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Die. I have to. Please. Let me go.

Riley.

25

HOW SHE BLEEDS

DIYA

After completing the paperwork, and leaving Asher in his room, I walked to my cottage.

The dead rat was gone, along with the note.

After a quick shower and changing into something comfortable, I sat down and opened my laptop, looking through online archives, obituaries, and news articles for young girls who had committed suicide in and around Hollowhaven.

Most of them were too young to die before they could properly live their lives. In the pictures, they were laughing, eyes lit with smiles and dreams, and someone broke those dreams, and built a nightmare for them.

It was cruel, so fucking cruel.

Asher came when the night turned fully dark, with a bunch of flowers.

“Flowers?” I stared at the beautiful purple wild lupine, wondering if he knew that behind the beauty was something deadly.

“Poison, Diya. Just as beautiful and lethal as you are,” he whispered, his eyes softly caressing my body.

“So you know,” I said with a smile, placing it carefully to the side.

“I’m learning. I see why you love them. They’re too beautiful to be dangerous. Too innocuous and innocent. Like you.”

“It’s also called bluebonnets because the flowers look like a woman’s bonnet,” I said. “So beautiful.’

He sat on the couch, leaning back with a sigh.

“But beauty is deceptive.” His eyes darkened. “You’re deceptive.”

I joined him on the couch. “So… I was looking through online archives for suicides,” I said. “There are a few here in Hollow Heights. I think we should look at the towns around, as well.”

“That’s a good idea. We should start with girls around fifteen to twenty. Focus on those who died after Millie was admitted and before Riley’s death first, and then widen the search.”

I nodded, looking through the dates and years scribbled on the paper. “That should help us find a connection.”

We spent the next few hours searching through more news articles, coroner reports, until our eyes burned. Asher stood up and came back with two cups of tea.

“Chai. I added ginger.”

I took a sip with a sigh. “Thanks. I needed it,” I said with a smile.

“Something funny?”

“Whenever we used to plan… you know…” I trailed off with a chuckle.

“Plan what?”

“To kill?” I said with a shrug, looking away from him. “We drank tea.”

“How do you choose who to kill?”

“Men who don’t deserve to live. Like the ones who did this to Millie and Riley,” I said with a sigh. “There are so many like them, Asher.”