Page 25 of Bad for You

She doesn’t care about our past. About where we came from. She doesn’t care what our aspirations are because she only cares about using us for her own personal gain. The question now is, what does she need us for?

“All will be revealed very soon. Until then, don’t question me again.”

I stand my ground as she walks toward me. I know better than to cower. She uses her thumbs to wipe away my tears.

“Let these be the last of your tears.”

And with that, she turns on her heel and leaves us alone.

Thankfully, Cat survived another day. But can the same be said for both Lenny and me?

Once she’s out of earshot, Lenny passes me Cat. “It would be kinder to let him fend for himself.”

He’s right. But I can’t abandon him. I won’t do to him what my mother did to me.

This is her fault. All of it. And I know here, now, that I will doanything. I will killanyoneto find her and do to her what she did to me. If Gianna can help me achieve that, then I will do what I am told.

“What does she want with us?”

Lenny shrugs, and for the first time since meeting him, he genuinely looks concerned.

He too knows that whatever is headed our way can’t be good because neither of us will mistake Gianna as the motherly type.

We’re here for a reason.

But what’s the reason?

I wake to a blaring alarm.

At first, I believe I’m stuck in a nightmare, but when my senses play catch-up, I realize I’m not dreaming.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I look around the room and wonder if perhaps a fire triggered the alarm. But I don’t see any smoke.

Placing Cat into the pillowcase for safety, I quickly run to the doorway and peer into the hallway, wondering what’s happening.

The alarm continues to blare.

I don’t see any commotion, but an alarm wouldn’t sound for no reason. Just as I’m about to race to Lenny’s room, I see his mussed brown hair bouncing up the stairs.

“Are you okay?” he asks, placing me at arm’s distance and peering me over.

I nod, touched by his kindness. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Let’s find out.”

He grabs my hand and leads me down the hallway. When we don’t see anything up here, we head downstairs. Lenny seems to know his way around, and I guess that’s because he’s taken the time to investigate.

I don’t have time to admire the huge kitchen he drags me through because the alarm picks up speed, producing a panicked, shrill noise. The urgency of his tone has my heart racing because it suddenly feels like we’re running out of time.

Lenny opens the back door, which leads to a balcony.

We stop as he peruses over the edge, and when I see Gianna standing in an open field, lit by a floodlight, my stomach drops.

She tips her chin upward, staring right at us.

Lenny doesn’t hesitate and drags me down the stairs as the alarm grows more and more urgent. The moment we reach the grassy field, the alarm stops.

I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.

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