“Promise you’ll tell me before you run away next time,” he whispers. “Give me a chance to survive it.”
I close my eyes, knowing I wounded him deeply. Knowing I can’t promise that I won’t do it again. I run my fingers along the back of his neck, holding him a few seconds longer than a hug should last.
But when I straighten, staring up at him, I smile and nod, telling him that I’ll put it in writing.
Jackson reaches to brush his hand over my hair playfully. Lovingly.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he says. He maneuvers around the door, and I lock it behind him, waiting there an extra second as my heart pounds away.
After I clean up the living room, I walk to my bedroom and lock the door as usual. I start to undress, but when I catch my reflection in the mirror, the happiness I had fades away.
I stand there in my bra, red scratches still visible on my neck despite the graft. Seeing them there is like seeing the entire incident again. The violence.
Girls don’t say no to me.
My breath catches on a cry, and I quickly sit on the edge of my bed, rocking softly. I stare at my door, at the lock. The light isn’t even off, but I can see him.
I see Guardian Bose waiting there, his silhouette in the doorway of my room. And then he’s Garrett, smiling and sounding out my name.
He’s the doctor and the analyst. The sponsors and the investors.
These men are all hunting me, I can feel it.
And then, suddenly, I can really feel it. There’s a flash in my head, but not like how it felt when Rosemarie tried to invade my thoughts. This is different.
Come home, girls, it says without words.It’s time to come home.
I jump to my feet, and on the other side of the bedroom wall, I hear Sydney and Annalise do the same. Soft screams and pounding feet.
I scramble for the door, and then we’re all out in the living room, staring at each other with sleepy eyes and terrified expressions.
“You heard it too?” Marcella asks breathlessly. “You heard it, right?”
We all nod, murmuring that we did.
“Who was it?” Brynn asks, sounding frightened. She looks at Marcella. “Whose voice was that?”
Brynn asks, but she knows the answer. We all do. And this time, his voice is clear.
“Come home, girls,” Anton whispers in our heads. “It’s time to come home.”
20
The voice went away, disappearing like it was never there. If the girls didn’t hear it too, I might have convinced myself it wasn’t real. Iwantto convince myself it wasn’t real.
But if Rosemarie can get into my head, is it impossible to believe that Anton can too? Looking back, he was able to see memories where Raven could not. Leandra and Lennon Rose both thought they were able to manipulate him back at the academy, but it’s possible we’ve underestimated him.
The girls and I stay up half the night, debating what to do. We consider calling Leandra, but we don’t want to end up with spikes in our heads. If that really was Anton, then we know what it means.
Innovations Academy has figured out that we’re still alive. And now they’re looking for us.
When we finally sleep, piled together in the living room, I’m struck with nightmares. Dreams of being dragged back to theacademy, finding bodies of girls cut open along the floor. The entire school plastered with their blood. And Anton whispering that their deaths are all our fault.
I wake up with a start, bleary eyed and scared. Shaking. There’s noise, and I look over to find Brynn in the kitchen, making eggs and toast. Sydney and Marcella are at the table, sipping from mugs, while Annalise clicks on the laptop keys. I run my palm over my face.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” I ask. Sydney looks over.
“Because you spent half the night screaming,” she says. “We thought you needed the rest.”
