"They burn.." My eyes tear up as the washcloth with rubbing alcohol was pressed against the deep cuts on my arm.
I saw him grit his teeth. "Ignore the pain."
"It's kind of hard to when it's deep and- OWWW okay okay okay OKAY I GET IT" I yelled as he put pressure on the wounds.
He sighed "You're so stubborn."
"So are you." I watched his facial expression carefully, though hard to tell when that cheshire grin is there for eternity, along with the ringed eyes.
I watched him roll his eyes "That's not the point." I heard the slight anger in his voice.
"You're such a liar." A grin crept onto my face.
He looked up at me angrily "Hey, what're you-"
"Remember when you first met me?" I asked, my grin staying plastered onto my face.
He pressed the washcloth slightly harder onto the cuts "Yeah.."
"You said that I was caught in your game, but in the end, you are the one who's caught in my own game. My game of love, idiot."
When Jane Madarang's neighbor Natalie kills herself and leaves behind cryptic instructions, it's up to Jane and her classmates to unearth deadly secrets.
*****
Natalie Driscoll is dead.
She threw herself out a window and left her neighbor Jane to unravel their town's darkest secrets. Following Natalie's instructions leads Jane to three other high school students who all have something to hide. The four of them must carry out Natalie's final errand while solving the mysteries written in her diary. But the secrets they unearth may be far more dangerous than what they ever imagined.
Content and/or trigger warning: This story contains scenes of suicide, violence and murder that may be triggering for some readers.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]