MasukPOV: VINEThe sound of the motorcycle cutting off outside made me scramble to adjust the pillows. I tried to look as pathetic and sleepy as possible, even though my heart was still hammering from my little trip down the hallway.A few minutes later, Ace walked in. He looked exhausted. There was a dark smudge on his jaw that looked suspiciously like blood, but he didn't say a word about where he’d been, so I couldn't dare to ask. He didn't even say hello. He just walked over and pressed the back of his hand against my forehead."God, Vine. You’re freezing," he muttered, his brow furrowing. "I’ve seen ice cubes with more body heat than you right now. Your skin literally feels like a fish.""Very romantic, Ace. Thanks," I croaked, pulling the blanket up to my chin. "Maybe it's because I was, you know, at the bottom of a pool earlier."He rolled his eyes and set a plastic bag from the pharmacy on the nightstand."Don't get sassy with me. You aren't feeling too good yet, which means you’
POV: ACEI parked the bike a block away from the old house.I walked up the driveway, my boots silent on the cracked pavement.I could see a light on in the upstairs window. The glow was flickering, changing colors every second.Blue. Green. Red.Even from outside, you could easily tell that he was gaming.The bastard had almost taken Vine’s life, and then he just came home to play video games.I saw an old woman through the kitchen window. His grandma, probably. She was yelling something up the stairs about him needing to go to bed and stop wasting his life on the computer.She had no idea she was living with a murderer. Or at least, a guy who tried to be one.I didn't use the front door. That was dumb. I'd rather get this over with than have an oldie yelling ‘thief’ at me.I climbed the trellis on the side of the house like it was a ladder. It groaned under my weight, a normal being would hear it, but I was pretty sure Mr gamer was way too occupied to notice that. I reached the win
POV: VINEI could hear the sound of Ace's bike from all the way here. The one I'd seen right through the window as I looked out. Where was he going…?Oh well. He was probably out to take care of whatever he'd mentioned earlier. I stayed still, holding the scrunchie in my hand until the sound of the bike disappeared completely. He was gone.The house suddenly got so quiet I could hear a clock ticking somewhere down the hall.I was starving. My stomach felt like it was eating itself, and the rush of finding the scrunchie made me too antsy to sit still.I threw the covers off and stood up. My legs felt shaky, but I could walk.I walked out of the room into a hallway that looked straight out of a fancy magazine.Everything was spotless. Super well-kept. It didn't look like a single guy lived here, especially not someone as messy as Ace Callahan.There was no dust, zero junk around….. It was almost like a museum showing off a life I didn't have.I walked past a few closed doors, my heart
POV: VINEMy head felt like soggy cotton wool that a horse had stepped on.Every time I tried to open my eyes, the light felt like tiny needles stabbing my eyeballs. I just wanted to be back in the dark. At least it didn't hurt just as much. But eventually, the mix of expensive cologne and clean laundry smell started pulling me back to reality.I blinked a few times, my vision all blurry and wobbly, until things started coming into focus.The first person I saw was Ace.He was in a chair pulled right up to the bed, sleeping with his head resting on the mattress near my hip. He was…. sleeping? If I wasn't misunderstanding then he'd probably dozed off while waiting for me to wake up.I stayed super still, barely breathing, not wanting to wake him up. Who knew how long he'd been awake, looking after me. It was strange. He looked so different like this. When he was awake, he was always this huge, scary guy who made everyone want to bolt.Even when he tried to be nice, he always had this
POV: ACE"Who pushed Vine?"Nothing. Everyone stilled, not knowing how to get out of this mess that one dullard pushed them into. Deep inside me, I was praying for the culprit to snap. Begging whatever god was left in here to give me someone to hurt. I needed a throat to grab. I needed to feel a bone break in my hands just to shut up the screaming static in my head."Are we all deaf today?" I asked, my voice being all terrifyingly quiet. I stepped off the stage, dragging the bat. The scraping sound followed. "Maybe my words have been too subtle for your tiny brains. Maybe I need to start ripping off legs right now to jog your memory."I stopped right in front of some seniors. I knew them. From the hockey teams. They weren't left out in the dread that everyone felt. "You," I said, pointing the bat at Miller. "You were near the gym area. Who did you see?"Miller swallowed so hard I heard his throat click. "I... I think… I saw her. I saw Vine walk into the pool room. She was on her pho
POV: ACEI looked up to see hundreds of faces that I normally wouldn't even care about. The silence in the room was so fucking thick, I could tell that everyone could feel my rage and was trying to control how they breathed. What was the use? They didn't know to fucking keep their hands to themselves before causing actual damage. I kicked the double doors shut and the noise just boomed through the huge ceiling.I started walking, and I watched everyone scramble out of my way, bumping into chairs and each other like I was a ticking time bomb.I stopped right in front of a guy in the third row. He was holding a baseball bat (probably some dumb event prop). He was shaking so bad the bat was rattling on the floor.I didn't say a word to him. I just reached out and took it. He didn't say a word. If anything, he was doing his possible best to make sure our eyes didn't meet. Dude looked like he was about to pee his pants.I pulled my hockey puck out, dropped it, and used the bat to drag it
VineThe next morning, I tried to stuff as many pancakes into my mouth as I could because I thought today was going to be a very long day and I could feel Miriam's heartbreak miles away."At this point, you're going to choke on your food..." Clyde sits opposite me and places a cup of water on my ta
Ace"Who's there?" I asked, my eyes scanning The trees before I noticed some grasses that had bent like someone had stomped on them."Show yourself."An elderly man appeared, holding a small staff which he leaned on, like it were a third leg.The wind rustled across his brown colored dress shirt u
AceThe nights had come upon us like a thief, yet my team never thought of it that way.The cloud was dark, yet the moon stood out as we skated across the rink, mindlessly, practicing our hockey for the next game.The moon and local lamps shone on sweat-glistening bodies, chalk dust, and the faint
Vine"Years ago, everything was fine between my sister and me. We saw each other as sisters and shared everything. From clothes to shoes and food. There was no form of competition whatever until my father set my eyes on the Alpha's son.""What does the Alpha's son have to do with his daughters?""W







