Page 68 of The Friend Scheme
“Good lad. Now, talk. Tell them what you told me.”
He shakes his head.
“Come on now, play fair,” says Vince. “We had a deal, remember? I won’t hurt you… as long as you behave.”
Vince moves the blade in front of the boy’s face.
He stares Vince down. “You can’t make me.”
“You want to bet on that? I already know, this is just for dramatic effect. Either way, they’ll know everything. You may as well save yourself the pain.”
The guy looks down, clearly thinking hard.
“Too slow.” Vince grins, and moves closer, raising the blade.
“Stop!” he shouts. “I’ll talk, just don’t!”
“Then do it, and make it good. You’ve wasted enough of our time.”
The boy looks up. He can’t be that old, midtwenties at the latest. Vince pats him on the head, smoothing down his matted hair. He looks totally beaten down, defeated. There’s this desperate look in his eyes.
I think he knows he’s going to die.
He must.
I guess he’s just trying to decide how much pain he’s going to go through before that happens.
This is monstrous.
I can’t be here. I can’t be a part of this.
I turn to leave, but Luke’s hand ends up on my shoulder. He presses down. The message is clear:Stay.
“Tell them what you told me,” says Vince.
“I don’t work for Barbie,” he says. “Not really, anyway.”
“Go on.”
“We were losing the war, so my aunt came up with a plan. The idea was to infiltrate your ranks, posing as your friends, your allies. We wanted to learn how you work so we could take you down from the inside. We called it the Friend Scheme.”
He takes his gaze to the floor.
“This is their plan,” says Vince. “This is why they’ve gone quiet. They’re trying to break into our ranks and destroy us from the inside. They could be anyone, someone at your school, someone who cuts your hair, a passerby who has taken an interest in you. Anyone. They might seem like your friend, but all they want is to know our secrets. You must be extremely wary of anyone new who has come into your life. Anyone who has taken a new shine to you cannot be trusted.”
Holy shit. There’s no way this is the same, though. No. Way.
“Now,” says Vince. “Why don’t you tell these fine folks who you really are?”
He swallows hard, then he looks up.
“I’m Ryan Donovan.”
Vince walks around him and presses his blade to Ryan’s throat.
I know what’s about to happen.
I look away just in time.
