Page 2

DAISY

I t’s cold, much colder than I realized. My feet ache with it and my toes are numb. I’m still dizzy from the alcohol Marcus poured down my throat. I fell and scraped my legs at some point since I ran, too, but I don’t remember exactly when.

My grand idea to leave Richmond was at the forefront of my mind when I fled the party, but Plan B: ‘Barista Daisy In City Far Away From Here’ was always half-cocked and, in my drink-addled brain, it seemed much more doable . Now that I’m sobering up, I know that in the cold hard light of real life, I have no way of going anywhere.

Jesus, I don’t even have shoes on!

I huddle in the doorway of the dorm Lu lives at, shivering and trying to think of something. It’s been hours, I’m pretty sure, but I can’t see the clocktower in the Quad from here, so I have no idea what time it is.

She might be back by now. Maybe she can hide me from the Blanks, from The Heath, while I figure out what I’m going to do next.

I try all the entry buzzers on the entryway, but no one answers or lets me in, so I hide the shadows out of sight, wrapping my arms around myself tightly as I shiver, both from cold and fear.

A guy leaves the building a few minutes later, staggering into the open. I slink out of the bushes behind him while he slurs into his phone that he’s on his way.

I catch the door before it clicks closed and enter, breathing a sigh of relief when warmth begins to permeate my skin. I pull down the stupidly short dress that keeps riding up, cursing Lu’s costume choices. I wouldn’t be so cold if I was dressed as my original Viking idea. But I suppose it did help with getting that guy, David, to drop his guard around me, or, more accurately, my cleavage, because now I know that John was there that night, that he was driving the car.

That fucker killed my mom and then covered it up, I know it. And, even though my stalker scares me, without him, I wouldn’t have even known there was anything fishy about her death.

Not for the first time, I wonder who it is, and why they care. Could it be one of John’s house staff. Stevens, maybe, or one of the maids. Them seeming more masculine could be a double bluff. I should go to the house and see what I can find out.

Except I can’t, I recall, because John is sending me back to England. I tense with anger even as I shiver with the remnants of the cold. He’s going to get away with it because I’ll be stuck in an institution where no one will listen to me and there won’t be anyone to uncover the truth. If my stalker could, they probably would have already. It was up to me.

Understanding my failure hits me hard, stealing the air from my lungs, and I have to steady myself against the wall for a few seconds.

I need Lu to either hide me or investigate without me. But how can I ask that of her? It’s too dangerous.

As if I needed yet another reason to not be taken back to The Heath. I steel myself. I have to make sure it doesn’t happen.

I check that there’s no one around before I slip through the building. I climb to the next floor. Despite rallying myself downstairs, I begin to feel more and more desperate with every step. What if she’s not there? I can’t stay here roaming the hallways until morning. What if there are more guys like Marcus and his friends who catch me alone...

I try to push away the thoughts of their hands on me, of their threats and laughs, the way they smelled and my terror.

My left ankle is beginning to throb, and I focus on that instead. I hadn’t realized I hurt it, but now that the adrenaline is wearing off, I think I must have gone over on it at some point. Walking is getting harder.

I look down at it. It’s definitely swollen.

I get to Lu’s room, and I give her door a soft knock. She doesn’t answer. I put my ear to it, but don’t hear anything from inside.

A door opens behind me without warning, and I freeze like an animal in the road.

Two boys come out into the corridor and stare at me, their eyes flitting over me.

‘Hey, isn’t that?—’

‘ Daisy ?’

It takes me a moment to recognize the pair. Travis and Mich. I’ve seen them a few times since we met on my first day here. They’re members of Dagorhir so they’ve been at battles and practice, and sometimes they hang out in Grinder, but we haven’t spoken much. Mich got me a coffee the other day, though, and he smiles at me sometimes. He’s been nicer than he was at first, when he and Travis tried to turn me away from their table at the sign-up fair.

I feel a lot more myself now that I’m somewhere a little familiar and not so drunk , but when I open my mouth to speak, I can’t make a sound. I don’t even know what I’d say even if I could talk. Instead, tears fill my eyes. I can’t stop them.

