Page 48 of Deviant

And rich.

Rich enough to not lose sleep over funding the whole town.

They must also be tied to some kind of criminal organization.

Even with all the limited funds and means in the world, you would still need to be well-connected to be able to contract killers to deal with deserters and whistleblowers.

Of course, all of this is just a mere speculation. I don’t have any tangible proof to back up my theories. Aside from a few ledgers and journals stored in the library, there really isn’t much to go by on the subject, much less prove anything.

Not that this town is eager to get to the bottom of things.

Even the few books I’ve found were all carefully hidden away in the urban myths section of the library.

I’m not sure why a cloak-and-dagger routine is necessary to hide such a stain in Blackwater Falls’ history. It’s not like it’s a secret what happens here every harvest season. I’d expect such deceptive actions if our town received tourists or out-of-town visitors, but we don’t.

In fact, if anyone searched for Blackwater Falls on a map, they wouldn’t find us.

It’s like we don’t even exist.

No one knows we’re here.

And that’s probably how the organizers of the games prefer it to stay.

“Do you need anything else?” Ms. Stevens, the librarian, asks, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose so she can take a peek at the scribbles I’ve made on my notebook.

“No, I think I have all I need.” I smile at her while covering my notes with my arm.

It’s the fourth time today that she’s come over to my table just to check on me.

“That’s a lot of heavy reading for one so young,” she adds with a frown.

“I think I can handle it.” My fake smile broadens.

“I don’t mean to pry, Rowen. It’s just that you’ve been coming here every day for the past week, and well, it’s normal fora person to be curious. Are you worried that your name might get called? Is that why you want to brush up on the Harvest Dozen lore?”

Not worried.

Anticipating it.

“It couldn’t hurt to read more about the subject.”

“I guess not.” She smiles meekly. “I must admit, when I was your age, I spent plenty of time in this very library reading about the subject, too. Though, there was a year where I wasn’t the only one.”

“Oh?”

“I probably shouldn’t say anything since your father doesn’t like people talking about her, but your mom used to come here a lot before… well… you know.”

Before she was selected.

“She did?” I ask in astonishment since this is the first time I’m hearing of it. “I didn’t know that.”

Why didn’t my father ever tell me?

“It’s true,” Ms. Stevens nods. “At first, I thought nothing of it. Since your mom was a schoolteacher, I just assumed she spent her free time at the library checking out books for her class. But then, one day, while searching for the ledger you’re currently reading, I noticed that your mom had checked it out before I had the chance to do so. At the time, it didn’t register to me why she would want to read such a thing, but then the Harvest Festival came along… and well… it’s almost as if she had a premonition of being chosen that year.”

I swallow dryly, a cold chill running down my spine as I stare at the book in front of me.

“I… I don’t remember much about that time,” I reply, feeling a bit shaken up by the fact that my mother also read this book.

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