Page 1 of The Deceptions

“Why?”I croak, keeping my gaze forward instead of on him.

My uncle.

The reason I'm here.

Thick sheets of rain pour down as the dark clouds open above us. Every inch of my clothing sticks to my flesh like a second skin and I shiver, staring down at the stones sticking out from the muddy earth. The scent of nature surrounds me. Mud. Leaves. Rain. A hint of lilacs blowing in the breeze mixed with the moisture.

My eyes squeeze shut. The frigid water serves as my baptism. A renewal from the naive girl I once was when I was seventeen. The girl who blindly followed her three boyfriends around like a puppy on a leash, lapping up everything they gave her.

Until she couldn't any longer.

Because she died a miserable death. Betrayed by the very men who held her heart in their palms.

Her blood stained their fingers.

Now, she's the girl buried six feet deep beneath my soaked boots, stuck in the ground with only a grave marker, etched with her name, to remember her by.

Olivia Viotto.

A familiar stranger. A girl I once knew and used to be.

But not anymore.

I'm notthatOlivia anymore. I’m not the girl with stars in her eyes and dreams at the tips of her fingers. I’m twenty-two years old now. An adult. Someone who lives in the real world where evil is around every corner and everyone is out to get you.

Even your best friends.

I’ll never be that hopeless Olivia Viotto again. She depended on too many people to help her get through the day.

Not anymore.

I'm the new and improved me. Agent Seven with Veritas. Fighting the good fight against the evil forces, like the men from my past.

My friends. My father. Mafia and gang leaders.

A flash of lightning streaks across the raging sky, illuminating the vast graveyard and matching the torrid emotions swirling inside me. A thunderous boom immediately follows, rumbling the ground beneath my feet.

My fingers curl at my sides.

Breathe, Liv. You have to fucking breathe through your nose and out through your mouth. Don’t think about it. Don’t imagine their faceson the last day you stood hidden in the woods watching them grieve as the old me was lowered into the ground.

It was all a lie. Everything we had together. The love. Laughter. Emotions.

How could they lie to me so well?

And I was too dumb to see anything before it all came crashing down.

I heave a breath, panic clawing deep in my chest, anxious to leave and make me spiral into the abyss, like it's done before. I can't go back down that road again. It brings nothing but unanswered questions and heartache.

Why are we here? In my former hometown? Why did he make me come back?

I never wanted to step foot in this town again. Ever. I've made something of myself. Something big and meaningful.

I've created the new me.

I ground myself, keeping my mind in the present. Instead of the vivid past attempting to pull me back. I’m fighting against the memories attacking me from all sides.

I swallow my emotions, taking stock of my surroundings. Greenwood Cemetery. One of the oldest cemeteries in California. Rumored to be haunted by pirates and other residents of the past.