LIFE’S LITTLE SURPRISES

We didn’t bring the umbrellas. Big mistake. Within five minutes of walking I was soaked through, my hair dripping ice-cold water down my back, and as hard as I tried to shield my cast from the rain, it was getting wet too. I tried not to think about what the consequences of that might be as my feet sunk into the two inches of mud along the side of the road, making awful sucking sounds each time I lifted them.

Noelle tucked her sopping wet hair behind her ears, then held back a low-hanging branch and waited for us to pass her by.

“So much for these shoes,” Kiran groused, teetering along in her heeled boots. “My stylist is not going to be happy with me.”

“You should’ve worn sneakers,” Noelle admonished at a whisper. The rest of us had changed into loose black sweatshirts and running shoes, while Kiran had insisted on going designer-chic.

“Well, I didn’t know we were going on a wilderness hike, did I?” Kiran demanded. “God. This MT couldn’t have just met us at a Starbucks like a normal human being?”

For a moment I swear Noelle considered letting the branch snap back in Kiran’s face, but thankfully she restrained herself. As we neared the house, the wind kicked up, howling through the woods around us and turning the wet leaves on the trees upside down. A low rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. I stopped in my tracks, blinking the rain off my lashes as I looked up at the turrets of the house. With its gargoyle details, the rain pouring off the eaves, and the dozens of windows shuttered and curtained, it looked like something out of a nightmare.

“Are we sure about this?” Taylor asked.

“Let’s just get it over with,” Noelle said, tromping ahead.

We all exchanged wary looks but followed. It was, after all, what we did—followed Noelle. Except for Ivy. I wasn’t exactly sure what she was still doing here, unless it was due to our friendship, or perhaps her own morbid curiosity. She and Cheyenne had, at one time, been best friends, but I was sure she hadn’t been back to this house in years.

“Where exactly are we going?” Kiran asked as we came up even with the side of the house. It seemed like most of the curtains were drawn on the first floor as well, and there wasn’t a light to be seen. If MT was in there somewhere, he or she clearly preferred the dark.

“It said to go to the back garden and take the path,” I reminded her. “Keep walking.”

A sudden crack of lighting lit the night sky, followed quickly by a clap of thunder.

“What was that?” Taylor gasped, grasping my cast.

“Thunder,” I replied automatically.

She rolled her eyes. “Not that, that.”

She pointed a quaking finger at the house and I saw something move. A curtain fell back into place. My heart slammed against my ribs. Another crack of lightning and a face was illuminated at the next window. A pale, staring, panicked face.

“Oh my God,” I said.

“What?” Noelle snapped, doubling back.

“I think I just saw Sawyer,” I hissed. But when I looked back at the house, there was no one there.

“Sawyer? Where?” Ivy asked.

“At the third window on the second floor,” I said tremulously, pointing.

“Maybe he’s MT,” Ivy suggested.

“But what would he be doing here?” I asked. “He didn’t even know Cheyenne.”

But he did know Ariana, I thought, pressing my lips together to keep from saying it out loud. They had both been on those trips to St. Barths for all those years. Had she kidnapped Sawyer and brought him here for some reason? To keep him from warning me? Or had she somehow roped him in to her sick plan, whatever it was?

“You were probably just seeing things,” Noelle said with a sniff. “Come on. We have to get inside before we all die of exposure.”

I was pretty sure it took a lot longer than fifteen minutes to die of exposure, especially on a relatively warm night, but I kept the thought to myself. I wasn’t about to go back to the car by myself, and besides, everyone else was marching ahead. I cast one last look at the now-empty window and tried to clear my mind.

We crept around the back of the house until we found a lush but rain-flattened garden, all the roses and tulips and hydrangeas bowed toward the earth under the relentless torrent. The pebbled path led right past the back wall of the house and terminated at a set of double glass doors.

“What now?” Noelle asked.

On cue, my phone beeped. Kiran squealed and Taylor jumped. I tugged it from my pocket and read.

GO INSIDE THRU PARLOR & UPSTAIRS.

“Can I just say again that I don’t like this?” Kiran whimpered.

Noelle grunted and reached for the door. She had to shove it hard to unstick it, but it opened. I held my breath as I followed her tentative steps inside. The room was an enclosed patio, filled with furniture covered by drop cloths. Noelle moved straight ahead, feeling her way in the dark and with the help of the occasional lightning flashes. The house was dead quiet, except for the sound of our tiptoed footsteps and the slamming beat of my pulse.

We came to the foot of a set of carpeted stairs. My phone beeped again. Kiran squealed.

“Stop doing that!” I hissed.

“I’m sorry! I can’t help it!” she replied, hand at the base of her throat.

I read the text.

WHEN U GET 2 TOP, MAKE RT & GO 2 RM @ END OF HALL.

“Why doesn’t he just come down?” Taylor asked, her voice trembling as she kneaded her wet fingers together. “What’s with the cloak and dagger?”

“Clearly, MT likes to play,” Ivy said, grabbing the bannister and starting up the stairs. Was it just me, or did it seem like she was enjoying this? I made a mental note to find her a good therapist later. As long as we all survived.

“You ready for this?” Noelle asked.

“I hope so,” I replied.

I took her hand as we followed after Ivy and I was grateful when she didn’t shrug me off. With every step, my heart rate seemed to speed up, my pulse pounding so loud in my ears I couldn’t hear a thing. As my foot hit the top stair, I lost my balance and tipped sideways. As the door at the end of the hallway loomed ahead of us, every fiber of my being told me to run. Every instinct said this was wrong. But it was like I couldn’t turn back. We were on a roller coaster, cresting the top of the hill, and all there was to do was plummet toward the earth, scream our heads off, and trust we’d arrive alive.

We paused outside the door.

“What do we do?” Taylor whispered.

“Well.” Noelle released me and wiped her hands on the front of her wet jacket. “I’m going to open it.”

She looked to me for confirmation, and I nodded. What else could I do?

Noelle slowly reached for the door. Her fingers trembled. She grazed the handle. And then my phone beeped.

“What now?” Ivy hissed.

I looked down at my phone, but the text was not from MT. It was from Sawyer’s cell phone, and the message knocked all the wind out of me.

GET OUT NOW! RUN!!!!!

“Omigod,” I gasped. “Run!”

We all turned around as one and froze. The overhead lights flickered on. My knees went out from under me and I grabbed Noelle to keep from going down. Standing right in front of us, not ten feet away, was Graham Hathaway, dry and clean and holding a gun trained right at my heart. But it wasn’t him that stopped me cold. It was the person standing next to him, a menacing smirk on her pretty, familiar face.

“Cheyenne?” Ivy blurted.

“What’s up, girls?” she asked in a perky voice.

Her cheeks were rosy, the smattering of freckles across her nose brought out by the glow of the lights. Her long blond hair was back in a black velvet headband, and she wore tan riding pants, a tight black T-shirt, and black riding boots, like she’d just come in from exercising her horse.

“You’re supposed to be dead,” I croaked.

“Well, that’s the thing I love about life, Reed,” she replied, taking a few steps toward me. “It’s just full of little surprises.”