What Lies in the Dark Read online

  “Holy crazy, weird balls,” Kennedy whispers as she examines the red marks branding my skin. “Ew, it’s blistering.”

  Embry’s gaze dances from my face to the burns to my face again. Her brows dip. “What would cause it to do that?” She drifts to her feet and skims her thumb along the vial. “Is it just made of glass or something else?”

  “Maybe it’s made of a foreign material that Mak’s allergic to,” Ev offers as she retrieves her phone from her backpack. “Is there anything strange about the surface? Like, does it have a rough texture or a tinge to it?” Her fingers are poised and ready to type information into a search engine.

  “It’s smooth,” Embry sketches her thumb along the vial. “And it has a bit of a green tint to it.”

  “Which makes sense,” I say. “Since it glows green.”

  Nodding, Ev taps her fingers along the screen. She sinks into silence as she scrolls through the information the search pulled up.

  Embry begins to get fidgety and releases the vial, allowing it to fall against the hollow of my neck again. Kennedy seems to grow restless, too, stepping back and crossing her arms while she stares out the window and taps her foot.

  The silence is maddening. Perhaps telling them about the necklace wasn’t my most brilliant idea.

  Then Kennedy says, “If what you’re saying is true—if that necklace has some sort of magical powers or whatever—then everything we’ve ever known could be a lie.”

  “Don’t be overdramatic, Ken.” Embry hoists herself up to sit on the dresser, letting her legs hang over the edge. “Not everything was a lie. There’s just more to life than what we thought.”

  “But, what if our families knew that and never told us?” Kennedy glances over her shoulder at Embry and cocks her brow. “What if our parents have been lying to us? Because, according to Liam, my dad’s part of this secret society.”

  “We don’t really know if the secret society has anything to do with this necklace,” I say. “Sawyer’s the one who had it and who told me to put it on, but I don’t think he was ever part of the society.”

  “Yeah, but they might be the reason he’s not here,” Kennedy stresses with a hint of guilt. “Which means my father could be partly responsible for that.”

  “We don’t know that for sure. And even if we did, what your father does isn’t your fault.” I grasp the vial. “What I do know is that, if this necklace is some sort of trustworthy warning device, it hasn’t warned me of you guys, which means I can trust you. I already knew that. That’s why I’m telling you all this, because I know you’re good people and I can trust you.”

  “Of course you can.” Kennedy turns and leans against the wall behind her. “I just want to say that, if it turns out my father is part of this, he’s going to pay.”

  I lower my hand to my side. “I’m totally on board with that.”

  “I’d say same goes for my parents,” Embry says, “but considering the credentials required to get into this society, I’m betting my parents aren’t going to qualify.”

  “That’s a good thing,” Kennedy stresses. “Trust me.”

  “I know.” Embry nods. “I was just sort of thinking aloud.”

  “Um, guys, I think I found something,” Ev interrupts with a trace of worry on her expression.

  “What’s up?” Kennedy crosses the room and plops down on the bed beside her.

  Ev tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, I did some searching on green minerals and rocks, and there is a lot. So, I searched green minerals and rocks in Shadow Cove, and apparently, the mountains are filled with jade.”

  “Jade?” I assess the vial closely. “This doesn’t look like jade.”

  “Yeah, but the glass could be laced with jade,” Ev explains. “That would explain the greenish tint.”

  “But it doesn’t explain why it burned the shit out of Mak’s neck when that car drove by.” Kennedy rests back on her hands with her thinking face on. “None of this makes sense. If jade is all over the Shadow Cove mountains, wouldn’t people be mining it by now?”

  “Honestly, it shouldn’t be in this area, yet it is,” Ev informs. “But you’re right; it doesn’t make any sense why no one is mining it.”

  I sit down on the bed beside Ev. “Where’d you find that info?”

  When she shows me the screen, I lean forward to get a better look, only to have the breath knocked out of me.

  “The Shadow Cove Daily News?” I blink up at her. “The paper my dad wrote for?”

