Page 1 of Our Lips Are Sealed
Prologue
Hehadbroughtherhome to die.
Tears streaked down her muddy cheeks as she stood staring at her beloved Haven House under the soft glow of the fingernail moon. The windows were dark, save for a tiny flare coming from the library. Someone must be up late reading, and she wondered if anyone there knew she liked to read too.
Giant oaks danced in the breeze on the perfectly manicured lawn, and if she listened closely, she could hear the faint lullaby they always made on winter nights, like tonight. In the center of it all, a vision of her mother stood in the rows and rows of rainbow florals, waving from the opposite shore.
With a wiggle of fingers, she waved back, knowing it wouldn’t be much longer before she joined her. He would strike, and the game would be over.
She could call for help, but it would go unheard. No sound carried over the wide inlet pass when the wind whipped and wailed as it did tonight. Besides, those who remained were thoroughly insulated within Haven’s walls, made strong by decades of resilience and well kept secrets.
Just like her.
Perhaps she deserved this. She’d fed that evil dwelling inside him for years by luring players into the game. All had begged for mercy, and never once did she save any of them.
Her only goal had been to keep him happy.
Behind her, there was movement in the brush, and his unnatural laughter filled the air with freakish ecstasy. He was close enough to see her pain.
Loving it.
Savoring it.
Making it his.
Wiping the tears from her face, she waited, letting the gentle waves lap at her bare feet. She didn’t need to turn around to know he was already stripping away his clothes. While he wouldn’t do to her what he did with the others, he would need to play the game his usual way. Naked. Like an animal.
The drugs he’d injected flowed freely through her veins, soothing the ballooning terror. Her foggy mind searched for a means of escape while the water continued to creep higher, the waves soaking her long white nightgown. She bunched the material in her hands to lift as a larger wave brought the water to her knees.
Vegetation and other debris came with the rush, and as the water receded, something knocked against her ankle. It was small and round, its green skin almost glowing in the moonlight.
Through the haze in her head, a distant memory tucked away in the corners of her mind took hold.
Snow White’s Apple.
But it wasn’t an apple at all. She didn’t know the actual name, only that the tree it fell from was toxic and its seeds deadly. As children, they were forbidden to play near the area where it grew.
Snatching up the water’s gift, she resigned herself to her fate, and with her gaze locked on Haven House, she took a bite.
“Run, run, run as fast as you can.”
Her mouth tingled as she chewed. The fruit’s toxins would spread swiftly, causing swelling in the throat first. The air supply to her lungs would eventually cease, suffocating her. It wouldn’t be a pretty death, but it would be her choice, not his.
And he would lose.
Sludge sprayed onto the back of her legs when he stomped his foot impatiently. “Run, run, run as fast as you can.”
Forcing herself to swallow, she turned to face him.
Always look them in the eyes. That was his number one rule.
Taking another bite, she did just that, staring at him standing before her with his shirt spread wide and pants unbuttoned.
It was much harder to swallow this time.
The manic grin on his face faded, his head tilting to the side in confusion when her body began to instinctively fight for oxygen.
Doubling over, she clutched the fruit tight with two hands as he ran to her, his eyes frantic. Laying her back on the reedy shore of the swamp, he begged her to tell him what was wrong.
