It is the same room. Same people outside of it, but instead of being fearful, I am not. I almost wish we could just stay here, and hope nobody will find us, which would be impossible in a small town like Ryland.
I’m more nervous to leave this safe house than to escape from it and go along with Lance’s plan.
And what a plan.
I had a billion questions for Lance, but he told me to not worry about it. He has thought out everything, and it is too late to go over it all.
Now, I lie on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about how tomorrow is going to go.
I turn my head and see the words ‘FUCK RYLAND’ etched in the wall. I wonder if the writer got away. Did they have a happy ending?
How does this end for me?
I sit up and skirt to the end of the bed. I look out into the dark empty streets. The full moon illuminates anything the light posts do not.
I wonder what time it is.
All this thinking has me hungry.
A PB and J sandwich sounds spectacular right now.
I sneak outside of my room. Danna’s bedroom door is closed, and so is Jaxson’s. Lance is staying in a basement suite downstairs.
I walk into the dining area and try and find everything I need for my late-night snack. I open the pantry. It is easy to spot a jar of peanut butter and loaf of bread when that’s all there is on the shelves. I grab the peanut butter.
I open the jar and smell. When I was a kid, my parents would always give me shit for scooping peanut butter out of the jar with my fingers and eating it. It is not being roommate friendly to the others, but I can’t help myself. I shove my fingers into the jar and almost moan from the pleasure it gives my taste buds.
I lick my fingers clean and leave the pantry with the bread. I find some plastic knives bundled together and take one.
A creak coming from another room startles me. I drop the bread and jar on the kitchen counter, and peer into the other room.
Lance is standing, leaning half his body on the wall beside a large window. He peers through the blinds, causing a small opening with his hand.
“Any bad guys?” I ask him. He almost jumps, but plays it cool and smiles at me. “I guess who is a bad guy is all relative though.” He raises an eyebrow at me. “I’m staying in an abandoned home with a guy who tried to kill me and a guy I used to hate.”
Lance looks out the window, then back at me. “Used to hate. That’s interesting.”
“I guess you kind of grew on me. Especially after everything.” I walk closer to him. He looks down at the plastic knife in my hand, and I smile. “I thought you were a bad guy. I know you’re not now. Tell me, were you trying to help me the whole time?”
Lance turns towards me, nodding his head with his arms folded. “And you don’t make that easy. I thought what I did to you, handing out copies of your journal to everyone, would have made you run back to the city and forget this place. I think I made you more determined to stay.”
I smile. “This place, it just… I thought this was where I was meant to be my whole life. Instead I lived in a not so great place. When I came to Ryland, I thought I was destined for great things. All my life, I have been trying to come to a place like this, and now I’m trying like hell to escape it.”
Lance unfolds his arms and smiles. “I was the complete opposite. From when I was young boy and realized how this place truly was, I thought of nothing but leaving it. The only thing keeping me here was my mom. When she died, I knew I was going to leave, just did not know how or when. I did not imagine it would be like this. I guess I stayed for my dad too. I thought I wanted to be him someday, until I found out he was just like everyone else in this town.”
I lower my head. “This is going to sound kind of fucked up, but I have to ask. Why didn’t you go through with it?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Ritual? Why didn’t you just do it? Jaxson and Chase seem like they were okay with it, but you never were. I’m obviously happy you didn’t, but…I guess I’m simply curious.”
Lance laughs. “Yeah, this is a fucked-up question.” He folds his arms again. “My whole life, I was brought up to think like a Cain. Power, money—these are the things that are important. I lived my whole life trying to not disappoint my father, until I realized I want to be nothing like him. You were the breaking point. The moment in life where I confirmed I am not him. I can never be like my dad.”
I grab his hand and hold it tightly. “I never thought I’d say this, but thank you, Lance. Thank you for not being your father. You’re a better man than he will ever be.”
Lance turns away from me. “Hopefully, that’s not completely true. If it is, tomorrow is going to go really bad for me.”
“What do you mean?”
He grabs my other hand and stares deeply at my eyes. “Nothing. Forget it. I just have to do a few things tomorrow. When I come back, we all leave, for good.”
“What happens if you don’t?”
He leans in closer to me. His arms wrap around my waist as he continues to stare deeply at me. He lowers is head, and I lean mine
