Page 98 of Ramsay

“C’mon, you’re not gonna just lay down and take this?”

Looking into her fierce eyes, I shrug morosely. “I just don’t know anymore.”

“I do. Stop moping and bring the rage. I liked you better when you weren’t wallowing in self-pity,” she says tartly.

“So, you’re admitting you like me?”

With that, she laughs, tipping her head back. Shaking my head, I eye her because she’s breathtaking this girl, with her darkness, still clawing at the light and I don’t know whether to pity her or envy her.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here,” she says, standing abruptly.

“Where to?” I ask, joining her with a tired smile.

Maeve looks between us with a furrowed brow and Dixie waves her hand. Shaking her head, she grabs her lunch and wanders away.

“Anywhere but this fuckhole,” she says.

“Amen.”

She gives me directions to an old, abandoned house on the edge of town. The place is falling in on itself, the trees surrounding it growing into the foundation and crawling over the roof. Weeds dance in the wind, as tall as my waist, their bristly stalks yellowed by the winter air.

“What is it with you and creepy places?” I mutter, staring at the house straight out of a fucking horror flick.

Snorting, she says, “C’mon.”

Rolling my eyes, I walk behind her through the grass and up the decrepit porch that’s so old and run down, I expect it to cave in at any moment. Surprisingly, the inside has been cleared, and a blow-up bed sits on the floor with candles surrounding it.

“Uh? You’re not into kinky shit, are you?”

“Sit,” she says, rolling her eyes. Dropping down on the mattress, I watch her do the same, before she reaches over and grabs a joint.

Plumes of sweet smoke swirl through the air when she lights up and I feel the last of my resistance go because I fought, and I fought hard, but the pain, loneliness, and hurt are more than I can bear.

So, when she hands me the joint, I take it greedily and suck the sweet inside, holding my breath to enjoy the rush. It’s fucking amazing.

“I come here when I want to be alone, or just think, you know?” she says.

Nodding, I listen as she prattles, caught up in the way my body slowly relaxes, my mind pleasantly free.

“Besides, this is a good place to hook up. Penny’s always home. It’s fucking annoying.”

“Hm,” I agree, a silly smile covering my face.

“Hey, did you hear about that killer? The Lucky Charm guy?”

I peek up at that, but waves of peace are pulsing through my system and with a smile, I settle into the mattress and close my eyes.

“Anyway, I think…”

Later, I wake abruptly and sit up on the bed. The air on the mattress whooshes and Dixie rolls toward me. It’s dark outside. We’ve been here for a really long time because it’s pitch fucking black with no lights, and I strain to hear whatever woke me.

But when nothing reveals itself, I fumble for my phone, pulling up the flashlight app and waving it around. This place is even more creepy at night, with the shadows dancing off the walls and the preternatural quiet. The hair on my arms rises in the gloom because I can’t shake the sudden sense of urgency that I need to go and now.

Shaking Dixie awake, I wait until she’s sitting up and staring at me blearily to say, “We need to go, now.”

She’s still caught halfway between sleep and wakefulness, but she doesn’t argue, and I flash my light across the ground until we reach the car.

Slowly, I turn the vehicle around, ice sliding down my spine, when I spy a tiny light shining from an upstairs window, and with a monumental shiver, I press my foot to the gas, and I don’t look back.

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