The Mindf*ck Series

Chapter 6

𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘥.
- 𝘝𝘰𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦

𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗔𝗡

“It couldn’t have been a woman,” Donny argues as I wince, sitting up from the ER bed.

He’s sitting down, holding an icepack to his own jaw. He was hit across the side of the face with the bat Hollis used to attack us.

“I agree with him,” Elise says on a sigh. “A woman would have gone for the gun. Not used the knife. And by the way, the sheriff is playing this like Hollis was acting on his own accord, and Johnson is backing him, saying they’d already discussed his possible discord with you being here. The director, of course, is saying it sounds like this is one man’s actions, and that we’re safe. He’s still trying to cover this up, even at the cost of our lives.”

She’s furious, and should be.

Lisa clutches my arm from my bedside, easing closer as she brushes her fingers over my cheek. “We’re going to find out if that’s the truth,” she promises.

I jerk away from her touch, and look to the doorway where Lana is standing with Craig. Lisa’s hand falls away completely as Lana glares icy daggers at her, then her gaze softens as she meets my eyes.

She stays on the other side of the room, and my stomach tightens. She had to see all that. She’s probably

Craig gauges our silence, and decides to break it. “Our Scarlet Slayer is who saved you,” Craig announces, freezing the blood in my veins.

Hadley stands, going to Lana as my girl’s gaze returns to Lisa. My still groggy head is struggling to keep up with everything going on.

As Hadley whispers into Lana’s ear, Craig’s words register.

“What?”

He nods. “It’s confirmed. He even left a message.”

He hands me his phone, zooming in on the image for me.

𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵.

“He used the blood of Justin Hollis to write it,” Leonard says from the corner, studying me, his eyes flicking over to Lana, then back to me again.

“The fucking hell?” I ask, confused.

“He’s protective of us,” Craig says on a sigh. “First Hadley, now you and Donny.”

“In short, one of the deputies attacked you, and you were saved by a ruthless serial killer who gets off on being stabby,” Elise quips.

I look back at Lana, motioning for her to come to me. She looks hesitant at first, but she finally makes her way to me with slow, measured steps. As soon as she’s close enough, my arms go around her waist, and she shakes in my grip, her body trembling as she buries her face in my neck.