Page 47 of Ramsay

“Yeah, you know. They’re like whores except without the fake tits. Must’ve been a booty call. Sorry, Maeve.”

Maeve just shrugs and looks away, but I see the flush mottling her cheeks. Does it bother her when the others talk about them?

With a grimace, I look at my hands because I’m pathetically caught up and it hurts to know Ramsay left me for the ‘next bitch in line’.

Dick.

“What’s the deal with them anyway? Why is everyone so afraid of them?” I ask. I mean, I’ve heard rumors, but maybe my new crew can shed some light on the subject? Do they know about Diem’s connections to the mob?

There’s an uneasy silence where everyone looks at each other, and I’m regretting my question when Bone says quietly, “They own the school and every person in it. Don’t delude yourself into thinking you can defy them. Because you’ll never know who they have in their pocket.”

This sounds surprisingly like my conversation with Maxie, and once again, I have to wonder if Sabrina’s affiliated with them somehow.

“But why? We’re in high school. This isn’t world domination shit?” I mutter.

Bone laughs. “Who knows? They crave power. Or they’re constantly working for damage control. Could be anything,” he says with a shrug.

Eyeing Bone speculatively, I wonder, why does he sound so sure of himself? Damage control? Of what?

Of course, knowing what I know now, it could be a series of dead bodies. Besides, they’re certainly imposing their control on me.

“What do you think?” I ask, turning to Maeve. “You seem close to Diem, at least.”

Her face suffuses with color, and she drops her gaze. Okay, I guess I shouldn’t have mentioned it, but does she think it's not obvious?

“Let’s play hide and seek,” Dixie says into the breach, clapping her hands.

“Uh, what?”

“Yeah, it’s why we come out here. Perfect place at night.”

Right, because running around the forest drunk and high in the dark is fun. Weirdos.

Reluctantly, I follow, giving Matt a tentative smile, to which he blushes and turns quickly away.

“Okay, I’m counting to twenty,” Bone hollers, and Dixie gasps, giggling behind me.

Rolling my eyes, I venture in and slip away from the others, keeping the light of the fire in sight. Bone’s voice fades as he continues his countdown, and the sounds of giggling and branches crunching underfoot fill the darkness as I walk away.

About fifty yards in, I circle back toward the fire, but in the direction of where we parked our cars, hoping to hide out there. Once I’m a fair distance away, I crouch behind a tree, near where the parking lot sits.

Bone finishes his count down and yells, “Ready or not! Here I come!”

Heaving a sigh, I stare at the sky because if you’d ask me earlier if I’d be playing midnight hide and seek in the creepy-ass dark, I’d have laughed.

Maybe facing my demons and bitter loss was a better bet.

Since I’m fairly sure no one is going to search in this direction, I settle in and get comfortable, crossing my legs at the ankles. The distant ring of high-pitched screams echoes through the trees eerily and with a sigh, I lean my head against the tree.

I’ve just closed my eyes when I hear a twig snap nearby. Twisting my head to the right, I resign myself to being it and prepare myself for the big reveal when silence falls around me.

Searching the darkness, I hear nothing more and ease back against the trunk, shrugging it off as Dixie shrieks again, someone barks out a laugh, and another twig snaps nearby.

A gust of wind flies between the branches and I shiver in the cool air, a trickle of awareness sliding down my spine.

Bone yells in the distance, “I’m coming for ya!”

If Bone’s farther into the woods, who’s over here with me? With sweaty palms, I slowly pull from my crouch and listen, but other than the laughter from afar, it’s deadly silent, even the natural sounds of the forest creatures missing.

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