Page 27 of The Black Lotus
You didn’t forget! That makes me so happy. I wonder if it is still your favorite animal or if that has since changed… Well, I guess I’ll just ask you when you find me. Don’t worry! This game has just started, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the target, so it won’t be long until I’ll be blowing her up and you’ll get to watch. Here is your next clue; good luck!
Night or day, this place was a safe haven; not many knew except two.
-TT
I have my suspicions about who this could be. There is only one person from my childhood who I considered a friend, but why would she do anything to hurt me? Is money truly more important than the bond we’d formed? Is she a serial killer now, too? Or is it someone my mother just sent to keep tabs on me, hidden in the shadows.
“Oh look, she signed it this time,” Serena points out.I don’t know anyone with those initials.Maybe she signed it with her real name instead of her killer name. The only way to know is to go to the next place.
“I know where we need to go next.”
“Are you going to tell me this time?”
“A park; it was the one place growing up I could hide from the teachers.”
“Hide?” Serena asks, concern wrinkling her beautiful face. I bend down to kiss her forehead, my attempt to help ease her concerns.
“Yes. Before you ask, I will tell you everything, just-”
“Just not now,” she finishes for me, arms crossing against her chest.
Smiling sadly, I nod, taking her back to the car, back to yet another childhood place.
And one step closer to killing whoever the fuck TT is.
TWELVE
SERENA
I’m pretty sure the girl who took Aster’s stocking is the Twisted Trickster. I wanted to bring it up, I wanted to let Aster know she is the one connected to his past somehow, but the distress he is in… I look over at him, his face scrunched and the need to reach over to release some of his tension is strong, but I keep my hands to myself. I think he needs to discover who it is for himself. If he’s going to keep me in the dark about his past, I’m going to keep the truth from him for as long as I can. Let him get a taste of his own medicine. It’s not like concealing what I know will get us killed.At least… I hope not.
The afternoon sun is being shielded by the gray sky. A testament to how this day is going with Aster in charge, which I don’t mind in the bedroom, but this has to do withmy life. My very existence on earth.If he just tells me what he keeps putting off, then maybe we could find the Twisted Trickster faster. Get his stocking back, get more answers, and then kill her.
Only to wait for the next hit.
The feeling of constantly having to look over your shoulder, never knowing what is coming next has been utterly exhausting. I’m not scared of Cynthia or whoever else she sends. What I dofear is the possibility of death and being ripped away from the one thing that makes sense in my life, Aster.
The car pulls to a stop in front of an abandoned park, one you would see in a scary movie. Two swings slowly sway one after the other, as if someone was actually on them being pushed. Every instinct in my body screams to turn around. But I can’t. Cynthia took that choice away the moment she placed the hit. As we get out together, we hear the sound of the worn seesaw creaking eerily in the cool breeze. The wind picks up the closer we get, a silent warning to turn back from the run down and forgotten place that seems to hold more than old memories.
“Wait here,” Aster says, walking up the rusted stairs toward the biggest slide I’ve ever seen. Even if he didn’t tell me to wait, I wouldn’t have gone. This place looks like one wrong step before falling into a world of pain.
No, thank you. I’m happy right where I am.
“Serena. Did you hear what I said?” he says with an accusatory tone. I know I don’t have the best track record following his orders, but even if you paid me to enter that death trap, I’d turn my head at the offered money.
“Loud and clear. I won’t move.” The next words come out as a whispered mumble. “Don’t want to fall to my death on the playground from hell.”
He quirks an eyebrow, humming playfully, then continues his climb to the top.
I hope he’s being careful and watching his step; as annoyed as I am right now, I don't want to see him get hurt. He scales the play set like it’s engraved in his memory. I guess it is, but he’s way bigger now than he was as a child. Maybe after this is all over, we can take a trip down memory lane, and he can show me some pictures. He can tell me why his parents are so evil, share about his time in the orphanage, and, maybe, just maybe, heal some of the scars it left.
Just as I’m sitting down on the cement ledge that dips into the park, Aster appears in front of me, startling me with how quickly he retrieved the next clue that is now crumpled in his hand, with a worried look in his eyes.
Cautiously, I tug the envelope away and read the clue myself, causing him to jump and breaking whatever spell he was under.
“Serena?” he questions.
Aster! You found the final clue, and I’m so proud of you! Now, all you have to do is come to me. I’ll wait for you, and my next victim, in the place holding all your nightmares. See you soon, Asty. It’s been too long.
