Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“Turn around and look at me, Shi…” Dion’s voice is foreign, almost one I don’t recognize, but I turn slightly in his arms, peering up at him through blurred vision. “Where do you want to go?”
“Not—” I shake my head.
“Okay. You’re coming with me.”
When I don’t stand, his arms slip beneath my thighs, and I’m being lifted into the air. I hate Dion. We don’t like each other, but right now, I’ll take him over the emptiness inside of my heart. Right now, everything is numb, and things I wish made more sense are no longer important.
“I will need to ask her questions, Dion. Don’t need to throw your name around. The world knows who you are.”
I bury my face into the side of his neck, the tears unstoppable as they drench his soft skin. He smells of something unfamiliar. His cologne doesn’t try too hard. But right now, all I can think of is getting out of here. Away. I don’t want to think this is real.
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want. I’ll tell you when you can see her, and not a second before.”
My body jerks as he walks, but I squeeze my eyes closed. I don’t want to see anyone around us, and hate that the whole neighborhood witnessed it. A few moments later, I hear a gate slam closed, the crunching of stones, and then a beeping sound before a door squeaks open, then clicks closed.
He slowly lowers me down onto a sofa, and I swipe the tears from my cheeks, refusing to look at him. I recognize the ceiling. How could I not? This ridiculously haunted house was my mother’s favorite. She only dreamed of redesigning it herself, and as she would say, turn it into art.
“I’ll find out all you need to know. You can stay here as long as you need, Shi. I know you and I are a bit—”
I swallow back my pain. I don’t want to hear what he has to say right now.
“Anyway. Sparrow will be here soon. Just…”
Just what?
“Don’t move.”
I blink past the tears, my body moving. Patterns are etched into the pale white ceiling, and if I squint my eyes, I can almost make them out. A star, an angel, a cross—clouds. My mouth turns dry as my head aches. When I shoot up from the sofa, my heart’s thumping against my ribcage to a deathly drum.
Voices stop talking, and I turn to face where they’re coming from to see Sparrow standing near the glass window that opens out onto the small beach access, and Dion beside him. Malyk is sitting on the single La-Z-Boy near the open fireplace, with a rolled joint hanging from his mouth, and the smell hits me at once. The sweet, caramelized notes of sticky green.
“What happened to her?” I ask, looking between the three of them. “Who did this?”
Sparrow’s tongue flicks out on the edge of his lip. “It was a heart attack, Shiloh. They initially thought it was suspicious because she was so young, but it has been ruled a heart attack.”
My breathing thickens as I bring my hand to my chest, where the bump of the necklace moves over my palm. “Can’t be. She was fit.”
Sparrow’s eyes shift to Malyk before resting back on mine. “We will figure it out.”
I slump into the couch, blinking past my tears. “She was all I had left.”
“When do you turn eighteen?” Malyk asks from the corner of the room, and I shift backward farther.
“Next week.”
“Hmmm…” His murmur shivers all the way down my spine and to the tips of my toes.
He leans back in his chair, dragging his finger over his upper lip. Even during this time, he’s powerful enough to leave his mark. He turns to face Dion.
“You wanna explain what you were doing playing with the food in the forest? I mean…you won’t look good in orange.”
He flips Malyk off. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Oh God. I don’t want to go back to the house.” I lean back against the chair before shooting up to my feet. “I’m a minor. Does this mean—”
“No.” Sparrow shuts down my unspoken question. He looks up to Dion. “No.”
“What? Don’t look at me. I can’t do it.”
Sparrow lifts his ankle and rests it on his knee. He stands abruptly. “I’ll be back later.”
They all move like a blur, and as much as I want to read into whatever is happening right now and why all three of them are making it their job to take care of me—well, in their way—I can’t seem to think straight. All I know is that I’ve lost my mother and now, I’m without a guardian for at least another week.
I stare out to the ocean, watching as the waves crash against the sand. Clutching the hot mug in my hands, I rest my head against the wooden post, closing my eyes and breathing in the damp, salty air. My mother had no family. My father is well—non-existent—and as of right now, I’m the only person who is capable of planning my mother’s funeral. As much as I love Hades Hollow, half of the people in this town didn’t like Ma. They’d cross the street whenever they’d see her, and I swear I even saw one old lady hiss at her. Actually hiss. A smile touches my lips when I think back to that stormy summer day of Ma and me rushing to get back to our car to miss the heavy torrential rain. The little old lady—Mrs. Becker—was walking her little dog when she saw us, looked over her shoulder, and hissed at Ma. We both burst out laughing. I think that’s the part I’m going to miss most about her. The uncanny way that she was able to turn anything negative into something positive.