Page 35 of They Will Fall

“Actually, no. I’m an only child.”

“Me, too. It has its perks, but it does get lonely sometimes.” I smile at her. “But you like being alone, so I guess it’s great for you.”

Before I know it, the dorm comes into view. I flip the hood of my coat up in an attempt to be as inconspicuous as possible, though I doubt anyone here is looking for me.

“This way,” Temper says, as if I may have forgotten where to go.

Nope. This place is just as I remember it. Dark and gloomy. It seems no one took my advice on planting some pretty pink flowers around the girls’ dorms. I’m not the least bit surprised.

We step through the front doors and the smell alone has dozens of memories swimming through my mind. It was just last year, but it feels like it was ages ago. I can’t believe how much has happened since my stay here. I can’t believe how muchIhave changed.

“Second floor,” Temper says as she begins up the stairs. I follow behind her, my palms skimming along the rail, while taking it all in. This place holds a lot of awful memories, but it also has so many good ones.

Scar and I were in the double rooms on the top floor and it wasn’t often we visited the second floor, if at all.

We take the turn off and walk down the long stretch of hallway. One of the lights on the wall flickers in an almost mocking pattern. It casts an eerie glare over the area and my chest suddenly feels heavy again.

I’m taken aback when Temper stops in front of a door with three different locks on it. I look beside us at the neighboring door and notice it only has one.

Using three different keys on a ring full of them, she unlocks one at a time.

“Um. What’s up with all the locks? A little cautious, are we?” My words come out in a joking manner, but I’m not really joking at all. This feels weird and for a moment, I wonder if trusting the strange girl dressed in black in the middle of the woods was the right thing to do.

Once they are all unlocked, she turns the handle and pushes the door open. “Let’s just say the girls, and boys, here don’t make it easy on me.”

My heart pangs with remorse for her. “You poor thing,” I say, immediately regretting my words. I’m sure the last thing she wants is pity.

“Trust me.” She grins. “I don’t make it easy for them either.”

Walking into Temper's room is much like crossing over into an alternate universe. Though, it's pretty much what I expected. There's a skull on an oak desk with green and purple worms coming out of the mouth, and a stack of tarot cards piled beside it. It’s cringeworthy, to say the least, but nothing I’m not used to. Scar's side of the dorm we shared here was a similar style—aside from the tarot cards, and yeah, okay, she definitely didn’t have any decaying body parts as decor.

I walk over to the tarot cards and pick one up, curious to know what it says. I’ve never had a tarot reading done, or even seen the cards in real life for that matter.

“It’s just something I do for fun,” Temper says, joining my side.

I shake the card in my hand. “Death. That’s a little freaky.”

She chuckles. “Good thing it wasn’t meant for you.”

My eyes catch a math worksheet on the other side of the skull with her name on it.

“Temper Rose,” I say. “That’s a pretty last name.”

“Yeah, it is. Even though it’s not my real last name.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yup. It’s my mom’s maiden name. I’ve had it since birth, but my real last name—my father’s last name—is Foster.”

I gasp, feeling as if all the air has been vacuumed out of my lungs. “Did you say…Foster?”

Her eyes widen in surprise. “Yes. Why? Do you know any Fosters? Please tell me you do. Ever since I learned of my father two years ago, I’ve searched high and low for any information on him, but they seal everything so damn tight in The Society. I’ve found nothing. All I know is that he was once a member, and now he’s not, and his last name is Foster.”

The idea of Ridge having a living family member would be amazing. And a sister! He’d be ecstatic. For years, he’s been alone.No. It can’t be.That would be far too much of a coincidence.

“I know a Foster who is a member.” I shake my head, feeling silly for even thinking it’s possible. “But his dad left him and The Society when he was very young.”

Her eyes soften, and a gentle smile spreads across her lips. “Who?”

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