𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐃𝐎𝐌

haunting

M A R S S O L A N O

ACT iii

chapter twenty three; haunting

the diner titus, trey, and i stopped at buzzed with several different conversations people had. my stomach was churning as we ate our breakfast.

"i still can't believe we did this." titus shook his head.

"well, we're all here for a reason." trey responded.

"really, why're you here trey?" i asked.

i couldn't explain it, but trey was acting strange. he'd make assumptions if venus left town, or that she didn't want to see me, and that she was just a bad person. i just thought that there was something off putting about trey. he was acting different.

"i've got my own connections down in mizan." trey cocked his head to the side.

"wow, this is getting a little spicy isn't it." titus exhaled, looking down at the table while tapping his fingers.

"it's just a civilized conversation." trey remained calm, but i could see past the exterior that he was bothered.

i knew that trey was letting on more than he said, but i couldn't just ague with him right here.

titus and trey began to go deep into conversation as i continued to eat my breakfast, watching the room for anything suspicious as i noticed some girls pointing, one of them briefly turning around to ask the waiter something. in a glimpse, i could see our faces on her phone screen.

i began to worry, but we were almost about to leave anyways.

our faces slowly began to pop up on the local news, but i'm sure the kingdom was too busy looking for venus. it was as if disappearing in this moment was almost perfect.

the burner phones we purchased hardly worked, but they were good enough considering that we only had three contacts in the call log.

"shouldn't we just go back guys. we aren't that far and i'm sure whatever punishment anyone has won't be that bad." trey crossed his arms as titus and i have him a look.

"hell no. we're already almost there." titus responded.

"i just feel like something bad is going to happen." trey bit back.

"pay for this. i need some air." titus got up, leaving through the side door of the diner.

"what the hell is up with you trey?" i asked, leading my plate as trey shrugged.

"if they catch us, it's all over. think about it, you'll definitely never see venus again and you'll end up with annalise. obviously, you don't want that." trey explained as i shook my head.

"i'll go talk to titus. just pay for breakfast." i got up, leaving through the same door titus did.

i looked around before seeing the light skinned boy smoking a cigarette as he looked at the ground.