Then two.
Winslet MacCreary drove this road. I don’t know for sure, but it may as well be true. She lived here, and soon, the sun will set, drinks will flow, and monsters will come out to play again. Who would I have been in her day? The quiet one who wasn’t involved and never knew what was happening until it was too late? Would I have been her friend?
Or would I have been someone she came after for revenge because I was always a follower and never a leader?
Nevertheless, she’s watching me now. Maybe.
I open my eyes, the low rumble of an engine far behind me barely audible in the wind. But it’s there.
My heart thrums in my ears as I pass lantern-lit yards and keep going to the next house. Then, the next.
No other lights. No headlights beaming from behind, but the growl of the engine grows louder.
Closer.
The sound of distant thunder rolls, deeper than the engine somewhere behind me, and I comb my hand through my hair.
Every inch of my skin hums as the hair rises. It’s that feeling you get when you’re a kid and being chased, about to be tagged. Scared, but also thrilled. Like I feel when I’m alone with Lucas.
Closer…
Closer…
Turning down Madoc’s driveway, I see kids running around with sparklers on the lawn to the right and stop, listening to the car’s engine get louder and louder… I tighten my fists around the handlebars.
Then, the sound starts to fade. As if it’s passed by andis driving away.
I look behind me, the empty road beyond lonely and quiet. I blink, a mix of adrenaline with something like disappointment washing over me. Did I want it to follow me? Like with Deacon, I don’t know if I feel fear necessarily anymore. I mean, it’s had plenty of opportunity to run me down or chase me off the road, and it hasn’t. Maybe it’s him. Maybe it’s not. But I’m getting braver, hungry for answers now.
Pumping the pedals, I cruise to the front door and park my bike, grabbing the diary out of the backpack, as well as my phone. The driveway is filled with cars, and the party bus pulls out, off to pick up another batch of Shelburne Falls citizens who don’t want to drive tonight.
I head around the side, hoping to avoid my brothers for as long as possible. Music blasts from the speakers, several lawn games going on, and Madoc has two bars that I can see spread out on the property. He probably has another one in the house and another by the pool. People dance, the sound of billiards drifts through the open basement doors, and I smell cigar smoke somewhere. Madoc’s taken to sucking on one when he’sreallyrelaxed.
Stopping, I take in the scene for a moment, a familiar sense of love for this town and how everywhere just feels like family.
Everywhere is home.
Everyone knows everyone, and everything is just so happy. I dig in my eyebrows, feeling the sky press down on my shoulders.
Walking up to the pool, I spot Hawke and everyone standing waist-deep, all of them enjoying a drink under their parents’ watchful eye. Dylan sees me first, and Hawke follows her gaze. A couple of years ago, I heard he had a party here, complete with soap suds everywhere. I missed it. I stayed at school most of that summer, getting ahead onextra classes. It wasn’t their fault I missed it. I did it to myself.
“You gonna let me in my tower yet?” Hawke nags.
“Mytower.”
While it’s possible I never would’ve known it was there without him, he never would’ve gotten access to it if I didn’t own it.
I hand him the diary. “It was on the kitchen counter in Carnival Tower.”
He narrows his eyes, setting his drink down and taking the book. Quickly, he opens it, turning pages and then fanning the rest.
He looks up at me, surprised. “I’ve never seen this.”
“Winslet MacCreary didn’t die in the river,” I tell him, flitting my eyes to Hunter, then Dylan. “And I don’t think it was the Doran brothers who put her there.”
Kade snatches the book, but Aro steals it from him, Dylan hovering at her side as they look through it.
“I think she made it out of the car,” I say to them, “let people believe she was gone, hid out under everyone’s noses in Shelburne Falls somewhere, and sought revenge on the Pirates who tried to murder her.”
