Page 97 of Satan's Spawn
A ghost.
His Little Ghost.
“Please do not use that word in my presence ever again.” I demand with a slam of the door.
He sits stiffly next to Hendrix on my bed. “Uh, what word? I said a few.”
“Ugh, never mind, Archer.” I pause, noting the way the two of my friends are staring uncomfortably at each other. Exactly how two friends who just had sex would look at each other if they regretted it. “Your random sex fest can wait, guys. This is serious. I need your attention.”
“Sex fest?” Archer furrows a brow.
“Go ahead, Bee.” Hendrix holds a hand over Archer’s mouth. “We’re listening, don’t worry about our shit, this is about you.”
Appreciating the effort, I go on and repeat to Archer the exact same story I did a half hour ago to Hendrix, not leaving out a single detail. I figure what the hell, I can’t be any more embarrassed than I already am, and it’s very likely Archer will find out what I did in that closet anyway when Crayton decides to broadcast that recording.
I don’t come up for air until I reach the part where Archer, Hendrix, and Felix showed up in the driveway, figuring Archer knows enough about what happened then for me to not have to repeat it.
When silence finally lingers between the three of us, Archer’s expression turns pensive.
“Wait, so Crayton fingered you?”
Is he serious right now?
“That’s what you’re stuck on after everything I just told you?”
Archer shakes his head. “No, no. It’s just that—“
“It’s just that Crayton’s a damn sociopath who is stalking and threatening our friend!” Hendrix bursts out, throwing her hands up in the air.
“Archer, what he was doing to Alexis in that room was brutal, regardless if she liked it. It’s the reasonwhyhe was doing it.” I stand up from the bed and start pacing back and forth. “There’s something seriously fucked up about this guy. He obviously hates women.” I point to my head. “Especially blonde ones.” After a deep breath I stop in my tracks, eyeballing Archer with so much fervor it makes him swallow hard. “You know everything about this school and the people in it, Archer. You have to know something about Crayton I can use to get out of this. Or at least understand him.”
“Understand him?” Hendrix scoffs. “You are under no obligation to understand him, Bex. He’s a terrible person.”
Or he’s someone in an immense amount of pain. I saw it in his eyes the first day we met. I can’t ignore the tiny voice in my head trying to convince me there’s more to Crayton than he lets on.
That he hides this pain behind his anger like a dark cloak.
Ugh. Why do I have to be such a damn empath?
“Listen, I don’t know much about the Shaw family. Everything has always been very hush hush.”
The Shaw family. That reminds me…
“His dad! Crayton looks nothing like him. Not even his grandfather Campbell that I saw a picture of in your grandfather’s office.”
There’s that swallow again. “Bex, my grandfather was very close to Campbell Shaw. But he’s never mentioned anything about them other than the bare minimum.”
“Maybe Crayton takes after his mother’s features? What was she like?” I press on.
Archer shrugs. “I only know of Crayton’s ex step-mother, some successful equestrian. Crayton’s biological mom wasn’t in the picture ever since I’ve known him. He started coming around when I was like six years old. It just wasn’t something I thought about because we were never close.” He taps his chin. “Although I did overhear my grandfather on the phone the other day with Crayton’s dad. Apparently he took away his Mustang as punishment and Crayton won’t be getting it back for a while.”
This is something, I guess.
“I can’t believe he fingered you, though.” Archer adds, not with judgment, but with shock.
Which I think offends me even more.
“Seriously? You’re still on this?” I snap. “Am I gross and un-fingerable or something?”
