As if someone had played pause on the outside world as soon as the two men in black appeared, because the moment they get into the car, reverses out, turn, moves in the opposite direction, and disappears at the end of the road, Gerald, Lemon, and Mal all come running towards me.“Jace!” Lemon calls out as soon as he sees me, and I jump, whipping my whole body toward where his voice had come from.I blink at the three frantic-looking men before asking, “Did you just see that?”“See what?” Gerald questions, “You ran out of the building, and we followed you here only to see you gawking at the road like it personally wronged you and had the audacity to deny it.”“You didn’t see the car and the two guys who looked like they walked out of a Men in Black set?!” I demand, “Also if you had been following me after I exited the building, what took you so long to get here?”“Too long? It’s barely been a minute!” Mal exclaims, “Look, man, are you alright? You’re acting much too weird.”“Is it the

The slap does come as a surprise, no matter how much I think I deserve it. Everyone gathered around the grave stares at us, and I feel like I want the ground to break and swallow me. Gerald, Lemon, Mal, Clara, and Erikkson stand at a side, taking the whole scene with wide eyes. I had not actually spoken with any of them. Mal had come to take his devices back to his place and tried to talk to me, but I couldn’t answer. Gerald came regularly and left me food, but I couldn’t even touch them. I honestly did not know how I managed to stay without food for this long, all while feeling gnawing hunger in my stomach, but somehow, I had managed. I couldn’t even think of doing anything to my body without feeling the overwhelming guilt transformation, not nausea.I knew distantly that I was going to need therapy for this soon, that I was internalizing the guilt and it would be wrecking my life, but at the moment I felt like I so deserved it, and even the thought of getting help made me want to ge

Anabelle immediately comes barreling over to me and nearly pushes me on the ground with the strength behind her tackle. I can’t help but let out an ‘oof!’ at that and put all my strength to not fall. Anabelle might be small, but she is deceptively strong.“Jesus fucking Christ, you asshole,” she punches my chest as soon as she lets go of me from that bone-crushing hug, “what the actual hell happened to you, Jace. I call Mal and he tells me that your girlfriend had been kidnapped and now she’s dead and some murdering bastard killed her right in front of you so please tell me that he’s pulling my fricking leg here because dear god, I can’t even imagine…”“It’s all true, I’m afraid, Anabelle,” I try to give her a watery smile, “a lot of things happened, and in the end, she’s gone.”Her eyes start to shine, and she whispers, “Oh, Jace, I am so very sorry.”We embrace again, and I feel a pang in my chest because her hug reminds me of Coraline’s, although Annabelle as a person is not at all

“Mr. Greyson, good evening,” one of the black-clad men says as if he’s greeting me while in class like he wasn't clearly stalking me here with his friend.“No,” I say, “don’t you dare ‘good evening!’ me, you stalker, what the hell are you doing here?!”“There is no need to get agitated, Mr. Greyson,” Man in Black 2 says.“Sure, buddy, I got no reason to be concerned that I’m being fucking stalked by people I’ve never even met before,” I reply heatedly, thrusting a finger in their direction, “What do you want from me now? What the hell does your family want from me?”“The Wilkens family only require you to have an audience with them,” Man in Black 1 says, “just a conference. It will not even take a couple of hours.”“Yeah, I don’t think the Wilkens family send their agents to meet some random college kid in the middle of the day-““It is the evening now,” Man in Black 2 interrupts me and I glower at him for it, which he just ignores. swear these people are just so infuriating, how are

The car pulls next to what looks essentially like a close gated community. It is a massive estate with lavish houses built equidistant to one another. The outside is immaculately groomed, and the houses and subsequent facilities looked like they could sustain a group of very wealthy people within the estate forever without having to go outside. At a side, there was even a plot of land that looked like a mini-golf course. There were so many vehicles parked in the driveways, and there were so many people walking around the estate grounds as well, dressed in uniforms to show their status as workers. And they weren't the only ones outside. There were people of all ages dressed far more nicely loitering around, engaging in games with children, conversing, playing tennis and golf, even swimming…“What the heck is this place?” I ask John and James, mesmerized by what I’m seeing.“This is the Wilkens family estate,” replies James, “every member of the Wilkens family resides within the estate