Chapter 6
CHAPTER
SIX
SUMMER
D riving through the outskirts of Kinsmen is a stark contrast to driving in town. It’s truly remarkable how much darkness encompasses this place, with its quiet, old houses scattered among the never-ending trees. Time has lost its significance, with secrets that predate the Bible.
I relax in the passenger seat. It’s so still, with a silent mist hovering in the air. The weather is so dreary and quiet, making me wonder if the birds have abandoned this place. If the lore is real, then these woods are indeed cursed.
Dani took the long way to campus today, wanting to check out some places in town we haven’t seen yet. Eventually, the trees and houses thin out into barren, rolling hills and grasslands.
My heart leaps as she turns onto a dusty road, and all my senses tingle like we’re being watched. “Maybe we should turn back,” I tell her. “Something about this area gives me the creeps.”
She points up ahead through the mist as raindrops fall on the windshield. “Over there, it’s some sort of store. The abandoned warehouse I was looking for.” She drives closer. The roads out here aren’t even paved, as if the wealth and privilege stopped at the tree line and there is nothing enchanting about this place.
Everything is dusty.
We drive toward the abandoned building, the name Fresh Mart still sun-bleached on the side of the building, even though the sign has long been taken down. Something about it is familiar. My Papa used to talk about the Fresh Mart ; he used to go meet my grandmother there, because that’s where she worked. I had no idea it looked like this.
My palms begin to sweat as she drives past it and carries onto the road beyond. “Where are we going, exactly?” I ask her and glance back at the abandoned general store, which looks nothing more than an abandoned warehouse. At this point, it seems like we are driving through tall grass that leads to nowhere with a few scattered trees that look like they got rejected, too.
She fires me a devious smirk. “There is an old, haunted house out this way, and I wanted to check out in the daylight hours.”
My heart leaps. “Dani, really? We’re going to be late for class.”
“Relax. We have lots of time. We are going to do a quick drive by for my research.”
Research? What kind of research is she doing?
“I’m trying to piece together all the weird things that have happened in this town. Plus, this place gives me the creeps, and I want to find out what happened here. I need ten minutes, then I’ll take us back to Kinsmen.”
I can’t stop her. She’s hellbent on doing this, and it’s not long before I realize we are going to a place that holds a piece of my history. My grandmother lived in a house near the Fresh Mart and used to walk there for work. The house, from what I’ve heard from my Papa, had bad things happen in it before she lived there. It must be the same place.
We carry on, and it doesn’t take long for us to find the skeletal remains of a home deep in the grass, as if the grass has taken over it. Its walls are crumbling, broken and haunted, and if we weren’t specifically looking for it, we could have easily missed it.
She stops the car, and we both stare at it. I’m sure as shit not getting out of the car if that’s what she’s expecting.
“How creepy is that?” I mutter. “There isn’t even a road that leads up to it.”
“They call it the Old Sheffield Place,” Dani says. “Apparently, a man in the 1950s ended up going insane and killed his wife and daughter in this home. They found his body face down in a field a few months later. Rumor has it, everyone who lived here after him lost their minds, too. They ended up condemning it in the 80s after more bad things happened, so no one wants to go near it in case they end up going insane, too. So now it’s here, rotting away…”
My grandmother wasn’t born into wealth like my grandfather was. She lived in this house after the Sheffield family died; she was here during the slaughters of 1979. This was her home. Dani doesn’t realize she’s speaking about my family.
A prickle shoots down my spine and a haunting image pushes into my vision. This fragment of an image, the same in my nightmares. The memory I can’t quite grasp then shifts into an image of my beautiful grandmother going insane.
Everyone who lives here goes insane.
I take a shuddering breath, staring at this old house that’s part of my ancestry.
I turn to face Dani, who is white as a ghost, as if she can sense the intensity of this place, too. “Can we go now?”
She nods and peels away, kicking dust up as we head back into the affluent, and much safer, part of town.
As soon as we drive back into town, I relax. That is, until my phone vibrates, and I hold my breath as I swipe the message open and read it.
Unknown number : Good morning, Summer.
Summer, not pretty girl.
I lower my gaze and frown, but my skin starts to buzz with excitement. I don’t answer, but I do insert the number in my contacts under SF. A few minutes go by before he texts again.
SF: Ignoring me already?
Not knowing what to say, I nibble on my lip as a burning heat settles between my thighs. I scroll up and see the picture he sent of me a couple of nights ago.
Dani is oblivious to what I’m looking at and turns the music to an uncomfortable level as she zips toward campus as drops of rain patter around us. I stare out into those trees, although my heart is taking a beating.
SF : Have you decided yet?
What the hell do I even say to that?
Summer: Have I decided what?
He responds quickly.
SF: If you want my help?