‘Are you okay?’ Mich asks, seeming genuinely concerned.

But what the hell do I know? I thought lots of things that have turned out to be rubbish... bullshit .

Maybe Stoke was right. Maybe I am safer in The Heath. Maybe John and my mom were right to put me in there and leave me.

‘Hey, it’s okay.’ Mich takes a step toward me, and I take two backward down the hall, my eyes darting from Mich’s face to Travis’.

‘It’s okay,’ Mich says again, his hands coming up like in the movies to show me he’s unarmed.

‘Call Lu,’ he mutters to Travis who rolls his eyes.

Even I can tell that the second boy is annoyed.

‘Fine,’ he mutters, taking out his phone, and then he raises it up as if to take a picture of me.

I flinch away.

‘Nope,’ Mich says, putting his hand in front of the lens. ‘Don’t you fucking dare.’

‘It’s only to send to Lu,’ he says with wide-eyed innocence.

‘Bull. I know you Trav. Just call Lu.’

I lean against the wall and close my eyes.

They’re calling Lu.

They’re calling Lu.

‘It’s just going to voicemail. Her phone’s probably dead.’

Shit.

‘Daisy.’

I open my eyes and focus on Mich.

‘We can’t get in touch with Lu,’ he says very clearly, gesturing at her door. ‘But you shouldn’t stay out here like this. You don’t want to pass out in the hallway, okay? It’s dangerous. Come inside and you can wait for her with us, okay? We’ll figure this out.’

They think I’ve been drinking. Does it still count if it was forced down my throat?

I shake my head, but I limp forward and enter their room. The walls are a tired yellowish color and there are two single beds on opposite sides of the wall with a clear line of ownership between one side of the dorm and the other. Mich’s is tidy for the most part whereas Travis has stuff pretty much all over the place.

Mich points to a bed and I sit down, grateful to be off my injured foot.

‘Why are we bothering doing this?’ Travis mutters from across the room where he’s sitting in front of his computer, his face bathed in blue light from the screen.

‘What?’ Mich asks.

‘She’s just an inebriated sorority ho who got separated from the herd. I thought we were going to Jordan's to start the campaign, not babysitting some dumb, drunk chick.’

I open my mouth to tell him I’m not drunk, but all that comes out is a soft groan that makes him sneer in my general direction.

‘Ignore him,’ Mich says to me and turns to his friend. ‘You’re just sore because she killed you in battle the other day and Keith called you out in front of everyone when you were trying to pretend it didn’t happen.’

Travis snorts loudly. ‘She didn’t kill me. I tripped!’

‘Whatever, man.’ Mich rolls his eyes. ‘Either way, I wasn’t raised to just leave disoriented girls alone when they could get hurt.’

Travis makes a derisive sound. ‘Seriously? Whatever happened to her tonight, she brought it on herself.’

‘Shut up.’

‘I mean...’ He gestures at me. ‘Look at her. Look at her clothes. The makeup all over her face. Dress like a whore, get treated like a whore.’

I stare at him, taking in his words.

Was what happened tonight in the games room my fault?

‘She’s hurt, Trav. Jesus. Maybe stop spending so much time on those Incel forums, huh? They’re turning you into a bigger asshole than you were before.’

‘Look all I’m saying is whatever happened to her tonight, she only has herself to blame for drinking too much and wearing that .’

Mich shakes his head. ‘Go make yourself useful. Grab her a Coke from the machine.’

‘I don’t have any cash on my card.’

Mich frisbees his card over to his roommate who fumbles to catch it and mutters something I don’t catch under his breath.

‘Sorry about him.’ Mich shrugs. ‘He’s an asshole. If we weren’t roomies, I wouldn’t hang out with him if I’m honest.’

I stare at him. I know I should be doing something, saying something, but I just don’t have it in me.

‘Daisy?’

I blink.

‘You didn’t hit your head tonight, did you?’

I shake my head a little. I don’t think I have, anyway. It doesn’t hurt, not like my ankle does.

