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He closes his eyes, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “Instead of blaming her husband, she blamed Talia. I went to check on her one night when I heard something. She wasn’t in her room, so, I went looking for her, and I saw blood in the snow. By the time I found her…she was already buried. The bitch and her nasty daughter buried my sister alive. If I were five minutes later, she’d be dead.”
A burst of emotion comes out of me, and I clutch my rosary. “Jesus, Remy…”
His eyes tick to my cross. “Jesus wasn’t there for her, Didi, but I was. God doesn’t exist in this town, not anymore. But something else does. She was never the same after that. I brought her back to life, but barely. Part of me thinks she died that night, and something else was reborn. I swore to myself I would always protect her.”
I roll on top of him, squeezing him with my thighs, reminding him that I’m here and that I can take all the pain away if he lets me.
He leans up and captures my lips with his. “Even after everything, I still crave power. I’m an evil man, Didi. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Searching for you in the shadows.”
I move my lips to his chest and kiss his pecs, then work my way to his stomach. His cock twinges between my legs. “Well, now I’m here. And you get to do whatever you want with me.” I kiss his lips and smile.
His hand slides over my breasts as he pulls me in, changing the subject entirely. “How many times did Tommy fuck you today?” I frown at him. “How many times?”
“Three.”
He grabs my hips and nudges my legs open, sliding down my underwear. He pulls down the hem of his pants, releasing himself.
He thrusts in hard, but this time, I don’t want him to fuck me. I want to fuck him…I push my hand on his chest, nudging him. He rolls over onto his back, and I crawl on top of him, and he rests his hands on my hips as I slide myself over his cock, pulsing and clenching my pussy until that burning feeling returns and heat sweeps through my body. I see my pale reflection in the window, like a ghost staring back. I’m claiming him the way he’s claimed me. I lean in, grinding against him until I come, our breaths mixing together. Eventually, he can’t take it anymore, and we climax together. I fall on top of him, and before I can shutter out a proper breath, he’s already twisting me, sliding his dick inside my cum-soaked pussy.
“That’s only once,” he whispers, nibbling on my ear. “Three more to go.”
He’s not done…he’ll never be done until he beats Tommy. I smile when I realize just how deep their competitiveness runs, and how much I’ll never be sick of it as long as their obsession is with me. My life depends on it.
“I love you, little lamb,” he whispers as my pussy heats up again. “I’m going to fuck you until my seed is part of your bloodline.” I close my eyes and imagine my future child, the one who my mother was so certain would be evil.
My child will be Shadowface.
DIDI
Hours turn into days, and nothing interesting happens. With the curfew in place, the town is a dismal place—just mist and a void, terror and darkness.
A dusting of snow falls, and I spend my evenings drinking tea, staring wistfully outside, wondering what’s next. I barely leave the house as the weather turns to murky December nights. Tommy takes me on lots of rides into neighboring towns, where we listen to music and steal kisses in his car, away from Talia’s watchful eyes. I spend my evenings with Remy, reading, and having fires in the backyard with Bax. The others prepare for their school finals. We are blissfully existing, and I don’t ever want to leave.
Other than her clear claim on Tommy, Talia doesn’t seem to mind my presence. Perhaps she even enjoys it. She studies more than any of us, and in her off time, we play backgammon and chess, and sometimes, to her dismay, I beat her. But I’m growing restless. A void is present in my mind, and I can’t fill it. I often pace the property late at night, when everyone is asleep, thinking about the horrible people in this town, and all the horrible things that Talia had to endure that made her the way she is.
Whispers about Shadowface still drift through town. People speak of masked men and a white-haired girl whose gaze brings death. Other people, not us, are terrorizing the town. There are sightings among the shadows, and I can tell I’m not the only one getting restless. Talia has not been herself, and over the last couple of nights, she’s shut herself in her room after she comes home from visiting Stephen. Whatever burden she’s carrying, she seems content with carrying it alone.
Talia and I walk through campus on a brisk morning, and although the sun is shining bright for once in our otherwise dreary overcast day, no one is smiling and tension is heavy.
I begged her—begged—to go to class again for days, and she refused. She said it was too risky. But today, for whatever reason, she suddenly agreed.
“Remind me again, who has seen your natural hair?” she asks as she grips my hand in hers. I glance at Talia in her mini-dress and high boots, and she raises an eyebrow at me.
I run my hand over the wig she helped me put in place earlier by braiding the front to create a pretty crown on the top of my head. The wig has dark hair, the same color as Talia’s, and from afar, you couldn’t tell us apart. “Just you, Tommy, Remy, and Bax. Oh, and Lucy.”
She stops walking. “That’s it? Not your friend Tina?”
I wonder if perhaps Tina has seen my hair at some point. “No, she’s only seen my eyes. I’ve been very careful.” The wheels in her head are turning as we stop at the football field.
A few girls are huddled nearby, pointing at the demonic burn still etched into the grass. The symbol of death I’m learning to covet, and I suddenly understand why she’s asking.
My name cuts through the quiet from across the quad, snapping my attention just as Tina rushes into view. “Rose!”
Tina runs over to me, and my heart sinks when Cindy walks up behind her.
I grab Talia’s arm. “I promise, Tina hasn’t seen me.”
“Keep your eyes down and act normal,” Talia warns through a forced smile. The burning in my belly turns acidic at the sight of Cindy, who is a visceral threat to both of us. Talia squeezes my trembling hand before letting it go as they approach.
