Thief of Thoughts

Chapter Nine

The rest of the night passed pretty uneventfully with Jonah quickly moving on from the lie I'd told about Kyle.

Kyle also seemed to believe it.

Somehow, by the end of the night, Jonah gone up and done karaoke three times, all equally horrid to hear. No offense to Jonah...drunk-singing was not his thing. Also, it wasn't fun to listen to Somebody to Love being butchered as Jonah attempted to reach all those high notes.

I was back in bed, trying not to think too much about what had happened.

What was the likelihood that out of everyone I could run into at the party who happened to know Jonah, I ran into Kyle? It was like the world was intentionally trying to screw with me.

I shifted under my sheets, squeezing my eyes shut as though it could force me to sleep. It seemed no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help but feel wide awake. "Ugh...," I groaned, looking towards my window and balcony, very tempted to just go outside and...

And what? Stalk more people?

I rolled my eyes and turned away, clutching my pillow to my head. I couldn't deal with any of this. All of it was too much for my brain to handle.

And what about that vision? What the hell had that been?

After a couple more minutes of tossing and turning, it hit me that I wasn't going to be asleep anytime soon. I rolled out of bed, dragging about half my blankets with me, and slipped on a pair of fluffy socks.

The warm kitchen light left me blinking in a daze. Food, my stomach growled despite having eaten more than enough already. But food was fun, and it'd distract me from my thoughts.

I pulled out a massive pint of ice cream and left it to thaw before searching through cabinets for a decent-sized bowl.

Then, I froze.

Not because I'd found the perfect bowl or anything...but because I'd noticed what had conveniently been placed on the counter.

I didn't tend to get letters - they were difficult to deal with. It was easier to stick to all electronic mailing systems, since they were less messy and a lot more efficient. Therefore, the fact that there was a letter on my counter with the name "Eliza Barnes" clearly written in unfamiliar cursive lettering freaked me out in the slightest.

I frowned to myself but curiosity took hold. Who the hell would have left such a thing?

And when the hell would they have gotten a chance to leave it?

The only person with actual access to my house were my family and Jonah because I trusted him. I mean...I also lost a bet to him one time, but that's irrelevant. So, that meant Jonah either wrote this letter himself, or let someone else leave it for me.

I had a feeling the former wasn't true because I'd die before seeing Jonah write anything in actual cursive.

Carefully, I peeled open the envelope and dumped its contents on the counter. I was half expecting glitter to spill out like some sort of cruel prank.

But nope.

Just a white letter tri-folded with my name at the top.

I unfolded the letter...then dropped it immediately, as if it'd poisoned my fingers.

My heart rate rocketed up in a split second and it took all my self-control not to fall to the ground right there. I felt sick.

I'd only read the first sentence. Even so, it was like all the blood had been leached from my body.

I know who you are.

I glanced at those words again...and stared.

This had to be a joke. Some silly prank. Jonah probably left it and was going to joke about me secretly being a superhero or something. There couldn't be any other explanation.

But as I read on...that possibility dissolved.

I know that one secret you hold dear to you. I know the truth of your wealth. I know that you steal the ideas of other's to thrive.

Each word felt like another stab in the gut. My fingers turned white as they gripped the counter top.

Be careful.

The last line.

I was still struggling to breathe.

Before I could think twice, I crumpled the letter up in a ball and threw it in the trash. But wait, that wasn't enough. No. I pulled the trash bag out and slung it over my shoulder like a hitchhiker before rushing into my front yard. As I walked barefoot towards the large trash out front, dew froze my toes. I didn't care. My mind was already so frozen over what I'd read.

The trash bag went in the dump. I closed my eyes. Brushed off my hands. Hurried back inside before the cold got the best of me.

I slammed the door shut. Locked it. Locked both locks and double checked the locks multiple times.

What. The. Hell.

What on Earth had even just happened? A letter telling me...telling me that someone knows me? Someone knows what I can do. Someone knows...

There was only one person on Earth who knew...and there was no way in hell she would have ever told a soul.

Which meant someone was watching me...and happened to be a lot more observant than I'd been thinking.

My back slid down the front door as I stared at the counter where the note had been. The thawed ice cream still sat there, probably perfectly melted at this point. After what I'd seen, I wasn't sure I could eat anything.

My entire life had been dedicated to hiding this truth. To not telling anyone about this deep, dark secret that rested inside me. It was dangerous. Whatever power lied in my bones was unnatural, unheard of, and utterly uncalled for.

And now...now somebody else knew about it.

God knew what they'd do with that information.