Chapter 7
OLIVIA
Ispot Alli standing near the front of the crowd seemingly sensing my return as she turns her eyes my way.
Everyone is gathered in groups filling up the open space.
As I walk through the crowd, I notice a few people making their way up to get lanterns lit while others just stand in their groups with beers in hand, continuing to have conversations.
I attempt to gently push my way through, making my way over to Alli. But as I do, I hear a few whispers break out around me and I don't mistake it when I hear a couple of guys chatting about shit they have no business talking about. Especially when I hear my name leave one of their mouths.
"Who? Olivia?" one guy says. "Heard she's all fucked up from what that psycho did to her brother."
"Why did she even come?" Another one chimes in.
I feel my body tense, my gut filling with abhorrence as I listen to the snideness in their tone.
I don’t care what people think about me.
Hell, I don’t even care what they say about me.
But it’s the mention of my brother that slows my steps.
I train my ears on their conversation as I twist the rings on my fingers; cobalt colored bands that now adorn the thumb and index finger of my right hand.
Each ring is lined with spikes, imitating barbed wire, and they’re meant specifically for scumbags like this.
If I were to place my hand on anyone’s throat, the perfect amount of pressure will puncture skin. Not enough to cause any real major damage; it’s just jewelry after all. But enough to get my point across. Enough to put someone in their place.
"Yeah she’s definitely never been the same since her brother was murder-"
Fuck this.
I turn around to face whoever it is running their fucking mouth, not even caring that I accidently bump into someone else in the process.
I don't hesitate a second before reaching up and grabbing the fucker by his throat. However, I decide to use my left hand instead because I don’t feel like shedding blood quite yet, not wanting to cause a scene, and I push him back into the bark of the tree behind him.
"Whoa, what the-"
He drops his drink upon the impact of his back hitting the surface behind him, my palm tight against his throat.
I don't even care that he's a few inches taller than me and I have to stand on my tiptoes to bring my face close to his.
My back is facing the entire crowd of people; a tumult of murmurs and disorder breaking out as they turn to see what's going on but that doesn’t bother me either.
"You should learn to keep your fucking mouth shut," I seethe as I squeeze my fingers tighter into his skin. This is where those barbed wire rings would come in handy, but I let my bare hand do its job.
"I didn't mean-" He tries to mumble whatever words he thinks I want to hear, but I pull my knee up to his groin—my bare leg peeking through the slit in my skirt—and I threaten to push if he continues talking.
I watch as a bead of sweat crawls down his forehead and over a healed scar he has above his eyebrow—it doesn’t look to be more than a few years old—and into his eye, causing him to squint.
"You did mean, that's the problem." I close in on his face, my lips near his and my tone a biting whisper. "Keep mine and my brother's name out of your pathetic fucking mouth. If I hear you or your moronic friends bring it up again, you won't be able to have children, understand?"
He nods his head in agreement, so I let go of my hold on him. I can hear him suck in a breath as I turn around, not caring that everyone is staring at me. Let them. Instead of paying any attention to the eyes on me, I walk right up to Alli who has a wicked smile spread across her glossy lips.
"Well done, Winters. I always knew you were a badass." She nudges me in the upper arm; an act of praise. I brush my hair behind my ear before grabbing the paper lantern she’s holding for me.
"That guy had it coming," I say, letting my anger fade along with the wind in the night.
"Totally agree. Even Seren said he-”
“Wait, Seren?” I raise my brows at my friend, disquiet curiosity dripping from my tone.
“Yeah, he’s the one who . . . wait.” She drops her hands as she looks at me. “Did Seren not tell you?”
“Tell me what?” I ask, wondering what the hell she’s talking about. What could she have known about Seren that I didn’t?
“That’s the guy who took her virginity,” she starts in a low tone. “Well, she consented to it but she said he was a greedy pig and fucked her kind of rough and he didn’t even like . . . prepare her at all for it.” She goes back to scribbling names on her lantern.
