Chapter 4

"Send money?"

I calmed down the moment I heard those words coming from Skylar.

"How much?" I asked.

"I have a bit on me, but I need you to scrape together 4,000 dollars or so.

I let out a cold laugh and finally connected the dots.

"Skylar, you want me to send you 4,000 dollars, don't you?"

"It's money for an emergency, Freya. Just send it over first, and I'll immediately call my friend to bring you clothes."

I looked out at the darkening sky. A freezing chill surged from the soles of my feet straight to my skull.

Apology?

This whole thing was a meticulously planned trap. Skylar had intentionally lured me here just to extort money from me.

"Do you honestly take me for an idiot, Skylar?" I snapped and gritted my teeth. "Bring me my clothes first, then we'll talk about money."

"You're truly heartless, Freya!"

On the other end of the line, Skylar suddenly exploded.

"That's my mom we're talking about! I'm not at the hospital just to sort this out for you, and yet you're being this cold-blooded. Are you going to watch her die over a few thousand dollars?"

He was pulling his same guilt-trip routine. For all I knew, Helen might not even be sick at all.

Suddenly, my phone flashed with a low battery warning of only 10%.

"This is blackmail, Skylar."

"Stop talking nonsense! I told you I'm just borrowing it!"

His voice turned vicious as he continued, "Don't blame me for not warning you, Freya. That place is remote, and it'll be dark soon. You can't stay in that hot spring pool all night.

"If wild dogs or wolves wander in there…"

I shivered all over.

"Send me the money, and I'll immediately figure something out for you. Otherwise, you can enjoy your night on the mountain alone."

I hung up on him.

"Way to go, Skylar. It seems like I truly can't judge a book by its cover.

"I can't believe I've wasted two years of love on a lowlife like him," I murmured.

With shaking hands, I was about to text my Sadie when Skylar called back again.

"Ten minutes. If I don't see the money in the minutes, you'll lose your chance. The main gates are locked, so you can't escape.

"And don't forget how terrified of the dark you are. Don't come crying and begging me then."

Fear and fury erupted in my chest, but I softened my voice to say, "I'm truly scared right now, Skylar. Look. Just come back first, and I'll send you whatever amount you need."

"Ha. Send me the money first," he demanded.

"My phone is about to die. You know that a bank transfer requires facial recognition," I protested.

"Stop playing games with me!" he snapped and scoffed. "Don't think I don't know you're just stalling for time. You can just freeze to death if you don't send me the money.

"I seriously don't get it, Freya. I'm your boyfriend, so why can't you bear to spend this little bit of money on me? Is this how a girlfriend is supposed to act?"

"You'd better get back here right now, Skylar! Otherwise, you're committing a crime!" I warned him and gripped the phone tightly.

"Go ahead and sue me! I'm your boyfriend, so even if the cops show up, they'll just see it as a domestic dispute. You can't scare me.

"Let me tell you—"

Halfway through his vicious threat, my phone beeped twice before the screen went black, and the battery completely died.

At the same time, the landscape lights around the hot spring pool flickered and went out, too. The entire resort lost power.

Everything around me was instantly swallowed by endless darkness.

I screamed in terror and dropped my phone into the water.

Curled up in the pool, I dared not climb onto the deck or move an inch. Despair slowly began to swallow me whole.

Just then, a loud crash echoed through the darkness, followed by an urgent shout.

"Freya!"

It was my best friend, Sadie!

She barged into the area with two friends. When she saw me curled up in a corner of the pool, her hands holding the heavy-duty flashlight began shaking.

"Skylar, that monster!"

"Don't worry," I said, slipping into the thick down jacket she handed me.

My gaze was cold as I announced, "I'm going to make sure he's completely ruined."