“What?” I query. “You all met…the same girl?” Folding my arms over my chest, I wait for one of them to talk. I settle my gaze on Colton, the easiest target. Normally, one glare from me will cause him to verbally ram himself into a brick wall. He’s never been able to resist my signature evil-eye, as they call it.
“She’s beautiful and fun and smart and hilarious…and that’s all we’re going to say on the matter,” he blurts, compressing his lips into a stubborn line. Henry rolls his eyes, as if pissed at Colton for giving in so easily, while Ray hurls daggers at his twin.
His words should surprise me. It’s not as if I don’t know that polyamorous relationships are a thing; it’s more that I never saw or experienced one myself. We lived in a diminutive community where you couldn’t even change your diet without everyone knowing. So for my brothers to partake in a harem-type situation? That girl must be one lucky bitch.
But I’ll stab her eyes out if she hurts them.
They’ve always been close, even at a young age. Throughout their childhoods, they were inseparable, one never too far from the other. It made me unreasonably jealous at some points—after all, I wanted nothing more than to be a part of their sacred boys club. It only makes sense that they would all fall in love with the same girl.
Though, once again, I’ll stab a bitch if I have to.
Our apartment door opens and closes as Avery steps inside, blond hair sticking to his forehead. He shakes out his umbrella before hanging that and his jacket on the hooks.
“Is it raining?” I inquire as I will my eyes away from the way his gray shirt clings to his muscular body. Why does he have to have such a nice one? A body, I mean. Why does he have to have an eight-pack, my kryptonite?
“Just started,” he says and, as if in tandem to his words, thunder roars from outside. For some reason, I always liked thunderstorms. I find them soothing, almost refreshing, as if the rain can physically wipe away all the stress and heartache of the day. It’s a way to start fresh, a way to forget that the world is in dissonant chaos.
“Avery!” Colton says eagerly as he jumps out of the chair and rushes to embrace my best friend. Henry and Ray are quick to follow, all of them exchanging those weird man slaps. You know the type—when they wrap one arm around the other male’s back and pat it like you would burp a baby.
I can’t help but note that Avery seems tense, almost uneasy. His eyes flicker from face to face before landing on me and sticking.
“Did you hear?” he questions seriously, his tone at odds with the playful banter from my brothers.
“Hear what?” A cold chill skates down my back and chases away any and all warmth I once felt. Though I’m protected inside from the growling thunder, intermittent flashes of lightning, and pouring rain, it feels as if I’m standing directly in the downpour.
Stepping around Ray and Henry, Avery perches on the arm of the couch and grabs the television remote. He immediately flicks through the channels until he stops on a local news report.
Which is currently describing the gruesome details of Professor Whitmore’s death. Apparently, his wife found him strangled in their shared bedroom earlier this morning.
Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
My heart is hammering so loud that I can’t hear anything else. All I can do is stare at the screen, willing the image to change.
“Did you know this man?” Henry asks, frowning.
“He was…” I clear my throat and try again. “He was my professor.”
And now he’s dead.
My childhood serial killer has struck again.
CHAPTER 6
The next two weeks fly by with no new dead bodies or attacks. It lures me in to a false sense of security—that moment in a horror movie when you firmly believe that the girl is going to survive the masked serial killer. However, as she runs bleeding and screaming from the house, he materializes in front of her with a chainsaw raised. With one fatal sweep of his hands, he cuts her head clean off.
And yes, I have been binge watching Avery’s horror movie collection.
Don’t judge me.
During that time—that excruciating period—I jumped at every noise, every shadow. I barely, if ever, left my room. I emailed my professors and told them I had a bad case of food poisoning. I’m not sure if they believed me, but I was a model student. The good girl. What reason would I have to lie?
Besides, oh, the fact that someone is trying to kill me.
Even Avery grew increasingly concerned as the days dragged on and I became more and more secluded. He began to leave plates of food outside my door, never questioning my eccentric behavior and caring for me despite it. I can’t even imagine what would’ve transpired if my brothers had stayed longer than a day. No doubt, they would have dragged me from my bed kicking and screaming, demanding I ovaried up.
Is it possible that the threat is over? That I’m safe?
Surely, these killers know where I live. If they wanted me dead, they had ample opportunity to eliminate me during the two weeks I remained in self-isolation.
My confidence returning, I wake up on the fifteenth day with a skip to my step that hadn’t been there prior. Avery, currently shirtless and dancing around the tiny griddle as he creates Mickey Mouse pancakes, glances up in alarm. His eyes widen comically, as if my appearance is more shocking than anything else in the world. Though, I can’t blame him for being suspicious. I did go weeks without leaving my room, except for the occasional bathroom trip and food run.
“Morning, Aves,” I say cheerfully, pushing up on my tiptoes to
