Chapter 2 Chapter 2
MADDIE POV
I drove like the devil was chasing me-because in some way, it felt like he was. My fingers trembled on the steering wheel, knuckles pale against the leather as my car raced down the winding road.
The scent of death still lingered in my nose, sharp and metallic, clinging to my skin like a stain I couldn't scrub off.
My chest was tight, and every breath I took felt shallow, like I was breathing through a straw. My heart was pounding, not just from fear, but from grief I hadn't even begun to process.
My parents.
I had just seen my parents dead. That thought kept looping in my mind, skipping like a broken record. I couldn't cry yet.
The shock held my tears hostage, replaced by this icy hollowness that spread through my chest and arms.
"Was this why they stopped me from visiting?" I wondered aloud. "They knew they were going to die and they didn't want me around?"
Gory snarled. "Does the killer know about us?" She asked
"I..." I shook my head. "I don't know, Gor. I have no fucking idea!" I nearly hit the steering wheels but remembering that 1 was also probably being haunted and hunted by whatever killed my parents, I refrained myself from making any more noises.
"We have to leave this place," Gory murmured. "I sense danger, and death lurks around. Not because of our dead parents, but.. Death for something more." I started the car and the engine revved to life. Knowing that my parents' killer could be on their way out, I didn't wait to reverse, I just backed out of the street until I was far away from the pack house.
As far as I knew I wouldn't easily be reached. Then I reversed the car and sped off, heading back to school.
The usual twenty-minute drive back to campus felt like ten. I barely remember the trees that lined the road, the streetlights that blurred past my window, or the familiar signs that marked my way.
My lips moved in a whisper, muttering fragments of sentences
\-prayers, curses, maybe even denial. I don't know. I just needed to get away from that place. From that house. From their lifeless faces and the way the silence screamed around them.
When I pulled into the campus lot and cut the engine, I sat for a few seconds in silence, trying to get my hands to stop shaking. I got out and practically ran into my dorm. It was dark and cold, the kind of cold that creeps under your skin and settles deep in your bones. It felt wrong being there.
Empty, too quiet.
I stood in the middle of the room and realized the smell hadn't left me. I could still sense it— death, thick and suffocating, even though I was miles away. Gory stirred restlessly in my head, not saying anything, but I could feel her unease radiating through my limbs. I wasn't supposed to be alone tonight. That much we both knew.
"We can't stay here either," Gory purred. I could sense her being on edge, and honestly, I felt the same way.
"I know," I whispered back. I didn't know, but I could not sit around and wait for answers to find me.
I pulled out my phone and called Lila, needing to hear her voice, to have someone anyone ground me. It rang once, then straight to voicemail. I tried again. Nothing. I called Theo. He declined my call.
Panic pressed at the edges of my chest, and without thinking, I grabbed my jacket and headed out. My feet carried me to Jace's place before I even decided where I was going. I just didn't want to be alone.
Just before I reached the building, my phone rang. It was Theo.
"Mads? Maddie?"
"Theo! Theo, oh thank God." I was almost sobbing. "Theo, where the fuck are you? Why haven't you taken your calls?
I'm practically dying."
"What's going on? Where are you?" he asked, and I could hear the tension in his voice.
"I'm outside Jace's dorm," I said quietly, my voice shaky. "I didn't know where else to go. I'm... I'm scared, Theo."
"Why? What happened?" he asked, his voice instantly sharper. "What do you mean you're scared?"
"I went home," I whispered. "Theo, my parents— they're dead. Someone... killed them."
There was a sharp pause on the other end, and then I heard him take a deep breath. "Stay where you are. I'm coming, Don't move."
The line went dead. I sat on the steps outside Jace's dorm, wrapping my arms around myself and trying to push away the chill that wouldn't leave me. The minutes ticked by slowly, heavy with dread. That's when I heard something. A sound Muffled at first, then clearer. It was soft— breathy laughter, a rustle, then another sound I didn't recognize until I really focused.
A giggle.
And not just any giggle. It sounded familiar. Too familiar to ignore.
It sounded like...—
"Lila's." Gory reminded me.
I froze. My ears strained as I listened harder, heart beginning to pound again, this time for a very different reason. Gory stirred in my mind, not saying anything, but her silence was full of suspicion. I heard movement again-murmurs, another laugh, and then a sound that made my stomach twist: a low moan, unmistakably intimate.
My mind raced. What was Lila doing in Jace's dorm? Why wasn't she answering her phone? Was she okay? Did someone hurt her? Was Jace hurting her? I didn't want to assume the worst, but paranoia was already sinking its teeth into me.
Theo arrived just as I stood up. I raised my hand to knock and he caught it, pulling me into a hug that didn't last two seconds.
I pushed him away.
"Lila is in there!" I whispered firmly. "I have to get in and know why she's with Jace at this hour."
His face paled. He glanced at the door, then back at me, looking torn. "Er, Maddie, honey, I don't think we should.
Let's just get back, I'm sure Lila can explain herself."
"Hell-fucking-no," I snapped
"Maddie, maybe this isn't a good idea," he said, gently trying to pull me away. "You've been through a lot tonight. You don't need more right now. Besides, if what you suspect is true, if you knock, wouldn't that give them time to hide all evidence?"
I was almost swayed, but I shook my head, firm. "I have a key. I just want to make sure she's okay."
He sighed, visibly uneasy, but didn't stop me. My fingers dug through my bag until I found the spare key Jace had given me months ago. I hesitated at the door, heart pounding in my ears, then slid the key into the lock and turned
The door creaked open slowly, revealing a dark room heavy with the scent of sweat and something else I didn't want to name. My hand found the light switch and flicked it on.
The sight that greeted me didn't feel real.
There, on the bed, Lila was completely naked, straddling Jace.
His hands were gripping her hips, and their bodies moved in a rhythm that shattered everything I thought I knew. For a second, neither of them saw me. They were too lost in each other. Then Lila looked up.
Her expression faltered
"What the fuck, babe? God, I was enjoying that move," Jace groaned. "Why did you stop—" his eyes finally met mine, and they went wide with shock. For the briefest second, I saw something that resembled, guilt flicker across his face. But it was already too late. The image was seared into my mind, vivid and unforgiving.
I couldn't move. My legs felt like they had turned to stone.
My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe. The silence between us was deafening, more brutal than any scream. I had come here needing safety, needing someone to remind me I wasn't completely alone in the world.
And now... I had lost them too.