Home / YA/TEEN / Dirty Little Secrets / Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

All Chapters of Dirty Little Secrets : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

78 Chapters

CHAPTER 31.

KINGSLEY'S POVI drove aimlessly through the dark, eerie streets, driven by a single, burning goal: to find the building - and the person - everyone else was too terrified to face.When I finally arrived at the address I’d been given earlier, I killed the engine. I stepped out slowly, tracking the shadow of the house ahead. The moment I crossed the threshold, the stench hit me - a suffocating mix of stale mold and rot. The place was completely dilapidated, choked with thick cobwebs and looking every bit like a long-abandoned tomb. I clamped a hand over my nose, trying to filter out the foul air.Snapping on my phone's flashlight, I began to scan the darkness for clues.The first room I entered was a graveyard of old paperwork, stacks of documents rotting on the floor. One particular folder caught my eye: a merger file. Half of it had been shredded and chewed through by rats, but Mr. Roberts’ name was still boldly visible on the cover."What the hell?" I thoughtI flipped through the r

CHAPTER 32.

KINGSLEY'S POVThe hospital lights were too white. Too clean. Like they were trying to bleach out every bit of panic clawing through my chest.I burst through the emergency doors so fast a nurse nearly dropped her clipboard."Where is she? Eleanor Roberts, where is she?" I demanded, my voice cracking in a way I hated."Sir, please calm down." She said to me."Don't tell me to calm down!" I snapped, and immediately regretted the sharpness in my tone. She flinched. I dragged a hand down my face. "I'm sorry. Please, my mother. Where is she?" I asked patiently this time.She pointed down the hall, and I was moving before she finished the sentence.I found Felix first, pacing in front of a closed door like a man rehearsing an apology he hadn't earned. George sat slumped in a plastic chair, his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor like it owed him answers."Where is she?" I asked again, breathless.Felix's head snapped up. "Kingsley. Hey. She's - she's stable, man. They're running some

CHAPTER 33.

CLYDE'S POVSummer had called me to say she'd be at the hospital with Kingsley's mother, which left me exactly where I didn't want to be - alone with my own thoughts for the night."Earth to Clyde!" Gabrielle snapped her fingers in front of my face, bringing me back to consciousness. "What are you thinking about, that made you zone out, completely?""Nothing much. Just this and that." I shrugged it off. "You ready?""I was born ready." She grinned, already reaching for her bag. We were headed to a party one of our friends had thrown together; a stand-in welcome party, since the real orientation showcase had been pushed back."Strapless gown or corset gown?" she asked on the walk over, hooking a hand on my shoulder like it meant nothing. It really did not mean nothing. But I went rigid under her palm."Either one. You'd make both look good," I said, and coughed to cover how stiff and awkward that came out.Her house was quiet when we got there.We finally Thankfully, no one was stalking

CHAPTER 34.

CLYDE'S POVThe moment we walked into Daniel's house, I felt every head in the room turn.Gabrielle had her arm looped through mine, chin lifted, every inch the girl who knew exactly the entrance she was making. Whispers followed us through the crowd - some about her dress, most of them, I was fairly sure, about me."Relax," she murmured through a smile that never wavered. "You look like you're walking into an exam.""I don't do well with people staring," I muttered back."Get used to it. You're mine tonight." She said it so easily, like a line from a script, and I told myself that's exactly what it was. A performance. Nothing more.We hadn't even reached the drinks table before a girl I didn't recognize appeared at my elbow, all lash extensions with a rehearsed laughter."You must be Clyde." She said my name like she'd been practicing it. "I'm Natasha. I've heard so much about you.""Good things, I hope," I said, keeping it light, keeping it short."Depends who you ask." Her eyes dra

CHAPTER 35.

CLYDE'S POVI got Gabrielle home in one piece, though "in one piece" felt generous. She hadn't said a word the entire drive. She just stared out the window with her arms crossed like she was holding herself together by force."Keys," I said outside her door, holding out my hand.She dug them out of her bag without looking at me and let me unlock it, let me steer her inside with a hand hovering near her back, not quite touching. I got her a glass of water. She didn't drink it. I got her a blanket. She didn't need it, but she pulled it around her shoulders anyway, like the weight of it helped."You don't have to babysit me," she said eventually, curled into the corner of her couch."I'm not babysitting. I'm making sure you're not about to fall apart the second I walk out the door." I sat on the edge of the coffee table across from her. "There's a difference.""I'm fine.""You keep saying that word like it means something." I studied her face - still pale, still tight around the eyes. "Y

CHAPTER 36.

SUMMER'S POVThe hospital hallway had gone quiet in that particular way hospitals do in the evening; machines humming somewhere behind closed doors, the occasional squeak of shoes on tile, everyone's voices dropping automatically like the building itself demanded it."Discharge papers should be ready in twenty minutes," the nurse said, glancing between George and me. "We'll need her son to sign for her.""He was right here," George said, frowning, scanning the waiting area like Kingsley might materialize out of the plastic chairs. "Kingsley?"No answer. No Kingsley."I'll find him," I said, already moving before George could offer. Some part of me needed the walk, needed a minute away from the fluorescent lights and the smell of antiseptic and Felix's restless leg bouncing against the chair beside me.I checked the cafeteria first. Then the little chapel near the east wing, which felt like a strange guess even as I made it. Then, finally, I found the stairwell door propped open with a

CHAPTER 37.

SUMMER'S POVThe drive back to George's house was silent the entire way. Felix had stayed behind to take Eleanor home and would meet us later. Nobody spoke. Nobody seemed to know how to. Everyone was lost in their own different worlds.I stared out the window, watching the streetlights blur past, my mind spinning through every version of what might have happened to Clyde. My hands wouldn't stop shaking."It's going to be fine, Summer." Kingsley's hand found mine, steady despite everything simmering between us since the rooftop. "We're going to find him.""How?" My voice cracked, and I hated how small it sounded. "He texted me. He said he was going to some welcome thing with Gabrielle and he'd be back the next day. That's it. That's all I have.""We'll find him," Kingsley said again, his grip tightening around my fingers. "I promise you."I wanted to believe him. I wasn't sure if I could. I fought the tears from falling, because how do you explain this situation.By the time we got to

CHAPTER 38.

SUMMER'S POV."Summer!! We've found it. His location." Felix screamed. It was his voice that jolted me out of my thoughts. I hurriedly returned back to the living room."Where is he?" I asked impatiently. George just stared at me, stared at Kingsley, but did not say anything."The same IP address we got from before." He turned the computer towards me."The same building?" Kingsley asked, finally. "The same one I went to?" He moved forward t9 check the computer. He stared at me for a little while but did not say anything."There isn't any time to waste. Let go!" George said as we prepare to set."I would suggest that Summer stays behind." Kingsley spoke again."What do you mean by that?" I stopped at my tracks and slowly turned to look at him."This isn't the right time for that. Let's all go." George cooed us. I gave Kingsley the 'God - saved - you' kind of stare and walked. We were set and Kingsley drove us there, since he has been there once.It was exactly 11pm when we arrived at

CHAPTER 39.

SUMMER'S POV."What do you mean by that?" George said as he brought the drive to a sudden halt."Can we not do this now?" I said nervously."Do not say that!" George said, already getting irritated. "When were you going to tell us about it?"Kingsley just sat down, hand akimbo, not caring about the fire he just started."I promise you, but it is more complicated than you think." I told them."Complicated, huh? It is really really complicated." Kingsley said sarcastically."It's one in the morning," Felix mumbled from the back seat, barely awake. "Can we please have this conversation when we're actually home?""This conversation is not close to being over." George said, turned back and begin to drive again. I just sighed in partial relief. This was definitely not over.----The drive to my home was full of silence. Not one said anything to another. We finally arrived at my house. "I would go in, now. Thanks for the drive and the concern." I said and walked in."I'll follow you." Geor

CHAPTER 40.

KINGSLEY'S POV.Since George decided it was time for an healthy talk and everything that Summer had said, tonight made me highly furious."The video." I said, clenching my jaws in anger."What video?" Summer asked me leaning forward."While I went to the building. I saw a video playing in the screen in the third room." I slowly said. "It was you. All of the club activities that you did." I brought out my phone I played the ones I was able to record."I also received the same thing." I heard Clyde's hoarse voice. We all slowly looked up to him. He was standing at the door entrance, looking so tired."What are you doing here?" Summer questioned him, concern evident in her voice. "You need to rest, go back." She urged him."I'm fine now, Summer." He told her, walked in and sat down. "I also received the video, while I was at Gabrielle's house." His attention shifted to me. "That's was why I was at the building.""What did you see there?" George ask him."Just a clear warning written on t

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