Macy.
“End of the line, kid.”
The taxi driver’s voice was gravelly, bored. He didn't even turn around.
I peered through the rain-streaked window. “This is it? St. Augustine’s Academy?”
“Says so on the big scary gate we just drove through.” He finally glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “Looks more like a castle for vampires if you ask me.”
He wasn’t wrong. The main building was a gothic monster of dark stone and pointed arches, looming out of the stormy night. It swallowed the light from the car’s headlamps.
“It’s just a school,” I said, my voice sounding small.
“Yeah,” he grunted. “A school for kids with more money than God. You one of them?”
I clutched the strap of my worn backpack. “No. I’m on a scholarship.”
The driver let out a short, humorless laugh. “A lamb among wolves. Good luck with that, kid.”
“Thanks. I think.”
“Here’s some free advice,” he said, his eyes meeting mine in the mirror again. “Keep your head down. Don't make friends. And whatever you do, don't look the lions in the eye.”
He pulled to a stop. The meter was already more than I could really afford.
“That’ll be sixty-five dollars.”
I paid him, my hands shaking a little as I pulled the crumpled bills from my pocket. I grabbed my single suitcase and my backpack, stepping out into the cold, driving rain.
The taxi drove off without a backward glance, its red tail lights disappearing into the blackness, leaving me completely alone.
So this was it. My new life. My escape.
The wind whipped the rain into my face, plastering my hair to my cheeks. My phone screen was slick with water as I tried to pull up the campus map.
“Hawthorne House,” I mumbled to myself. “Where is Hawthorne House?”
The map glitched, the little blue dot of my location dancing erratically. Useless.
I saw a faint light glowing near the edge of a dark, churning lake. Maybe a security office? Or a groundskeeper’s cottage? Someone had to be here.
I pulled my thin jacket tighter and started walking, my sneakers sinking into the mud. The path was slick stone, and the noise of the trees groaning in the wind was unnerving.
As I got closer to the light, I realized it was coming from a boathouse. The sound of voices carried over the storm.
I slowed my pace, suddenly cautious. The driver’s words echoed in my head. *Keep your head down.*
“You have five seconds to tell me who you told.”
The voice was low, calm, and utterly chilling. It cut through the wind like a shard of ice.
I ducked behind a thick, manicured hedge, my heart starting to hammer against my ribs. I peeked through a gap in the wet leaves.
Three boys stood on the dock. Two of them were holding a fourth boy, his body struggling weakly.
The one who spoke stood apart, watching. He was tall, dressed in a black jacket that seemed to repel the rain, his dark hair slicked back from his face. Even from here, he radiated a terrifying authority.
“No one,” the boy being held sputtered, coughing up lake water. “I swear to God, Nathan, no one.”
“He’s lying,” one of the boys holding him said. “Look at his eyes. They’re shifting all over the place.”
The leader, Nathan, took a slow step forward. “You hear that, Leo? Even Luca can tell you’re lying. And Luca is an idiot.”
“Hey!” the one called Luca protested, though there was no real heat in it.
“Put him under again,” Nathan ordered, his voice flat. “Let’s try for a new record.”
“No! Please!” Leo screamed, but they forced his head back under the black water without a moment’s hesitation.
I couldn’t breathe. My mind was screaming at me to run, to hide, to do anything but watch.
They held him under. Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty.
I watched, frozen in horror, as the desperate struggles weakened and then stopped. Bubbles rose to the surface, then nothing.
Just as I thought I was witnessing a murder, they hauled him up. He came up limp, his face blue. He wasn't breathing.
One of them slammed a fist into his chest, and he choked violently, spewing water and gasping for air like a landed fish.
A tiny, horrified sound escaped my throat. A gasp. It was nothing, barely a whisper against the storm.
But he heard it.
Nathan’s head snapped in my direction. His eyes, dark and depthless, locked directly onto mine through the gap in the hedge.
There was no surprise on his face. No shock. No fear of being caught.
There was nothing. Just a cold, calculating emptiness that promised violence. He saw me, and it changed nothing for him. It was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen.
My body finally obeyed my brain. I scrambled backward, my feet slipping on the wet grass. A branch snagged my jacket, ripping the fabric with a loud tear. I didn’t care. I just ran.
I ran blindly, away from the lake, away from him. I didn't look back. I didn't need to. I could feel his eyes on my back, a physical weight of promised retribution.
Branches whipped at my face, but I didn't slow down. I just pumped my arms and legs, fueled by a terror so pure it burned away every other thought.
I finally burst out of the trees and onto a manicured quad. A bronze sign gleamed in the dim lamplight. HAWTHORNE HOUSE.
My dorm. Safety.
I sprinted to the door, my hands shaking so badly I could barely get the key card out of my pocket. It took three tries before the lock beeped green. I threw myself inside, slamming the heavy oak door behind me.
The lock clicked shut. I twisted the deadbolt. Then I dragged the heavy armchair from beside the window and wedged it under the doorknob.
Only then did I let myself slide down the door to the floor, my whole body wracked with tremors I couldn’t control.
I’m safe. I’m safe. I’m safe.
The lie tasted like ash in my mouth.
I pulled out my phone, my fingers fumbling on the screen.
“Call Mom,” I whispered to myself, my voice a raw croak. “Just call her. Tell her what happened.”
The phone started to ring on the other end.
What would I even say? ‘Hi, Mom. My new school is great, but I just watched the local prince of darkness almost drown a kid and now he knows my face. Can I come home?’
I couldn’t go home. My stepfather… going home would be jumping from the frying pan into the fire. There was nowhere to run.
I stabbed the 'end call' button with my thumb before she could even answer.
I dropped the phone onto the cheap carpet.
I hugged my knees to my chest, rocking back and forth in the darkness of my new room.
He saw me.
He saw me.
I wasn't a lamb among wolves. I was a witness. And in a place like this, I knew that was so much worse.
