Two weeks go by in a flash.
I get the hang of my chores with Liam's help. Kyle shows me where everything is; the ranch, the animals, the fields, the quiet creek in the woods, and takes me to random places on days when we're not busy. It's fun enough that I laugh a few times, which makes him celebrate.
I find myself writing about everything in my journal and talking to my mother's urn about the bizarre things I've noticed. The way people act around the Garren family with weird reverence, the late nights, or how their teeth look sharp one minute and normal the next.
It could be my eyes playing tricks on me.
Jasmine's warnings come and go in my head, but the boys haven't given me a reason not to trust them. Infact, it feels like I've always been with them from how well I disappear into their contained chaos.
Violet has been trying to teach me how to bake and tend to the vegetable garden. Liam keeps checking up on me and trying to make me laugh—so far, he hasn't succeeded.
The Garren farm is the largest in the area and supplies the whole town, so I've started recognizing the regular customers whenever I take a trip to town with Jean.
Jean hasn't warmed up to me. He hasn't even said more than a handful of words to me. Violet says he has a hard time warming up to people and will eventually get used to me, but I doubt it.
Anytime we drive to town, he only ever says, "Seatbelt," and then later on, "What do you want?"
I don't try to engage him. I don't even know where to start. At least with Casper, I know.
He continues to order me around and talk over me, which infuriates me enough to let my stubbornness shine some days.
Diana has made everyone start calling me Little Mermaid, and I hope I'll leave soon before it becomes permanent. And Kyle continues hovering like a spy drone.
I endure it all, knowing once I'm eighteen, I can leave this godforsaken place. I'll miss the quiet serenity and the rewarding labour of doing my chores, but I think I'll be better off.
Maybe get a job and start paying off my mother's debts.
"Happy birthday, bitch!" Alina screams over the phone the second I pick up her call. "You're a hard girl to reach."
I haven't answered any of her calls after the night of the bathroom incident and the feeling of guilt makes me apologize.
"No worries. I figured you're busy with your new family and you've forgotten all about me."
"I could never forget about you, Alina."
"I'm fucking awesome, I know. So… how are they? Bad? Good? Weird?"
I put the phone on speaker and throw it on my bed. After spending the whole day doing my chores and a few extra Liam assigned me, the only thing my tired body wants is rest.
I shed my clothes as I answer. "They're alright. This buttfuck town sucks but some of the people are nice."
"So what did they get you for your birthday?"
Her harmless question sends a stab of hurt through me. They'd gotten me nothing.
I woke up expecting a gift or even a song but I got nothing but extra work and Jean's terrible attitude the whole day!
Upon my silence, Alina gasps in outrage. "Don't tell me they forgot."
"It's fine." I manage to keep the hurt out of my voice. "I don't want anything from them. Besides, I'll be leaving, so they shouldn't bother."
"Oh girl, I'm sorry. It's like living with your mother again. Rest her soul but that woman was a motherfucking dumpster and I'm glad she's dead."
I ignore her biting remarks and change into comfortable clothes. My mother was a lot of all the wrong things but I still loved her. She never claimed to be perfect and was just hurting. Nobody liked her enough to care and none of her siblings reached out even after she died—not even the ones I tried to call.
"So when are you leaving that buttfuck town as you call it?" Alina's voice brings me back.
"Maybe next week." I fluff out my hair and go to close the windows as the evening winds are too cold for me, when a knock sounds on the door.
"Arielle," Kyle calls out. "Dinner!"
I grab my phone. "Alina, we'll talk later."
"Alright. Text me. I want all the details."
I hang up with an exasperated sigh and go down for dinner.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIELLE!"
I halt in the kitchen doorway, staring at the large group of people in the decorated kitchen with party hats.
They remembered.
I recognize a few faces as my face grows warm. Hugo, Dave, Jasmine, but the rest slip past me.
Violet hurries to lead me into the kitchen.
"I hope you're surprised." She beams at me. "We didn't want to spoil it by saying anything in the morning."
"Uh…" I stare dumbfounded.
Kyle, wearing a crooked party hat, slides up to me. "I think we broke her."
"You like it?" Liam asks when I reach the table and stare down at the cake with eighteen blazing candles.
My chest constricts, and my words don't come, so I nod and allow myself to smile. And Liam's face brightens like he just won the lottery.
"Make a wish."
I stare around the faces, pausing for an instant at Jean's lopsided grin. As if finally conceding and accepting me, he shrugs.
My heart leaps with happiness, and I close my eyes, make a wish, and blow out the candles to loud cheers and applause.
"Gifts! Gifts! Gifts!" Diana chants from her spot on Casper's shoulders.
"Yes, but first mine," Liam says and gestures for me to follow him. For a second I'm scared he bought me a truck or something.
Liam leads me out the back door to the quiet deck.
"I didn't want them to hear," he starts, rubbing the back of his neck with a shaky smile. "I want you to stay with us. That's my gift."
I think I've misheard. Reading the look on my face, Liam nods.
"If you agree, I'll give you a job and good pay so you can pay off your debts. You're part of the family now so we would love it if you stayed with us." He hesitates. "You're free to leave whenever you want but I hope you allow me give you everything I can." His warm eyes glisten with tears and hit me like a wave.
All my thoughts of leaving suddenly have no more weight with his genuine proposal.
I take a shuddering breath. "I need a minute."
"Of course, I'm not expecting an answer now. Just think about it."
I nod, willing myself not to get affected by this gentle giant making me a part of his family.
"I'll give you a minute." Liam squeezes my arm affectionately and returns to the house.
Stay here with them?
My thoughts spiral as I walk down the steps and into the fields steeped in shadows and dim moonlight.
Liam's offer sounds wonderful but do I want a life in this place with infuriating Casper, glaring Jean and charming Kyle?
A snap of a twig breaks my thought. I gaze at the barely illuminated patch of woods I'm in. Another twig snaps and my heart starts racing. Kyle had said things about wild animals, but I didn't think they'll be close to the house.
I turn back, about to start running, when Dave emerges from the shadows with a twisted smile.
"Hey, Ari baby." A chill crawls down my spine at the way he says baby.
"The wait is finally over."
"Wh-What are you talking about?" I start to back away from him but his hand shoots out fast and clamps on my wrist. He pulls me close and buries his nose in my hair, sniffing deeply.
I try to wriggle away, only to be rooted when he faces me and his eyes are bloodshot. A scream rips from my mouth and is quickly cut short with a fist around my neck.
"Don't ruin this, baby."
Dave's voice cuts over the pounding of my heart and the dark blur of tears in my eyes.
"Please…"
He laughs low and animalistic. "I promise, I'll go slow." And his teeth start growing longer and sharper until it's like looking at the mouth of a wild beast.
Another scream dies in my throat. My mind scrambles, but nothing has prepared me for this. Cold dread grips me as I realize nobody is coming to save me.
"Once I mark you," Dave leans in, his breath fanning my face, "then I'll keep you all to myself. And they won't—"
His words cut off abruptly, and the hands on me vanish with a loud crash. I stumble to the ground as a large wolf with pitch black fur stands between me and Dave, growling.
I hear someone shout my name from a distance, but my body is shaking and my mind is slipping away from the fright.
The last thing I see is the wolf leaping through the air and sinking fangs and claws into Dave's terrified face.