I grimace at the phone. That’s what he wants to talk about right now? Not about why he snuck into my room and took a photo of me sleeping. I stare down and admire how pretty I am as a dead girl, and that thrashing pulse hits me again.
Undeniably turned on by it.
Summer: No thank you. I’ve found someone else to study with.
The rain dances across the windshield while the breeze gains strength outside. The drops grow in intensity, pounding on the glass with such force that it reverberates inside my head. Dani calmly increases the volume of the music and taps her hand along to the beat on the steering wheel.
SF: Is that so?
My manicured nails tap against the keyboard.
Summer: That is so. That is what you get for being creepy.
Fuck, I’m playing with fire. And why isn’t he saying anything concrete… Why isn’t he calling me pretty girl?
He always calls me pretty girl.
SF: You mean nice? I’ve been very nice to you, given the circumstances.
Dani turns down the music and nudges me. “Who are you talking to?
I jerk away and place my phone on my lap face down, hoping she didn’t catch me admiring the photo of myself. “No one.”
Her eyes widen and she reaches for my cell. “What are you looking at?”
I yank the phone out of reach. “The photo, okay?” She obviously saw me looking at it. She doesn’t have to know it’s an entirely different photo than the one sent out to the class or that it’s a much more revealing one.
If she notices my bare breasts, she doesn’t say anything. “Okay…you don’t have to act so skittish. I was just asking.”
“Focus on the road, will you?” I yell as she swerves into the oncoming traffic lane. “It’s honestly no one important.”
She narrows her eyes. “Doesn’t seem like no one. You’re scowling.”
I cross my arms. “It’s some guy from psychology who wants to study with me.”
Her grin grows to ridiculous heights. “Some guy? You’ve met a guy already and haven’t told me. Spill the details… Now.”
I let out a huff. “I don’t know who he is. We made plans to meet up, but I’m breaking it off.”
She turns the music down. “Sounds scandalous. How did you meet him?”
I lean my head against the window and watch the water drip down in spirals. “It’s not scandalous. I met him online on our class site. We were just chatting a bit, but now he’s being creepy, so I’m cutting it off.”
“What’s his name? I’ll look him up.”
“I don’t know.”
She slams on the brakes and looks at me. “You don’t know?”
I grab the handle on the top and hold on tight. “Jesus, Dani. Please watch the road. He never told me his name, which is why you’re reacting for no reason, and also why I’m not going to meet him. With everything going on, I’m freaked out.”
“Good, because I think you should go get some extra help from Lincoln.”
I frown. “Will you stop?”
She gives me a scandalous grin. “Stop what?”
“Being horny all the damn time. All you think about is sex.”
She shrugs. “And you don’t think about it at all.”
I raise my eyebrows. “That’s not true. I’m just picky.” I realize the reason behind my pickiness is because my nameless monster ruined the experience for me. Losing my virginity to him meant everything to me. It was a high I never thought I’d experience again. The idea of being intimate with someone else was painful, so I chose not to have sex again. Simple as that.
She whips around a corner much too fast, considering we are in a residential area. “Well, I think he’s hot. I’m personally not into the hot nerd goth vibe, but I could see you with him. And girl, you really need a good healthy dose of dick. Plus, if he’s a genius like everyone says he is, imagine what kinds of things he could do between the sheets.”
I huff a breath and lean back in the seat.
She tilts her head and says softly, “I wish you were sexual, Summer. You have to give people a chance.”
I am sexual. I’m just turned on by things I shouldn’t be. Things I can never verbalize that make my toes curl.
“You’re insufferable, but you know that,” I tell her.
Dani looks at me and frowns, but doesn’t push the subject, even though I can tell she wants to call me out on my bullshit.
My phone vibrates again, and I turn my gaze downward to a new message.
SF: Are you still there, or did I lose you?
I type out a quick response to him.
Summer: Impatient much? Please stop messaging me.
There…I said it.
We pull into the parking lot of campus and my stomach drops when he sends me a link. My eyes narrow as I click on it, and the news link of the missing girl comes up on my screen.
The blonde girl from the news today.
My doppelg?nger.
SF: You better play nice with me, Summer.
I let out a small gasp, but keep my phone hidden and quickly recover before Dani notices. Even though my face has gone completely white.
Summer: This is enough evidence to incriminate you.
SF : You won’t tell anyone, because you never did. You need my help. I’m the only one who can protect you from him.
Him? Who is he talking about? He’s the one doing this to me.
SF: See you at the party.
My palms break out in a cold sweat. This entire conversation played out differently from how I imagined it would go. The tone of these texts is very much how I’d picture Lincoln speaking, but this is not how I remember my nameless monster. This is not the man in my dreams.
Despite his mask, his raw emotions always found a way into my heart. The person on the other end of this line is far more calculating and logical—I’d say he’s almost soulless.