Page 18 of Revelation (Private 8)
paranoia and confusion and fear.
"Actually, now that I see it, I'm glad he didn't give it to me," she said, wrinkling her nose. "It looks
like no one's cleaned this place in forever. And what's that smell? " She sniffed and looked me in
the eye, her own as black as pitch. "It smells like something died in here."
I almost choked on my own tongue.
Died. Died, died, died. Her eyes continued to bore into mine. Was
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it her? Had she left the pills? Was Ivy Slade going to try to kill me just like she'd killed Cheyenne?
"Well, sweet dreams!" she said merrily.
Then she turned and strode out of the room, giving me one last amused look before slamming the
door behind her. I couldn't move. Could hardly even breathe. About two seconds later, loud rock
music shook the wall right next to my new bed. The bitch lived right next door. Right. Next. Door.
The girl who had committed herself to making my life a living hell. The girl who had snagged the
love of my life. The girl who might have just subtly threatened to murder me. Right. Next. Door.
Spurred by a sudden rush of fear-tinged adrenaline, I grabbed my desk chair and shoved it under
the doorknob as I had seen done in so many movies. Then I backed away, wiping my sweaty palms
together, wondering if there was anything else I could do to protect myself. Even if I was wrong--
even if Ivy hadn't just threatened me and her comment had been a coincidental insult--there was
still a killer on campus. A killer who had just left their murder weapon in my room. There was no
way I was going to sleep tonight. No way in hell.
Why was this happening to me? Why couldn't I be safely tucked into my bed in Billings right now,
with Sabine just a few feet away? There was safety in numbers, right? And suddenly, I was
completely alone.
Finally, the unfairness of it all overcame me. The sadistic unfairness of it all. I sat down on the cold
floor, my back up against the
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side of my bed. Ivy's loud, angry music jolted my senses and forced the tears right out of me. I
pulled my knees up and buried my face between them, clinging to my legs with both arms as I
sobbed. At least with the music on, Ivy couldn't hear me. At least she wouldn't know that she'd
won.
