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CHAPTER

TWENTY

ERIN

For so long, they’ve been faceless, creatures of the night. Abstract forms that aren’t human. What was I expecting to see when his mask came off? A monster underneath, or a smooth face with no features? Whatever it was, it’s not this…

“I’m Aiden,” One says.

His piercing gray eyes study my reaction.

His voice matches his face, but I never thought he’d be so…

beautiful. He’s a six-foot-three powerhouse with huge muscles, but his face has a boyish vulnerability because of the faded freckles splattered on his cheeks.

His nose has a bump in the middle, presumably from a break or two.

He has short, brown hair, a defined jaw that’s dimpled like a superhero, and a diagonal white scar on his left cheek.

When he turns, I notice a tattoo on his neck.

A faded zero in thick black ink, surrounded by a fresher outline of a ghost. The ghost linework has been done by single needle pokes, not a machine.

“Why show me your f-face now?” I stammer.

“Because you’re almost ready,” Aiden replies.

“Ready for what?” I ask, my voice increases a few pitches, more nervous than before.

He nods at Eli to remove his mask. Eli gives off a boy-next-door country vibe with his dirty blond hair, tanned skin, and full lips.

He grins, his front silver-capped left tooth glinting off the light.

His blue-eyed gaze meets mine, seeking approval.

I gulp, desire stirring in my core as I spot a strand of my hair poking out of his shirt pocket.

“Ready for us to give you what you need, sweetheart,” Eli says.

Lex takes his Scream mask off next. He shakes his wavy, dark hair free, showing me the right side of his face.

His amber eyes are ablaze against his pale skin.

He has pixie-like features and could easily model with a face you’d stop to look twice at.

When he turns fully, I gasp. The other half of his face and neck is covered in burns.

There are areas where it looks like he’s had skin grafts years ago that haven’t healed well.

“What’s wrong? Never seen a monster before?” Lex raises his eyebrow and chuckles. “You’re not the only one who has been touched by the flames, Little Ghost.”

My cheeks heat, and I look at my feet. My shocked reaction doesn’t come from a place of horror, as he suspects, but from my wanting to know more about him.

Conflicting feelings rise to the surface.

They’ve done sick and twisted things, but they’re also the most gorgeous men I’ve ever seen.

They’re nothing like Nate and the other preppy boys at Stonybridge Academy.

They’re raw and rugged with stories that leave a dark mark, not only on their faces, but on their souls.

It’s hard to guess how old they are. A few years older than me, perhaps.

Although, their haunting stares make them appear wise beyond their years.

“You brought me here for a reason,” I say, summoning my bravery. We don’t have a lot of time before my parents realize I’m gone. “Tell me.”

“You had to see this,” Aiden says. “We had to show you what your father is doing. This asylum doesn’t make people better. It’s his playground. He treats people like lab rats and hurts them for fun.”

I shake my head. My father has a brutal streak, but he prides himself on his professional reputation more than anything else. He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that.

“You’ve got it wrong,” I say.

Lex smirks. “I told you she wouldn’t believe us.”

“Think about it, Erin,” Eli says. “He locked you up here. He drugged you. What else is he capable of?”

His words stir a vague memory from the depths of my subconscious. Sarah’s voice. A warning.

“You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

I shake away the recollection, unsure where it came from. Probably my imagination. Spending time with these guys is enough to send anyone mad.

“He’s not a monster,” I say, defending my father.

Aiden steps closer, and I take a step back. His jaw clenches as we continue the dance. Him forward, me back.

“Are you scared of me?” he asks. “Even after everything we’ve done? Haven’t we given you every reason to trust us?”

I raise my chin defiantly. “You’ve not told me what you know about Sarah.”

A cold hard wall drops over his expression, and his fists clench at his sides.

“I need evidence,” I say. “I have to know what happened to her. She’s my sister.”

“What about what happened to us?” Aiden asks. “We can tell you what really happens here.”

My back hits the wall. There’s nowhere to go. I’m cornered. Whatever I’ve stumbled on is bigger than myself, my father, and Sarah…

“Let us show you,” he says.

I yelp as he lunges, grabbing my arm to tug me into one of the rooms. It has a desk with two chairs that face multiple screens, and shelves on the walls are filled with video tapes. There are hundreds of them. He forces me to sit in a chair, holding down my shoulders.

He bends to hiss in my ear, “Do you want to know the real reason your father holds this event every year?”

I shake with fear as Eli and Lex join us. They stand to the side, watching us and blocking the exit, but don’t intervene.

