“I knew when the cops found Nate’s body they’d want a suspect. I was trying to keep it simple, and Dad was the obvious choice.” He lifts his leg and plants his foot against his father’s chest.
“So a random stranger wouldn’t work?” I say, still trying to distract him. To keep him talking while I slowly twist my arm to loosenthe tape. I know Easton thinks he’s better than everyone else. He’s telling us all this so weseehow smart and capable he is. He’s bragging the way serial killers taunt police, and I have to keep him going. Because that’s his only weakness. His pride.
And pride is a sin, after all.
Easton shrugs. “If they went with a random stranger I wouldn’t have cared. But they didn’t. They said Nate was missing and went with the kidnapping route because some bored gas station attendant in Pennsylvania said he might have seen a kid who looked like Nate. It’s okay, though. Because now I get to rewrite the story the way it should have been told from the beginning.” He pushes Marcus’s body with his foot so the front legs of the chair lift from the floor. “You’re some shitty homeless kid Dad saw on his lunch break one day. He knows that I suspect him of killing my little brother, so he pays you to pretend to be him. Then he brings us all here to try and kill us in a tragic fire—one you tried to start in our home a couple weeks ago by leaving the gas on.”
Oh my God. Hehasbeen planning this all along. All that nonsense about wanting to see how long he could let my lies go on was the lie.
“I escape, the sole survivor, and they find Nate’s real body along with Mom, Dad, and the imposter he hired. Case closed, end of story. Finally.” He pushes hard and Marcus’s body topples backward with a thud. Valencia whimpers next to me. Why didn’t he mention Miles? “Then it’s just me and Gramma left. Until I get bored and, I don’t know, push her down a flight of stairs or some shit. I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’ll know when I do.”
“You’re proud of yourself,” I say.
Easton shakes his head. “No. I’m just ready to fucking be done with this.”
Next to him, Miles groans.
“Oh!” Easton turns his attention to him. “Our special guest is finally waking up.” Easton bends down and taps his face lightly.
Miles’s eyes flutter and then go wide. He tries to speak, but his head is strapped to his chair and his mouth is taped. He barely even moves a centimeter.
“You woke up just in time. We were talking about your boyfriend here.” He nods in my direction and Miles’s eyes go to me. He says something beneath the tape that sounds like my name.Nate’sname.
I pull hard on my wrist. The wet duct tape rips out every hair on the back of my hand; it’s excruciating, but I keep pulling. It’s down to my knuckles now. Almost there. Almost free.
But Easton turns back to me.
He shakes his head. “Listen, I don’t want to sound maudlin here. But you felt like more of a brother to me than Nate ever did. I never felt like I had anything in common with Nate, but you—watching you lie, how easy it was—I thought you were someone I’d be able to show the real me to.”
That’s not true. I don’t hurt people. Although, that isn’t exactly accurate. I look over at Valencia, then I focus on Marcus’s body. And Miles. They’re all here because of me.
I shake my head. They’re not here because of me. They’re here because of Easton. Because Eastonwantsto hurt them. And that’s the difference between the two of us.
“No,” I say. “I lie because I have to. Because the other option isn’t safe for me.” And yes, this has moved beyond my experience with the Beaumonts. Because that’swhyI’m so good at lying, like he said. I lied to my real parents because look what happened when they found out the truth. Ineededto lie to survive.
I stare him directly in the eye.
“You lie because you like it. Because you want people to hurt. I lie because... sometimes it’s the only option I have. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” I look back at Valencia. “You have to believe me, I never thought it would get this far. I thought I could run away again before the police figured out I was lying, before they even told you they found me.” I focus on Easton again. “I got good at lying because I knew it was the only way my real parents would love me. And when they found out, they tried to change me. But that’s the difference between you and me. I care about the people I’m lying to. Because I love them, and all I wanted was for them to love me.”
Easton looks bored, because he has no idea how to relate to what I’m saying.
“You don’t care about love,” I say. “You can’t feel it for other people and you can’t feel it when other people love you. You have no one to love. Because you don’t want it.”
His face changes slowly, the corner of his mouth drawing up into a smirk.
“You know, that’s a great point.” He backs away. “I figured that out pretty early, actually. Watching cartoons and hearing stories about love, I didn’t understand it. I don’t care about people. I don’t evenlikepeople. But you do.”
He turns his attention to Miles. “You have people who you love.”
No.
“So while we’re on the subject...” He kneels in front of Miles, whose eyes go wide with terror. “Let’s see how our guest feels about your love.”
Fifty
“Leave him alone!” I yell. But I know it’s useless. He’s never going to listen to me. So I pull at my restraints, trying to yank my hands free.
Easton reaches out and runs the ice pick down Miles’s cheek.