  She nods. “It’s the only place jade is mentioned along with Shadow Cove. And the sentence is brief, just a little mention of how the wealthy town of Shadow Cove is built inside a precious stone of jade. The article was written over five years ago, too, and nothing about jade was ever mentioned again.”

  “Strange,” I mumble, wondering if my dad knew about this. Wondering why, if jade is so common here, no one is digging it up. Wondering if jade has any strange side effects. Wondering a lot of things.

  “I wonder if jade has any powers,” Embry absentmindedly says, crossing her legs.

  “Powers?” Ev lifts her brows. “As in, magical powers?”

  Embry shrugs. “Whether that vial is laced with jade or not is beside the point. Mak was burned by that damn thing. Something odd had to have caused it, because glass doesn’t just randomly heat up. And as far as I know, neither does jade.”

  “Are you allergic to jade?” Ev asks me. “If you are, that could explain why it burned you.”

  “Not that I know of. Then again, I haven’t been around a lot of jade, either.” I pause. “Well, I guess technically I have if the whole damn mountain is full of it.”

  “She’s probably not allergic to it, or else symptoms would be more consistent,” Kennedy puts in her two cents. “I had this sweater once that was made out of some fancy fabric my mom had sent from overseas. It was really pretty and everything, but the first day I wore it, I broke out in hives. Turns out, I was allergic to the fabric. It took almost three days for my skin to go back to normal.”

  “I don’t know why you’re acting like magic can’t exist,” Embry tells Ev. “Especially after you just said you basically believe in ghosts.”

  “Entities,” Ev corrects. “And believing in ghost isn’t that out there. Magic on the other hand … I’ve never seen any hardcore, factual proof that it could exist.”

  “Except for the fact that Mak’s necklace, or whatever the hell that vial is, just burned the shit out of her neck for no logical reason.” Embry hops of the dresser and crosses her arms. “Not everything is fact and fiction, Ev. There’s stuff in life—grey areas—that don’t necessarily make sense, yet somehow exists.”

  “I know, but … magic?” Ev shakes her head. “I’m not sure I can believe in that.”

  “We’re not even sure if it’s magic yet,” I say, slipping the necklace off.

  Mak, don’t do it. Put that back on.

  I will in a bit, I tell him mentally. Right now, I need Ev to wear it so she’ll see. I need my friends to be on my side, Sawyer. I can’t do this alone like you and Dad did.

  I didn’t do this alone, he whispers, causing me to tense.

  Was Bria part of this, too?

  Silence.

  Sawyer, please answer me.

  A beat of silence ticks by, and then he utters, Yes.

  A tremulous breath slips from my lips. Is that why she died?

  Nothing but silence. He doesn’t need to answer, though. Not this time. I have a way of finding out the answer myself. By getting ahold of the coroner’s report.

  “Wear this for a while,” I tell Ev as I slip the necklace over her head.

  “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.” Ev moves to take the necklace off.

  I place a hand over hers. “You want proof that the necklace heats and glows when an untrustworthy person is around, right?” I ask, and she nods. “Well, what better way to get your truth than to experience it firsthand?” I withdraw my hand.
>
  She reaches up and folds her finger around the vial. “All right, I’ll wear it for a bit.”

  “Good.” I rise to my feet, cross the room, and grab a notebook and pen from the closet. “Now, how about we plan our next steps, starting with what I’m going to do if Scarlett finds something strange about me while doing the checkup?” I flop down on the bed.

  “You might have to tell her the truth”—Ev reclines against the footboard—“so she can treat you properly.”

  I chew on the end of the pen. “What if she’s not trustworthy? I mean, I think she is, but still … I’m honestly not sure who I can trust anymore. Not even my mom.”

  “You don’t trust your mom?” Ev asks, her brows raising to her hairline.

  “She might be having an affair with Don Jennings, who’s definitely connected to this secret society. She’s taken money from him for God knows what.” I let out a trapped breath. “I don’t want to think it, but for all I know, she could be connected to the society. Or, at least, working for them.” Tears threaten to pour out of my eyes, but I suck them back.

