Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

GREY

I insist on meeting Hall in the park near the busy city center. I haven't forgotten what he tried to do to me on the back steps of Redwood Prep. The creepy way he'd watched me, the taunting, the jeering… the fear that consumed me as he grabbed my hand and tried to drag me to his car…

It was real.

My brain hasn't rewritten the memory of it or made it something better than it was.

Hall might be young, but his ill-intent was crystal clear. If Zane hadn't stepped in, I wouldn't have been able to fight him off.

Considering our tainted history, I'm not dumb enough to meet him in a private place nor am I interested in a repeat of that traumatic incident.

The park is brimming with activity which makes me feel a lot more secure. Nearby street lamps throw soft silver glows on the children squealing on the playground. Joggers dressed in baggy shirts and running shorts do their laps with sweaty faces and headphone-plugged ears.

I look past the ice cream stand, checking my phone. A few seconds ago, I let Theodore know I'd arrived, but he hasn't responded yet.

Should I leave?

He sounded desperate on the phone.

I decide to look around first before leaving. I'm still not sure where I'm going to spend the night and I'd like to push off that decision for as long as possible.

Uncertainly, I walk across the park to some benches under a cluster of trees. It's on the opposite side of the playground, much darker and quieter. However, I'm still in plain sight of the families at play and a security booth is close by.

I spot a figure hunching behind a tree. My steps slow as I squint into the fading sunset and watch his strange movements.

"Hall?" I whisper.

His eyes dart back and forth like a prisoner on the run. He flops around so he's standing with his back flat against the trunk. T-shirt covered chest heaving, he squeezes his eyes shut.

"Theodore?" I abandon my earlier reservations and walk at a fast clip.

The junior's eyes burst open and land on me. They widen on impact and he immediately glances behind me as if looking for someone.

Sloane gasps. "Whoa. He looked right at me. Think he can see me?"

"Did you come alone?" he croaks.

"Uh…"

He moves toward me.

I step back on instinct and hold up a hand like I'm addressing a rabid animal in the wild. "Stay there."

He freezes.

Despite my reservations, it becomes abundantly clear that Hall did not call me here to hurt me. He's sweating profusely, his hair pasted flat against his head and his shirt stained with dirt.

Gone is the cocky high school student who swaggered down the hallways of Redwood Prep and informed me that if Zane Cross could have me, then so could he. In his place is a rich boy stripped of his arrogance. A shriveling mess of designer jeans and choppy turmoil.

"Thank you for coming. I know you didn't have to. I know… with everything—but I had no one else to call. You're the only one who can help me. The only one who can stop them."

Moving in close, I pat his back. "Theodore, slow down. Tell me what's going on."

The wind shifts directions and I catch a whiff of a putrid scent. Glancing down, I see a wet stain on Theodore's pants. Did he… urinate himself?

Alarmed, I meet his scared, trembling eyes.

"Someone's watching me, Miss Jamieson. Stalking me." As if uttering the words reminded him of his plight, his entire body caves inward and he gives the park a worried, suspicious sweep. "They're everywhere."

That's… not normal.

"Theodore, answer me truthfully," I say.

He bobs his head.

"Are you on drugs?"

"No!" He sounds offended. "I'm telling the truth."

"I don't think it's crack. Maybe it's some kind of pill?"

"Is there someone we can call? Your parents?—"

"They're on a business trip. They have bad reception."

"A guardian then. They need to come and take you home?—"

Theodore suddenly flings himself at my feet and it's so sudden and dramatic that I screech.

"I can't go home. Please." He prostrates before me. "Please, I'll do anything. Just make them stop."

My mind is whirring with a million thoughts. I can't make sense of what's going on. Behind me, I hear joggers slowing down to watch the spectacle. Murmurs rise up, and I can only guess what this looks like.

Me. In my Redwood Prep teacher's uniform.

Hall, a clearly distraught teenager, begging for mercy.

I crouch beside him and nudge his shoulder. "Theodore, get up."

He grabs my ankle, continuing to beg.

I shake him off, huffing in frustration. My initial rise of disgust and fear is quelled when he looks up and tears are running down his face.

Sloane shudders beside me. " This guy is seriously off his meds. "

I would have a right to judge if I wasn't currently seeing the ghost of my best friend.

I have more than a bit of sympathy for anyone under mental duress.

"Tell me why you can't go home," I offer kindly. Bracing myself, I crouch to his level and try not to breathe too hard.

"Someone's following me." He starts quivering like an orphan in the cold.

"Okay…" I say coaxingly.

"It started with this odd feeling I'd get. Someone behind me on the street. Someone outside my window. Then they started tapping on my window at night. Every night . "

"Did you check the security cameras?" I'm sure someone like Hall has security cameras around his mansion. "Maybe it was just the wind."

He spaces out as if he hadn't heard my question.

"Then I saw him," Hall whispers.

"Saw who?"

" Him . This morning. He was in a ski mask and he was standing over my bed with a knife."

My pulse jumps.

"He could have killed me," Hall sobs.

Sloane blows out a breath. "I think you should leave this to the professionals, Grey."

I lift a hand to Sloane, quieting her. "Theodore," I speak as gently as I can, "why didn't you tell your parents? Or call the police?"

"He said if I did, he would kill me."

"Then why did you call me? "

He raises his head up, looking at me like I'm a dazzling sun. "Because you can stop them."

"Them?"

"The Kings."

I have a cold, sinking feeling… like swallowing an ice cube whole while it travels down the throat.

"You think The Kings are the ones stalking you?"

He nods.

"Why? It's been ages since the dance."

"The Kings have a long memory."

"But…"

"It started three days after that night. You think that's a coincidence?"

I struggle to come up with something to say.

"I can't keep going like this, Miss Jamieson."

"Why don't you get some sleep first and we can talk about this when you're calmer."

"Sleep where?" He recoils. "I can't sleep on the street."

"I'm sure you have friends you can stay with."

"Everyone knows The Kings are after me. No one's answering my calls."

"Didn't your parents leave you money in case of an emergency?"

"They froze my cards after those thugs stole my identity and ran through two hundred grand. I can't even afford a bus ticket."

Reluctantly, I reach into my purse. "I think I have five dollars in here."

"Just five dollars?"

I freeze and look at him.

Theodore Hall stares me right in the eyes and says with a straight face, "I need sixteen grand so I can charter a private jet and get out of here."

"Do I look like I have sixteen grand?"

"Zane does."

I don't bother dignifying that with a response. Zane might be rich, but his money is his own.

Grumpily, I rummage through my purse until I find another five-dollar bill. "Here."

He snatches it and holds it up. "What can I buy with this?"

"A bus ticket home or to the police."

"I can't call the cops."

I briefly wonder if his fear of the cops has less to do with the stalker's threat and more to do with the thugs he hired that night. One of the waitresses at mom's diner used to say ‘if you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes'.

"If you won't go to the authorities, then there's nothing more I can do for you."

"But there is."

"Theodore, I can't do more than?—"

"I told you." His eyes flash with annoyance and I see the boy who sneered at me in Redwood Prep. "This is The Kings' fault. You have to tell them to stop. They'll listen to you."

I sense that he's at the end of his rope and nod. "Okay. I'll talk to them."

Hall looks hopeful, but he's grasping at straws. If The Kings really are behind this, I don't know if my words will do any good.