Page 30

Trey

With the money from my father’s estate finally sitting in my account, Juliet has been scouring the market to find our next home. Something temporary until she figures out where she’ll land a job after graduation.

Whatever she decides, I’ll follow wherever she goes.

In the meantime, I’ve already been in touch with attorneys and financial planners to open a local shelter for women and children who need a safe place away from people like my father. A haven my mother and Autumn deserved.

Tonight is Massacre Manor’s last night before it closes for the season. Juliet and I are volunteers this time, both wearing our masks and terrorizing the masses together.

No one needs to die tonight, but a few screams never hurt anyone. That’s why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Juliet and I stalk across the dark haunt hand in hand, the unhinged couple giving the guests a night of terror they won’t soon forget. My little demon’s maniacal laughter echoes in my ears as we race through the haunted house and the dimly lit barn.

“I’m glad I found you,” she murmurs, squeezing my hand.

“I’m glad I caught you.” I’ll never be more grateful for anything in my life. That my mother’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain.

Juliet laughs at every scream we elicit as we jump out at guests and chase them across the grounds.

When she’s breathless and panting, I grin beneath my mask. “Better run faster, little demon.”

She takes me up on the challenge, and the guests are forgotten as we race around the haunt, the only two souls in the world.

When we find ourselves alone in the corn maze, she slows.

The same place I found her that night. Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and Ashby all determined to scare the girl who couldn’t be scared. The girl I scared, and she liked it.

She still does.

I stop as she continues strolling between the walls of towering corn stalks, the sweet, grassy scent surrounding us. The air is colder than the night we met, wrapping around my hot neck and sinking into the fabric of my jeans, but we’ll warm each other up.

“This is so fun,” she pants. “I want to do this every year.”

When I don’t respond, Juliet turns to find I’ve stopped several feet behind her.

She takes in our surroundings, head swiveling, and I grin beneath my mask. She lifts her mask, blue eyes bright and dancing. Her smile already a mirror to my own. “Say it.”

So I do. “Run, little demon.”