I lean back against the wall and close my eyes just for a second. I don’t mean to fall asleep, but the next thing I know, someone’s pounding on the door.

My eyes are open and I’m on my feet immediately, limping away from the sound and looking around frantically for somewhere to hide. It’s them. It’s The Heath, I know it.

Mich, who was at his desk, stands up. ‘Who is it?’

‘Campus police! Open up!’

Not The Heath then. Not yet.

But they’ll tell them where I am.

Mich shoots an indiscernible look at Travis who’s lounging on his bed with his phone, casually drinking what I assume is the can of Coke meant for me.

‘Fuck you!’ Mich mutters. ‘You called the rent-a-cops?’

Travis shrugs. ‘She’s wasted. She’s falling asleep on your bed . Even you said she might have a concussion since she’s acting so weird.’

He gets up. ‘Coming, officer !’

He grins at me, but his eyes don’t move. It’s not a nice grin.

‘You should be thanking me,’ he hisses at Mich over his shoulder. ‘She won’t remember shit in the morning, and who knows what she’s gonna say after she wakes up in here tomorrow. I’m making sure we don’t get a sexual assault charge, buddy!’

He opens the door and there are two men in the corridor. They’re dressed in black uniforms. They look like police at first glance, but their clothes only say ‘SECURITY’ on them.

‘We got a call about a drunk and disorderly female.’

Travis points at me.

The one at the front gives me a onceover and then rolls his eyes at his partner.

‘Okay, miss. These boys want to go to sleep, okay? Why don’t you come with us, and we’ll figure this out down at the office, huh?’

I take a step back. I don’t want to go with them. They’ll tell The Heath where I am, or John, and then he’ll tell The Heath where I am.

‘Look, Officer, it’s fine,’ Mich says. ‘She’s okay to crash here. I don’t know why my roommate called you.’

They both ignore Mich. The biggest officer steps into the room. He reminds me of Crews from back at The Heath and I immediately tense under his scrutiny.

‘What’s your name, miss?’

I don’t answer.

‘Her name is Daisy. Daisy Novelle.’

The officer freezes. ‘Novelle?’

He looks me over again is if seeing me in a different light, and his lip quirks. ‘First time away from Daddy Warbucks, there, sweetheart?’

He turns to his partner, rolling his eyes. ‘You got the cuffs? You know how these spoiled ones can get.’

‘You sure you want to mess with the Novelles?’ the second one murmurs, but he still hands a pair of metal handcuffs over.

The first officer scoffs. ‘Those rich assholes don’t scare me.’

He steps forward with them dangling from his hand and my pleading eyes fly to his face and then to Mich.

I open my mouth to beg him not to let them take me and even though the words don’t come, he steps forward like he hears them anyway.

‘I don’t think you need those, Officer.’

The first officer barely spares him a glance, eyeing me as if he thinks I’m going to attack him.

‘Don’t tell me how to do my job, kid, or we’ll take you down to the office too.

‘Is this girl really worth getting into trouble for, son?’ the second one asks.

Officer One’s eyes flick to Mich for a second, and I take my chance. I lunge away from him and try to get around him to the door. He curses, grabbing my arm and throwing me forward on the closest bed, which happens to be Travis’.

I hear his partner laughing behind him.

My scream is muffled by the mattress as I’m pushed into it with much more force than is warranted. These men are much bigger than me and probably weight over two-hundred pounds, but they’re acting like I’m a threat.

As my arms are wrenched behind my back, I feel the cold metal wrap around my wrists and click tight. I try to struggle, try to breathe , but he has a knee in the middle of my back, keeping me completely immobilized.

I hear Travis complaining that he has to wash his sheets now that I’ve touched them because I probably have VD.

What’s VD?

My brain feels like it’s misfiring. My breathing is fast, and my heart is racing. I need to tell them what happened tonight, that I didn’t drink because I wanted to. That Marcus and the others...

‘I swear these sorority girls get nuttier every year,’ the second one says to the first as I’m led out of the room.

