Page 158 of Deviant

“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to give us? That it was intense?” Harper arches her brow.

“Do you really want to know? They say ignorance is bliss for a reason.”

“I want to know,” Abbie says with conviction, though the fear behind her eyes would suggest otherwise.

“Me too,” Harper chimes in, looking at least more confident in learning about the games than Abbie does.

“Fine,” I reply, defeated, tilting my head for them to join me in the sitting area by the fireplace so we don’t wake up Lucy.

Once we are all seated, I tell them everything that happened. Well, almost everything. I leave out the part about what Elias and I talked about, especially my confession of how Nora died in the end. But other than that, I tell them everything that happened downstairs in the basement—how Elias and I were forced to play a twisted version of truth or dare.

But by the time I’m finished, both girls seem to regret their decision.

I chew on my bottom lip, their fear so thick and palpable that I decide to do something Elias won’t approve of. Since he’s already angry at me, then I don’t see how helping our friends will get him any madder.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but I need you to listen to what I say next very carefully. When it’s your turn to go to the basement, I want you to pick the black door. Always the black door. If, by chance, someone picks that door before you, then pick the red one. Never the white. Do you understand? Never the white,” I insist, grabbing each of their hands and giving it a tight squeeze, my voice sounding a little unhinged even to my own ears.

“Okay, okay. Never the white,” Harper repeats, pulling her hand away from my grip. “We get it.”

“That piece of information would have been useful to me hours ago,” we hear Lucy say from the bed, her voice still rough from all the crying she did earlier. “Or maybe it wouldn’t. I’m not sure anymore.”

We all rush to circle around her, Abbie and Harper preferring to sit on the bed while I pull up a chair to sit in front of Lucy.

“How are you feeling? Are you hungry? Can we get you anything?”

Lucy just shakes her head, her gaze still empty of life.

“All he had to do was tell the truth. But he… didn’t,” she says, still sounding like she’s not all there.

“Hey, you don’t have to tell us anything. Maybe it’s best that you don’t even think about it,” Harper suggests, holding onto Lucy’s hand.

Lucy pulls her hand away from Harper and hides it under her pillow.

“I’d like to be alone now,” she says, closing her eyes.

“Are you sure?” I question skeptically. “We don’t mind staying with you through the night.”

She doesn’t answer, preferring to close her eyelids to tune us out.

I wave to the girls to follow me into the hallway.

“She can’t be alone,” Harper says adamantly the minute we step outside.

“Agreed.” I nod. “But maybe instead of all three of us watching over her, we take shifts. I think if only one of us stays with her, she’ll be less inclined to kick us out.”

“I don’t mind taking the first shift,” Abbie offers.

“Good. I can relieve you in a couple of hours. Say midnight?” I ask, to which Abbie nods.

“That leaves me with the morning shift. I’ll ask Five or Seven to make Lucy some breakfast. Something sweet to tempt her into eating, even if only a little bit.” Harper smiles sadly.

Once we have our schedules all settled and part ways, I’m at a loss of what to do next. My first instinct is to find where Elias is and go and talk to him, but I quickly chuck that idea away since I don’t think I could bear him looking at me the same way he did in that godforsaken room. There was a time when I used to thrive under his hate, seek it out, and bathe in it. Not anymore. Now, his hate feels like a boulder on my chest, weighing me down and suffocating me. It no longer feels like a precious gift. It feels like damnation.

My body, mind, and soul suddenly feel like they’ve taken a beating. Every inch of me hurts, none more so than my broken heart. I decide to return to our room, knowing there is a high probability that he’s already moved out of it. But when I get there, the smell of sage and mint still hangs in the air. And when I see his backpack in the corner of the room, hope finds its wayinside my heart and mends it a little, whispering to it that maybe not all is lost.

After a shower, I lie on the bed to take a quick nap, feeling too exhausted to keep my eyelids open. I’m not sure how long I sleep for, but when I feel a gentle hand nudge my arm to wake me up, I verify it must have been a few hours since no sunlight streams inside the room anymore.

“Elias,” I whisper gruffly, still a bit groggy.

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