Chapter 3

Keyla's mother had passed away when she was young, leaving her with a gambling addict for a father.

Almost every semester, her father would try to pull her out of school, wanting to marry her off early just to pocket the wedding money.

It was only her straight A's that gave the relatives any leverage to talk her father out of it.

The SAT exam was her one and only ticket to escaping him.

If her application fell through, she'd be dragged right back home and sold off to clear his gambling debts.

They triple-checked to make sure my application data was locked in and completely unalterable before finally letting me go.

But the moment I reached the school gates, Luke caught up and grabbed me by the neck.

"We talked it over, and letting you go home right now is still too risky. So, you're staying at my place for the next ten days. You can go home once the first round of applications officially closes."

Without giving me a chance to protest, the group shoved me into the back of Luke's car.

Panic flared in my chest. My temples throbbed as I pleaded, "I swear I won't tell anyone. My parents are going to worry. Please just let me go home."

Nobody listened. After locking me in Luke's garage, the group let out a collective sigh of relief.

Keyla suggested cheerfully, "We're about to start a whole new life. We should go celebrate!"

Everyone cheered in agreement, though they quickly began debating where to go.

Keyla glanced at Luke. Smiling, she said, "Let's go to Starlight Lounge."

The crowd fell dead silent, exchanging uneasy glances.

Starlight Lounge was a high-end luxury club, way past the budget of a bunch of broke high school graduates.

Sensing their awkwardness and eager to show off in front of Luke, Keyla pulled out her phone and flashed a bank balance of three thousand dollars.

"We're about to be top students at elite schools. By then, our parents' and relatives' gifts, plus school scholarships, will be rolling in. Tonight is on me. Let's live it up!"

The realization clicked, and the room erupted into cheers.

I scoffed inside the dark room. They hadn't even received their acceptance letters yet, and they were already living in a fantasy world.

Still, given her family situation, there was no way she legally had three thousand dollars. Where did that money come from?

Leaving me locked in the garage, the crowd swarmed around Keyla and Luke as they headed out.

As twilight faded into pitch-black, my anxiety spiked. Going radio silent for a whole day meant my parents would be worried sick.

Ever since surviving that fire in my past life, confined spaces had absolutely terrified me. The darker it got, the more the panic closed in.

Shaking uncontrollably, I fumbled around the floor until my fingers brushed against a piece of rusted wire.

Clutching it like a lifeline, my hands trembled so violently that it took several tries before I finally wedged it into the padlock.

With a sharp click, the lock fell to the floor.

I bolted out the door, sprinting wildly in the direction of my house.

As I neared my neighborhood, I spotted a crowd in the distance, and the sound of familiar laughter echoed down the street.

"Man, Luke's confession to Keyla tonight was so beautiful. I almost said yes for her!"

I hadn't expected them to be heading this way. Before I could duck out of sight, someone spotted me and yelled, "Justin escaped! He's going to ruin our futures!"

I immediately dodged past them and bolted. Luckily, my family's bookstore was close by, and I was inside in just a few strides.

Dad looked up, surprised to see me. "You're finally home! Where have you been? We couldn't reach you all day."

Before I could even catch my breath, Keyla's cold voice echoed from right behind me. "Mr. Drew, Justin just came back to tell you that we're all going on a graduation trip. He'll be out of town for the next ten days."

Dad beamed with relief. "Oh, that's wonderful! You kids worked hard. You deserve to relax."

Furious, I whipped around and yelled, "Are you ever going to leave me alone?"

Then I saw that standing behind Keyla, who was smiling innocently, was the escaped convict who had slaughtered my family in my past life. He was clamping a hand on Jake.