Page 17 of The Road to Ruined

"You have to say that; I get it." Her lips twist into a smile. "But can you tell me where the secret concert will be on the fourth? Most people are saying it's going to be in that abandoned warehouse on Evelyn Street because…well, because of you, Teagan Evelyn. Because they're coming for you. And the coordinates match up with—"

"Stop!" I say, covering my ears with my hands. "Just stop. It's not fucking real, okay? None of it is fucking real. No one is coming for me."

"Sure they're not," she says, winking.

What in the actual fuck is going on?

I shake my head. "I'm going to pee now."

"I have a confession to make," she says, smiling again.

"I don't think I need to hear it."

She pulls a vial of blood from the pocket of her scrubs. "I did it while you were sleeping—I couldn't resist. This blood is inside him, too."

Rage boils inside me. I clench my jaw before I speak.

"Stacy…it's Stacy, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Give it back. Now."

She cocks her head to the side. "But if none of it is real, what does it matter? It's just a little blood."

"It'smine," I say, my fingernails digging into my fists. I do that thing again where I start taking inventory of all the ways I could kill her with just the items in the room. There are a lot ofthings in this room I could kill Stacy with, but the easiest would probably be a shard of glass from the flower vase. I bet the crazy bitch would even thank me for it. "It's my fucking blood. Give it the fuck back now, or I'll tell them you have it. You could lose your job."

"Teagan…" she waves me off, laughing again. "No one is going to believeyou. I mean, come on."

It pisses me off, but she's right, isn't she? I'm the crazy one. I'm the one who just got out of a mental hospital a couple of days ago.

She unscrews the cap on the vial, throws back the contents, and then drops the tube in the biohazard bin. "Besides, I don't have anything now."

My eyes dart to the vase again, my hands shaking. It'd be so easy. I barely prevent myself from lunging for it, instead darting for the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind me.

"Oh, I can feel it!" she says. "I can feel him. Thank you for this power, Teagan. Thank you so much."

I sit on the toilet, covering my ears and screaming internally while my hands shake with rage. I want to kill her—Ialmostkilled her. Dropping my head in my hands, I take a few deep breaths, willing my body to calm down and fucking cooperate. Luckily, she's gone when I finally manage this feat and leave the bathroom.

But there's something else unwelcome in the room now—a bowl of kiwi where the flowers used to be.

"Fuck!" I scream, stomping across the room. One by one, I hurl them against the wall, watching them splatter before dropping to the ground. Gritting my teeth, I try, once again, to regain control over my breathing. I almost bring my hands to my face before I realize they're covered in kiwi juice.

Oh, shit.

Panicking, I rush to the bathroom, and, using a paper towel to prevent spreading it further, I turn on the faucet. I scrub and scrub my hands and arms until the skin feels raw. Then, I coat the same area with hand sanitizer before returning to the kiwi-infested room.

Except…there is no kiwi residue on the walls. There are no kiwi on the floor, and the flowers are back on the table. I stay there, frozen.

"Teagan Townsend?"

"Um…yes?" I answer, tears stinging my eyes.

"I have your breakfast," the man says. He enters the room and sets it on the tray. "Are you okay, miss?"

"I have some medication," I almost whisper. "I'm on…an antipsychotic and an antidepressant. I need them."

"Sure…I'll let the nurse know," he says before leaving.

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