Chapter 59
Chapter Fifty-Nine
J
Meet me at the rooftop in one hour, or I’m going to jump.
Kelly’s texts runs circles through my mind as I take the elevator to the highest floor. The doors slide apart, and I cut past a group of doctors and nurses doing late-night rounds.
It takes all my strength to push the heavy emergency exit door open, and by the time, I’m done I’m already breathing hard.
My watch protests when I look at the flight of stairs that leads to the roof. There’s no elevator that goes straight up there.
I brace myself, grab the rail, and take the first stair.
This is stupid. You’re being so, so stupid.
Kelly’s one-hundred-percent setting a trap, but there’s still a small part of me that wants to believe my friend is the victim in all this. Not necessarily because the facts are telling me that’s the case but because I want to believe in myself.
I got such a good vibe from Kelly when we met. It was so easy to talk to her, and it felt like I’d known her forever. My gut has never steered me wrong before, and I pride myself on being a good judge of character. Where did I go wrong with Kelly?
I take another step.
My breath echoes against the empty stairwell walls and bounces back to me.
In the silence, I think about Finn and the fuss he put up to drop me off at the hospital.
“Come home with me.”
“You’re the one who told me I need to come to the hospital,” I argued.
“I changed my mind.”
“Why?” When he did the stony, silent prince routine, I warned him, “Unless I’m being kidnapped, turn this car around and drop me off at the hospital.”
He looked thunderous, but he took me where I wanted to go. After I got out of the car, I turned around, and Finn wound the window down to stare at me like a supervillain about to run over his victim.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he told Hayato to drive back to the hospital so he can drag me out by my hair.
Too bad.
Finn won’t find me in my room.
I kick the Shadow Prince from my mind and focus on making it up the stairs without destroying my heart.
It takes me thirty minutes to get to the top. I can’t physically stand anymore, and I take a seat to catch my breath. After I’ve recovered a bit, I push the door to the rooftop and step out into the night.
The air is chilly, and I’m glad I’m still wearing my sweater. A stiff wind picks up tendrils of my hair and flings them in my eyes. I shove them back with one hand while searching the rooftop for Kelly.
Giant grey air-conditioning units sit like bulky chess pieces, waiting for the sun and the moon to move them around. City lights blink like tiny Christmas tree lights, winking at the clear, black sky as if begging heaven to replace the stars with their artificial brilliance.
I step cautiously forward. “Kelly?”
The low buzz of the air conditioning units is all that answers me.
I move around, turning in a slow circle to scan the full expanse of the roof. Silver railings on the edge of the rooftop catch my eye.
I gulp.
We’re more than twenty-seven floors up. A drop to the bottom would shatter every single bone in my body.
Heels click behind me, and I whirl around to find Kelly sauntering out of the darkness. She’s wearing tight-fitting jeans and a low-cut blouse beneath a cream blazer.
“J!” she wails and runs over to me. I’m wrapped in her arms, and she squeezes me until I cough.
“Kelly.” I pat her back. “I got your text. What happened? Why are you up here?”
She pulls back, and big, fat tears roll down her face. “Shawn… Shawn isn’t backing down. He says he’ll divorce me no matter what. I need him, J. I can’t live without him. What do I do now?”
“Kelly, let’s go down and talk. I don’t think the kitchen has any more Jello cups, but we could substitute a pudding cup and—”
Suddenly, I hear a metallic hiss and feel a stinging bite in my neck.
I scream and flail my arms to get at whatever stung me. A vial with a wicked-long needle clatters to the ground.
Oh my go—
I try to run, but two thick hands curve around my shoulders. Panicked, I twist my neck and gasp when I recognize the nurse that I met when I visited Kelly’s aunt.
“What did you do to me?” I squirm to break free, but the nurse is too strong, and the fight ends before it begins. “Kelly, help me!”
Like flipping a switch, Kelly’s tears dry up, and she looks at me through mascara-smeared eyes.
“I did some research, J. And it turns out, your little heart”—she points at my chest—“beats with the help of a pacemaker. The machine that keeps you alive is also a bomb right there in your chest. If one chemical throws off the solution, poof.” She makes a flying gesture with her hand. “It explodes.”
My watch beeps.
I stare at my friend in terror. “Why are you doing this, Kelly?”
“You stabbed me in the back first.”
“I’ve done nothing but be there for you. I thought we were friends!” My pulse stumbles, tripping over itself.
“I thought so too, J. Or should I call you… Jinx?”
Dread holds my body captive, and shock slides its way through my veins. I suddenly realize… I made a very, very big mistake coming up here alone.
“How do you know that?”
A slow, disdainful smile spreads across her face. “I’m so curious. Why did you shut down your little blog about The Kings? I really like reading about them at Redwood Prep.”
My mind races through my next move. I want to push my hand into my mouth so I can vomit, but will that even help if a toxin was injected straight into my blood stream?
“Why didn’t you keep focusing on high school drama, Jinx? Instead, you put your nose where it didn’t belong.” A crazed sheen enters her eyes, and she steps into me, her voice climbing. “You blackmailed Shawn when I’d just gotten him under control. You ruined my perfect life!”
“Your life wasn’t perfect, Kelly. I saw the bruises. I know Shawn was hurting you.” I grit my teeth as a frightening pain slithers past my neck to my chest. “What the hell did you inject me with?”
Kelly lets out an exasperated breath. “See, Elise? I told you. She doesn’t even feel sorry for what she did.”
Elise?
As in… Mrs. Codd’s other daughter.
Elise lets me go and I collapse to the floor. The fire-like sensation in my chest expands to my hands next. I try to lift my arm, but I can’t. And when I look at my fingers, they’re twitching uncontrollably.
Horror infuses every part of me.
What the hell is happening?