Page 12 of EverGreene
He punched me lightly in the shoulder, nodding. “You’re the only one who knows for sure, so I’ll trust your decision. I’ll see you at home.”
“I appreciate that,” I answered him, unlocking the back passenger door to my Lexus while Nix got into his Camry and drove away. My gym bag slid down my bicep when I opened the door, and I tossed it on the seat, unzipping the smallcompartment in the front where I kept my kinesiology tape. Instead of tape, I pulled out something that had proven to be an even more effective pain reliever, taking the quill of the feather between my thumb and forefinger.
My package should have been delivered today by the kid I’d paid to walk it up to Ever’s door. Had she opened it yet? If she had, had she called the police, or was she looking out her window right now, hoping I was making my way up her driveway? I could drive through her neighborhood, but if the former was true, then I might be stopped by the same officers who’d arrested me during their raid on one of our matches last year. Word on the street was that they hadn’t taken too kindly to my uncle becoming involved. I’d like to think he’d saved my ass from prosecution because he genuinely cared about me as his nephew, but I knew it had more to do with saving his own reputation and that of the firm.
Perhaps sending the feather I’d plucked from her costume before I walked out the door was a little too outside the box. Maybe I should have just sent her flowers, instead, been a little more clichéd about it all. Sending flowers was normal. It was safe. Yet, there was something about Ever that told me she was neither normal nor safe, and that was the way we both liked it, which told me that the message behind the feather would be obvious. Vengeance would be paying her a visit again, and she knew it.
Firmly pinned between my fingers, I ran the feather underneath my nose, taking in the musky smell of her lust that still clung to it. I’d kept the feather I’d used on Ever, sending her another one, instead. Hell, I’d probably put it in my Will that I was to be buried with it clutched between my fingers like a rosary.
Perhaps there was something to Nix’s observation, because Ever’s scent worked better than any benzo I’d ever taken,relaxing me the moment it hit my olfactory system. Of course, benzos also didn’t give you an erection, either. But that was a side effect of Ever I could handle. Repeatedly. Over and over again. If only I’d met her earlier in my life. Maybe then I wouldn’t have the dark cloud that hung over me all the time. Maybe her presence would have provided enough comfort to get me through the beatings inflicted by my father. Maybe then my father would still be alive and incarcerated instead of resting in eternal damnation.
I got behind the wheel, leaning my head back against the seat with the feather in my lap as I took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and then repeating the process again.
My name is Loche Greene.
I’m twenty-eight years old.
My father, Bradford Greene, is dead.
My mom is safe.
He can’t hurt us anymore.
Because at the age of fifteen, I murdered him.
Chapter 5
Ever
“What the hell is MaskTok?” I asked, shifting my weight from one butt cheek to the other on Katy and Jem’s couch.
“It’s like BookTok, except for masks and shit,” Katy answered matter-of-factly, scrolling through her phone at the other end of the couch.
“Sometimes the two interconnect,” Jem said, sitting between the two of us with her feet propped up on a basket of laundry. “What did you say his mask looked like again?”
“It was all black with red eyes and lines that jutted out from the sides to form kind of abstract features. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” I scrolled through the first social media app I’d been on in well over two years, creating an account with the most generic username I could think of: JaneDoe1234567891011, complete with a profile picture that was nothing more than an image that readInsert profile picture here. It was giving Internet troll, but I didn’t care. Never again would I be able to have a profile under my name or even the name I go by now.
“Yeah, it definitely hasn’t come across MaskTok yet. But that could also be because I’ve only seen three videos so far for, uh, reasons.” Katy’s eyes remained glued to her phone. It was the longest I’d seen her fully engaged in something since meeting her. “I’ll keep looking, though. Even if it takes all night. And lots of batteries.”
“Thank you for your sacrifice.” I scrolled through the app, permanently screwing up the algorithm of cat videos I’d originally hoped to curate, but after watching videos of ripped masked men edging unsuspecting viewers, I couldn’t say I was upset. A few likes, reposts, comments, and saves may have also been left by me in the heat of the moment to ensure that videos kept coming long after this goose chase of ours had ended.
“You know, I feel like I’ve seen that mask before. At least, one similar to it.” Jem squinted at the screen of her phone. “I just can’t remember where. The red detailing stands out to me. If he’s posted any videos with it on, he should stand out.”
“Yeah, but what are the odds of that? Wouldn’t you think, if he were going out in public incognito, that he wouldn’t want to post videos of himself that some thirsty women would see? If he’s one of these thirst trappers, I think he’d much rather go out in public without his mask or choose a completely different mask altogether.” A shirtless man chopping wood suddenly appeared on my FYP as though the app were cutting me off from masked men cold turkey.
“That’s a possibility,” Jem agreed. “Although just because he’s wearing a mask and is thirst trap-shaped, it doesn’t mean he’s actually on this app. My guess is the mask is something unique to him. Maybe he makes them or uses them for something else.”
“Like maybe he’s in a band?” Katy held up her phone to show Jem and me a video of a band, featuring nothing but masked musicians. My eyes jumped from one masked face tothe other, my excitement diminishing with each one that didn’t match the one on the man who had been haunting me since I’d moved to this town. “Oh! They’re playing at Some Dive Bar tonight. We should go.”
“You know how I feel about going out in public,” I said, feeling the knot in my stomach that formed pretty much anytime I left my house begin to tighten.
“Come on, Ever. If Jem and I are there with you, what could happen? Besides, you told me yourself you wanted to start going out more.”
“What I said was I thought I could mildly tolerate going to Whole Foods on a Monday evening.”
“Is that not going out?”
“It does look like it could be a good time,” Jem said, her eyes shining with excitement. “Who knows, maybe your masked Romeo will make an appearance.”
