Page 35 of Shadowface

I stare up at him, wide-eyed and curious. “Say something,” I demand.

His lips curl beneath his mask. “I don’t like that he gave you drugs, Summer. And I like it even less that you took them. It could kill you, and he could have taken advantage of you.”

I bark out a laugh and rest my head against the wall. “Maybe I want to be taken advantage of. Maybe I want someone to do nasty things to me,” I say over the beat of the music, my chest heaving.

A dare. I’m daring him.

I’m so horny, I’d let this man ravage and fuck me right here. It’s been so long since I’ve been touched. Since I’ve wanted to be touched by anyone.

I fold my arms. “I’m a big girl now. But you know that, since you touched me when I was a young one. And why do you care if it kills me? Isn’t that what you’re pretending to be…a killer?”

He leans closer and his breath whispers against my cheek, causing my nerves to fire up. “That’s where you’re wrong. I don’t want to see you dead; I want to protect you.”

“Protect me?” I mock. “Protect me from who? From you? Because all I’ve seen are nude pictures of me and a missing girl who lives hours away. No dead bodies anywhere. I think you’re a joke.”

He watches me carefully before answering. “Do you think it’s a coincidence that the girl who is missing looks exactly like you?”

Chills run up my spine and anger builds inside me. The blonde hair… I was hoping it was a coincidence.

I lift myself up onto my tiptoes, my lips gently brushing against the burlap sack. “I’m right here,” I whisper and his body tenses. “You didn’t need to take her.”

His body shifts and I so desperately wish I could read his face. “I didn’t take her,” he responds. “He did.”

More riddles.

The water helped regulate me, but I’m still dizzy, still rolling. His fingers dig into me, steadying me, helping me calm myself.

I stare up at his mask, the cherry lips I can see through the hole in his mouth, and his whole vibe. I told Dani I’d never make out with a man whose face I’ve never seen, yet that is exactly what I want to do.

And I hate myself for it.

He tilts his head, grabs my face, and rubs his fingers over my cheek. My body salivates and pulses. “You shouldn’t be here.”

I squint at him and purse my lips. “What do you mean? Everyone else is here. It’s a party.”

He stares at me and a tug pulls at me. A twinge. “I mean at Kinsmen, this town… You shouldn’t be here; you took the bait.”

I blink at him. “What bait?”

My scholarship…he must be talking about my scholarship.

His hand finds my hair. “You should run.”

“Why?” I yell louder. Grittier.

I swallow hard, not wanting to believe what I’m hearing. The realization that he’s rejecting me causes my teeth to grind and my vision to turn red.

He doesn’t get to reject me.

His eyes swirl as he keeps his gaze focused on me. “Because I can’t protect you while you’re here.”

“I don’t want you to protect me,” I taunt him, my voice dripping with defiance. “I want you to follow through with what you’ve always promised, what you’ve said to me repeatedly… Kill me, you motherfucker.”

His eyes flicker some more, as if mirroring the lights above. “Be careful, Summer. If you keep talking to me like that, you’ll wake him up.”

Wake him up? Why does he keep talking like there are two of them?

Motionless…he’s motionless. His eyes are dead now, and blind terror pulses through me at the clear and sudden shift within him.