I could easily pass out, if I weren’t so afraid of what Madeline would do to me.
She’s waiting for an answer, and she’s not going to let me go until she gets one. I don’t want to respond to her question, but I nod.
Of course, I’ve heard of him.
Ever since I heard his name, I haven’t been able to think about anything else. I just honestly didn’t think that it would all come to this.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Care to tell me where we’re going?” We’ve left a sputtering Mr. Stanfield behind, and although Madeline’s let go of my hair, she now has a tight grip on my upper arm and is pulling me along with her. I don’t think that I could get away from her if I tried.
“I think you know.” She’s not wasting any breath, which makes me nervous, but the fact that she’s still talking to me makes me think that maybe I’ll make it out of here in one piece. I just don’t want to end up like poor Javier Morgan.
“No, I’m not sure that I do.” Every step I take sends a jolt of pain through my wrist and I wince. We’ve cut through the quad, avoiding groups of students and the strange stares they give us. It isn’t until we reach the woods and start down a path that I start to get nervous.
I have a feeling that I know where she’s taking me, and if I’m right…then this isn’t good.
“Are we going to the clearing?” I’m afraid that we’re going to cut through there and then go to the swimming hole. I think hard, trying to remember if I’ve told her that I’m not a great swimmer, but I can’t remember.
“Through the clearing.” Madeline pauses and looks back at me, like she’s trying to decide whether or not to tell me the whole truth. She must decide that I’m not worth it, because she shrugs and keeps walking.
She’s taking me to the swimming hole and she’s going to drown me. I feel like I have a sudden clarity about what’s going to happen. My blood runs cold and I suddenly struggle to put one foot in front of the other.
Why don’t I run? I stop walking behind her and she turns, measuring me with her stare. She’s always been able to read my mind, and her uncanny ability doesn’t fail her now.
“If you run, I will catch you. I will kill you, right here in the woods, do you understand? I just want to go somewhere quiet where the two of us can talk. Is that too much for me to ask?”
“No,” I whisper.
“Good.” She grins at me, digging her fingers harder into my skin, and pulls me down the path.
Even as we walk, I can’t believe that this is happening. I can’t believe that Mr. Stanfield would simply stand by and watch me be taken away by her. I can’t believe that my best friend has turned on me and that part of me is wishing that her brother would come and save me.
It’s fucked up that I’m willing to look for Quinn for my salvation, but I feel like he’s the only one who could stop her. The problem is that I don’t even know if he would.
We walk into the clearing and pause as she looks around. It looks the exact same to me as it did the night of the party. I honestly can’t believe that that was just a few weeks ago. Back then, my biggest concern was losing a bet to Quinn. Now, it’s losing my life.
“Beginning to wish that you had left Trinity Prep?” Madeline smirks at me as she talks and I have the sudden urge to hit her and wipe that stupid smile off of her face.
I don’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that I want to be at home, or in my old high school, so I don’t answer her at first. Madeline shakes my arm as we enter the clearing and doesn’t even pause before continuing down the path to the swimming hole.
I know what she’s planning. She’s going to drown me down there and there’s not a damn thing that I can do about it.
“Please,” I burst out. “Please, Madeline, don’t do this!” Even though the thought of begging her to let me go makes my stomach turn, it’s better than the alternative. It’s better than being dead. “I’ll go, okay? I’ll go, and I swear that I’ll never tell anyone about what goes on here. Seriously, I promise. Just let me go.”
At first, she doesn’t even turn to look at me, and that makes me more afraid than anything. Instead, she sighs and shakes her head, yanking me down the path. The first and only other time I’ve been down this way, I fell, sliding on my ass for a good part of it.
It’s steep, there’s no doubt.
Madeline pauses at the top of the incline, obviously considering what she’s going to do. There’s no way that she can make it down the steep part of the path and pull me with her without one of us getting hurt.
Not that she cares about me, but I have a sneaking suspicion that she doesn’t want me to accidentally take her down with me.
She turns to me, her face blank. There’s no smile, no friendliness, nothing that would tell me that we were once so close. “You’re going to go down first, Abigail, and I’ll follow. Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”
“Madeline,” I whisper, but before I can say anything else, my head snaps back as she slaps me. She leans forward, her eyes dark.
“Don’t ever say my name with your little whore mouth,” she hisses. Instinctively, I cup my cheek, feeling the burning from the impact.
Madeline was once my friend, but she’s gone. I threatened her way of life and her brother, and that was enough for
