Page 10 of They Will Fall

“This,” she begins, eyes darting over my shoulder toward the cabin. “This is Scar’s parents' cabin. They’ve owned it for years.”

“No shit,” I wheeze. “How fucking ironic. But it still doesn’t explain why you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Riley gulps, still stunned for whatever reason. “Do you know what’s underneath this place?”

I’m taken aback at the fact thatsheknows what’s underneath this place. I shouldn’t be, though, considering her best friend’s parents own it.

“A bunch of old artifacts and papers,” I tell her. “Some of which are interesting, others that are boring as hell.”

“It’s a record of us, Maddox. Of our ancestors.” She shivers, as if a cold chill just ran down her spine. “It was also Governor Saint’s lair when he was stalking Scar, and all of us, during our senior year at Boulder Cove Academy.”

“Holy shit.” I draw my fingers around my mouth as I glance over my shoulder at the cabin. “I had no fucking idea.” I return my eyes to hers, understanding why she’s so scared right now. “Like I said, I haven’t been here in years. I heard it was fenced off and there was an order in place for students not to trespass, but I didn’t know why.”

“Scar’s parents put up the ‘no trespassing’ signs and put in the order with The Academy. They made it clear that if anyone came on this property, they would be reported to The Elders.”

“And the room underground?” I ask her, curious what’s happened with that.

“It’s been emptied. They struck a deal and agreed to hand over all the paraphernalia to The Elders so it could be sealed and kept safe, so long as they kept the rule in place that students were forbidden to enter the cabin and the east end of the tunnels. They’ve been closed off with a vault door.”

My inquiring mind is dying to see the inside of the cabin and the room beneath it. I know teenagers, and when they are told that something is off-limits, they want to know why. There is no way in hell not a single student has jumped this fence and ransacked the cabin.

I look at Riley, though her blank stare is focused on the space behind me. “We don’t have to go. If I’d known that this place was connected—”

“Actually.” She pauses, her tongue darting out to wet her lips nervously as her gaze shifts to mine. "I changed my mind.”

My eyebrows rise to my forehead. “You did?”

“Yeah.” She nods. “First of all, you left Ridge a note to meet us here. Second, for over a year, I’ve struggled to come to terms with what I did, but being here right now is a reminder of why I shouldn’t have regrets. I want to see that room.”

She brushes past me, the fabric of the old coat grazing the sleeve of my hoodie. Her feet gently crunch on dry leaves and twigs as she zigzags around the trees, heading right for the cabin.

I jog to catch up and walk by her side. “You’re sure about this? We can hide out somewhere else.”I need to be sure this is going to benefit Riley and not hurt her more in the long run. There’s no saying what sort of memories are going to be dredged up once she’s entered that place. She went through a traumatic ordeal because of the crooked governor and I’d hate for all her progress to be for nothing.

“Ihaveto do this, Maddox.” Her eyes don’t even meet mine as she speaks, and it’s apparent she is a woman on a mission. “Can you stand guard while I go inside?”

“Not a chance in hell. If you’re going in there, so am I.”

“Fine.” She raises her shoulders, letting them drop slowly. “But if we get caught…”

“We won’t. It’s not like there’s a guard out here. It’s the sole reason I knew it would be safe to hide here.”

Riley stops abruptly and grabs the sleeve of my hoodie, jerking me around a tree. “There’s a camera.” She gasps. “Fuck!”

I peer around to try to get a look, and sure enough, there’s a mounted black camera pointed right at us. I step out to get a better look when Riley hisses, “What the hell are you doing?”

“We’re too far away from any towers. There’s no way they have a Wi-Fi signal out here.” I walk closer to the side of the cabin where the camera is mounted, knowing it’s already recorded us. “Chances are, it’s recording to a USB card.” My eyes skim the ground, and when I spot a long enough stick, I pick it up.

“What are you doing?” Riley asks breathlessly.

Without responding, I swing the stick outward and bring it forward, hitting the camera hard enough to knock it down.

Once it hits the ground, I stomp the toe of my boot to it repeatedly.

“Maddox!”

“It had to be done,” I tell her.

“No shit.” She crouches down and picks up the remnants of the camera. “But this is what we need.” Holding a small chip in the air, she smiles widely.

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