Page 39 of The Invite
I’ve never hated myself more for the treacherous and small part of me that loved it.
It justifies his wrong and immoral actions, which shouldn’t be the case.
If I stand the chance of winning against Augustus, I know I have to make my willpower strong and resist him.
As my thoughts drift back to him, I focus on my phone. Since my location is turned on, the videos are around from town. I stop when I stumble on a clip of The Massacre Ball held in Fallthorne from last year.
It’s dark and blurry with smoke but the tall, masked men strolling around and scaring the girls are unmistakable. The crowd does nothing while the girls laugh and record videos. There’s a castle at the end of the street adding to the spookiness.
Every year it’s larger and more haunted than the last.
The organizers have hidden their identities but they have to be as wealthy as the Graysons and Sinclairs.
As I mindlessly scroll, an itch rises at the back of my mind.
A wicked urge.
If what Augustus told me is right, that he and Maverick were there that night to role-play with a willing girl, it must mean they have their own page too where they post videos.
Worrying my lip, I contemplate whether or not to give in to my curiosity.
Perhaps I could use this as a piece of evidence.
Yeah, I have to do this as a precaution, not because I secretly want to learn more about the man who is intent on tormenting me. But it’ll be like searching for a needle in a haystack. I have to try, though.
I begin with his close friend, who will be easy to recognize since I’ve seen him half naked. Besides, how many masked men drag a chain around?
In the search bar, I type Maverick and masked men. Several usernames show up and I check out a couple of profiles, but none of them are him. What could his username be?
Think. Think. Think.
Then it hits me.
Along with the other two tags, I add two more: shirtless and chain. I click on the first profile and zoom in on the face. It’s someone else with plain black eyes. I pull up the second one with the username@nightcrawlerand bingo.
It’s him.
Maverick.
I press on the first pinned video with over a million views. He’s stalking a petite girl in a simple white dress, holding that damn chain in his hand. Down a corridor with flickering bulbs on the ceiling.
Wait… is this the school?
My mouth drops when I realize it really is. He must have a security guard in his pocket to get in after-school hours. No wonder he’s conceited as hell.
If I didn’t know the true depths of his and Augustus’s depravity, I would be impressed with how Maverick commands attention in the video. Whoever is recording on the other end of the camera has perfectly captured his animalistic aura. The danger of getting caught by him will be disastrous in the best way possible.
The girl’s long blonde hair flies behind her as she runs, but shedoesn’t get far before he yanks her to him with the chain around her waist. Slamming her against the nearest wall, he bends and just as their mouths touch, the video ends.
I become lost in checking the rest of his videos and become disappointed when not a single clip has Augustus, or another partner for that matter.
Even so, Maverick must follow his friend.
Scrolling up to the top of his profile for his follower list, hope flares when I see he’s only following a single person, and my heart skips a beat knowing it’s Augustus.
I eagerly click on it.
The username reads@thedeviluworship.
