*03/03/2020 - 𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙎𝘾𝙊𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙇𝙄𝙎𝙏*
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Everybody at Black Hill knows about the lake by the old house. They know never to let an open wound bleed out in the murky waters. Never to take their e...
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Darkness coated my room. The lights were off and I'd opened a window, letting the night air spill in. I used to think Black Hill smelled of riches and roses when the sunset, but it stunk of nothing but facades.
The ring of my phone pierced through the silence.
"Anna, you there? It's Zayn. After meeting Wendy and the twins at the beach, there's one person left that can help us."
I blinked and laid back against my headboard. I'd thrown the bruja book onto my desk and covered it with an old shirt. My head hurt whenever I looked at it.
"How did you even get my number?" I asked, furrowing my brows. "You're calling at past ten in the night. On a landline as well."
Zayn didn't speak for a moment. In the background, somebody screamed in what sounded like Korean. Muffled sounds crackled through the speaker and a door slammed.
"What's going on?" I spoke, my voice quiet. "Zayn, say something."
"Sorry about that, I'm back now. It doesn't matter how I got your number, it was ages ago. You ended up blocking me, anyway." Another scuffle. "This is the only time Grace could see us. She doesn't sleep well during the night so we'll be a good distraction for her."
My head span with all the new information. When had I ever blocked her? The urge to ask more burned like a flame, but Zayn sounded dead to the world. Her voice sounded raspy and broken like she'd been smoking. I raked my nails over my forearms and tried to keep my voice neutral.
"Okay, sure. Whatever." I closed my eyes for a second. She didn't trust me enough to tell me anything important. "What's Grace going to do for me?"
"I thought you knew her. She always goes on about you when I visit. Meet me at the slope that leads up to the Cliffs in half an hour, and I'll tell you everything. "
She cut the call, leaving me with the taste of disappointment on my tongue. I scrambled to change my clothes and grabbed the bruja book, stuffing it into my jacket pocket.
I snuck out of the house through the front door, grateful that the cops were busy down at the station. Anyone else would be investigating the extra deaths by the lake. As I left, I felt Mum's absence like a bullet wound in my heart.
Zayn stood underneath a street lamp by the Cliffs. Her hair swirled around her head like a bird's nest, and the closer I got, the worse she looked. Her eyes glistened red, her shoulders hunched around her ears. She kicked the pavement with her scuffed boots and curled her coat around herself.
"Hey," she said when she saw me. "You look like you crawled through hell to get here."
I smiled. "You should see yourself," I said. Her pretty eyes trailed over my face, and I glanced away, cheeks burning.
