Page 44 of Twisted Liars

“I know you think it’s real, because it probably feels that way. But it was just a horrible dream,” Zara said, gently rubbing her back in slow, soothing circles.

“No! None of you are listening to me! I know what I fucking saw!” Piper’s voice rose to a fever pitch, and a vein began to pop out on her forehead. “It was there!”

Somewhere outside, a light went on. A few seconds later, Jensen appeared on his balcony, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. “Hey, is everything okay over there?” he called over to us.

Ali cracked open Piper’s window. “Sorry for the disturbance, Jensen!” he said, waving at him. “We’ve had an incident over here.”

Jensen feigned a yawn before speaking up again. “I heard someone screaming. What happened?”

“Piper thought she saw a prowler. Did you see or hear anything?”

“Only the screams.” Jensen fake-yawned again and went on. “We have security sensors in this part of the garden bed,” he said, pointing below his window. “If anyone comes through here at night, an alarm and a spotlight are supposed to get triggered. But I didn’t hear anything, and the spotlight didn’t switch on. Unless a cat wandered through, maybe? I think they’re small enough to not trigger the system.”

“It wasn’t a fucking cat!” Piper shouted, hands balling at her sides. “It was a man in a Scream mask!”

Ali hushed her before looking back at Jensen. “I’m so sorry you got woken up by all of this,” he said. “We’ll try to keep it down.”

“No problem. Night!” Jensen waved and turned away. His bedroom light went out a second later.

Ali closed the window and turned to Piper. “You really need to calm down, young lady,” he said, dark eyes flashing with annoyance. “Otherwise we’ll have the whole neighborhood worrying that someone’s getting murdered over here.”

“Well, someone threatened to murder me! It’s basically the same thing!” she replied. Her face had turned bright red with indignant anger.

“Piper—”

She lifted a palm to cut her father off. “I’m telling you, I know what I saw! That man threatened to cut my throat!” she shouted. “Don’t you care at all?”

Ali and Zara exchanged concerned glances.

“Piper, I know you’re in a very stressful period at school, because you have a lot of exams coming up,” Zara said, slowly and softly like she was addressing a toddler. “That stress could be causing all kinds of issues for you. Like nightmares.”

“Or even a sleep disorder, perhaps,” Ali cut in, nodding slowly. “Night terrors can happen as a result of that. Amerie’s been through something similar, remember?”

“Yeah.” I thoughtfully tilted my head. “It could be worth speaking to a doctor about it.”

Zara nodded. “Yes, that’s a good idea. I’ll make an appointment with Flora tomorrow.”

Piper’s eyes bulged. “Flora?” she squeaked. The red had drained right out of her cheeks, turning her ashen again.

“You know her, honey,” Zara replied. “Dr. Carmichael.”

I suppressed a smile. The conversation was unfolding exactly as I’d envisaged.

I knew Zara was only suggesting Dr. Carmichael because they were close friends, and she was genuinely concerned about Piper’s health. However, because Piper had been told everything about the Rosmerta Society for her so-called mission, she knew that Dr. Carmichael had a side hustle for the society that involved impregnating young women.

In her confused and panicked state, Piper would think she’d been picked for the breeding stock treatment as punishment. She’d have absolutely no idea what she’d done wrong in the society’s eyes, but she’d still be certain she was in trouble based on everything that had happened to her recently—the strange sounds, the rumors at school, the note Jensen sneaked into her locker, and now this stalker video that no one seemed to believe her about.

“No!” she shrieked, pushing her mother away. “I don’t need to go to her!”

“Yes, you do. We’re worried about you,” Zara said, brows knitting. “You clearly need help.”

Tears sprang to Piper’s eyes again. “Please, Mom. You can’t do this to me!” she said, voice choked with desperation. “You can’t! I’m your daughter!”

“Yes, I’m aware of that, and that’s why I care about you so much,” Zara said, shaking her head at Piper’s tantrum. “You’re going to see Flora, and that’s final.”

“It’s not fair! I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“No one is saying you did anything wrong,” I cut in. “You just had a night terror, that’s all. It’s not your fault. But a doctor can definitely help.”

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