Page 22 of Darkness of Mine

I’m yet to get a read on Oz. He’s sitting on the couch opposite the door, watching me from behind his glasses. He doesn’t seem angry or upset, just maybe… contemplative. I wait for him to say something but in the end, it’s Eli, of all people, who makes the first crack in the wall.

He pushes up from the couch near me, slides my bag off my shoulder, and holds out a hand. “Come on.”

I look from his hand to his face. The soft smile on his lips shoots straight to my heart and mischief sparks in his blue eyes. I slip my hand into his and cling to this softer Eli.

He draws me down next to him as he sits on the couch again, and I take a deep breath before facing the others. “So, what are we dealing with?”

Oz opens up his satchel and pulls out a case file.

He spreads the papers out over the footstool and all of us move so we’re gathered around it. Even River finally sits down, taking a spot opposite me.

“The first girl was reported missing two weeks after you left,” River states. “Her name was Millie Morand.”

Oz passes me a summary sheet and together they fill me in on the details of how Millie was taken.

At some point, Carmen, who’s been watching us from the edges of the room, catches my eye. She looks me over, a question written on her face.

I give her a small nod to say I’m okay.

I guess I must look a bit more human now than I have for the past two months because she pushes away from the wall and leaves us to it.

I shift my attention back to the guys and go to turn the page but Oz splays his hand across the paper, stopping me.

“There’s a photo of Millie on the next page,” he says.

I glance up at him. “Okay…”

The guys shift around, and Jude keeps his gaze set on the footstool when he speaks. “She looks like you, Freya. Like you did when you were younger.”

“Oh.” That shouldn’t surprise me. Not really, I know Zach’s doing this to torture me.

Oz takes his hand back and I turn the page.

I’d braced myself for ginger hair and pale skin but despite the guys’ warning I’m not prepared for just how much Millie looks like me.

She’s smiling in the photo, her curls the exact same shade of copper as mine. Freckles dot her young face, the soft edges of her cheeks just starting to grow sharper. It’s like looking at a young Allie, and it hits me then that I’m the reason Millie’s dead. That Zach picked her purely because she looked like me. To taunt me.

My throat grows thick. “Was she um… did he touch her?”

“Yes,” River answers.

I close my eyes and push the file away. Waves of revulsion churn in my stomach and I stand up, pacing over to the drinks bar.

I go to pour myself some water but my hands are shaking too much. I put the jug down and link my hands behind my head. I stare up at the stone wall, trying to breathe past the nausea.It doesn’t work though. The wall disappears and all I can see is Millie’s lifeless body, Zach’s hands on her stomach.

His touch on my skin, like slick oil seeping into my flesh.

I turn just in time to reach the trash can before I throw up.

Steady hands gather my hair and hold it back from my face as I heave again, all the raw brownie mix I’d eaten with Sam earlier coming back up.

“I’ve got you,” Eli says, rubbing circles between my shoulder blades.

Acid burns my throat. I spit into the trash can and stand up, wiping my mouth on the sleeve of my jacket.

I avoid looking at Eli and sit back down on the couch. “What else?” I say, reaching for the file on Millie.

No one says anything. I look up to find Jude, River, and Oz watching me, wariness etched onto their faces.