“I find that hard to believe.”
“You don’t know my family. They’re not all like Cora. She’s the only good one in our entire family, myself included.”
“What have you done that’s so terrible?”
“What have I done that’s good? I’m the family fuck-up. The only thing my family loved about me is that I married rich, and look how that turned out. I couldn’t even keep him happy.”
“Did he ever make you happy?”
Melanie thought about it. “No,” she replied. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been happy.”
“Then why beat yourself up over a relationship ending, if it didn’t even bring you one bit of peace? The girl who let that get to her is gone. You’re someone brand new now. You’re wiser, you’re more powerful, and you have family in the next room that put her life on the line because she loves you. That’s what matters. Not the people who wouldn’t be here even if they could.”
Melanie’s face softened, her eyes got a little brighter, and I saw her exhale like she had been holding her breath our entire conversation. “But I don’t know who this version of Melanie is yet,” she said. “What if she’s even worse than the other one?”
“What if she’s not?” I sat down next to her and placed my hand on top of hers. Her skin was like touching the rim of a cold glass of water. “I may not have known the old Melanie, but I can tell I’m gonna like this one,” I said.
There was still so much fear in her eyes, but there was also a dash of hope. The corner of her pink lips crept into a half-smile. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Chapter Twenty
CORA
I could have stayed in Max’s arms all night long, forever warm against his fuzzy coat and shaggy, brown hair, but I had a dead cousin and a couple of freaked out friends in the other room that I had to get back to. And we had no time to waste with what was lurking around town trying to kill us. They could find us at any moment.
Melanie and I had been hiding out when I saw Molly, Tiffany, and Veronica for the first time. Even though I had accepted what Melanie was and that she was truly back, seeing them felt different somehow. Maybe it was because so much time had passed since their deaths to that moment, or maybe it was because their presence felt far more sinister. They were destroying my car and ripping up the seats when we first made contact. Tiffany was laughing, Veronica seemed bored, but Molly looked enraged like a wild animal.
The only thing running through my head was if she knew what I had done to Owen and if she knew I was the one who ended his life. They were more bonded than most siblings, so at some point, I knew she must have tried to reach out for him, and in the process learned he was no longer alive. If she didn’t know already, she soon would. It was inevitable.
The girls destroying my car was the first and only time I had seen them, and I was thankful. Somehow, Melanie and I had outrun them at every turn. It’s the only reason we were still alive. Or, well, that I was alive. I wasn’t sure what Melanie was anymore.
When I pulled away from Max, my hair was covered in static, and he patted my frizzies down onto my head. “What, you don’t think it’s a good look on me?” I teased.
“We’re too electric, I guess,” he teased back.
I could tell he was happy to see me. Max would only ever say something that corny if he were overwhelmed with joy.
“We really should get back out there. Before Priscilla kills one of them,” I said.
He scoffed. “Or they kill her.”
I scrunched up my nose. “I’m guessing you guys weren’t having a bonding road trip together.”
Max chuckled. “It had its rough patches, but it could have been worse.”
That was probably the closest Max would ever get to saying he didn’t hate spending time with her. I gladly took it.
We left the bedroom together and headed for the living room, where I was going to have a little chat with everyone on how to treat Melanie going forward, but when we walked down the hallway, I realized the room Melanie was in was wide open. She wasn’t in there.
I found her in the living room, seated in a rocking chair by the frosty winter window, with Daggett and Priscilla hovering over her on each side like she was in a hair salon getting her hair done, or was about to be tied down and used for a sacrifice. I’m not sure which was the most likely.
“What are you doing?” I yelled.
They scattered like a couple of teenagers caught watching late-night Cinemax. “Nothing!” Daggett shouted.
Priscilla swatted at him. “Don’t look so guilty, you weirdo.” She turned to me. “We’re experimenting.”
“Is that something you really want to do out in the open like this?” I asked.
“Not that kind of experimenting. Eww,” Priscilla groaned.
“The feelings mutual,” Melanie grumbled.
“You’re not the one I was talking about.”
It took him a second, but Daggett realized she was referring to him, and he scowled. “Why you gotta attack my manhood like that?”
“At least I’m giving your manhood some attention.”
He was offended at first and then nodded his head. “You have a point there.”
I rolled my eyes. “Is anyone going to tell us
