Page 119 of Web of Lies
“Mine?” Seger asks as we stop on the landing of the second floor.
With my hands on my knees and my lungs burning, I try to regain my breath. “Almost,” I smile, straightening up. Don’t let him know how winded you are. Play this cool and keep going. It’s cool—I’m good, totally not dying. I heave a breath in, refreshing my lungs, and set off.
“Almost?” Zepp asks, almost spooking me in the darkened stairwell. Gah, sometimes he’s so sneaky. I forget he’s there in my ear or watching me from above.
“I was going to, but never did, not sure why, actually.” I almost forgot my plans to sneak into their rooms after they denied me dining privileges. It would have been epic too. I had an entire evil plan to drop food on top of their heads from the roof. I thought about getting a drone too and bombarding them with dyed-filled water balloons, turning them bright pink, but I never did it. Huh. Guess that’s okay.
I peek my head out of the tiny crack, looking for stragglers. “You’re clear. There’s no one in the hallway, and she’s still at the football field for now. I’ll try to monitor her and everyone else.” Zepp confirms again as we make our way down the hallway. Apartment doors line the corridor, each with its own number and owners. Most kids have the privilege of their own spaces, and some share willingly. Lucky for me, I didn’t want to or have to share.
“Whose room did you sneak your sexy little ass into, Princess?” Seger grumbles beside me, hanging tight to my hand again like I might disappear. Although we have Zepp looking after us on the cameras, there are some blind spots along the way. You know — like last time when Shaw snuck upon us. Seger’s very paranoid about losing me.
“Ainsley’s,” I grumble back to him, not wanting to admit it.
“Oh man, don’t let her find that out. She’ll butcher you,” Chase says through amusement, laughing like a crazy hyena, probably drawing attention to himself. Thankfully, students are still allowed out in the early evening. Even with security patrolling, they’d see Chase and give him a warning about turning in for the night, but that’s it.
“Well, I never intended to tell anyone. It was a B and E, after all,” I grumble, pulling my lock picking kit out of my jeans pocket. “So, keep all your mouths closed,” I say, looking back at Seger, who holds his hands up in the air like an innocent.
“Yeah, I won’t get involved in that,” Chase scoffs.
“She’s obviously not my biggest fan, anyway.” I place my ear next to the lock. Putting my tools into the keyhole, I listen for the click. A sharp click rings through my ear, opening the door a crack. When I stand back up and look at Seger, wrinkles form on his brow.
Seger cups my face, bringing our foreheads together. His eyes close, fingers squeezing my cheeks as he takes three inhales. The world stops for the two of us as he grounds himself. Every time something slips out of his control, or his anxiety beats him to a pulp, he does this, grounding himself with me—touching me and kissing me.
“If we tell you to leave, please don’t stall this time, understand? Baby, please,” his voice pleads, cracking under the pressure.
“Don’t be stubborn, Kace. We need you in and out. Find what you can and then bail.” Worry seeps into Zepp’s whisper, and I nod again.
“Don’t make me throw you over my shoulder, Sunshine. You wouldn’t like me then or shit—maybe you would!” Chase pipes up inside my ear, too, laughing at the thought.
“Yeah, yeah, you worrywarts. Why did I think having three boyfriends would be a breeze?” I snort when Seger rolls his eyes towards the ceiling.
“Ouch, my heart,” Chase mocks over the earpiece.
“I appreciate your worries, but I’ve done this before. I got this.” Seger holds me tighter.
“You fucking promise?” Seger mumbles like I’m about to go into some sort of war.
“Let her go. I think she gets the point.” Zepp, my savior, my voice of reason and rationale.
Seger grunts, pulling away with one last kiss on my lips. “Be good, Princess. Go steal us some information,” he says, slapping my ass.
I yelp, glaring back at him with narrowed eyes. Half of me wants to slap his ass back, but I refrain. He gives me a lazy wink with the most prominent ‘Seger’ smirk on his face and shuts the door behind me. Like before, I lock the door, just in case. If Piper gets the drop on us and sneaks in, I need a chance to hide.
Piper’s peppy personality doesn’t pop in her apartment like I thought it would. I expected pinks and purples with weird streamers and happy phrases plastered on her walls. Live, laugh, love—or some crap like that. Or ponies or unicorns or some peppy, happy-go-lucky type of decorations. Not this. I mean, I’m not one to judge others on what they like. But this—this is not what I expected. At all.
My jaw drops as I look around the living room. Everything inside the apartment looks the same as mine. A computer desk against the window, a couch to its right, and an open bedroom door close by. That’s where the similarities end and her unique taste in decorations begins. Every inch of the walls are black with a multitude of posters, black paint, and dark curtains hanging over the windows. A little lamp on her computer desk helps illuminate the space, but it’s the only working light source. The light switches do nothing. So, if it wasn’t on, I wouldn’t be able to see my fingers in front of my face.
I walk towards the other side of the room, looking up and down. Black, velvety death metal posters hang from the walls with ominous-looking names scrawled at the bottom.Skull Crushers.Blood Sewers.Skull Fucker. My eyebrows shoot up. They’re all band names. A largeThe Hartbreakersposter takes up a large portion of the wall. They’re not metal, but Zoe’s face is on a few posters too. Piper must be a fan like Chase, and I are. But who wouldn’t be? Zoe’s voice is impressive, and her drumming skills are a gift. My heart twinges for her. I wish I knew what was going on, or I wish I was a better friend. If we were friends.
I walk into Piper’s bedroom, stopping the moment I walk through the threshold. Again, I expected pinks and purples to match her peppy outlook on life, but there’s nothing but black. Everywhere. A king-sized bed, like mine, sits in the middle of the room, made to perfection. Hell—even her sheets are black satin with matching pillowcases.
Three bookshelves line the walls, all decked out in black lace and paint. And—Ew—oh my God, are those? Yup, they totally are. For some strange reason, Piper has animals in jars sitting on one lined with books. Fake skulls line another shelf with varying facial expressions. Ranging from outrage, sorrow, and pain—which should be complex considering they’re skulls, but it seems to work. I swallow hard. I’m all for expressing yourself, but this? My god. What kind of Piper circus did I walk into? A crazy one, that’s what.
“Baby girl, she’s leaving the football field. If she walks fast, you’ve got maybe seven minutes to get out,” Zepp says breathlessly, proving how frantic he’s become.
“I’ll move fast.” I nod, taking pictures of her entire blackened apartment, so I have proof she’s not as peppy as she pretends to be. There’s no way they’d believe my word, anyway.
As fast as lightning, I tear through her closet. I find the black wig and dark makeup in the back, inside a black backpack. The clothes from the picture are at the bottom too. Purses marked with her initials, more backpacks, and a leather bag for a laptop make up the bottom of her closet. But nothing more out of the ordinary. Coming into this, I expected something strange to pop up. Maybe some knives or weapons or hell—weird sex toys. But I come up empty-handed. On that front, the only odd items in Piper’s apartment are her decorations. Several extra cheerleading outfits hang with her school uniforms. Ironed, pressed to perfection, how Piper wants the world to see her. But who is Piper, really? A dark, peppy princess? Is there something clouding over her?
