❝ I genuinely thought the worst of this nightmare was over ❞
Halle Brewster told a lie, and the secrets kept growing. After slaying one stalker, another reared its nasty head, and Halle was starting to wonder if she'd ever be free from the friendshi...
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YOU'RE MINE NOW. KISSES -- A.
The air was still brittle. Limbs froze, throats were tight. Hands grasped at cell-phones as the metallic smell rose from the crack. That slither of space between the popped trunk seemed miniscule but felt so massive to their sense of smell. Dread had stirred up a frenzy within each of the six, stood by Wilden's swampy cruiser at the curb by the church's steps.
Trembling, Spencer reached out her hand again. She flung the door open and the six stepped back, gasping in fright. A dead pig laid bloodied in the trunk; its one black eye on show stared up at them. The stench was toxic. Dried blood and rotting flesh hit their noses and caused the nausea to come in a sudden, crashing wave.
Covering her mouth with her scarf, Hanna retched. "What the..."
"—What the hell?!" Halle exclaimed, gagging. She had gone light-headed as she scrunched her face up in disgust and turned away. "That's disgusting."
Spencer looked from it and found the space at her side empty. She asked in worry, "Where's Mona?"
In a flash, the group's attention was drawn from the lifeless, rotten pig in the trunk to the spot Mona no longer took up. They flitted their eyes around, searching, but the night was dead. They were the only ones in the centre of town. Everything else was still.
"This was all her," Aria immediately fumed. "She set us up."
"Okay, let's go," panicked Emily. She was too close to crying. "Let's get out of here, come on," she said, and turned to head back to the car. While Aria, Spencer and Halle followed her in haste, the four of them rushing towards the parked car across the road, Hanna hung back. The girls noticed and stopped. Spencer's heels came to an audible halt.
Venturing around the dirt-covered vehicle, Hanna had cautiously spied Mona. The girl was hidden in the inside, frantically working at something.
"Hanna!" Halle called out nervously.
Spencer grew more firm on noting how the blonde refused to acknowledge them. "Hanna!" She gritted her teeth as the four returned to other side of the road. "Hanna, let's go!"
"Mona," Hanna seethed, floored at the delay, "what are you doing?"
"Saving your mom," Mona responded with ease. She fiddled with the large dash-cam box; its computer screen still displayed the looped video of Ashley Marin as she mowed down Detective Wilden with her car.
"— You're threatening a child."
Hearing distant voices, Halle felt her ears twitch. She nudged Aria's side as she looked up ahead, down the far side of the green. "Guys."
