Page 26 of Their Little Ghost

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

AIDEN

“She asked about her,” Lex says, returning to the cabin and unpeeling his mask.

Sunlight slips through the windows, hitting his cheek to highlight the scars covering half of his face.

“What did you say?” I ask, swigging the last of my beer while Eli sharpens his knives at the table.

The rhythmic sound of his blade swiping against the sharpener is almost therapeutic. He does it the same number of times each day. Twenty-five. Another of his rituals.

“The truth,” Lex says, beckoning for me to throw a beer. “That she should look close to home. He drugged her again.”

“Bastard,” I spit, although it isn’t surprising. Acacia believes he can fix anyone by pouring pills down their throat or injecting them with poison. Just look at us. His daughters are the same—objects to use and experiment on. “Did she enjoy her lesson?”

Erin Acacia is our property. We’ve claimed her. When we lay our claim on someone, nothing but death can part us. We hold on to what we own because we know how it feels to have nothing. Too much has been robbed from us already.

“Let’s just say she won’t try to seduce anyone else anytime soon,” Lex mutters.

“Good,” I reply with a stiff nod. “Gilsmear won’t be a problem for much longer.”

Lex nods vacantly, not really paying attention. He glugs his drink and wipes his mouth with his sleeve. I expected him to return smug and eager to regale what happened. However, he’s uncharacteristically subdued.

“What aren’t you telling us, Lex?” I ask.

Eli looks up from his knife. He had his fun last night. A strand of Erin’s hair pokes out of his shirt pocket, the perfect keepsake.

“It’s probably nothing,” Lex says, shrugging.

“What?” I snap.

“She just reminds me of her,” he says, more confidently this time. “I thought I saw something… on her back… maybe I’m going crazy because I swear it was?—”

“Enough!” I slam my fists on the table. “How many times do I have to tell you not to talk about her?”

Eli finishes sharpening and begins mumbling to himself.

“In the van, in the van,” Eli chirps. “Carry the package. The package.” He hits himself in the head. “Snap. Snap. Snap!” His hands slam into his forehead even harder. “Drop the package! Drop!”

“See?” I glare at Lex. “Look what you’ve done now.”

Lex ignores me, staring off into space.

“The package,” Eli mutters. “I’m a… I’m a… I’m a…”

“You’re okay, Eli,” I interrupt, gently grabbing his wrist to stop him. “He can’t hurt you here. You’re safe, okay?”

Eli’s bottom lip trembles. “I’m safe.”

“Yes,” I say. “You are.”

“Safe,” he repeats. “I’m safe.”

“You’re safe,” I confirm.

He exhales deeply and shakes his head in shame. “Sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” I say, then turn to Lex. “You should know better.”

Lex rolls his eyes and grabs a discarded copy of the local newspaper from the sofa. He holds it up. A photo of Sunnycrest dons the front page. In it, the building looks almost idyllic. No one knows what really happens behind those doors.

“Have you seen this?” Lex asks. “Fucking unbelievable.”

“We’ll be ready tomorrow,” I say.

We always are. Only this year, it’ll be different…

We’re ready to disrupt his freak show.

We have friends in the asylum. Our eyes and ears are everywhere. And we can’t stop—won’t stop—until we exact our revenge. We’ve made it out, but it’s not over. It can’t be when he’s still in control. We have to end this for good.

Her setting a trap for us shows she’s ready for the next phase, but are we?