Chapter Six

Savannah Johansson’s mansion didn’t just scream money. It screamed 'look at me'.

It looked like it had been designed specifically to make normal people feel poor.

The driveway alone could swallow our entire street. Bass from the speakers shook the ground under our heels as Alessia and I stepped out of the car. Drunk teenagers spilled across the lawn like the house had decided to throw up its guests.

Alessia linked her arm through mine, chin high.

“Remember,” she whispered, ““We own this place tonight. Chin up, chest out, bitch,”

I tried. I really did.

We stepped through the open double doors and were immediately swallowed by heat, sweat, and the overwhelming smell of cheap cologne mixed with alcohol. Alessia was already laughing with people I barely recognized, sliding into the chaos like she was born for it. I stayed half a step behind her, already planning my escape route.

We hadn’t made it past the first staircase when Mason Clarke appeared out of nowhere.

“Thunder Thighs,” he drawled, eyes dragging down the black mini dress Alessia had forced me into. “Didn’t think you owned anything this short.”

“Keep walking, Mason.”

He didn’t. Instead he grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me toward the middle of the living room. “One dance, Dawn. Don’t be boring for once.”

I yanked my arm free. “I said no.”

He laughed and reached for me again. This time the red cup in his other hand swung too hard and cold liquid exploded across the front of my dress, soaking straight through the thin fabric and dripping down my stomach.

A few people nearby started laughing.

Alessia spun around ready for war, but Savannah Johansson appeared first wearing a gold coloured slut dress with shimmering stones, looking unimpressed.

“Mason, you’re a walking advertisement for birth control,” she said flatly, then turned to me. “Upstairs. Second door on the left is a bathroom. My closet is the next one over. Take whatever you want and change before someone posts a picture of you looking like a crime scene.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I pushed through the crowd and took the stairs two at a time, cheeks burning.

The hallway upstairs was quieter, but only slightly. Doors lined both sides. I counted carefully.

Second door on the left.

I shoved it open and walked straight into a wall of cigarette smoke.

The room was dim. Music still pounded through the floorboards, but in here it felt distant. Hayden Vaughan was sitting on the edge of a large bed, elbows on his knees, a cigarette glowing between his fingers. He looked up slowly, smoke curling around his face like it belonged there.

It just had to be him.

He took a long drag and exhaled toward the ceiling. “You have a real talent for walking into places you don’t belong.”

I stood frozen in the doorway, wet dress clinging uncomfortably to my skin. “I was told the bathroom was the second door.”

“Third,” he said. “But go ahead. Stay. You seem to enjoy watching me.”

That did it.

I stepped fully inside and shut the door harder than necessary. “I don’t watch you. I literally live next door. There’s a difference. And for the record, you’re the one who keeps putting on free shows.”

His mouth curved, but there was no real humor in it. “Keep telling yourself that, little liar.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Then stop being one.”

We glared at each other across the short distance. The air between us felt charged, thick with smoke and something sharper that I refused to name.

I opened my mouth to fire back when the lights suddenly died.

Complete darkness.

The music cut off mid-beat. Shouts and laughter erupted from downstairs, but up here the silence was sudden and heavy.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

I hated the dark. Always had. Ever since I was little and got locked in a closet during a game of hide-and-seek that went too far. The darkness felt like it was pressing against my skin, thick and alive.

I turned blindly toward the door, hands outstretched.

A solid body blocked me.

I crashed into Hayden’s chest. His hands caught my upper arms, steadying me.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His voice was low, closer than it should have been.

“Out,” I said, and I hated how thin it sounded. “I need to get out.”

He didn’t move. I could feel the heat of him, the faint scent of smoke and leather. My breathing was already too fast.

“You’re shaking.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.” There was something different in his tone now—curiosity mixed with quiet amusement. “You’re scared of the dark.”

“I’m not—”

My voice cracked.

He shifted, crowding me backward until my shoulder blades hit the door. One of his hands stayed on my arm. The other braced against the wood beside my head, caging me in without quite touching.

“Easy,” he murmured. “Breathe.”

I couldn’t. The darkness was too thick. My pulse was roaring in my ears. I could feel the solid weight of him in front of me, the warmth of his body, the way he wasn’t moving an inch.

“Why are you even here?” I whispered, the words spilling out before I could stop them. “Shouldn’t you be downstairs with whatever girl you’re planning to take home tonight? Or is that not enough anymore? Do you need an audience now?”

Silence stretched between us.

Then, softer, almost to myself, the truth slipped out.

“I still don’t get what Alessia sees in you.”

The air changed.

Hayden went completely still.

For a long second, the only sound was my uneven breathing and the distant chaos from downstairs.

Then his voice came, low and genuinely confused.

“…Who’s Alessia?”

Before I could answer, a familiar voice cut through the hallway outside.

“Dawn? Dawn, where the hell are you?”

Alessia.

My entire body locked up.

Hayden’s hand was still on my arm. His chest was still inches from mine. The darkness made everything feel sharper, more dangerous.

I heard her footsteps getting closer.

Panic flooded me.

I reached up blindly, found the front of Hayden’s shirt, and fisted the fabric in both hands, pulling him even closer so I could whisper against his ear.

“Don’t. Make. A. Sound.”

His breath hitched.

Outside the door, Alessia’s voice came again, closer this time.

“Dawn? I swear if you’re hiding somewhere I’m going to kill you.”

Hayden didn’t move and neither did I.

And for the first time all night, the darkness didn’t feel like the scariest thing in the room.