“I don’t—” I begin.

“He uses tonight to help fund his projects,” Aiden interrupts. “Others are complicit. The mayor, the sheriff, and the rest of his sick friends. They all know what he does here. That’s the real reason Sunnycrest opened, to do experiments no one else dares to and make money from them.”

“No.” I shake my head. “He wouldn’t… He can’t…”

“Do you want proof?” he sneers, nodding at Eli, who inserts a tape into the player. “We’ll show you.”

A blank screen in front of me powers on.

Lines ripple across it until an image of a boy strapped to a chair appears.

I recognize him instantly. Lex. In the clip, he looks around fourteen years old.

His burns are redder and more raised. His ankles are bound to the chair legs, and his wrists tied to the arms. He thrashes to free himself.

There’s no sound, but I lip-read him screaming “Help” and see the sheer terror on his face.

No, Dad helps people. He does bad things sometimes, but he always thinks what he’s doing is for the greater good, right? He wouldn’t intentionally cause harm for the sake of it. I can’t take the word of three criminally insane escapees over a medical professional. Can I?

I look away, but Aiden grabs my chin, forcing me to keep watching.

A man approaches Lex. My father. He’s not alone. He’s flanked by two men in white coats carrying clipboards. Seconds later, two more figures enter the frame. First, Devon Lewis. He laughs, unperturbed by the shrieking boy pleading for release. Next to him, Robert Gilsmear chuckles.

What are they doing?

“Keep watching,” Aiden says.

My father selects a device from the host of mechanical appliances on the shelf. The footage is blurry, but I gasp as Dad fastens the object to Lex’s face.

My bottom lip quivers, watching him drop a substance into Lex’s eyes that makes him wail and convulse uncontrollably. The onlookers laugh, while the men in coats furiously scribble notes.

“No,” I whisper.

My eyes fill with tears as my father picks up a cattle prod. His two helpers tug off Lex’s sweater, exposing his chest. Even the pixelated footage doesn’t mask his existing wounds. He’s covered in bruises and gaping gashes.

“Watch, Little Ghost,” Aiden says. “You need to see how your daddy was able to give you everything you ever wanted. Your music lessons, a beautiful house, and closets full of clothes you don’t wear. This is how.”

Dad jabs the prod into Lex’s chest. Next, Gilsmear steps forward to take his turn. I wince when he pokes Lex even harder, debunking any chance that this was a medical procedure. Nothing can justify this. It’s abuse. Pure and simple.

“Turn it off,” I plead, tears dripping down my cheeks. “Please.”

“Why?” Aiden sneers. “Don’t you want to see what’s been under your nose all along?”

“Make it stop,” I whisper, wincing as they torture Lex onscreen.

“Your father takes money from people who want to experiment on children and make them suffer,” Aiden says. “He’ll do anything for a price. He likes to see how much pain a person can withstand, pushing them to the limits of what’s possible.”

“Aiden,” Eli intervenes. “She’s seen enough.”

“Enough?” Aiden drops his hold on me, and his lip curls. “What do you deem enough, brother?”

I jump from the seat, clutching my stomach to keep its contents down.

“Why did you show me this?” I croak.

“You wanted to know what happened to your sister,” Lex replies.

Aiden glares at him.

Lex has said too much, but he can’t take it back now.

“Sarah…” My knees go weak. “She was here?”

This place is hell. Worse than hell.

“Not another word,” Aiden scolds.

Lex shrugs. He isn’t the same scared boy from the video anymore. Whatever my father did transformed him into someone else.

“Where is she?” I ask. “What did he do to her?”

“We can’t tell you what happened to your sister,” Aiden says. “Not yet. But you will find the answers yourself, if you look hard enough.”

“What do you want from me, Aiden?” I ask, daring to use his name for the first time. “After everything my father has done…” Deep fear strikes me. Their obsessive stalking seems even more sinister now. “Are you going to kill me?”

Aiden laughs coldly and strokes my cheek, making me shudder. “Why would we do that, Little Ghost?”

No one knows where I am. I’m trapped in a secret room filled with torture equipment and three psychopaths.

“I’m his daughter,” I say, stating the obvious. “Don’t you want revenge?”

“We don’t have to kill you for that, Little Ghost,” Aiden says, his eyes lingering on my Cupid’s bow. “In fact, you can help us.”

“Help you?” I ask. “How?”

“By finding evidence and information,” he says.

“You don’t need me for that,” I reply. “You seem to get in and out of my house on your own.”