‘They’re worse when they come from money, you know?’

His partner chuckles.

‘Don’t you know who my daddy is?’ he asks in a high-pitched tone.

‘Didn’t your momma tell you?’ the first one who’s holding me asks, and they both guffaw.

It echoes through the stairwell.

My dress is barely covering my ass now, but they don’t let me pull it down as I’m held by my elbow firmly with my hands locked behind my back. They urge me down the stairs fast even though I’m limping, cursing when I stumble and almost lurch out of the officer’s grip.

‘How much did you have to drink tonight, princess?’ one of them quips, not seeming to notice my injury at all.

They lead me outside into their black and white ‘cop’ car which has the words ‘Richmond University Police’ emblazoned down the side.

They open the back door, and I wrench myself out of the officer’s grip, intending to run, but he grabs me with a chuckle and pushes me into the hard back seat.

I don’t raise my leg fast enough as I go down and my bad foot gets caught on the edge of the door, drawing a pained scream from deep inside my chest.

My stomach twists with it and, for a second, I’m afraid I’m going to spew all over their car.

He pushes me the rest of the way in and he’s not gentle about it. ‘Nice try, sweetheart, but we have better things to do than chase you around campus tonight,’ he chuckles.

The door slams hard, the loud bang startling me.

They both get in and the second one eyes me in the rearview mirror, rubbing his ear. ‘And no more screaming!’

The trip to wherever they’re taking me is a short one. I’m half glad because I’m bouncing around the hard plastic back seat like a pinball and getting a ton more bruises, but, on the other hand, I need more time if I’m going to have a chance of coming up with a plan to get away.

The officers don’t seem to care that I’m moving around in the back. In fact, I think they swerve once or twice to see how far I’ll slide with my arms still locked behind me and nothing to hold onto.

‘We should stop,’ one murmurs to the other. ‘She’ll throw up in the back. I don’t feel like cleaning that up tonight.’

‘Hear that, sweetheart?’ the second one who’s driving asks, looking at me in the rearview mirror. ‘You throw up and we’re leaving you in the car till Richmond PD come for you.’

They haven’t mentioned John or The Heath, I realize.

Why Richmond PD?

I haven’t done anything.

‘That’s right. Drunk and disorderly is a crime. Daddy isn’t getting you out of this one.’

‘She’s a Novelle, remember?’ the first one mutters, looking out the window with a yawn.

The driver shrugs. ‘Call Township anyway. They can drop by and grab her when they get a chance. ’Til then, maybe she gets lost in the system, spends a cold night in the cells.’

They both snigger and I clasp my hands together hard, gritting my teeth. Despite the pain I’m in and the fear twisting through me, I’m not going to give in to tears because of them.

We arrive at one of the university buildings not far from the lab. The irony isn’t lost on me that these fake cops have practically brought me back to the frat house I escaped from tonight, but I hope they do as they threaten and lose me in the system for a few hours. Maybe then I’ll be able to get away before The Heath can retrieve me.

I’m grabbed by the elbow and dragged from the car. Another squeal of pain when I land on my injured foot is ignored as I’m brought inside and pushed into a chair in front of a desk.

‘Are you ready to talk to us yet, little girl ?’ the first one sneers, getting in my face.

Little girl?

I shrink back in the chair, and he smirks, liking that I seem scared of him. I want to tell him it’s because he’s in dire need of a breath mint.

A piece of paper is thrust in front of me on the desk and my hands are released.

I rub my wrists.

‘Write your name. If you’re sober enough.’

I take the pen shakily and write ‘Marguerite Evans.’

Officer One snatches up the paper and reads it. ‘That’s not what those boys said your name is.’ He glances at his partner. ‘Find her in the system.’

He looms over me and re-cuffs my hands behind me immediately, this time even more tightly.

I feel myself sinking into the background of my own mind, my pain and discomfort getting to be too much. My shoulders slump in defeat. I’m exhausted and it’s beginning to show.

