Page 138 of Shadowface

My stomach roils and turns. I ignore his texts as I’ve been doing the past days and place my phone down as a swirl of wind hits from outside.

SF: Answer me, Summer…please.

I gasp for breath, desperate to reply. A sickness hits my stomach, knowing he wants me to.

It’s Mikael’s power over me, a constant presence in my life. Every time I’m away from him, I’m nauseous. This has haunted me since I was a teenager. The only time I get relief is when he’s inside me, touching me, or I’m doing exactly what he wants from me. He is the only cure for this disease inside me. That or…death.

Another message.

SF: Pretty girl is mine.

I narrow my brows at the sudden change in tone. Then they hit like a pinball machine. Out of control and one after the other. Chaotic and sporadic, like a child with a knife.

SF: I promised to kill pretty girl.

SF: Don’t run from me, pretty girl.

SF: It will only take a second. I’ll make it enjoyable.

That doesn’t sound like Lincoln or Mikael.

My breath catches, and my heart pumps a million miles an hour. He’s spiraling…

I rest my thumb over the message, wanting to respond. Silently begging him to stop, knowing this isn’t either of them speaking to me.

I don’t engage and then⁠—

SF: Come on, baby. Don’t make me chase you down tomorrow. You’ll wake him up, and if that happens, it will definitely hurt.

Awaken him. Now this sounds like Lincoln.

I pick up the phone and call Dani. If this is the last day I live, I need her to know what’s going on.

It rings and rings and rings. “Fuck,” I mutter, “please answer. Please.”

It goes straight to voicemail, so I chuck the phone across the room.

“Fuck…” I scream and start pacing, then eventually curl up on my bed and bring my knees to my chest.

“I’m not ready to die,” I whisper to myself.

A notification hits my phone, and all the blood drains from my face as I stare at it on the floor. I get up and grab it and click on the notification as Grant’s face hits my screen.

Another news headline.

Shadowface rumors escalate as the tragic news of Kinsmen student, Grant Cooper, (19) was found in the forest near town. Authorities are quick to label it as an accidental death, stating he was eaten by animals. This is the first dead body found in the town since the tragic deaths of four people in 1979, and two weeks after Cali Hartman was found wandering the same woods, unable to speak about the circumstances regarding her mysterious disappearance. In 2002, four girls went missing on Kinsmen campus, their killer leaving mocking photos of their dead bodies in public places. Authorities are stating that the incidents are not related.

I hunch my shoulders. Grant’s smiling face appears in his Kinsmen football uniform. They didn’t show his dead body, which is decent of them.

“Mikael, what did you do?” I whisper, and tears stream down my face.

Emotion.

Remorse.

All the sentiments I should be having. Perhaps I’m not as destroyed as I thought I was.

The police are tying this one up with a bow. They went on record to say that Shadowface has not returned, and they will not tolerate hysteria in the town.