“Wait, that’s Broden?” I look back at the guy now chatting with his buddies like nothing happened; a new beer in his hand.
Now I remember why he looks so familiar.
I don't know too much about him, only that up until a few years ago he was on the football team alongside my brother when he was alive. He was actually given the opportunity to step up as QB after Deck’s death, something I know he’d been gunning for.
But something happened, something that prevented him from taking the position.
I’m unsure of what it was and I really didn’t care to ask around, but that’s all I really know.
That and the fact that he slept with Ser.
I can vaguely recall the night she told me she lost her virginity—years before most girls our age do—but she didn’t provide me all the details that Alli claims to have and it causes me to wonder just how much more she knows about our dead friend than I do.
But I don't let it bother me too much. Seren told me what she wanted me to know and there's nothing I can do about it now.
"Next!" I hear a familiar voice holler from ahead of us, stopping my thoughts from spiraling too far. I look up to see Jensen waving over at a few people to line up next to the table he's standing at.
"Well, I'm gonna head up," Alli says as she hands me the sharpie before taking a step forward.
"What are we supposed to do exactly?" I ask before she walks away.
"Well, write the name, or names, of those you want to honor on your lantern and then one of the boys will light it for you. Then you step off to the side over there to let it go and after that you walk over to the path to start the maze," she explains to me, and I quirk my brow at her.
"The maze? Alone?" I wonder and she just giggles with wide eyes.
"Yeah, girl. Scary, right?" She doesn't wait for me to respond to her before turning on her heel and wandering up to get her lantern lit.
Scary, sure. But I don’t usually process fear the way most people do. My brain is wired differently and when I think of fear and darkness, most of the time it twists inside my body and manifests itself in fucked up, sensual ways.
I look down at the lantern in my hands as I analyze the blank sides, sharpie in hand. I know the names I'm going to write but before I do, I look around to observe some of the others.
Some people have written down all four names, one on each side. Some only have one or two. I never really know the other two victims very well, but even so, I guess I don’t really have a reason to believe that they don’t deserve to be remembered.
Tyre McNally. The precious son of the football coach. He was one of the best defensive tackles the Marauders had ever seen. I don’t remember much about him otherwise.
Jett Wilton. That one egotistical frat boy who tried to get into every girl’s pants.
And he did get into every girl’s pants. He played safety for the MCU Marauders, though it wasn’t his best asset in my opinion so I don’t know why girls found him so charming.
He was always joking around though, I do remember that.
My brother was friends with most of the guys he played football with, and I use the word friends loosely.
He didn’t really care about being liked too much, even though he was.
He simply stayed in his own lane and did what he set his heart out to do and naturally, that made him pretty damn likeable.
But if there was anyone he ever expressed his distaste for, even if it was just mildly, it was Broden.
And Broden always hung around Tyre and Jett.
He never really gave a solid reason why he didn’t like him and he always kept his personal feelings out of the game.
But I can only assume it was because Broden was constantly fighting for Deck’s position.
Suddenly, I’m reminded of the time I was passing by for my gym period when I heard an argument break out in the locker room.
I couldn’t make out the other voice, only able to pinpoint my brother at first. But just as I was about to move on, Broden walked out and made direct eye contact with me.
He stormed off after rolling his eyes and I just remember thinking how weird I thought he was.
That argument never really seemed significant to me before, assuming they were arguing about football, but now I wonder if it could have been about something else.
I didn’t really hear what was being said, or yelled.
But when I had asked Deck about it later that day, he told me to mind my own business. So I did.
I bring my eyes back to the lantern in my hand, shaking off the memories I seem to be recalling. I don’t think they’ll be able to help me pick up the missing pieces of that night; the things I can’t remember. Not necessarily, anyway.
I sigh as I pop the lid off the sharpie and start to scribble out the names I want to remember.
Seren Kavanaugh. The sought-after queen bee, my best friend and believer in all things that glitter, soaking up the attention with her perfectly blonde hair and glistening green eyes. Smart, but easily peer-pressured, though a fearless and resolute soul.