The second one sits at the computer and starts tapping on the keys. He’s very slow. Meanwhile, my hands begin to go numb and the rest of me hurts like I’ve been put through a meat grinder. My head is pounding, too, so I lean forward and rest it on the desk. I know I’m showing weakness, but I’m past caring now.

I vaguely register the two officers talking quickly in hushed, urgent voices a minute later.

They haven’t called the township cops yet, I don’t think.

‘Marguerite.’

My name is said slowly. I open my eyes and straighten to see which one is speaking to me. I find Officer Two standing over me to the right of my chair.

‘We. Have. Called. Someone. To. Take. You. Home.’

I blink, trying to make my brain work. Someone’s coming? Who?

The immediately pounding in my chest takes me by surprise.

‘Do. You. Understand?’

Why is he speaking to me like I don’t know English?

‘Yes,’ I manage to croak and hope I’ll be able to speak properly now. ‘I didn’t do anything.’

‘What was that?’

‘What did she say?’ Officer One asks from his desk.

‘What did you say?’ Officer Two asks.

‘Talk slow to her. Remember what her file says.’ Officer One taps the side of his head. ‘She’s basically like a little kid, or something.’

‘No, I’m not.’ I wrinkle my nose. ‘I said, I didn’t do anything wrong. And I’m not drunk. Let me go.’

Officer Two huffs. ‘No can do. It says right here in your file. If you’re found, your guardian needs to be called.’

I look at the ground in anger. Like a stray.

So, they’ve called John. The Heath won’t be far behind, then.

It’s over. I close my eyes.

Failure.

Neither of them says anything else to me after that and they don’t give me anymore of their attention, busying themselves at their desks while I wait for the inevitable.

I hear a car door slam about five minutes later, and my eyes cut to the window to see a figure I can’t quite make out coming toward the office.

Is it a Blank? Is it John?

But it’s Shade who steps through the door.

I look away from him immediately, not prepared for the onslaught of feelings that threaten to make me cry or scream or both . Relief. Betrayal. Anger. Sadness. Disappointment. My own stupidity.

There’s so much. I push everything down deep.

‘I don’t want to go with him,’ I say to the officers.

They ignore me completely. It’s like I’m not even speaking.

‘You’re her guardian?’ Officer One asks.

‘That’s my father,’ Shade says smoothly, smiling a little. ‘John Novelle. He’s on a work trip. He asked me to...deal with this.’

Deal with this.

I don’t look at Shade.

‘And this is your...’

‘Sister. Step sister.’

They glance at each other and the first one nods. ‘Okay. You take her. Make sure she’s not let out by herself around the campus again. It’s dangerous for... girls like her .’

My eyes narrow and I’m barely able to keep my fury in check.

‘Of course, Officer...’ Shade peers at their chests, at name badges I hadn’t noticed. ‘Wilkes and Officer Mullon. I’ll make sure she’s out of your hair for good.’

Shade sets a roll of bills on the table.

‘For your trouble. My father would be appreciative if there’s no record of this little incident.’

They glance at each other and Officer One nods. ‘No problem, Mr. Novelle.’

The money disappears and the paper I wrote my name on is ripped up in front of us.

Shade nods. ‘Thanks for your help, gentlemen.’

I get awkwardly to my feet, practically my whole body screaming in protest.

‘Come on,’ he says almost gently to me.

I stare at the floor and turn around so that they remember that I was cuffed again after I wrote my name.

There’s silence for a beat before I hear Shade.

‘And that was necessary because...’

‘We thought she might be a danger to herself. When we saw on her file...about her condition . She started showing signs of agitation.’

Lying assholes.

I flinch as a hand brushes against my arm, and I hear them being unlocked. I glance at Shade. He’s staring at the cuffs, and there’s something in his face that makes me think he’s not at all happy. The officers don’t seem to notice, though.

My numb hands finally free, I shake them to try to get the feeling back, rubbing my red wrists when they start to hurt.

I pull down my costume as best I can and Officer Two clocks the move.

‘You should maybe make sure she dresses more appropriately in the future when you let her out of the house.’