield.” The voice came from behind me, smooth and almost amused, as if this was all some kind of sick joke. I froze, my body going cold as the figure stepped into view.

“What the hell?” I shouted, the shock and disbelief crashing into me all at once as I struggled against the ropes binding my wrists and ankles.“Adam?”

He smiled, a twisted grin that bore no resemblance to the quiet, reliable prospect I thought I knew. He took a bow, his eyes glinting with something dark and dangerous. “That would be me.”

“Why?” Madeline whispered, her voice barely audible, yet carrying the weight of a thousand unasked questions.

“Yeah, why the hell are you doing this? I never did a fucking thing to you!” I snarled, the pain in my head making it hard to focus, to piece any of this together. It felt like the world was crashing down around me, and nothing made sense.

“NOTHING!” he shouted, the sudden intensity of his voice making me flinch. He leaned down, his face inches from mine, his features twisted into a mask of rage I didn’t recognize. “YOU killed Kezia.”

Madeline gasped, the sound tearing through the tension like a knife. Her eyes darted to me, wide with disbelief. “Jarrod? What’s he talking about?”

“I never touched a hair on her head,” I shouted back, my heart pounding, trying to break through the haze of pain and confusion. “How would you even know anything about what happened to Kezia?”

“How would I know?” he repeated in a mocking tone, standing upright again, his posture casual, but his eyes blazing with hatred. He walked over to a nearby stump and sat down as if settling in for a casual conversation. “Let’s have story time.”

“You’re Adam Tomlin,” Madeline murmured, her voice tinged with recognition. “We had computer science together.”

He grinned at her, a wide, unsettling smile. “Very good! You always were such a sweetheart, so nice to everyone, including geeks like me. It’s a shame you got caught up with Jarrod.”

“What the fuck is going on?” I growled, frustration boiling over, my mind struggling to keep up with the bizarre turn this had taken. My eyes darted between them, the pieces of the puzzle refusing to fit together.

“Let’s make a long story short,” Adam said, his gaze locking onto mine with an intensity that made my skin crawl. “We allwent to the same high school, but you and I ran in different circles. Except for Kezia.”

“I don’t ever remember her mentioning you,” I replied, my voice tight as I continued to work at the ropes, desperate to free myself. “I knew all her friends.”

“Did you?” he chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “You were too wrapped up in yourself to pay much attention to Kezia.” His voice turned bitter, years of pent-up anger seeping through every word. “Kezia and I were close. We just clicked together like a puzzle. I was just a big computer nerd, and man, did I feel lucky when she noticed me.”

“Enough of this bullshit,” I snarled, my patience snapping. I didn’t have time for his twisted nostalgia. “Why did you bring us here?” My worry for Madeline was growing by the minute, a cold dread settling in my stomach. I needed to understand where his head was at.

“Fine, let’s skip ahead,” he said, standing up and pacing back and forth, the movement restless, agitated. “Kezia had decided she wanted to be with me but didn’t know how to break up with you.” My eyes widened in shock, and he noticed, laughing at my reaction. “What, you think you’re the only one who was sneaking around? Difference was, you blatantly cheated on her while she wanted to do the right thing and break it off with you before committing to me.”

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