Page 92 of Bleed for Me

“Rosalie?” she pressed with a nervous tilt to her words. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

She shifted uncomfortably, her dark eyes darting between me and the door as if she were contemplating making a break for it. She was scared of me, but I didn’t know why.

“Like you’re pondering my murder.”

I released a breath of laughter and shook my head. “Sorry. I got lost in my thoughts. I do have a question, though.”

Murder… that sounds nice.

Don’t you want to know what it feels like to squeeze the life out of someone?

She trusts you. It would be so easy. Just like Daisy.

My stomach twisted painfully. This couldn’t be normal. It was getting worse. They usually weren’t this vocal. Until now, it had only been a few sentences, and they never told me to murder anyone.

“Sure, what is it?” Her posture was relaxed now, and she was looking at me with expectant eyes.

I did my best to block the voices out, though it didn’t help much. They were still there in the back of my mind. Blowing out a breath, I attempted to keep my voice as steady as possible. “Why are you guys so threatened by Jordan and his friends?” I finally asked.

Cheyanne reeled back in surprise. “I’ve told you already. He’s a murderer, Rosalie. He killed his pregnant mom after raping her while he made his father watch. That’s sick.” She shook her head. “Archer killed someone too. He stalked a girl from school and then killed her when she freaked out about it. Seven killed his girlfriend by cutting her up too deeply and had sex with her dying body.”

I hummed in response, the voices growing louder and louder again, but this time… it was Daisy’s voice that stood out the most.

Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

We all fall down, indeed,I silently agreed.

“You hang out with Ryder,” I pointed out. “He’s a serial rapist.”

Cheyanne narrowed her eyes at me. “And you know this how?” There was a hint of accusation to her tone, and I didn’t like it at all.

Deciding to ignore her on that subject, I went on. “Tyler set a school on fire and killed a bunch of people. Or did he blow it up? I can’t remember.”

Her jaw ticked with frustration. “That was different. He didn’t even mean to do it. He thought it was empty.”

“And Archer didn’t mean to kill that girl,” I snarled. “Just like I doubt that Seven meant to kill his girlfriend. Just like I didn’t mean to kill my own fucking sister.” My heart was racing now, anger swimming through my veins. “Don’t you get it? We’ve all done fucked up shit. We areallbad people.”

Cheyanne froze. “I thought your stepfather killed her?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled. “So did I.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have come here,” she added wearily, a sorrowful look washing over her features.

End her now.

She never would have accepted you.

She’s just as guilty.

My teeth scraped against one another as I silently willed the voices to shut the hell up. After a few moments, they faded again, but not without effort.

“Yeah. Maybe,” I gritted out. “Go be a judgmental bitch somewhere else.”

She scoffed. “Why are you defending them?”

She still didn’t get it. “I’m not. It has nothing to do with them. It’s the fact that your reasoning for despising them is the same reasoning you use to justify your friends’ behavior. It’s hypocritical.” I stood up, kicking the coloring book away before turning on my heels and heading toward my bed.

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