Chapter 14 #2
But the fourth, he’s the final piece, the piece that is the reason this entire thing began.
“Yes. Someone was directing the men. It wasn’t a random attack. I was a target for a reason. And that reason is why I’m back. I need to find the two remaining men and do to them what they did to me.”
“You mean Jupiter found them for herself so she could kill them and drag you down with her,” Dandy adds, shaking his head in disgust. “You’re doing this because she’s got a hold over you, right? She won’t let you be free unless you play her game?”
“Something like that.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
And this is the moment I tell him about Kit.
But it seems the man in question does that for me.
“That she lied to me this entire time.”
That husky voice is fucking pissed off. I should be terrified he’s here, but I’m not.
I meet Kit’s eyes, expecting to see surprise, but I don’t.
“How did you find me?” I ask, feeling relieved.
“You really need a better passcode than one, two, three, four,” he replies, arms folded.
God, I’ve missed him.
His hair is a mess, and his clothes are wrinkled. It appears he drove all night. I soon realize he has. He knew where I was the entire time.
“I know you, and I knew you were going to run. So I enabled your location so I could find you. Run, beautiful girl. I’ll give you a head start because I promise, when I catch you…
I’ll never let you go.” He repeats his promise, the one he made that night in the theater, proving he sticks to his word.
Although it’s not the right time, I’ve never felt happier. I can finally be honest. I’m no longer alone, and I feel free.
That’s short-lived, however.
“Hold up,” Dandy says, waving a finger in warning. “You mean, you two?” He gestures to Kit and me.
I blush, while Kit remains stone-faced.
Dandy blanches in horror. “Ewww, my God, I need a drink.” It seems he doesn’t need a diagram, and I don't think he wants one either.
I bite back my smile.
“Let’s go back to my house and talk,” Kit suggests, and it’s only now that I realize Dandy and I are still sitting on the ground.
Dandy stands, brushing himself off before offering me a hand.
I accept, a sense of completeness hugging me tight.
I wait for Dandy to say something, to call me out for being the bad person that I am. But he does none of the above.
He pulls me into a tight embrace, hugging me more tightly than ever before.
The noise dulls.
When I meet Kit’s gaze past Dandy, everything quiets. Kit is glad his brother looks happy. How he feels about me lying to him, however…I guess I’ll soon find out.
We’re all seated in Kit’s living room, awkwardly waiting for someone to speak.
It seems we’re all a little tongue-tied.
Kit stands in front of the window, peering out.
From what I’ve seen, his house is beautiful. Asking for a tour isn’t on the cards right now. But being in his home is nice regardless.
Dandy has stayed beside me since we left the woods. Perhaps he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he doesn’t.
But I’m done running.
Besides, Kit has made it clear. When I run, he follows.
Dandy is the first one to break the silence. “So…where is this Jupiter bitch?”
Kit shakes his head, back still turned.
I can’t help but smile. “I don’t know. I’m waiting for her to text me.”
“Why can’t we just go to the police and turn her serial killer ass in?”
“Because, Dandy,” Kit says, turning around. “Hallie will be an accessory to murder.” This is the first time he’s said my name.
He opts out of the part where I am a murderer too.
But one dilemma at a time.
Kit is aware of the story, likely because he overheard my entire confession to Dandy in the woods.
“I understand you want your revenge, but is it worth going to jail over?” Dandy questions, still in the dark about the reasoning behind it.
“At first, yes, I had nothing to fight for. But now, now I do.”
Dandy recoils at the notion. “This is about my brother, isn’t it?”
Kit’s lips twitch.
“Yes, sorry, Dandy. But Jupiter saw that I had feel—” I correct myself. “That I was spending time with Kit, and she didn’t like it. She thought he was the reason I wanted to stop. So she threatened him.”
“She what?” Kit is now the one to ask questions.
“I saw her at the garage. She was watching you. It’s what she does when she, you know—” I don’t need to elaborate. “She won’t rest until she destroys everything I care about.”
“That’s why you left the orphanage?”
I nod.
“Why were you in an orphanage? Is that why you’re dressed like Annie?” Dandy states in a serious manner.
I, on the other hand, can’t contain my chuckle.
“So is she angry or afraid?” Kit asks.
“Perhaps both?” I offer. “She’s angry that I don’t want to be this person anymore. And afraid that she’ll be alone.”
“So she’s baited you with the one thing she knows you can’t say no to: finding out who the final two are?”
Kit heard that part too then. He knows I was raped. I don’t know why, but that bothers me more than the fact that he knows I’m a murderer. I don’t want him to look at me as less of a woman. Or with sympathy.
