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Maybe Lauren wasn’t as far off the mark with her advice as I previously thought. Maybe I should just get the hell out of dodge and deal with the consequences later.

The sound of an incoming text pulls me out of my thoughts. I glance down at my phone, still in my hand, and find a message from Cathie.

Cathie: Just finished reading your latest chapters. Max, I know this is supposed to be a horror novel, but I’ve never read anything this dark from you before. Should I be worried? Because I am. I’m very worried. Call me when you get a chance.

I stare at the message for a minute, wondering what Cathie would say if she knew just how much of what I’ve written was inspired by what actually happened to me.

Something tells me she wouldn’t be too thrilled.

So instead of calling my friend, I place my phone facedown on the desk beside my laptop.

Cathie has been worried about me ever since I arrived in Fairhope. If I call her now, I’ll only end up telling her that our graduating class is getting smaller by the day, one dead body at a time.

Oh, yeah, and how I’m somehow being blamed for their deaths.

No. I can’t tell her the truth. Not yet.

Once I’m back in New York on Sunday, I’ll sit down and have a long chat with her. But not before.

I rub the back of my neck, trying to ease some of the tension building in my muscles. But as I glance over my laptop screen, I catch sight of someone standing in the parking lot.

I straighten in my chair, squinting through the window to make sure I’m seeing things correctly.

Fuck me, if I am.

Standing right in the middle of the parking lot, staring straight at my window, is Peyton.

What the fuck is she doing here?

She doesn’t move. Doesn’t even pretend to look away when she realizes I’ve spotted her. She just stands there, staring at me as if waiting for something.

Well, if she thinks she can intimidate me, she’s got another thing coming. I’m not the same girl I was back in high school. I’m no longer scared of her, especially now that she’s all alone and doesn’t have her little legion of followers around to do her bidding.

So instead of pretending I haven’t seen her, I push back my chair and head for the door.

Less than a minute later, I walk out of the B&B and head straight toward her.

She doesn’t look the least bit surprised to see me approaching. In fact, judging by the smug look on her face, I’d say this is exactly what she wanted.

Still, the arctic blue of her eyes makes me hesitate for a moment. Those cold, lifeless eyes always made me wonder if there’s anything human behind them. Even after all these years, there’s something about the way she looks at me that makes my skin crawl.

I draw a fortifying breath before closing the remaining distance between us.

“Peyton,” I greet.

She doesn’t answer right away, choosing instead to drag her gaze over me with the same disdain she used to reserve for me back in the day. And when her nostrils flare, as though the mere sight of me disgusts her, it takes an almost inhuman amount of restraint not to slap that look right off her face.

“I knew the minute you came back to town that you’d be a problem for me.”

“Is that so?” I ask with a mocking smile.

“But Misty just had to send you that invitation, didn’t she? She just had to remind you where you came from.”

“I never needed reminding.”

“No?” She arches a brow. “I think you did. I think all those years you spent in New York made you forget what a gutter rat you really are.”

My jaw clenches as she takes another step toward me.