Page 15 of Bleeding Hearts (Pine Valley College #3)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I climb into the coffin before the masked man can tell me to and lie down. As soon as I’m out of sight, I drop my fake smile. My chest heaves with panic just from being trapped here, but even worse is what I’ll be trapped with.

The card crumples in my hand as I stare up at the starry night sky, hoping whatever she got is better than this one. I saw it the moment she started to flip it, the drawing obvious, but what was even more obvious was her fear.

I know how terrified of spiders she is, and I couldn’t let it happen. I might not want her in my life, but I still want to protect her. I can’t love her, but I can do this. I can take her terror away if she’s determined to play Risk alongside me.

I don’t have much time to think about Alice though. I have to worry about myself because another announcement sounds. “All the cards have been chosen. Your coffins will now be filled with what is on your card and sealed, and then the clock will start.”

I just need to survive five minutes.

I can do it. I’ve survived much worse than this.

I jerk upright at the first scream, and I watch as the masked men head to the first coffin with buckets and tip them inside. Snakes tumble out and in with the girl whose terrified screams fill the air, then suddenly, they cut off, the lid closed.

Then it’s my turn. The masked people appear above me with bright red buckets in hand, and I know what’s in them. I can see their shadows, and I feel sick.

I want to run away, but then I remind myself why I’m doing this. I can’t afford to fail.

It’s only some spiders.

It’s just five minutes.

I won’t die.

I repeat it over and over.

I swallow my pride for her. I would say I swallow my dignity as well, but that has long since disappeared as I stare up at the masked person. I have no doubt I look terrified as they tip up the buckets and huge black spiders hit my body.

Panic claws at me, and I try to brush them off, but it’s no use.

Closing my eyes, I force myself to lie still, which is easier said than done.

They crawl across me, their weight tugging at my clothing and their legs touching my skin, making me shudder.

Tears squeeze from my eyes, so I force them open, refusing to fail.

“Time starts now.”

The coffin door snaps shut with an automated click, and I get my last look at light before I’m plunged into darkness.

Everything seems enhanced. My breathing is loud, and the walls are closing in around me. Too close. Too small. I can breathe. I’m losing air. I can feel them everywhere, touching me . . . crawling over me. I start to hyperventilate.

A hairy leg slides across my cheek, and I want to scream, but I swallow it down, terrified that if I open my mouth, one of them will crawl inside.

Another brushes my hair, making me jerk.

More move across my hands and legs, even as I keep them snapped close to my body so they can’t get into my clothes.

I feel one spindly leg touch my ear and a whine slips free.

Focus on something else. Focus on anything but this.

I start to count backwards as my eyes strain in the darkness, trying to cling to anything but the sensation of them crawling across my body, but it doesn’t work.

My brain fizzles until I finally land on Alice.

I visualize her smile and how her eyes sparkle like stars when she looks at me. I see her innocence, despite everything, and hear her laughter. It’s a sound I crave. She fills my head, and I close my eyes, focusing on her, and then that night floods back unbidden.

“I’m scared of the dark, Lally.” Her small voice haunts me.

“Come on, cutie, something must scare you more than the dark,” I whisper as we huddle together under the desk. There are tears in her eyes, and her brother’s blood is on her hands. She looks so young and scared. I don’t blame her, but I try to lighten the mood.

“Spiders,” she croaks. “I hate spiders so much, I can’t even sleep if I know there’s one in the room with me.”

“Well, at least there are no spiders here, okay? We are going to be alright. Your brother is going to be fine, I promise, and I’m right here with you. I’ll always be right here with you. I won’t ever let anything happen to you.”

“Promise?” she whispers so trustingly, it makes my heart crack.

I squeeze her hand, tucking her under my arm as we hide in the dark. “I promise. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll keep you safe, Alice.”

I blink my eyes open so I don’t see anything else from that night. It’s hard to think of anything good that happened then without thinking about all the bad, and right now is not the time to think of him, not when I’m trapped in the dark with nothing but my thoughts.

A leg touches my eyeball, and I scream, jerking up and smacking my head against the wood so hard I fall back with a groan, a whine leaving me when something crawls along my lips.

Tickling legs slip into my open mouth. Spitting and gagging, I brush off my face and cover it with my hands.

