22
TRACE
"They're all dead. They just don't know it yet.” — Eric Draven, The Crow (1994)
“He’s gone.” Sage announces as I join them in the front of the abandoned house; the one intended for tonight’s haunted house attraction.
Both him and Evrin stand out front, Halloween decorations littering the surrounding area including fake headstones, skeletons coming from the ground and hanging from the trees, unlit jack-o-lanterns, and lots of spider webs. I’m sure in the nighttime, it looks somewhat appealing and maybe even scary, if you’re into that. But right now in the daylight, even as the sun starts to set, it just looks fucking ridiculous.
“What the fuck do you meanhe’s gone?” I ask, looking out at the house behind them, not even stopping as I walk past.
Evrin grips me by the elbow to stop me, flipping me around to face him.
“He’s not there,” he says, a stern layer in his tone.
The wind breezes past us, the rain now having stopped its descent for the time being and the sun is making an attempt to drop behind the cover of trees.
“We came to check on him like you’d asked us to after the whole truth or dare thing, and mother fucker was gone,” Sage says.
I stare at Evrin for a second longer before yanking my arm free.
“Fuck!” I shout, pushing my fingers through my hair. I know I made sure he couldn’t break away on his own. There’s no fucking way. I let my anger pour out, frustration in my voice as I shout.
“How the hell did this happen?” I ask, knowing damn well that this is my fault. My fault for being so fucking whipped over Olivia.
“We can look one more time through the house. I mean we checked and it wasn’t hard since it’s still light out. But chances are, he booked it somewhere.” Sage shrugs his shoulders and every ounce of my body ticks with annoyance.
“The fucker shouldn’t be able to walk with the wound I left in leg. Especially not without leaving a blood trail,” I reply, pointing out that he probably had help which means someone fucking found him.
“Why the fuck did you leave him alone in the first place?” Evrin asks and I am tempted to hit him square in his jaw. But he’s right. I dropped the fucking ball here. This is partially my fault.
“I had something more important to do,” I say stoically, knowing that I just couldn’t fucking help myself.
I look around the forest, knowing that if he did get free on his own, he couldn’t have gone far, but the chances of that are slim to none. He’s bleeding out. He needs help to walk. But who found him and where did they go?
“Somethingmore important than getting the fucking names of the assholes who raped your sister?”
I turn to Evrin, wrapping his neck up in my palm. I stare into his dark eyes for a second, feeling fury melt into my veins. “
“I want to fucking kill someone tonight, but pain is what I’m after more than anything. I don’t give a fuck whose, so I suggest you tread lightly. If you have a fucking problem with how I’m doing things, then fucking leave.” He doesn’t even budge, unblinking and breathing steadily; holding his own like a fucking champ.
It’s what makes him a Cutthroat, a name that goes way beyond a football field. Though, I half expected Sage to be the one to question me, not Evrin. But my anger boils hotter when I realize that he’s right, remembering that he cared about my sister too. A lot of people did. And I fucked this up because I put my focus somewhere else. On someone else. But both are important to me and if I plan to get what I came here for, I can’t let my anger out where it doesn’t belong.
I loosen my grip on Ev’s neck and take a step back.
“Both of you need to calm the fuck down,” Sage starts. “The haunted house opens in about three hours. The sun disappears in less than two. So we need to start searching this goddamn forest before he makes it far enough to talk to anyone, if he already hasn’t found someone.”
I close my eyes, hoping to god that he’s still alive. I want those fucking names. I should have gotten them before I left. I came to shed blood, to get revenge for what was done to my sister and I’m not leaving until I find out who hurt her.
I look back up, Evrin and Sage stand in front of me now with the house behind them. But something catches my eye. Movement in the distance off to the side of the house; a person running toward the back.
I tilt my head and squint my eyes.
“What are you looking at?” Sage turns his head to look where I’m looking but I don’t answer him.
“Did you bring my mask?” I ask, holding my hand out. Sage searches the backpack he had discarded on the ground and pulls the hoodie I had asked him to bring me—to replace the one I left with Olivia—handing both to me.
I throw the hoodie over my head and remove my gun from the back of my waistband, tucking it into my pocket.
