Suddenly there’s a bang at my door—loud and aggressive. The phone falls to the floor, muffled by the old carpet. The scream is right there, but I squeeze my mouth so tight, my lips twist together as pain shoots through my face.
“Sam. Open up, it’s me, Kane.”
And just like that, everything stills, my limbs go numb, and my legs give in.
“Sam,” Kane calls out again, this time his voice softer than before.
It takes a beat for me to pull myself up and step toward the door before hesitantly opening it. His eyes trail my body from my feet up and once his eyes land on mine, the dam breaks. I collapse into him, and he catches me in his big strong arms.
“I got you,” he whispers and walks me back into the room, closing the door and securing us inside.
The sobs are audible now, and Kane moves us over to my bed where he guides me to sit next to him. I sniffle, my vision still obstructed from the tears.
“What happened?” he asks after giving me a bit to calm down. “Sam. Please. Talk to me.”
It sounds like a plea, like he’s begging me to confide in him. The look in his eyes when we realized that I’d told Mountain and Alex about Jackson but not him almost crushed me.
“It’s not Jackson,” I hitch out.
Kane frowns. “What do you mean?”
I swallow hard and point to my phone in the middle of the floor.
Kane follows my finger, glancing between me and the device before he gets up to get it. He stares at the screen, jaw increasingly tensing as he reads the messages.
“That’s not Jackson who was texting me.”
He stares at me, perplexed. “Alex said he called last night.”
I nod. “He did. Well, I think he did. Alex says it was his voice. But those text messages, it can’t be him, Kane. They know my mother’s name, my brother’s. Jackson wouldn’t know that. Told me to stop digging. He wouldn’t know that either.”
“Then who?”
I shrug, my entire body shaking. “I don’t know. The person who was just following me.”
He frowns again. “Sam. I was just following you.”
“No. There was a black van.” I breathe out. “Outside the dorms. Chasing me, yelling my name, and then they sent that message.”
Kane shakes his head. “I left practice as soon as I saw you leave. Was behind you the entire time. No one but me was following you. I don’t think the van was there for you. You’re upset and I—”
“No.” I shake my head, refusing to believe otherwise. “I know what I saw, Kane.”
“Look at me.” Kane cups my face, lowering himself so that he is eye level with me. “No one is going to touch you.”
I look at him, my bottom lip trembling. “I’m scared. It can be anyone. I just—” I stop short and reach into my drawer for the files I’ve stashed there. Frantically, snatch up the picture of our mothers and tear it in half.
“Wait. Sam, what are—”
“Just get rid of it. It’s not worth it.”
“Sam. Stop.” Kane grabs my wrists, shaking me enough to force my attention to him.
My lip trembles, and my eyes sting. “Des. I can’t leave him alone in this world.”
Kane stares at me for the briefest of moments, a heavy sigh slipping from his lungs. I can see the care in his eyes, and it’s rare coming from him.
“You won’t,” is all he says, but he never lets me go. “Nothing is going to happen to you. I’ll die before I let that happen.”