My warm breath hits my palms as I try not to panic.

I never told her, but spiders terrify me too.

A lot.

When I was younger, the kid next door would throw them at me and put them down my clothes.

My parents always said it was because he liked me, but I hated it.

When we were having a sleepover with my friends, he snuck over and threw them into my tent and closed it.

Since that day, they’ve scared the shit out of me.

He was an ass. No matter what my parents said, it was terrifying. You shouldn’t scare the people you like. Even as a kid, I understood that.

I guess I grew up to be just like him though, hurting those I love.

Maybe he was just as fucked up as I am now, lost, alone, and lashing out for attention.

The reminder only makes my thoughts spiral to that dark place, the one I fight against every day, but trapped in a coffin, he’s all that consumes my mind now.

Is this how Tommy feels, buried in the ground, being eaten by spiders and insects?

He would hate it. He loved the sun. He loved daytime more than the night. It was the only thing we ever truly disagreed on.

I suppose he won’t mind, since he’s dead and not actually in a coffin, but that thought keeps floating around until I feel tears drip down my face. He’s dead.

I don’t know why it hits me so hard, but it does.

Tommy is dead. He’s gone, and he’s never coming back.

My sobs fill the coffin, and I curl onto my side as much as I can, trying to breathe past my aching heart. At least it drowns out the feeling of the spiders, and before I know it, the coffin top is opening. Fresh air flows in, and I peer through my fingers to see the night sky above me.

Breathing deeply, I wipe at my face and sit up, but my eyes drop to the coffin and the spiders sharing the space with me. I grab the edges and throw myself up and out, scrambling to get away from them as fast as I can.

My feet hit the solid earth, but my breathing is fast, and I can still feel them on me. As I spin around, brushing them from my body, my eyes land on an open, empty coffin where wasps currently buzz about. There’s no person inside. Did they tap out?

I’m curious about what was in the others, and I look at them as people run away screaming, while others simply sink to their knees, crying.

One person is even throwing up in front of their coffin, and my eyes widen in horror and disgust as insects writhe in their vomit.

They must have swallowed them while screaming.

Worms.

Snakes.

Spiders.

Insects.

Bats.

My eyes meet hers where she’s rapidly brushing ants from her body. Her face is pale, but she seems okay. Ants. She got ants.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I suddenly feel something on my back. I let out a shriek, and her head jerks up as I spin, desperately trying to get it off me.

“Here, let me help.” She rushes over. “Stay still.”

“It’s okay. I’m fine. I’ll get it,” I snap, knowing she won’t like touching it.

“Stand still,” she barks, and I freeze under her command. She slowly plucks something from my clothing and lets out a disgusted little scream as she puts it in the grass and wipes her hands on her sides.

“Anymore?” I ask. “Please, anymore?”

“No, you’re fine.”

“There is! I can feel them—” I know I’m spiraling, but I can’t help it.

Her hands cup my cheeks, and she presses her forehead to mine, stilling me.

“There are none. Look into my eyes, Lally. Just focus on my eyes, nothing else. You’re fine.

There are no more on you. I’m sure of it.

Just breathe with me.” She grabs my hands and presses them to her chest where she breathes slowly.

“That’s it, copy me. Slowly in, slowly out. ”

“They are on me. I can feel them.” I start to spiral again, but her lips crush against mine.

My eyes widen as we stare at each other, our lips pressed together. She pulls back slowly, her smile small and unsure. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere, just look at me. There is nothing on you, I promise. You’re fine.”

My skin crawls, but I force myself to calm down, trusting her. “Okay, I’m okay,” I rasp, my voice choked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. They were just ants, so it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t like the dark, but I got through it.”

“How?” I murmur.

“I thought of you,” she replies without hesitation. “Of the way you held me that night in the darkness. Whenever I’m scared, I always think of you.”

“Why?” I ask, my voice growing stronger now.

“Because your strength astounds me. There is no one stronger than you, and thinking of you makes me feel brave. I want to make you proud of me, so I try harder,” she admits, brushing my cheek. “Are you okay?”

I nod, closing my eyes and allowing myself to soak in her warmth for a moment when I know I shouldn’t. It will give her the wrong idea, but I need it right now.

I don’t know how long we stand here before other names are announced.