Chapter 9
Ghost Girl
Vinny Salotto
I’ve been here longer than they think. Months. Long enough to learn the rhythm of this place. When the guards switch. Which doors don’t latch right. Which patients scream because they want to and which ones scream because something is being done to them.
Don’t stand out. Don’t get noticed. That’s always the point, right? Not to give anyone a reason to look too close because when they do, they start asking questions and questions get people hurt.
Back home, silence was currency. You didn’t talk or explain. You did what needed to be done and made sure no one could trace it back to you. That's what my family taught me. Not love or loyalty. Just… results. If someone became a problem, they stopped being one. Gone. Never seen again.
The first time I did it—I didn't feel anything. That’s when they knew I was useful.
That’s when I knew I wasn’t like the rest of them.
Here though? They think I’m contained—stable, because I don’t react.
I don’t yell or break things. But that’s the mistake, I don’t explode, I eliminate the problem.
And when they finally noticed the pattern—when too many problems stopped being problems, they sent me here.
Hillsboro. A place for people who don’t fit anywhere else or people who fit too well in the wrong places.
That’s what Master D told me. Killian, Lucifer, and Jagger don’t know that he hand picked them to be here.
They were put in this place for a reason and it’s not the reason they think.
I’ve kept my head down, stayed in my lane while watching and waiting—until now.
She—Lolli changed the pattern. Everything about her is different.
She’s not loud like the others. Her chaos doesn’t burn out.
She’s intentional even when she looks like she isn’t.
Her smile though. It’s not random. It’s a fucking warning.
I’ve seen people like her before. Not many, but the kind that don’t survive long unless someone stands next to them…
or they become something no one can touch.
She’s already here. Which means this place—this system.
It’s about to fail. And for the first time since I got here, I’m no longer interested in staying invisible.
Because something like her? You don’t watch from a distance.
You get close before someone else does and that’s exactly what my friends are doing—burrowing themselves into her skin with no chance of escape.
Jagger surprised me though. He hasn’t changed at all.
Still loud and reckless. We were never the same but we understood each other.
That’s what I loved about him. Words were never needed with us.
It was easy. It’s funny that he still looks at me like he’s deciding whether to hit me or trust me.
I get it. We haven’t been in the same place in a long time, and I disappeared from him.
One day, when he’s ready, I’ll tell him the truth, but right now, I just stare at Lolli.
I take in her features and notice her face isn’t weighed down by the make-up she puts on to hide her beautiful scars.
She stands in the middle of the hallway with her hands on her hips, waiting for our next move.
Her hair is wild, but her eyes... Her eyes are the problem.
They’re not empty or broken. They’re awake, like really awake.
There she is, something in my head notes—not a voice.
I’m not like the others. It’s recognition.
She looks at them first. Jaggers locked in on her.
Of course he is. Killian is next, always measured.
Taking her apart without even touching her.
I just shake my head as I look at Lucifer.
Always smiling, and it makes me sick. He's a pathetic waste of space. So fucking full of himself without actually being anything special. Then—her gaze shifts, finding me and stops. Most people don’t notice me right away but she does.
Her head tilts slowly, looking at me with curiosity.
“New face,” she says, her voice lighter than it should be, with a slight rasp. Probably from the screaming given the situation and the smell in the air. I don’t answer right away, instead, I step forward, close enough for her to see me clearly.
“You’re late,” I say as Jagger glances at me. Her smile widens, and she shrugs.
“I was busy,” she states, and I look behind me and into the room she just came out of.
I don’t need to go in. I already know, but I don’t think she realizes that she is naked, so I peel off my shirt and throw it at her.
She catches it and then her eyes widen. Realization of why I did that hits her hard and fast. She shoves the shirt over her head and nods at me.
“You took your time,” I say, and she giggles.
“They didn’t stop me,” she answers with no hesitation, no apology. Good.
The alarms overhead start to blare and Killian immediately covers his ears. The lights flicker then a scratching noise so debilitating hits the loud speakers that we all cringe covering our ears.
“LOCKDOWN IN EFFECT.”
Lucifer laughs under his breath. “Well, that didn’t take long,” he says as Killian steps closer to her.
“Can you walk?” he asks, and she tilts her head again.
“I can do more than that.” She giggles, and Jagger lets out a breath like something just settled in his chest.
“Then move,” Jagger orders, but she doesn’t listen. Her gaze falls onto me again.
“Who are you?” she asks, taking me in. I meet her eyes and hold them.
“Vinny,” I answer, and her smile softens just a fraction.
“Shadow,” she whispers, but I don’t react.
I store it away because she said it like it meant something.
The alarms cut sharper and Killian damn near hits the floor from how loud it is.
Lolli runs up beside him, comforting him, which seems to help because the tension in his body that was coiling tight seconds ago seems to have diminished with a simple touch from her.
Boots hit the far end of the hall. Guards. Too many. Too fast.
“They’re coming,” Lucifer states, rolling his shoulders.
Jagger steps forward, putting himself between her and everything else.
He’s so fucking predictable. I move anyway.
Not in front. Not behind. But beside her where I can see everything.
Where nothing gets close without me knowing.
She glances at me again then giggles. God, she’s perfect.
I want to hear her giggle over and over again.
“This place is fun,” she says as the lights flicker again, harder this time.
Somewhere down the hall something crashes and someone screams. The building isn’t holding anymore.
It’s cracking. I look over at her, taking in the way she stands here like she belongs in the middle of it.
She’s pure chaos. Not prey, that quiet thought surfaces again. No, not prey. Something else.
“Which way?” Lucifer asks, and she doesn’t hesitate pointing down a darker hallway.
“Good choice,” Jagger grins, and we move.
Together. Behind us, the alarms keep screaming.
The doors keep locking and the guards keep shouting but in front of us.
She walks like this place is hers. I fall into step beside her again, close enough so I can hear her breathe.
She’s smiling. Good. This is just the beginning, and Hillsboro… it has no idea what it just let out.