Page 3 of Shadowface 1979

Once outside, I suck in a breath of fresh air, coughing out the smoke I inhaled. Both of us keel over, the same as everyone else. On the brink of death, like everyone else.

Smoke alarms are going off across campus, and the chaos continues outside, everyone frantically hugging each other and crying. Two security guards bump into me as they pass us.

“Hey, watch out,” one of them snaps.

Talia grabs my hand. “We have to keep moving.”

I glance up to see Remy running one hand over his dark beard. Bax stands beside him—both unscathed. They must have gotten out first.

“Let’s go. Lucy is waiting for us,” Remy says.

Lucy, Remy’s girlfriend or whatever she is to him, is waiting in Bax’s van, A.K.A., the Shaggin’ Waggin’.

“Give me a minute, man.” I cough. Damn, my lungs are burning. If I spent any more time in that room, I’d have died of smoke inhalation from a fire I started.

Remy’s impatient, but thankfully, he backs off. I am his best friend, and even though we had our issues in high school by falling in love with the same girl, I’d die for him now. I would have died for him then, too. Not to mention he’s Talia’s brother.

“Hey, Tommy, you okay?” one of my classmates asks, slapping my back as he passes by. Because to him, I’m Kinsmen University’s biggest track star and the son of the mayor, not an arsonist or a killer.

No one would ever suspect I am one of them.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” I wave back to him, keeping my hands on my knees. I follow Bax and Remy across campus, and we hightail the hell out of there.

Eventually, I stop and slide my hands around Talia’s waist, and her eyes flicker at me. Her face is dark and flushed, and I can’t read her expression.

“Are you okay?” I ask her, bowing my head and pressing my lips to the top of her head. The scent of her perfume blends with the smoke and heat that radiates off her.

She bites her lip and nods, her tight body morphing into mine. She peers up at me with those questioning onyx eyes.

“I’m fine, Tommy, are you?” Of course, she’s fine; she transcends death.

She’s not happy with me. She’s hiding it for now, but her eyes are tight and her tone is stiff.

I jerk my head to Bax and Remy, who are waiting for us. “Let’s get outta here.”

We stumble over the cobblestone path across campus just as the fire department shows up. The Gothic buildings of Kinsmen University loom before me, yet even amidst the crowd, I can’t shake the image of Diana. That girl looked exactly like her, but the truth is, I see Diana everywhere.

She’s in the air here, her presence lives within the towering trees she loved so much. She’s in every scar this town bears, every secret it keeps. Everything reminds me of her.

I’ve suppressed her the last few months because it was damn easier to cope by trying to forget her than admit a part of me died that day.

Three months. Three months that changed everything. Before she became another lost soul in the brittle bones of this town. All the victims who eventually become the dust in the air we breathe.

There is no way that was her back there.

No. Damn. Way.

Because if it were her, then that means she would have risen from the dead.

TOMMY

Bax and Remy jump over to the Shaggin’ Waggin’ where Lucy is waiting for us. Brown curtains hang over the window, and the van has a lingering smell of reefer, since Bax spends his time on the couch he has in the back. It’s where he bangs chicks since he technically doesn’t live with us.

Lucy is Talia’s housekeeper, only a couple of years older. Remy started seeing her a month ago to help him get over what happened last spring. He barely talks anymore, not that he talked much to begin with, and Lucy seems to help him forget. Lucy’s mother works for Talia’s father, and she and her grandmother live in Talia’s family mansion on the outskirts of town.

The mansion where I live now.

The house is one of many gifts her family gave her for making the sacrifice she did—as savage as it was. It’s perfect there, far enough we can do whatever we want without the watchful eyes of the town.