Chapter 13
Honest Answer
I stomp away from Grandma’s car, frustrated that Zander has managed to avoid me again. I stayed up as long as I could to wait for him Saturday night. When I nodded off around three in the morning, he still hadn’t come home. I doubt he was with Ivy that late since her parents seem pretty strict. I have no idea where he went, though.
Sunday morning he disappeared again. When he came back, not only did he stick close to Grandma for the rest of the day, making it impossible for me to talk to him about Ivy without freaking Grandma out, but that taste was back. When I tried to confront him before school, I found his room empty, but that wasn’t the scariest part. Hanging out of his laundry basket was the shirt he had on the day before.
I don’t know what made me go over to look at it. I couldn’t have seen the drops of blood on the sleeve from the doorway, but I certainly saw them when I picked up the shirt. Then this morning, Grandma announces that Zander had to be at school early so she would drive me. He won’t be picking me up from school, either. I am just about ready to kill my brother.
Ketchup rushing over to me is a welcome relief to my horrible morning.
“You look pissed,” he says. “What happened?”
The whole stream of insanity bouncing around inside of me almost spills out. Almost. I stop myself in time.
Ketchup looks at me expectantly. “Did something happen the other day? You never called, but …”
“No,” I say quickly, not wanting to talk about Noah. “It’s Zander, again. I need to figure out what he has in common with Vega.”
“Did that weird taste thing happen again?”
I nod, my stomach churning as I remember the sickening taste. “There’s got to be a reason for it.”
“Have you tried asking Zander again, or your Grandma?”
The shake of my head makes Ketchup frown. “Why not?”
Reasons spiral through my mind. There are so many, but the one that is the most honest is what slips past my lips. “Because I’m afraid to.”
Ketchup stops walking. Unwilling to be without him quite yet, I stop as well. My eyes stay down, but I don’t need to look up to feel Ketchup move closer to me. His hand touches my cheek briefly, hesitates, then falls away.
“Van, I wish you would just talk to me. Tell me what this is really about.” He sighs, knowing I can’t tell him without me having to explain. He continues in my silence. “I don’t know what they have in common. Vega is a gang member, something I seriously doubt straight-laced Zander would ever consider. There have been rumors about Vega and drugs, but again, Zander’s not the type. Unless Zander is running around killing people, I can’t imagine what they would have in common.”
My entire body goes ice cold. I look up at Ketchup, my body trembling. “What did you just say?” I whisper.
“What? About the drugs?” Ketchup searches my expression as worry clouds his features. “You think Zander might be doping?”
“No, not that.” My hands are shaking so badly and I can barely control them. “No, the last thing.”
“You mean Zander killing people?” Ketchup says slowly. His arms wrap around me and pull me to his chest. I can feel his heart pounding. He sighs with so much regret it nearly suffocates me. “Van, I’m so sorry. I never should have said that. I didn’t think.”
I’m too scared to respond. Where has Zander been at night? What is he doing in those hours when the rest of the city is at home in their beds? Why was there blood on his shirt this morning? He’s always been the one with the most control. I shake my head, unwilling to let myself believe that Zander could be doing something so terrible.
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Wicked Hunger
Teen Fiction“Save him and hurt him, don’t save him and hurt him. Pain, either way. Delicious pain. Hunger will be the only one that wins. Hunger always wins.” Vanessa and Zander Roth are good at lying. Their whole life is a giant web of deceit made in an effor...
