Page 21 of Oliver

A few feet from the light, I pause and drop to my knees before inching forward. I give a thought to the ridiculous position I’m in before I cover my mouth and collapse to the ground.

Before me stands a group of men wearing hoods and holding rifles against their shoulders. The metal glints in the moonlight and I close my eyes. What is this? Some weird ass ritual?

One of the men says something in a language I don’t understand before he holds a rabbit’s foot in the air and drops it into a blazing fire. With wide eyes, I watch the remainder of them do the same before the first pronounces, “Kill the bitch.”

It’s all I can do not to cry out when the same man pushes his hood back from his head and Oliver’s cold green eyes meet mine across the clearing. With my heart in my throat, I back away only to pause when a pair of feet form in my vision and Mr. G’s cool, calm voice says, “Where are you going?”

With a groan, I roll over and rub my eyes. I’ve had the same weird ass dream since Bone mentioned the Hunter’s Club. It’s almost as though my subconscious is trying to tell me something but whatever is, I don’t know.

I haven’t heard from anyone but Maeve who texted me after everything went down. I never responded because there’s nothing to say. Although I’m grateful she turned in her dad, there’s a lingering taste on my tongue telling me there’s more to the story.

The dream haunts me but for reasons I refuse to identify. Instead, I scroll back through Oliver in the guise of Dr. Love and Dixie’s exchanges, something I’ve done once before but couldn’t stomach going back to.

Dixieletta:I’m down. When and where?

Dr. Love:You sure you can handle it? I don’t play nice in the sand box.

Dixieletta:I’m not worried, I’m not very nice either…

Dr. Love:So, you’re naughty? I like it.

They flirt back and forth for a while, and I don’t see that they made plans to meet up. Is this because Oliver didn’t want to reveal who he was, or they communicated somewhere else?

Towards the end of their exchanges is when Oliver started to get aggressive, and Dixie completely freaked out. Why?

Dr. Love:You’re messing in things better left alone.

Dixieletta:Fuck you. I’m not doing anything I don’t want to. Back the fuck off.

Dr. Love:I’ll back the fuck off when you do. I’m done playing. Stay in your fucking lane.

Dixieletta:I know about you. You’re the kind that hides behind threats. You think I don’t know how to play hard ball? Try me.

Dr. Love:That’s precious.

Dixieletta:You know what’s precious? Thinking you don’t have anything to lose.

Dr. Love:Threats now?

In between her messages to Oliver, she was privately messaging Backdoor Bad Boy, a real winner, as his name suggests, who seemed to be egging her on.

Backdoor Bad Boy:Ask him why he’s poking his head where it don’t belong. Did you see my text?

Dixieletta:Yes, the fucker. I’m tired of this shit.

Backdoor Bad Boy:Tell him, tell him what you’ll do…

Dixie must’ve clicked back over to Oliver because she sends:The game is over, asshole. You think you can mess with me. How about I mess with you?

Dixie sends an image that was deleted at some point, but it seems to ratchet Oliver’s rage.

Dr. Love:I’m coming for you now, get ready.

That’s the last thing Oliver sends. The next series of messages are between him and me. He never goes back into the group chat. Why?

Whoever Backdoor Bad Boy is, Dixie was close enough to be texting him. Did they meet online?

Zeroing in on her conversations with him, I go back to the beginning.

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