Dirty Secrets

Part 14

Beneath a crescent moon, Lyla stumbled through tall grass hoping to find a wifi signal. The glow from her phone provided the only illumination except for a sprinkling of stars dotting the black sky. She could smell burning wood, hear the crackling of a bonfire and the drunken laughing voices, high-pitched flirty giggles. The frigid night air had infiltrated her sweater and worked its way down to her skin. Her hands were almost as cold as the tip of her nose.

No signal.

"Damn," she wheezed as she started down the dark hillside toward the old farmhouse below and the roaring blaze ringed with high school kids, faces painted with the orange glow of leaping flames.

She'd love to warm herself by the bonfire but that would mean pretending to fit in with the cool kids, the jocks, the cheerleaders, and the beautiful people. Nope. Better to shiver in the darkness than to be the target of cruel jokes and insults.

"Oof," she blurted when she bumped into a couple making out in the shadows. She caught her balance before tumbling to the turf. Her phone was dislodged from her numb fingers and fell to the ground.

"Sorry," she said with embarrassment, feeling around in the dewy grass. She retrieved her phone. "I was trying to find a signal."

"Good luck with that," said Jack, his warm eyes peeking out from beneath his wool cap. A dimple creased his cheek when he smiled.

"Oh. Jack. I didn't know you were here." She grinned.

"Everybody's here."

The girl in his arms giggled. When she leaned out of the shadows, her tattooed arms wrapped around Jack's neck, Lyla was stunned to see Clover.

"Hey, girl." 

"Oh. Clover."

She whispered, "Don't tell anybody our secrets, okay?"

"What? Secrets? No. I won't."

Lyla couldn't help but notice the purplish ligature marks along the indentation around her neck. She winced.

Clover placed her finger against her lips. "Shhhhhhh."

Jack and Clover kissed passionately. When they broke from their kiss, Jack was surprised to see Lyla still standing there.

"Something the matter?"

"I thought we..."

"We what?"

Lyla leaned in and lowered her voice.

"Jack. She's dead."

"So is your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend."

Clover kissed Jack again. She nipped his lip and teased him with her tongue.

Lyla heard someone trudging through the tall grass in the shadows behind her. Someone getting closer.

"Here he comes," said Jack.

Clover held out a fist, then opened her fingers to reveal the silver serpent ring.

"You better put this on before he gets here. He's gonna be mad."

The footsteps stopped directly behind her.

Lyla was too afraid to turn around.

The stink of rotting flesh filled her nostrils. A heavy hand clamped down on her shoulder.

Lyla jolted upright in her bed with a gasp.

Shaniece lay sleeping in the next bed. Clover's bed at the window was empty and neatly made.

Lyla leaned back on her pillow watching as the occasional dim lights from passing cars on the street below silently swept across the dark ceiling. The left side of her forehead and cheekbone were bruised and swollen from her unconscious nosedive to the floor in group therapy yesterday afternoon.  

"You're lucky you didn't break your nose or your jaw or lose any teeth," the nurse said when she wiped Lyla's abrasions with a thin coat of antibiotic ointment.

She didn't feel lucky. In fact, 'lucky' would be one of the last words Lyla would use to describe herself.