  Crying won’t do any good, and it won’t help me solve any of this. Still, I can’t help feeling a bit heartbroken over the idea that my mom might be mixed up with the people who could’ve possibly killed Sawyer and perhaps even my dad.

  “Mak …” Kennedy starts with pity in her tone.

  I hold up a hand. “I’m fine, I promise. I just need to make a plan and focus on that for a bit.”

  Smashing her lips together, she nods then drops down on the bed beside me. Embry moves around the foot of the bed and takes a seat there, tearing open a bag of chips.

  “Okay, so the first step in our plan is to figure out what to tell Scarlett if my test results come back a little wonky,” I say, stealing a handful of chips from the bag.

  “I think you should wear the necklace during your checkup,” Kennedy says. “That way, you’ll know if you can trust her.”

  I shake my head. “Let Ev wear it. She can tell me whether or not to keep my trap shut around Scarlett.”

  “Sure,” Ev says, doubt weighing on her expression, revealing she’s not totally buying into this magical necklace theory. That’s okay. Once she feels the vial heat up and glow, she’ll realize the truth.

  “Good. And if she is untrustworthy and my test results come back weird, I pretend like I have no clue why,” I say as I write the first step to my plan.

  “You think that’ll work?” Embry’s voice rings with skepticism.

  I shrug. “My dad always said that, when you can’t think of a reasonable lie to tell someone, the best thing to do is play dumb. It stops you from creating a lie that sounds too out there, and it eliminates any slipups.”

  “Your dad taught you the best way to lie?” Kennedy asks with a grin. “That’s actually kind of cool. Strange, but cool.”

  A smile rises at my lips. “My dad was a pretty cool guy.”

  Was, Mak? Are you so convinced he’s dead?

  I’m not sure anymore …

  I clear the congestion from my throat. “So, I think the next step is to break into the school tonight. I’ll go alone on this one since it’s so risky.”

  Kennedy promptly shakes her head. “Hell no.”

  “Um, yeah, I think I’m going to agree with Kennedy on this one.” Embry stretches her legs out. “At least one of us should go with you so we can keep an eye out. And I think it should be me.”

  Kennedy’s lips part in protest. “No way. I’m way more useful than you.”

  Embry’s pierced eyebrow meticulously arches. “Have you ever broken into anything in your entire life?”

  Kennedy shakes her head. “No, but if we get caught, my dad is a hotshot lawyer who can get us out of trouble.”

  “If your stepmom doesn’t tell him not to. Plus, he probably won’t help Mak.” Embry sticks her hand into the bag of chips, giving Kennedy a remorseful look. “Sorry to be a bitch, but the truth is, your dad’s kind of a dick.”

  Kennedy sighs in defeat. “Yeah, I know.” She crosses her arms, sulking. “I still want to be the one to go with Mak. I think I’d be really good at this whole breaking and entering thing.”

  Embry and I subtly exchange an amused look. Kennedy is our best friend, and we totally love her, but we both know Kennedy will be the worse person for me to bring when I break into the school. Not only does she get bored easily, but she tends to talk when she gets bored. She also hasn’t ever broken into a place before, unlike Embry and myself. However, if I tell her I want to take Embry instead, she’s going to get upset.

  “I think you should wait until tomorrow to do this,” Ev chimes in, popping the tab of a soda. “That will give us time to scope out the school, maybe even get the blueprints, and figure out the best way to get inside without being seen. Plus, it’ll give Mak time to get ahold of her dad’s friend at the alarm company. I really don’t like the idea of relying on the black light for this.”

  “I can’t wait until tomorrow. I need to find out tonight why the hell I got called into the office so I can figure out a way out of it.” I stuff a handful of chips into my mouth.

  Ev nervously picks at the soda tab. “I guess I could do that part for you, just as long as you promise to wait until tomorrow to break into the school.”

  “Are you talking about hacking into my school records?” I question, wiping my greasy fingers on the sides of my jeans. “I don’t want you to risk getting into trouble just to help me out.”

