Chapter 2

My brother chimed in, and my sister and Daisy dissolved into giggles.

Arthur rested a hand on Daisy's shoulder, his eyes shining with unmistakable affection.

"Text me if anything happens, okay, babe? I'll keep an eye on my phone."

Then he added, "Don't be scared. I'll come keep you company later."

Arthur leaned toward the screen and pretended to pinch my cheek, smiling fondly.

As I watched them laughing, I asked before I could stop myself.

"If something really happened to me, would you regret it?"

The call went so silent that it felt as if I were the only person left in the world.

Then I heard all four of them snort, and they burst into helpless laughter.

Daisy laughed so hard she cried. "Irene, what could possibly happen? You're so smart, I'm sure you'll handle it!"

They were doubled over laughing.

But my heart sank, inch by inch, until it went cold.

Every burst of laughter cut deeper than the last.

On the screen, they were all crowded around Daisy. The light stretched their four shadows out until they blended together, impossible to pull apart.

Only I was alone, standing in the shadows like an outsider.

I hung up and walked over to my bed.

A few shirtless guys next door were playing cards. When I'd passed their door earlier, their eyes had dragged over me so openly that my skin crawled.

I lay down fully dressed.

I slipped a box cutter under my pillow.

At the time, it was pure instinct.

But I never imagined that box cutter would actually save my life.

The walls in that motel were paper-thin. Footsteps in the hall mixed with the snoring next door.

Days of rehearsals and songwriting had exhausted me. I fought to keep my eyes open, but eventually, I drifted off.

I had no idea how long I'd been asleep when the bed suddenly jolted.

I had always been a light sleeper, so I woke instantly.

In the dark, the reek of smoke and alcohol hit me in the face.

One of the card players had somehow slipped inside and was going through my backpack.

"Don't scream!"

A cold hand clamped hard over my mouth. His other hand closed around my throat.

Terror and revulsion shattered the last of my self-control.

I yanked the box cutter from beneath my pillow and slashed his arm with it!

"Aaagh!"

He screamed and stumbled back, clutching his arm as blood sprayed.

I rolled off the bed, left my shoes behind, and ran from the room, screaming at the top of my lungs. "Help! Call the police! Help!"

My voice tore through the silence of the night.

The motel owner and a few other guests rushed in, turned on the lights, and called the police.

They pinned the man to the floor as he kept cursing.

Arthur, who had promised to keep checking his phone and come over later, was nowhere to be found.

A female officer saw how hard I was shaking. She took off her jacket, draped it around my shoulders, and spoke to me softly.

I forced myself to calm down, took out my phone, and called all four of them.

Straight to voicemail.

Every single call went straight to voicemail.

In the end, the officers called the hotel front desk more than ten times before someone finally answered. Then a staff member went to knock on their doors.

Half an hour later, the four of them showed up in the lobby of the police station, half-dressed and looking annoyed.

When they saw me, my hair a mess and my neck covered in red marks, they froze for a second.

Then Anthony walked over, looking relieved, and patted my shoulder.

"You're okay. That's what matters. Come on, let's get you something good to eat. It'll calm your nerves."

I looked up at him, my lips trembling.

He reached down to help me up, and I slapped his hand away.

"Do you even know that I almost..."

Anthony's smile faded, but he still didn't seem to understand how serious this was.

He scratched the back of his head and tried to smooth things over, clearly unsure what else to do.

"I know you've been through a lot. Let's go find somewhere to get some rest. We don't need to hang around here."

So to him, as long as I wasn't dead, nothing had really happened.

My terror, my humiliation, all of it was reduced to "you've been through a lot."