“This should be fun,” he whispers to me before standing. “I didn’t think you had this in you,” he says to Elle with a smile before walking back to the stage.
Another member steps forward, offering Elle a large knife. She tells him to drop it and step back away from us, and he does so.
Elle looks towards Principal Aldridge, who smiles back at her. “The floor is yours, Elle. You can complete The Ritual when ready.” He looks at my father, enjoying his look of defeat.
I look at my father one last time. He cannot say it to me being so far away, but I can almost read his mind.
I love you too, son. I love you too.
I look up at Elle with a thin smile. “Now you get to be me, Elle.”
She smiles. She turns to the wall and grabs a torch, bringing it to my face. She kisses my cheek. “Forgive me.” Using the torch to help guide her, she raises the knife in her hand aiming for my chest. “Forgive me,” she repeats.
Chapter 13
Elle
I raise the knife over my head and look down at Lance.
“Forgive me,” I say with a smile. “Your plan was shit. Mine is way better.”
I throw the torch towards a spot on the floor that I can see is still slick from the gasoline we poured over it before the meeting. The clocktower’s wooden floor erupts in a vicious flame, separating Lance and I from the rest of the members.
I take the knife and cut the rope binding Lance’s hands. When the rope is free, I stand, but Lance looks at me stupidly.
“Can you hurry up!” I demand, and he immediately stands, and we run outside the clock tower.
I look up and see smoke coming from the top of the clocktower’s windows. That was supposed to be the sign.
I almost smile when I see flames shoot across the campus at the entrance of Ryland Academy.
Jaxson did his job! I wish I could watch Ryland Academy burn to the ground in slow motion, but we have no time.
Everything around us is on fire, and The Beasts could get out of the clock tower any moment.
“What now?” Lance asks with a smile.
In the distance, I can see Jaxson running towards us. Danna should have the car started by now and ready for us to leave.
“Now you both die!” Lance and I turn to see Chase pointing a gun at both of us. His smile widens. “Happy ending after all.”
“Stop!” Jaxson yells running close to him. He stops when Chase turns his gun towards him.
“Jax?” Chase looks at Lance with a smile. “I knew you were too much of a pussy to actually kill someone.”
“Stop, Chase!” Jaxson yells at him. “Let them go.”
“Jax,” Chase says, making a tsk sound. “I always wanted a brother, and truth was, I liked you. I am glad you’re not dead. Speaking of murder,” Chase says, turning the gun back towards us.
Jaxson runs towards Chase with enormous speed. Chase points his gun quickly back towards Jaxson, firing until his gun is empty.
Jaxson tackles Chase to the ground but does not move. Blood forms in a pool surrounding Chase with the motionless Jaxson on top of him.
Chase tries to move the enormous body on top of him off but struggles to move himself.
Lance walks over to Chase and kicks the gun out of his hand. Lance looks down at Jaxson’s dead body before walking back towards me.
“Danna is waiting,” I say, and grab Lance’s hand. I take one last look at Jaxson and Chase.
“Okay,” Lance says.
“This isn’t over, Cain!” Chase yells at him. “I’ll find you! I will find your cunt girlfriend too! I will spend every penny I have to find you! You did not win! You will never win!”
Lance looks at me. “Elle, don’t look.” Before I understand what he means, I see him walking up to Chase, who continues to wiggle his way from underneath Jaxson’s body. I turn quickly.
Chase continues to yell at Lance, until his obscenities are replaced with throaty gasps of air. Finally, I hear no noise at all.
Chapter 14
Lance
When Elle and I jump in Danna’s car, she does not even wait for us to close the door before she takes off.
Danna looks in the rear-view mirror at both of us. “He’s dead, isn’t he? Jaxson?”
Elle wipes a tear that is forming slowly in her eye, and I nod my head. Danna looks back out to the road.
“Please tell me you have the keys?” I ask Danna. “The boat. We need to go now. They could shut down the roads pretty quickly, and maybe be set up to catch us on water.”
Danna nods her head. “Yep. And Bryce is already waiting for us there, guarding the boat, just in case.”
“Bryce?” I say raising an eyebrow, looking at Elle.
Elle looks at me softly. “It wasn’t exactly my idea.”
“Yeah, that’s my bad,” Danna says, taking a sharp curve on the road. I bang my head on the door frame and look at Danna.
Elle smiles at me. “You thought I was going to do it, don’t lie.”
“Never thought for a moment,” I say smiling back.
“Bullshit,” Elle says. “You’re going to have to get used to me calling you out on your lies. I’m done with them from now on.”
I nod my head in agreement. “No more secrets. I’m an open book from now on.” She leans in closer, and we kiss.
“Hey!” Danna shouts. “You two can do as much of that as you want when we are on the open waters. Eyes open.”
Danna gets to the docks in record time. We jump out of the car and run to the docks.
When I see the boat, I almost feel a sense of relief. I spot Bryce on the bow of the boat. He waves at us frantically. In his other hand is one of the assault rifles from the weapons cache.
“Do you know how to use that?” I yell
