4. The Finger Games

I've always felt especially aloneduring the holidays. With my father serving a life sentence for murdering my mother and no other family to spend them with, I usually spend them with my friends and River, but things are different this year.

River has completely left Massachusetts and is not returning my calls or texts, only to inform me that he's still alive and just needs some time to gather his thoughts.

Since Melanie will not be back until after New Year"s, I'll have two months to myself while she spends the holidays on a cruise with her family. Just me. Shawn is still missing and most likely dead, if I"m being honest with myself. With nothing to do and nobody to talk to, I'm going crazy by myself in my apartment. If I wasn't afraid of being murdered or stalked, I would go to the bar and have a drink or something, but I'm too scared to leave my apartment. I understand that being trapped inside for such a long time is unhealthy, but can I really bring myself to leave?

I've been considering going to the location where we buried Carli and simply sitting with her and smoking a blunt there. I need to let go of a lot of pent-up emotions and guilt, so this might be the best place for me to finally atone for my transgressions.

I grab a joint and my flask, fill it with absinthe, and pull my white hoodie over my head. I fix my black curls so they fall over my shoulders and down my back, ignoring the uneasy sensation in my bones and the nerves jangling in my stomach. I turn on the entryway light and grab my keys, triple-locking my door behind me.

I start out on my journey to Howard Street Cemetery in the New England end-of-fall weather, keeping my eyes down and my ears perked up, listening for the sound of footsteps to make sure I'm not being followed.

I can already smell winter approaching and the impending snowfall as I breathe in. As I continue to walk, ignoring the winds that are tearing through Salem and the strong currents that cause the street lights to flicker on and off, chills run through my body.

As I approach the cemetery, the darkness engulfs me. Despite this, I make an effort to maintain my composure. I keep looking to the sides to make sure no one is watching or following me, but so far, I haven't noticed anything.

I walk through the ancient iron gates and turn to my right, following the concrete path that is strewn with orange and yellow leaves, blown about by ferocious winds that have gotten stronger during the short walk here.

I cinch up my sweatshirt even more and continue to move forward in my quest to reach Carli"s grave. I can still clearly recall where it is, feeling like it was just yesterday.

As the wind whips tree branches around like something out of a horror film, I continue on the unlit path to the back of the empty cemetery. I take a sip from my flask, trying to get a buzz going to calm the nerves swarming in my stomach, desperate for some relief before I drive myself insane. I look at my phone, and with no word from River, I shake my head, sigh, and pocket it, furious at how he's handling things.

I understand that his best friend has gone missing, but Shawn was also a friend of mine. In addition to being my friend, Shawn also murdered my best friend and persuaded the rest of us—while intoxicated—to bury her body and keep it a secret so that our lives would not be destroyed by an accident. River acts as if this shit is only affecting him, but it isn"t, and that is what irritates me.

Finally, I sit in front of the headstone where Carli"s body is buried, sipping more from the flask in my shaky hand. I stretch my legs out in front of me and lie back, resting my head on a pile of leaves and flowers left by whoever came to visit the man Carli is buried with, staring at the pitch-black sky with only a handful of twinkling stars visible.

I miss you, Carli. Fuck, I miss you, and I"m so sorry for what happened to you.

Knowing I'm by myself, I speak freely, hoping Carli will hear me from wherever she is. I light a cigarette and blow the smoke straight up, causing my vision to become blurry and my eyes to start to water as I watch it swirl into the sky and disperse into the night.

When I close them, I hear the sound of crunching leaves behind me. Afraid that someone will be standing over me if I open my eyes, I take a slow, deep breath and keep them closed. That"s just my imagination, though. Right? It"s all the scary movies Melanie keeps forcing me to watch.

I repeatedly tell myself this while tightly closing my eyes and letting the alcohol flow swiftly through my veins like water through a stream. Everything is quiet, calm, and almost peaceful around me, even though my heart is thumping in my chest. However, internally, I am terrified that I am about to pass away at this very moment.

"We know what you did…"

My eyes fly open when I hear a voice whispering in the distance. I'm immediately confronted by two figures, one wearing a shiny silver mask and the other wearing a black mask, just a few feet away. I scramble to my feet and scoot back, slamming my spine against the headstone, unable to stand due to a sharp pain shooting down my legs and through my back. I reach out for the grass next to me and search for anything I can use to defend myself, thinking of my pocket knife in my sock. I reach down and fish it out, but the masked men don"t even budge when I fling it open.

"Get away from me!"

"We"re not going to hurt you, Scarlett. But don"t think that we don"t know what you"re hiding pretty girl," the silver-masked guy says, his voice dripping with darkness and desire.

I blink a few times to make sure I'm not hallucinating, but even after rubbing my eyes, the two masked men remain crouched in front of me, silent as can be, staring at me through their creepy masks.

"What do you want?" I ask, my voice trembling in absolute fear. Neither of them say anything, though.

My legs give out as I attempt to stand up, and the shooting pain that feels like a hammer being swung at my back continues to travel along my spine. I tremble and remain silent as I lean against the tombstone, still confused as to what the fuck is going on.

Wake up, Scarlett. You"re having a bad dream.

I close and reopen my eyes, and the masks are even closer now than they were a second ago. How the fuck is that possible? I didn"t even hear them move.

The man in the black mask takes my flask from my grasp and brings it to my mouth, gently tipping it back against my quivering, parted lips as I stare into his blackened eyes.

"Open up and drink Trouble... We don"t bite...unless you want us to."

I flick my eyes between the two of them as I open my mouth for him and drink every drop he pours into my mouth while still trembling like a leaf in the presence of their menacing gaze. Even though their masks hide their faces, I can tell they're smiling by the way their eyes squint, which calms my nerves a little. Black, we"ll call him, empties the contents of the flask into my mouth, then tosses it to the ground, wiping the remnants of the liquor off my lips with the smooth pad of his thumb.

"Good girl."

The person wearing the silver mask said as he drew nearer and ran a tattooed hand up my exposed thigh. His blue eyes pierce into me as he holds a bag in his other hand, which only makes me shudder more. As I sit here, fearing that I'm about to be killed by these enigmatic, masked men, my heart thumps in my chest and feels like it's about to burst. Who are they and what are they after?

"What do you want from me?" Finally finding my voice, I manage to utter out in a shaky tone. They snicker and share a look before turning their focus back to me.

"You, Trouble. We want you…"

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