When someone dies mysteriously during a Psych experiment, Rhiannon becomes enmeshed in a conspiracy that includes both the survivors and the killer.
*****
Short on cash, Rhiannon...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MILGRAM
( — u.s. social psychologist who conducted a wide range of controversial experiments looking at influence of researchers. )
— ♡ —
HAILEY HAS PRETTY MUCH RAISED HELL IN THE PROJECT OXYGEN HOUSE. People are screaming, even if Gabriella could easily make it all stop if she wanted to, and Rhiannon fears this might be the beginning of a riot, the tiny spark that will ignite it all.
As usual, she stays quiet, unable to voice any of her thoughts. While she feels terrible for Dimitri, as this was one of the worst ways he could have found out about what happened to Taylor; he should have found out the truth in private, next to his family and the police, not through a news channel surrounded by people he doesn't care about.
Jude never lets her go, ready to serve as a human shield if necessary, as collateral damage can also be deadly sometimes, but Rhiannon is praying he won't have to do anything. Instead, they just watch the apocalypse descend upon the house, as Hailey refuses to stop screaming at the cameras, every participant is standing in the living room (making it almost seem suffocating) and maybe even Connor is listening to this somewhere.
The thought sends shivers down Rhiannon's spine and she forces herself to think about something else—anything else. Things are already bad enough without fearing he has found a way of watching her every move once more, as if he needed to be more in control of her than he already is.
She finds it hard to breathe, with the GABA levels in her system rising, and her chest tightens, with her heart being rendered unable to properly pump blood. Rhiannon hates to admit it, but it's only the gentle pressure of Jude's hands against her shoulders that keeps her afloat, as the edges of her vision darken and the wooden floor sways under her feet.
It turns out Beatrice and Frances might be able to hear what's going on in the house from whatever they're watching them; it's either that or they realized the commotion was getting out of control and someone was bound to get hurt, as they quickly barge inside the building through the front door, livid. Dimitri doesn't move an inch with the slamming of the door, even though Gabriella jumps in her place, startled.
"What the hell is going on here?" Beatrice questions, her voice an octave higher than its usual tone, and everyone freezes into place—well, better yet, mostly everyone, as Hailey shows absolutely no signs of wishing to calm down. She's fuming, hands clenched into fists next to her thighs. "Why are you people screaming?"
"You bitch!" Hayley roars, and Beatrice stops, brows knitted together, and Frances purses his lips together in a thin line. Rhiannon wishes she hadn't noticed the way Laura tries to hide behind Sutton, to no avail. "How dare you? How dare you come back to this house and ask what's going on when you caused this? Let me go!" she protests, after having taken some steps forward, only to be pulled back by Matteo as he wraps his arms around her. She's so light he easily lifts her off the ground. "Matteo, let me go!"
