DARK AND TWISTED

CHAPTER 58

That night, around 8 p.m., thunder rumbled in the sky. The freezing wind came in from the half-opened windows. In a few minutes, it started raining, hitting the roof above us. I took everything I had with me. I still had the flyer with Nyx's face on it and the Swiss army knife. But I didn't have my phone, though. Christian took it from me and I didn't know where he kept it.

Aidan knocked on the door, "You sure about this?"

Damn it! I forgot to shut the door.

"Yes. It's for your own good anyway. Your father wants me to leave so I'll get lost," I tightened my shoelaces.

"But," he stepped inside. "It's dangerous out there."

"Nowhere is safe in this world. Not even inside your own head."

Mackenzie ran towards me, bawling her eyes out, "Just be safe."

"Sure."

"I need to share something with you but promise me you'll keep it a secret," she fidgeted with her fingers.

I stared at her, "What is it?"

She stepped away from me and asked Aidan to come in and shut the door.

"It's my dad. He's been pretty odd lately. I know he's really secretive but I don't know how to explain."

"That's true," Aidan nodded. "I feel like he's living a double life. I don't mean an affair but something more serious than that."

"I smelled blood on him the other day," Mackenzie muttered.

"Blood?" I raised my brows. "But I thought you people don't do that kind of stuff here."

Aidan shrugged, "We don't but somehow like I said, my dad is living a double life. He becomes more secretive lately. So, be careful around him. I know he won't hurt us or mom but you."

"I know I'm an outsider. He probably sees me as a threat. That's why he wants me to go away. I get it. But if it wasn't for Christian, none of you will survive here, right?" they flinched when I raised my voice. Scaredy-cats.

Aidan pulled Mackenzie away and they left. That Sven guy. If they were right about him, I might have to deal with him by myself.

I didn't want to leave but I knew things would get worse once those gangs found out about my whereabouts. I still didn't know how many of them were coming after me. My guess was five. I decided to use the bathroom one last time before I moved out.

After I did my business, I washed my hands while staring at my reflection. I looked too different. As I wiped my face with a new clean towel, then the power went out. Could be the thunderstorm.

Luckily, there was an extra torchlight just in case I needed it. I opened the drawer under the sink and pulled out the torch. Thank goodness I didn't have much stuff in there. I didn't want a pair of scissors to chop my fingers while searching for the torchlight. I switched it on and went out to find the others.

It took me a long time to move around since I wasn't familiar with the whole house. Out of the blue, a scream pierced the silence. I ran straight to the scream but I couldn't find anything. Could it be inside my head again?

With my chest tightened, my heart pounding against my ribcage, and cold sweat covering my entire body, the power came back. I noticed blood came out under the door.

My entire body trembled as my fingers held the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door, nudging it wider with my palm.

Mackenzie, Aidan, Helen, and Sven lay on the floor surrounded by their own pool of blood. Who did that? I checked the doors and windows, but all of them were locked.

I studied them one by one and saw something on Sven's arm; a dragon tattoo. He was one of the gangs? Perhaps Aidan and Mackenzie were right about him living a double life. Helen, on the other hand, probably didn't know about this. They said it themselves that he was extremely secretive.

Suddenly, a siren blared from the outside.