Page 94 of Soul So Dark

I twirl the elastic strap of my purple Purge mask around my finger while glancing at the text that just came through. As soon as we pull up to one of the pumps at the Sunoco, Josh and Rory stumble out of the cab and dash across the lot to the store. I tilt my phone away, acutely aware of Colson sitting just feet away from me just as his sister’s image fills the entire screen.

Dallas stares back at me with irreverence, nothing but her onyx hair framing her deep blue eyes.

DALLAS (6:40PM): You’ll never amount to anything in Sen’s Fortress if you keep wasting time with amateurs

She’s trying to kill me. That sweet, gorgeous face is diabolical. She’s a little demon, a hellion trying to ruin me.

ME (6:51PM): Last time I checked, you’ve learned plenty of things from me

But, still, I can’t ignore the feeling that’s been gnawing at me since the night I fell asleep in Dallas’s bed. It’s like I’m standing outside my body, trying to reason with myself, and bargain for a different outcome than the inevitable.

No matter how you feel, she can’t consent to shit.

But she’s not a kid, she’s a high schooler, no different than me.

Still won’t hold up in a court of law.

I can’t get arrested, especially for statutory rape. The military would be out, and if I was convicted, I’d have to register. And that shit follows you forever. But she doesn’t need to be afraid of me. I would never hurt her.

Other people, however…

ME (6:52PM): I have to tell you something

“Oh, shit!” Colson cranes his neck to see over the roof.

When I glance up, Al, who owns the Sunoco, is standing at the counter pointing his sawed-off shotgun at Josh and Rory. They’re thrashing around, tearing off their masks and raising their hands in the air. Seconds later, Al lowers his gun and yells something at them, probably cussing them out, before he goes on to sell them a case of beer.

Morons…

I sit back down and continue typing, trying to hurry before they get back.

Rory found out you’ve been catfishing him. I don’t know how, but Aiden and I found him waiting in your room on Thursday when you weren’t home. I told him I’d kill him if he came near you again. He’s going to school out of state, so he’ll be gone by the end of the summer. But until then, you need to stay the hell away from him.

“Who the hell have you been talking to?”

I startle when I hear Colson’s voice.

“Oh, um…”

I’m too slow. Colson’s eyes darting between me and my phone, squinting with suspicion. Immediately, I know what he’s thinking, just like we all can read each other by one look. He’s wondering if, for some macabre reason, I’m talking to Jordy. Even after everything that happened.

I could let him draw his own conclusions instead of telling him the truth. But that would be infinitely worse. I would literally rather die than anyone think I’m giving Jordy the time of day, especially him.

So, instead, I take a deep breath and steel myself for the truth.

“Dallas.”

???

“Seriously, don’t fuck this up. You don’t lay a finger on her and if I ever see her crying over you, you’ll be the next one I come for with the rest of these assholes.”

I’m pleasantly surprised with Colson’s reaction after looking him dead in the eye and confessing that I’ve been secretly coming to his house to play video games with his sister. That said, I have my own ideas about how to not fuck up this situation, which involves figuring out how to keep Dallas safe when I’ve already signed over the next four years of my life to the United States government.

I don’t notice what roads we’re on or how long we’ve been driving, but as soon as we arrive at the top of the ridge, I’m overcome with an eerie sense of déjà vu. And when I see Bowen Garrison’s white Lancer parked across the clearing at the old railroad bridge, it seems like this is where I’m supposed to end up tonight—like fate.

Tunnel vision sets in as soon as I pull my mask down and all noises around me mute, dissolving into the black forest around us. Ignoring everyone else, I climb Bowen’s bumper and hood like stairs, letting my boots fall with jarring thuds at each step. I want to put my heel through his windshield, but instead, I crouch down and give it a couple bangs with my fist.

“Get your ass out here, Garrison!” I bark.