DARK AND TWISTED

CHAPTER 16

A high-pitched scream pierced the silence in the air; it was mine. Someone kicked the door opened and grabbed my shoulders from behind. She pulled me to face her.

"Hope!" It was Nyx. I buried my face in her jacket and she stroked my hair.

"He's over there!" I pointed at that corner. "He's going to kill me!" my own scream almost burst my eardrums.

"What? Hope, nobody is here. Only us."

"What's hap-pening?" I sobbed.

She helped me stand up, still holding me in her arms. Her heart also beat like crazy so I wasn't just me.

"Let's get out of here. Pack your bags now," she led me outside and accompanied me to my room. I was still shaken up by the man. He looked so real. He was right there. But that knife. Why?

Nyx went downstairs to check if the man was still there. It took me a long time to get my thoughts and breathing under control. At the last minute, I snatched the book from James' drawings with me.

"Hope," she came back. "Are you ready? Come on. Give me your bags," she carried both of my bags without putting much effort into lifting them. I got in the car first while she put my bags on the backseats.

"Where are the others? Tessa and the rest?" she questioned as soon as she sat in the driver's seat.

I took a deep breath, "They went to the forbidden cave yesterday. I texted Tessa last night. She said they found a lot of stuff they can sell."

"Looks like you're already aware of what's going on around here," she pulled away from the driveway.

"Since yesterday." I wiped my face.

"That's why you were freaking out, huh?"

"Are you going to kill and eat me? or...possibly do something to me? I'm begging you, don't hurt me," my lips quivered.

She placed her hand on mine, "no, I'm not like any of them." She took a deep breath, "listen to me first. I got here three months ago to find my friends who went missing. If you keep up with the news, you know it. So, in order to fit in, I got a few jobs. Do you know why I'm a tour guide?" She moved her hand away, glancing at me.

"No."

"Because I can keep my eyes on new tourists and maybe my friends. If I go to places, I can observe everything. Like at the bakery."

I wiped my nose with my sleeves, "I noticed you were looking for something."

"You didn't eat any of the cookies or scones, right?"

"No. I didn't get to eat any of them because Dan finished them all."

"Your friend said it's crunchy. I worked there last month so I know what's exactly what they put in it." There was a brief pause, like she was thinking about how to tell it without making me freak out again, "that crunchiness comes from dried human fingers. The baker crushed it, mixing it in the dough. Another crunchy bit on the top? The bones. I looked around to see if they do something else with the batter"

Excuse me, what? Again, I couldn't believe what I heard.