Page 121 of I’m Not Scared Omnibus

The walk is quiet, tension building as all of us are anxious to find Vero and see what state he is in.

The trees thicken as we get further past the residential estate, where the island drops off toward the water. I can see why Khodi wouldn’t have come all the way out here. With the alert sent to all the staff on the island, there would be no reason to venture this far out.

Clay holds up a hand, and we slow down behind him. The shed is now visible through the trees. Manic laughter pierces the air, and we all hear it at the same time. We slowly creep forward, not wanting to scare anyone. As we get closer, we can hear muffled voices, one unmistakably Vero’s.

“The thing is, I have done the math on this. Well, he did the math and I wrote it down. The human body has approximately one point seven square meters of skin surface area, which is an enormous amount of real estate for what we are doing. So really, we are barely getting started. It is exciting news for me and considerably less for you, but that’s the beauty of different perspectives.” Vero cackles at himself. “And I want you to know that I take no pleasure in this.” Another manic cackle that goes on for longer this time. “Okay, that was a lie. It is extremely pleasurable, and I want to be honest with you. I think honesty is very important in any relationship, and since we have spent three days together now, it basically makes us roommates.”

Brawley snorts. I elbow him in the side and whisper, “That is definitely him.”

He clears his throat and rolls his shoulders. “Let’s do this.” Then he pushes the door open, and we all step inside.

Cipher is at his workbench with his back to us, and Cave is sitting against the far wall in the corner. Vero is in the center of the room, holding a piece of paper and spinning around on a stool. He freezes mid-spin when he spots Brawley, the paper dropping from his fingers. In an instant he is off the stool and crossing the shed to throw himself at Brawley, wrapping his arms and legs around him and squeezing him tight. Vero’s head pops up over Brawley’s shoulder. “Paper-cut princess!” he shouts.

“Hi,” I reply, not knowing what else I can say as I take in this scene.

Cave and Vero are in the same room. Then there’s the fact that Aaron is somehow here, tied up and covered in thin red lines across every surface of his skin.

Vero untangles himself from Brawley and comes to me, taking my face in his hands. He gazes down at me, eyes red and looking like he hasn’t slept in days.

“You’re okay. I knew you were okay.”

“I’m okay,” I confirm, and at my words, he lets out a weird sound. Then he pulls me into his arms and squeezes me tight.

When I wrap my arms around his back, they feel wet, and when I pull them back, they are red. Fuck, I have blood on my hands.

There is blood on the ground and dirt in my mouth.

I can hear the soil.

I step back from Vero as my hands shake.

“Kayla, it’s not my blood. I slipped,” he insists.

I wipe my hands on my jeans, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. But the smell of dirt is strong, and I can’t stop my panic from building.

“Hey, is it me? Oh, shit, I didn’t want you to see me like this. The blood isn’t mine—well, some of it is, but that’s dried now.”

“What can I smell?” I say out loud.