It doesn’t make any sense. But I feel dirty because of what they did. I can only imagine Kit feels the same way.
I nod. “Yes. Jupiter wants me to kill because she believes I’ll see we are one and the same. She doesn’t want to be alone. And me saying no means that she will be. She hinted she’d hurt you if I didn’t do it.”
Kit’s snarled hair becomes even messier as he tugs at it. “What a fucking mess. So what’s your plan, Hallie?”
“I don’t have a plan, per se. But if I do this, then it will be over.”
“Actually, do that, and you’ll end up in prison,” Kit snaps.
“Not if I talk to the police. They may be lenient because I came forward voluntarily. I’ll offer to go undercover, wear a wire, whatever it takes.” A thought soon hits. “Perhaps the men who attacked me can face the justice they deserve.”
I couldn’t imagine being at peace with that reality, but now, it seems I am.
However, Kit has a different perspective. “This isn’t a movie—this is reality. If you go to the police, you’ll do time, and probably for a very long while.”
“So be it. It’s the punishment I deserve.”
“Bullshit!” Kit slams his fist onto the mantel, startling both Dandy and me. “You don’t deserve any of this! Who are these motherfuckers?”
“Telling you won’t achieve anything.”
“Yes, it will. Because I’ll find them and kill them myself!” Kit is livid. I would be touched, if not for the fact that he’s talking about taking matters into his own hands.
Dandy rests a hand on my leg. “Tell us. Maybe you don’t need Jupiter after all.”
They won’t let this go. So here goes nothing.
“At the time of the”—I take a moment—“rape, I knew nothing about them. I didn’t see their faces. I didn’t know their names. So I could only distinguish them from the limited clues I had. Smokes, Lisp, and Whiskey.”
Kit closes his eyes, pained, while Dandy sniffs beside me.
“The man I killed was the leader. He was Smokes. He’s the one who…raped me first.”
God, that’s such an ugly word.
Kit’s hands furl into fists by his sides. He remains quiet.
“The one I…ran over was Whiskey. Smokes told me his name was Freddy. And that Lisp is Jack.”
“What was Smokes’s name?”
The room is still.
“Arthur Singleton,” I finally reveal.
I wait for horror.
Disgust.
Judgment.
I don’t get any of the above.
What I do get, however, is Dandy looking at Kit, mouth agape.
“Do you know him?” I ask, surprised.
Dandy ignores me and instead, with urgency, asks, “You said there was someone else. You said someone was directing the men. That it wasn’t random.”
I nod, unsure where he’s going with this. “Yes, but I don’t know his name. All I know is that his name is Legs. I found a lighter in Arthur’s car with the initials L11. I assume it belongs to Legs.”
Kit slumps into the recliner while Dandy leans back, cupping his mouth with both hands.
“What’s going on? You know who Legs is, then? This is good, right?” Both men look like they’ve seen a ghost.
They don’t say a word.
“Dandy? Kit?” I ask, my worry growing.
Kit clears his throat before speaking. “Hallie, I need you to tell me everything Arthur said.”
Suddenly, recalling minor details seems impossible.
“Hallie!” he presses, leaning forward in his seat.
“He said that Jack is Legs’s b-brother and that I was a homecoming present as he came back from boot camp and wanted to lose his virginity.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Dandy dry retches.
“What else?”
“I’ve told you everything!” I scream, jolting from my seat. “Arthur seemed terrified of Legs’s family, which is why he didn’t tell me who he and Jack are. Now tell me what’s going on!”
I prepare myself for the worst, but as Kit stands slowly, I realize nothing can prepare me for this.
“Jack’s surname is Bloom. He’s Rebecca Bloom’s younger brother.”
A hush settles over the room.
That was not what I was expecting. I didn’t even know she had a brother.
That family is rotten to the core.
This entire time, I thought Legs and Jack were nefarious monsters. But they’re your average seamless American family, which is even scarier than what I thought. No one suspects the unsuspecting. That’s what makes them the most dangerous predator of all.
It sickens me to think Rebecca’s older brother, Legs, would deprave his younger brother this way.
Is this some sort of Bloom family tradition?
I then wonder how many girls they’ve done this to.
There’s nothing special about me. I can only imagine girls who are much prettier and more popular than me falling victim to the Bloom brothers.
They need to be stopped.
“So Legs is Rebecca’s older brother?” I say, desperate to get online and put a face to the name after so many years.
But Kit shatters everything I thought I knew. “Rebecca doesn’t have an older brother.”
What?
At first, I’m confused, but then I realize—it’s her father. Although I don’t know much about him, judging by his children, he doesn’t seem like a decent person.
But why would Rebecca’s dad want to hurt me?
Something doesn’t make sense.