  “I’m not going to do it,” she explains. “I’m going to have a friend of mine do it.”

  “What friend?” I wonder, reaching for the nightstand to grab my soda.

  “Well, he’s not really a friend, per se.” Her cheeks pinken. “I talk to him in this chatroom sometimes. He hacks into computers for a living.”

  “You were in a hacker chatroom?” Embry stares at Ev as if she barely knows her. “Who the hell are you?”

  “It’s not really a big deal.” She lowers her head. “I mostly just went on there because of my interest in computers.”

  Kennedy, Embry, and I trade a baffled look.

  “Holy mother of effin’ aliens,” I tease. “Ev has a secret life. A secret criminal life. Who would’ve ever guessed?”

  She raises her head and scowls at me. “I so do not. I’ve never even hacked into anything. I just know how.”

  “Relax, I’m just messing with you.” I pat her knee. “I feel like I should welcome you to the dark side or something.”

  Ev blows out an exasperated sigh. “Are you going to wait until tomorrow to break in or not?”

  I deliberate, but not for very long. “Yeah, I’ll wait until tomorrow.”

  I just hope all this trouble will be worth it. That in the end, there will be evidence of Lispy Larry attacking me. Otherwise, I feel like I’m going to have to constantly look over my shoulder.

  Then again, with the way things are going, Lispy Larry might be one problem in a sea of many.

  Chapter 7

  LOCATION: MAK’S CAR

  TIME: 6:51 PM

  DATE: TUESDAY, MARCH 23RD

  After we settle on breaking into the school tomorrow night, I go online to do a search on the dark blue car’s plate number. But the site is temporarily down.

  “Is that normal?” Kennedy asks when I inform my friends the search will have to wait until later.

  I waver. “It’s not too unusual for a site to be inaccessible for maintenance. I’ll just try again later tonight.”

  We spend the next couple hours going over the details of the rest of the plan. Tomorrow afternoon, we’ll go to the coroner’s office to talk to Legend—aka, the coroner—and see if I can sneak a look at Bria’s report. Tonight, Embry is going to do more research on speaking to ghosts and see if she can get someone from SC Shadow of the Undead Inc. to translate the book for us. She’s also going to look into the possibility of jade having some sort of magical powers. While she does all that, Kennedy is going to drive around
town and find out which buildings have symbols on them so we have a better idea of who’s involved in the secret society. She also mentioned searching through her dad’s files to see if perhaps he has any information that will give us more insight into the society and the illegal escorting site online, if he’s ever handled a case on it.

  Ev’s part involves her friend hacking into my records so I know whether it’s safe to go to school tomorrow or not, and if he can find out if there’s a high number of security cameras in Shadow Cove. If there are, then we know the eyes and ears Don and the mayor were yammering about were more than likely cameras. After that, she’ll work on gaining access to Liam’s phone that Embry jacked from his pocket yesterday morning.

  And me? I’ll be the one breaking into the school, trying to figure out who left that note in my pocket at the lake, attempting to solve what the key I found in Sawyer’s closet goes to, running the plate number, and I’ll be calling the phone number on the help wanted ad. On top of that, I need to find out what Lispy Larry is hiding in that ghost house of his. I thought about just breaking in, but Ev and Kennedy had a shit-fit, saying it was too dangerous. Embry seemed down for it, so I might return to that idea later, after I find out if there are spies or cameras around town.

  So, yeah, that’s pretty much the gist of our plan. Individually, it doesn’t seem too bad, but when I think of everything as a whole, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the possibility that we’re going to pull this off and without getting caught. That was the main thing I stressed before we parted ways—if anyone wants to bail at any time, just do it. Do not hesitate.

  “Have you heard from your mom at all?” Ev asks as I pull into the mostly vacant parking lot in front of Scarlett’s practice.

  She came with me mainly so she can test out the necklace. Although, if Scarlett is trustworthy, then Ev’s skepticism in the necklace having magical powers will deepen further.

  I shake my head as I park the car and click off the headlights. “I tried to track her phone again before we left, but it’s still saying her location is untraceable.”