Chapter 41
EIGHT YEARS EARLIER
I have no idea where we’re going.
Jade is driving way too fast. She’s going too fast, and she’s got the radio blasting at a deafening volume. I wonder what Mrs. Carpenter would say if she knew Jade was driving so fast in her car. Then again, I doubt Jade’s mother would care.
Jade’s mom has struggled a lot with her mental health.
And these sorts of things can be hereditary.
I squirm in my seat, adjusting the seatbelt, which might be the only thing that keeps me from flying through the windshield if Jade crashes into another car or a tree. I look out the window, watching as she flies through the residential neighborhood. This doesn’t look familiar to me at all.
“Where are we going?” I ask for the tenth time.
“Quit asking. We’re almost there.”
I take a swig from my peach iced tea. My right temple throbs faintly. I should never have gotten in the car. Soon the sun will be down and my mom is going to freak out when I’m not home. I had no idea we would be going this far.
But then the Dodge abruptly skids to a halt.
She pulls up in front of a white house that looks like it has seen better days.
The outside is made of wooden panels, and the paint is badly chipped.
The lawn in front of the house is all sparse patches of dying grass.
I get this awful sinking feeling in my chest. I should never have come here.
“Here we are!” Jade announces.
Uh….
“Where are we?” I crane my neck to get a better look at the house. “Whose house is this?”
Jade winks at me. “You’ll see.”
Jade climbs out of the car and I reluctantly follow her.
Except she doesn’t go down the walkway to the front door.
Instead, she walks down the driveway to the back entrance.
There’s a screen door flapping in the wind and she yanks it open, then pulls open the inner door as well. I watch as she steps inside the house.
“Come on, Amy!” She waves for me to follow her. “In here.”
I shouldn’t follow her. This is a mistake. I should get out of here and run home.
Jade gestures more vigorously. “Come on .”
“All right,” I say. “But just for a minute.”
I step through some wayward grass that has grown into the pathway to the back door. I climb the three steps and pass through the entrance to the kitchen. And that’s when I realize whose house this is.
My mouth falls open. The peach iced tea I have been holding in my right hand drops to the floor, spilling brown liquid all over the grimy kitchen tiles, intermingling with the droplets of crimson.
And I realize at that moment that I will never ever be able to drink peach iced tea ever again.
That I will become ill at the very thought of it.
“Ta-da!” Jade says, and she bursts into giggles.
Oh no. This is worse than I could have imagined.