Page 48 of Depraved Boys

I glanced down at my clasped hands and sighed. Right now, I just wanted this raw meat gone.

The consultant glanced at the computer screen. “Regardless of what you choose, we’ll keep you overnight for observation and discharge you in the morning. Leave the contact details of your next of kin with the nurse, and we’ll give them a call on your behalf.”

I nodded. “I’ll consent to the forensic exam.”

I dozed for a few more minutes, then a lady with a trolley offered me toast and a hot drink. I said yes to the tea and sipped the warm, soothing liquid while trying not to think about bacteria and viruses and parasites multiplying in my organs.

Instead, I focussed every ounce of my indignation on Ashley and those wretched girls she so desperately wanted to join.

Even if I didn’t report them to the police, I needed to make them pay for what they had done — every one of them, down to my so-called twin.

Maybe this was the reason Cormac and Miss Claymore worked so hard to stamp out bullying. I blew out a long sigh. If I terrorized those girls, it would escalate into a war that would make their lives difficult. Maybe I needed to report them to the police and let the authorities deal with them.

Their parents would be horrified at the scandal, and I was sure that a senior lawyer and a prominent official in the World Bank would dish out greater punishments than I could devise.

“Willow!” The door flew open, and Uncle Trevor rushed into the room. “When the hospital called, we feared the worst.”

Aunt Hortense waddled in behind him, holding a belly that looked like it could be carrying triplets. “I thought they were calling about Ashley. What are you doing here?”

“It was a hazing that went too far,” I muttered.

“Hazing?” she asked.

“An initiation ritual.”

She clapped her hand over her mouth. “Like the freemasons?”

I shook my head. “Just a bunch of stupid girls from the academy.”

Uncle Trevor helped her into a plastic seat. She nodded her thanks and turned to me. “You don’t want to get involved with any secret societies. Some of them are devil worshippers!”

“It was Ashley, trying to make friends with a group of popular girls. They dragged me along for the ride.”

“Why didn’t you say no?” she said.

Irritation fizzled up my gut and popped against the back of my throat. Did she think the girls approached me with an itinerary of indignities and asked whether I wished to participate?

Sometimes, I wished Aunt Hortense would wait for a story to finish before interjecting with conclusions.

Uncle Trevor glanced from me to Aunt Hortense. “Why don’t you sit outside so I can chat with my niece?”

Her eyes flashed. “Are you sending me away?”

“Please.” He held her by the elbow and guided her out of the room.

I leaned back in my hospital bed and rubbed my temples. This entire situation had gotten me so screwed up, I was directing my anger at the wrong people. I had to focus on what really mattered. My health and making sure those girls never attacked anyone else again.

Uncle Trevor strolled back in and shut the door. “Sorry about Hortense. She’s agitated because of the cramped conditions at home.” He lowered himself into the seat next to mine and stared at my clasped hands. “What’s going on at school?”

The whole sorry story spilled from my lips, starting from Prakash’s ominous warnings that I didn’t belong, to the party and the pull-a-pig game, to the events of the night before.

“It sounds to me like you might be in love with Prakash or Sebastian,” Uncle Trevor murmured. “Do either of the boys return your feelings?”

I gaped. “After everything I told you, that’s what you picked up?”

“You’re a strong, resilient girl, but something must be holding you to this academy. The Willow Evergreen I’ve known since she was born wouldn’t put up with any kind of abuse. Which one of them is keeping you there, or is it this Leopold fellow?”

I reared back. “Leopold? No!”