Page 42 of Apathy
And I didn’t feel so good, but I needed a moment to think about my options. Who the fuck was targeting me and who would go after my friends?
“Yeah, totally fine.” I took a step backward, heading toward the trigonometry classroom. “I’ll just get going, but I’ll see you later. Okay?”
My cheeks hurt from smiling, but I couldn’t let her see me upset. If she figured I was upset over something, she would definitely pass it to Kane, and then I would have to answer questions I didn’t wanna hear.
Without waiting for her answer, I left her with confusion lacing her face, and pushed through the sea of students gathering in the middle of the hallway.
Just breathe, Skylar. Just fucking breathe and think. Who would do such a thing?
But no matter how hard I tried to think about the person behind this, I came up with nothing. My phone felt like fire in my hand, but I didn’t dare put it in my pocket, still cradling it against my chest.
Somebody was killing people in my name, and I had no fucking idea why.
Ash
I pulled onto the gravelly road, following the GPS to the address Danny sent me. I didn’t go back to school after meeting Indigo, deciding to hang around the town for a bit and explore the area around City Hall.
I wasn’t able to go inside, but the amount of surveillance cameras on the building told me that it would be harder to get in than I initially thought. The Order controlled the entire town, and I guess that it was smart of them to have the area covered, especially if the entrance to the catacombs was there. But I was also sure that there was another way, and I was going to find it.
If I managed to get my hands on the old maps of the town, I’m sure I would be able to find another entrance to the catacombs. If there was an entrance, there must be an exit as well, especially if they were built during the time when people were smuggling things underneath the cities, hiding from the watchful eyes of law enforcement.
It was almost three in the afternoon when Danny called me, telling me to meet them at the old amusement park. They didn’t want to go to the crypt today; too close to school and too dangerous after what happened yesterday. I knew that Skylar found a body in the forest, but I only found out whose body it was after the bartender mentioned it when I was paying for mine and Indigo’s bill.
Megan, the girl that went missing last week, was found by Skylar and Lauren. No one knew who dropped her body there. I didn’t have time to question Skylar about it this morning, and I wasn’t lying—I came because she was avoiding me throughout the week, and that simply wouldn’t work for what we had planned. On the other hand, I wanted to touch her again, to see her, inhale that sweet vanilla scent she carried around.
Some primal part of me wanted her close, even if she was an enemy. I don’t know if she was going to be here today. After what she went through yesterday, I doubted that she would go to school, but maybe I was wrong. Danny didn’t mention who was coming, and I just hoped Kane wouldn’t be there.
After that scene at Lauren’s house, I haven’t seen him around school, but I knew he was there. He was feeling territorial over Skylar, that much was obvious, but what caught my attention was the fact that she wasn’t exactly thrilled to be with him. I didn’t know much about her, apart from the little snippets we were fed over the last couple of years, but she didn’t seem like a sweet and quiet type who would just roll on her back and wait for a guy to tell her what to do.
Something in her pulled at the strings in me and knowing what she went through yesterday didn’t sit well with the little monster sitting in my soul. No, the entire day I had the insane urge to go to her and make sure that she was okay. My entire body hummed with the need to be next to her, and after everything I found out today, after fighting with myself, I felt tired.
But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hang out with them. They were the next generation, the ones that were going to be initiated—if they already weren’t—and I wanted in. Uncle Neal didn’t exactly agree with my plan, but he let it pass. We both knew that even if he didn’t approve, I’d still do it.
I pulled up next to the black Mercedes G-Wagon and turned off my radio just as “Avalanches” by IAMX started blasting through the car. Two other cars were parked on my left side—a red Audi A7 and a silver-colored BMW. They were definitely here.
Turning the ignition off, I opened my door and took the packet of cigarettes I bought on the way. If the other day in the crypt was anything to go by, I assumed that they already had everything else we needed. Rich kids who had more money than brains usually went hand in hand with drugs, alcohol, and bad decisions.
I was probably a hypocrite for describing them like that because I wasn’t known for the smartest decisions. But unlike them, I liked to think that I knew what was wrong and what was right.
The metal gates in front of me were wide open, and I could see the decaying Ferris wheel on the other side. I had no idea how long this amusement park was here, but I could see the appeal. Once you turned down the gravel road leading to this place, there were no houses and no people who could see them here.
Birds cawed in the distance as I walked down the path, following the voices coming from the park. I recognized Danny’s and his brother Rowan’s, followed by feminine laughter that definitely didn’t belong to Skylar. Was she here?
And why was I feeling disappointed if she wasn’t?
I lifted my head and looked toward the mountain covered in fog. Since we moved to Winworth, I could count the number of times it didn’t look like this on the fingers of my left hand. Fog was the constant companion of Winworth, regardless of the season.
Gravelly pathway scrunched underneath my boots and rounding the corner where the old ticket counter sat, I found them hanging at the old merry-go-round, laughing at something.
“Ash!” Beatrice screeched and started running to me. “Oh, you’re just in time.”
She held a bottle of Grey Goose vodka in her right hand, and with the other one, she hugged me and started pushing me toward the others. Rowan nodded at me, while Danny jumped up from the ground and came over.
“I’m glad you made it,” he said as Beatrice ran toward Skylar who was sitting on one of the plastic horses, looking at her phone. So, we were back at that?
“Yeah, me too,” I mumbled. “What is this place?” I looked around, noticing that the place must have been older than I initially thought.
“This, my friend, is Infernum.”
