Page 118 of Darkest Obsession

I don’t smile. I gaze at the girl in bed, trembling with genuine terror now that she has no power. Surely a Fox girl has heard the rumors about my family. Her terror doesn’t move me. Molly wasn’t so scared when she had Clover on the ground. She wasn’t so scared when she had us all blackmailed and petrified. Bullies always cower when you stand up to them.

She hurt Clover, Sylvia and possibly Kola, but she wouldn’t dare touch me. That’s the part I hate her for.

Molly’s chest heaves as she glances around quickly for weapons or escape. They don’t exactly leave you with those sorts of tools in bedlam. Coming to terms with her fate does exactly what I’d expect to her nerves. Molly emits a bloodcurdling scream. I smirk and tap the walls.

“We both know no one can hear you. This is a loony bin.”

Molly straightens her glasses on her nose and grabs her pillow, holding it out in front of her as a shield. That won’t help now, will it?

“I’m not crazy,” she hisses. “Hating bastards like you doesn’t make you crazy.”

I’m not here to listen to all the reasons she thinks I’ve fucked up. I haven’t touched drugs since Amelia. I haven’t done anything to hurt another girl properly. I’ve even stopped myself with Clover — and I love Clover. I might not have been punished, but I’ve made it my business to atone. I’d rather protect the girl I love than hurt her. On my Jeep, I could have had Clover. I knew it. But I can’t make myself take Clover for the wrong reasons. I thought I could, but I couldn’t.

I have to keep Molly focused here. I have a time limit and little interest in indulging her theatrics.

I ask her the question I desperately want the answer to, before we discuss anything else.

“Who raped Kola?”

She tilts her head to the side and shakes it in furious denial. “What?”

I’m not buying her shit. I need to know who else she worked with so I can know who else I have to visit in the middle of the night.

“You weren’t working alone. I know that now. Answer me quickly, who raped Kola.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Molly asks with a trembling voice. “To rape me?”

“You sicken me.”

Molly’s face reddens and she twists it up. “I didn’t rape that girl. I messed with you all, but I didn’t hurt anyone.”

“You know who you were working with, so tell me who it is.”

“I don’t. I swear.”

“What?”

I didn’t want tonight to get messy, but if I have to torture Molly for answers, I ought to have plenty of time to get them out of a fellow Year 12.

“I met them online,” she says. “I don’t even know if it’s a girl or a boy. We collaborated but we thought it was safer not to meet.”

“Who the bloody hell would collaborate on something this sick?”

“I’m not the only person who hates you, Thomas.”

“I’ve done nothing to you.”

“Nothing? You think you’re better than everyone. Amelia just wanted to impress you. That’s the problem with prince fucking Bainbridge. You turn people into the worst versions of themselves for your entertainment.”

“You don’t know me at all.”

My stomach sinks as I get closer to what I have to do.

“I know you’re sick in the head.”

“Yes,” I whisper. “That’s correct. But I’m also in love with someone that you hurt.”

“I watched you for ages, I know you flirted with all those sluts. Sylvia, Kola, Clover. I can’t believe they’re falling for your nice guy act.”