Read with BonusRead with Bonus

Chapter 6

Warning, This story contains dark scenes with graphic detail that some readers may find distressing.

“Hey, hey!” A familiar voice echoed around the cafeteria and we both looked to see Taylor running up to us with a frown. “What’s going on here??”

“You know her??” The boy asked the question directly to Taylor as he lifted a hand and pointed at me. I forced myself not to bite his finger off.

“Yes, Kingsley, she is my friend. What do you want with her??” Taylor replied as she folded her arms across her chest.

“She’s at my table. You better put a leash on her, so she’ll know where she isn’t supposed to be.” Kingsley, the fuming boy, snapped at Taylor and before she could reply I stood up in front of him and looked him dead in the eyes.

“Call me a dog one more time and you will never see the light of day ever again.” I threatened him with gritted teeth. His eyes went wide as he took one step back and I noticed the glint in his eyes as he stared at me with an amused look. Almost a smile graced his full lips.

“Okay, okay, break it off you two!” Taylor cut in again, worried a fight might break out between this boy and me. Taylor pushed Kingsley away from me as she held my arm and looked at me. “Let’s eat outside, my treat.”

She pulled me away and out of the cafeteria, ignoring all eyes on me but I kept my glare on the boy who still stood frozen in place, looking back at me with shock and a questioning look. Once we were out of the cafeteria and in the parking lot, Taylor got inside her car, and I followed suit. We were silent for a few moments until Taylor finally spoke up.

“Okay, what the fuck was that??” she asked incredulously, looking at me with a surprised look. “You stood up to Kingsley!”

I frowned. “Who is he, anyway?? He was being disrespectful. He said I was at his table, like he owned the thing. At first, I thought putting names on tables were a thing here at this school. But then I realized he was just a stuck-up jerk.”

Taylor could only laugh at my annoyed look. “Kingsley Davis is one of the Fab Four. The same group my brother is in.”

“What the hell is a Fab Four?”

“Come, let’s talk about it over lunch,” Taylor replied with a slight laugh as she shook her head and turned the engine on. It roared to life and as we pulled out of the parking space, I realised that we were leaving school and it wasn’t even dismissal yet.

“Aren’t we going to get in trouble for leaving the campus?” I asked worriedly.

Taylor only shrugged. “As long as we are back for next class, no one cares.” The rules seemed a lot more relaxed here than I was used too.

Taylor took us to a small restaurant that was quiet for lunchtime. Roasted chicken and steak wafted through the air and my stomach got excited. We sat at a table at the farthest corner and a waiter quickly neared us, asking for our orders. I let Taylor order my food since I wasn’t quite familiar with what they served here, and she was the one paying for everything anyway. Once the waiter left with our orders, Taylor turned to me with a grin.

“Okay, Storytime!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, about the ‘Fab Four’,” I replied, air-quoting the two words with a weird look on my face. What kind of a gang calls themselves Fab Four??

“I think you should know the backstory of this town first.” She suggested, her excited smile slowly replaced by a serious look.

“Okay, shoot.”

Taylor took in a deep breath. “This town is not what it seems. This town is filled with monsters.”

“Like monsters, monsters? Supernatural and all?” I asked.

“Yes, and Worse. This town is filled with murderers, robbers, rapists, paedophiles, and everything else that’s wicked. Every other week a body will be found dead in the deepest part of the woods with no sign of the culprit. Rumours even have it that not everyone who is missing has been found.”

My face scrunched up in both shock and pity for those poor souls who were victims of these heartless, wicked creatures they dared call themselves humans. Now I couldn’t help but feel unsafe, thinking about the possible times when I would walk back home from school late in the afternoon, or if I would be sent to take out the trash at night or whatever errand they would send me to do at night. Or worse, some creep could be looking at us through our windows.

A chill ran up my spine.

“They try to change the sheriff around here now and then, in hopes of lessening the killings or missing people as much as possible. And that’s where your uncle comes in. My parents said he’s one of the heartless, bravest sheriffs a town could have. I heard he’s been doing a great job at the previous town you guys lived in.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Heartless? Definitely.”

Taylor gave me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. Just hang in there, okay? You’ll be okay.”

I gave her a reassuring smile and she smiled back, but I couldn’t help but feel guilty for not telling her the truth. Taylor deserved to know the real story of what happened. I should find the time to break that to her before Victoria decides to spread it around the school.

“Anyways,” I quickly changed the topic. “Tell me about the Fab Four now.”

“Okay,” she laughed. “My brother is a part of this gang, and they must protect the town from any danger—or at least, try to lessen the killings and missing cases. So far, they’re doing a great job! For the past month, there were no cases of new dead bodies in the forest or families reporting a family member.”

“Okay, that is kind of impressive.” I nodded approvingly. “But they are just teenagers. What could they possibly do?” I asked. Taylor seemed to fidget with her cutlery. “Somethings are best not known.” She whispered.

“So, who are these heroes behind the Fab Four? Aside from your brother, of course.”

Taylor smirked. “Elijah Stone, Carter Foley, and Kingsley Davis.”

“I can’t believe that hot head is part of it. He’s a jerk. He’s no hero.” I replied with a huff.

“They’re not all that bad,” Taylor defended. “They just seem cold and strict and quiet and dangerous because they show people that they are. They have to keep up a fierce façade for people to be convinced that they, indeed, should be feared.”

I shrugged. “As long as they’re doing a great job at keeping the town safe, why not?”

“I’ll have you meet the rest of the boys soon. They’re pretty cool!” Taylor replied excitedly.

“Not Kingsley, though. I’d hate to hurt his ego when I come at him.”

Taylor could only laugh. The waiter finally arrived with our food, and we quickly dug in. The sweet taste of barbecue sauce on my steak tickled my taste buds and I couldn’t help but moan in goodness. It’s been so long since I had a proper, full meal, and I have Taylor to thank for that.

Once we were both finished, it was only ten minutes before the afternoon classes would begin. Taylor and I had the same classes for the rest of the afternoon, so I didn’t have to endure the struggle of finding the right classroom. I still couldn’t help but be impressed at how easy it was for Taylor to go in and out of school. I had spotted Kingsley in the halls a few times, more like I felt his death stare on me. Yet I couldn’t help but let my eyes linger on him longer than necessary. I wasn’t convinced that he was hero protecting the town. But I wanted to know about him.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter