What Lies in the Dark Read online

  Swiping my finger along the screen, I begin to read.

  Liam: I’m not sure which one of them has the video. It could be more than one.

  AE: Well, you better figure it out, or you’re going into the woods soon. Do you want that, Liam? You want to see what really lies in the dark?

  Liam: All right, I’ll find a way to figure it out. I’ll steal all my friends’ computers if I have to. Just please don’t make me go out there, man.

  AE: Maybe I should anyway. It’s about time you and your friends learned the extent of what the society is willing to do to protect their own dark secrets.

  Liam: Look, I get that we messed up, but you have to take into consideration the families we come from. Eventually, one day, we could be joining the society and that could cause a lot of problems for you.

  AE: Careful, Liam, it’s starting to sound like you’re threatening me.

  Liam: I swear I’m not. I’m just stating a fact.

  AE: Well, fact or not, you should know by now that I don’t give a shit about the society. In the grand scheme of things, they’re a blip in this arrangement. A very small blip that can easily be taken care of.

  Liam: I understand. And like I said, I’ll get the computers to you ASAP.

  AE: Good. And I don’t need to remind you of what will happen if you or any of your friends in that stupid club of yours repeat what they saw on that video. You all may think you’re above their rules, but you’re not.

  The message ends there.

  “Are there any more of these?” I glance up at Ev.

  She shakes her head. “No, but from what I can tell, Liam is the sort of guy who doesn’t leave messages on his phone for very long.”

  Crap.

  I scroll through the message threads just to double-check, but nothing of interest jumps out at me. Then I go back and reread the message thread with AE again.

  “Who do you think this AE is?” Embry asks as she leans over and skim-reads the messages.

  “Well, I’m not positive, but I’m wondering if it might be Alexander Garyinford.”

  “The owner of the blue car that was following us?”

  I nod. “Yep. But that’s just a guess. I’m sure there are a ton of people in this town with the initials AE. I can look it up and create a list.” I tap open the internet app.

  “Um, guys,” Ev says, worry cramming her voice. “I think I found something.”

  I set the phone down on my lap and lean forward. Embry does the same.

  Ev positions Dixon’s laptop so we can all see the screen. “It’s a video file labeled: What Lies in the Dark. It caught my attention because it’s the only file that has password access on it.”

  What lies in the dark.

  What lies in the dark.

  What lies in the darkness.

  Liam had said that to me right before he doped me up; that I needed to let what lies in the darkness stay in the darkness.

  Chills break out across my skin. “Did you figure out the password yet?”

  She slowly nods. “Should we watch it?”

  I rub my lips together, somehow knowing whatever is on that video is going to be terrible, yet I find myself nodding.

  With a shaky finger, Ev clicks play.

  The screen starts out dark, but then a flicker of light illuminates the screen. It takes me a moment to figure out what it is—moonlight.

  As the light cascades across the surroundings, I realize the video was recorded in the very forest nearby.

  Holy shit.

  “Do you hear that?” the person recording whispers—no, Dixon whispers. I’d recognize his voice from anywhere.

  “What the hell is that?” someone else says, his voice unrecognizable.

  They grow quiet at the sound of branches snapping.

  “It sounds like it’s getting closer.”

  “Shh, you idiot. It’s going to hear us.” The camera lowers, as if Dixon ducks down.

  More branches snap, then the most awful, inhuman growl rips through the air. It’s followed by a scream. A scream that sounds like it belongs to a woman.

  “Shit, man, I think it saw us …” The guy trails off as a pair of green, glowing eyes appears through the branches in front of them.

  It snaps its teeth, growling, then charges at Dixon and his friend.

  “Run!” one of them shouts.

  Footsteps. Growling. Another Scream. Branches snapping left and right.

  The noises continue until Dixon and his friend make it to a car. They set the camera down on the console, the sounds of their heavy breathing filling up the silence.

  “What the hell was that thing?” Dixon’s friend asks breathlessly.

  “I don’t know, but whatever it was, I think it just killed someone.”

  A beat of silence ticks by, and then his friend whispers, “You think this has anything to do with them.”

  Dixon laughs hollowly. “Oh, I think it has everything to do with them.”

  “So, what are we going to do with the footage, then?” his friend asks. “If they find out we know about … that, they’ll probably fucking feed us to that creature.”

  “We hide it while we find out more,” Dixon says. “Until we gather enough proof and figure out what the hell is going on in this cursed town.”

  The video cuts off, the computer screen turning black.

  “Holy shit,” Kennedy breathes out. “What the hell did we just see?”

  “A murder? A monster? The fact that Dixon and his unknown friend are digging around into stuff like we are?” I shake my head in shock. “I honestly have no fucking clue how to process any of this.”

  Ev looks like she’s on the verge of crying. “Guys, can we please go somewhere else? I really don’t want to be near these trees right now.”

  “Yeah, I think going somewhere else is a good idea,” Kennedy agrees, starting up her engine.

  As she drives forward, I twist around in my seat and stare at the trees behind us. I’ve never thought about it much, but now that I am, I realize I have never seen anyone going into those trees. There are also no trails. Same with the mountains around us. No one hikes in Shadow Cove, yet the scenery is prime for hiking. Why is that? What keeps people away? Especially when the mountains are supposedly filled with jade?

  “Shit,” Kennedy curses, slamming on her brakes.

  When I turn around to see the reason behind her sudden stop, I half expect a glowing, green-eyed creature to be standing in front of the car. Nope. Instead, I see Dixon’s luxury car blocking the road. The only way around them is through the trees by foot which, yeah, is so not happening.

  “Hide the computer,” I hiss to Ev as I toss Liam’s phone under the seat. “And lock the doors.”

  Ev fumbles to shut the laptop then shoves it under her seat right as four figures hope out of Dixon’s car and head toward us.

  My fingers curl into fists. “Dixon, Liam, Trysten, and Rylen. Why am I not surprised?” Though, I have to admit, the latter hurts like a bitch.

  “What do you think they want?” Ev whispers, clutching the edge of her seat.

  “I don’t know, but I’ll beat their asses if they try anything.” Embry pops her neck and knuckles then glances at me. “You got your pepper spray and Taser on you?”

  “Yep.” I pick up my backpack, grab both, and hand Ev the pepper spray. “If you have to use it, aim for the eyes, okay?”

  “What about me?” Kennedy asks as she eyeballs the guys as they start down the road toward us. “What should I use?”

  Embry digs a pair of brass knuckles out of her pocket and hands them to Kennedy.

  “Those won’t do any good,” Kennedy scoffs. “I don’t even know how to punch.”

  “Like this.” Embry demonstrates by tapping her fist against the palm of her hand.

  When Kennedy frowns down at the brass knuckles, I snatch them from her and hand her my Taser. She gives me a grateful look as I slip the brass knuckles on.

  “One zap should send them
to the ground,” I tell her, then glance at Embry. “Do I even want to know why you have this?” I lift my hand with the brass knuckles.

  Embry shrugs. “I thought maybe they’d come in handy sometime. Guess I was right.” She gives a pressing look at the four guys walking side by side toward us, all mafia style.

  “Dude, I think they’ve seen too many mobster movies.” I snicker, and so do Embry and Kennedy. Ev can barely breathe.

  “Ev, relax. We got this.” I pat her shoulder. “For all we know, they’re only here to hang out by the lake.” I don’t believe my own words. Not even a little bit. Nor do I find it simply coincidental that they showed up here right after we watched that video.

  Before I can come up with any theories as to why, they reach the car.

  Dixon and Trysten eyeball us, while Liam glares and Rylen stands there, looking uncomfortable.

  “What’re you guys doing up here all by yourselves?” Dixon asks with a smirk.

  Kennedy cracks her window. “That’s really none of your damn business. And you better move your damn car out of my way before I decide to just slam into it.”

  Dixon’s smirk only grows. “Will you get your sexy panties out of a bunch? I’ll move my car in a minute.” He pauses, chewing on his bottom lip before his gaze cuts to me. “Just as soon as you give me back my computer.”

  I crack my window with my fist balled. “I don’t have your computer, rich boy, so move your stupid ass out of the way.”

  “Mak,” he tsks me as he approaches my window. “Maybe you better think about what you just saw on that video before you start trying to lie to me.” He crouches down, putting his face up to the window. “Or I might decide to take you for a little stroll in those trees.”

  The wheels in my head turn, like gears clicking into place. I was right. Them being here right after we watched the video isn’t coincidental. They know we have his computer, just like they know we watched the video and looked through Liam’s phone. Because, somehow, they bugged me. The question is: how? Since they just recently learned about it, it has to be something they did recently. Maybe they somehow did it to Kennedy’s car? Or …

  My gaze travels to my skateboard resting beside my feet and zeroes in on the brand-new bearings I just put on last night. For the most part, I kept the bearings and board in my trunk, out of earshot, except for the last few hours. The last few hours my friends and I have spent talking about Dixon’s computer and Liam’s phone and all sorts of other crazy stuff. We also talked about going up to the lake where people rarely hang out. Where Dixon and his friends could easily get the computer back without being seen.

  A wave of anger storms through me as I reach up and snatch the Taser from Kennedy’s hand.

  “What’re you doing?” she protests as I grab my skateboard from off the floor and stuff the Taser into my jacket pocket.

  “Lock the doors again after I get out.” Before anyone can say anything, I manually unlock my door and hop out of the car.

  “So, this is what the bearings were about?” I direct my question at Rylen.

  He massages the back of his neck, guilt rising in his eyes. “Mak, I didn’t just—”

  I hold up my hand. “Spare me the details.” I march over to the lake.

  “Mak, don’t,” Rylen shouts, rushing over to me.

  “Why? You afraid I’m going to ruin the bugs or something?”

  “No, I don’t give a shit about that.” He strides alongside me, desperation gleaming in his eyes. “You can’t touch the water right now.”

  “I’m not going to.” I stop on the shoreline. “The board is.” Even though it nearly kills me, I lift my arm, preparing to chuck my skateboard into the water.

  Rylen moves in front of me, pleading, “Please don’t do this, okay? I know you don’t think you can trust me right now, but you can. I swear.” He swallows hard. “And I can prove it to you.” He bends down to pick up a small pebble.

  “Careful, Rylen,” Trysten warns. “Too much force will put their system back up. And we only have minutes as it is.”

  “Is he talking about the security cameras all over town?” I wonder, hugging my board against my chest.

  Rylen crooks a brow at me. “You know about those?”

  “Don’t you already know I know about those?” I challenge. “After all, you’ve been listening in on my conversations.”

  “Not all of them,” he assures me. “And I regret doing it, but I sort of had to.”

  “Why?” I demand.

  “To see what you already know,” he whispers. “To see if we should bring you in on this or not.”

  My heart thunders in my chest. “In on what?”

  He puts his finger to his lips then chucks the pebble into the lake. It barely makes a ripple, but that motion makes the entire lake alter, the water briefly turning green.

  I swallow hard, my fingernails digging into the skateboard. “What the hell is going on?”

  Rylen turns toward me. “Nothing in this town is what it seems.”

  “Yeah, I’m starting to realize that.” I blink away from the lake and focus on him. “What else do you know?”

  He starts to reach for me then pulls away, only to reach forward again and tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I know this entire town is controlled by something. I know there are things that only haunt people’s nightmares living in these woods. I know hardly anyone can be trusted.” He dips his lips toward my ear. “I also know that Trysten has been trying to get you to go to a post office box and try to unlock it because he thinks you have the key. Don’t do it, okay? Trysten isn’t a bad guy, but he’ll do just about anything to get what’s inside that box, even if it means they figure out you’re on to them.”

  I think about the key I found that is currently in my pocket; how something had been filed off the front of it. Could it be to this post office box? If so, why did Sawyer have it and what on earth is inside the box?

  “Who the hell is they?” My heart hammers in my chest. “And what the hell is in that box?”

  “Some files he had your dad hide for him,” he whispers, nearly knocking the breath out of me.

  Files.

  Files.

  Like the destroyed files Legend told me about?

  “As for the they,” Rylen continues, “that’s going to take a lot more time than we have right now to explain.”

  “Does it have to do with the society?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “That literally makes no sense.”

  “I know. And I wish I had time to explain more.” He moves away to look me in the eyes. “You know about the cameras all over town, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, right now, they’re temporarily shut down by a virus Trysten installed in the system. But it’ll only last a few minutes before they figure out what’s going on and reboot it. Once the cameras are back up, they’ll be able to see us out here.” Worry flashes in his eyes. “And if they know what we’re talking about”—he gulps—“well, you saw what was in those trees, right?”

  My chest constricts as I nod.

  He lets out an uneven breath as he checks the time on his watch. “We don’t have a lot of time left. We need to be long gone from here by the time those cameras come back on so they don’t grow suspicious. If you’ll meet us at the address on the note that was left in your pocket, we can explain more.”

  “So, you left the note in my pocket?” I ask, and he nods. “It looked like Trysten’s handwriting.”

  “He wrote the note, but I’m the one who slipped it into your pocket.” He acts like it’s no big deal, yet it is.

  A really big, annoying deal.

  I grit my teeth, beyond annoyed that he snuck out to the lake while I was passed out, only to put a cryptic note in my pocket then leave me there alone.

  “Why can you tell me more but not now?” My irritation seeps into my tone. “Are you going to shut down the systems again or something?”

  “No, that addr
ess is the only dead zone in the entire town. You have to be careful going in and out of it. Take the back entryway. It’s the safest, okay?” He starts to step away, but I capture his arm.

  “Something’s not adding up,” I tell him. “When Lispy Larry attacked me, why did you drive all the way up to the lake just to leave a note in my pocket and put Dixon’s computer into my back seat when you guys clearly don’t want me to have the computer? And how did you even know I was at the lake?”

  A pucker forms at his brow. “I didn’t put the note in your pocket when you were at the lake. I put it in there when I was giving you the bearings … And we never gave you the computer, Mak. We thought you stole it from Larry, which kind of helped us out since we were planning on stealing it ourselves after Liam was blackmailed into giving Larry all our computers.”

  I frown. “I didn’t—”

  Careful, Mak. You have to keep some secrets to yourself, or they might not tell you all of theirs. And trust me, you need to know what they know. You just have to be careful about it. Everyone in this town is playing a game. You need to start playing your own.

  I can hear you again. Relief washes over me.

  For now …

  Huh?

  Rylen’s watch begins to beep, tearing me from my thoughts.

  “Shit, we have to go. The cameras are about to reboot.”

  He briefly hesitates then threads his fingers through mine and guides me back to the car.

  Embry got out of the car at some point and is arguing with Liam, but she stops and eyeballs me and Rylen’s interlocked fingers as we approach. Then her brow arches in confusion, which is pretty much how I feel right now.

  When we reach the car, she asks, “Is everything okay?”

  I shrug, completely unsure how to explain everything to her.

  Dixon glances at me and Rylen, then smirks. “So, are you two a thing now?”

  I open my mouth to tell him to eff off, but Rylen beats me to the punch.

  “Be quiet,” Rylen warns, then turns toward me. “Get in the car and have Kennedy take you straight to your house, okay? Stay there as much as you can until Friday.”