Filed To Story: Pretty Poisoned Novel by Elle Mitchell
This is why you shouldn’t be here, Teagan. Because what are you doing, really?
But I know what I’m doing. I’m in complete control.
I force the intrusive thought out of my head, open my bag, and dig around for something to wear. I’m running very low on options, and that’s going to be a problem, especially considering the climate I’m heading to is much different than what I’m used to in Orange County.
It shouldn’t be that much of a problem, though, right? Not unless I end up wandering the woods alone for days, lost and unable to communicate like Heidi.
Yeah. Then I’m going to wish I had a jacket.
I step into a pair of underwear, put on a bra, and pull on the same Metallica t-shirt I wore to bed, pairing it with a leather mini-skirt. Then, I slip into my boots, shake out my hair, and put on a little bit of makeup before stepping out into main living space with everyone else.
“There she is,” Brady says. “The queen of horror herself.”
My heart drops into my stomach. I try to play it off like I’m not sure what he’s talking about. “Who? Are you talking about me?”
“We’ve been learning all about you. Declan showed us your TikTok.”
Declan leans against the far wall with his arms crossed over his chest, smirking. He looks me over with cold eyes, this time through a pair of dark-framed glasses. My cheeks flush red.
I turn back to Brady. “So? I like reading,” I tell him. “It’s a book blog. You don’t have hobbies?”
“Yeah, I have plenty. I just don’t do them naked online.”
“I’m not naked,” I say, sitting down next to River.
“Don’t shame her,” River says. “She’s not doing anything wrong.”
“Thank you.”
“I think it’s really cool,” she says.
“I wasn’t trying to shame her,” Brady says. “It’s just I think I’m starting to see how you ended up here with us, on the rolling island of misfit toys. You don’t exactly fit in either, do you?”
You have no idea.
“I’m sorry on the what?” Hazel asks.
The girls and Rhett laugh, but Declan doesn’t. He’s watching me instead, waiting for a reaction, but I refuse to give him one. He brought up my TikTok and showed it to everyone?
Why would he do that? What’s he playing?
“What about you?” I ask. “How did you end up here? What makes the rest of you misfit toys?”
The laughter quickly dies down. I follow Brady’s eyes as they move to River. She looks back and forth between the two of us, then to Hazel, before she says, “I guess if you stick around long enough, you’ll figure it out.”
“Can’t wait,” I say.
“If I allow it,” Declan says. His tone sends chills down my spinesomething about it sounds like he’s making more of a threat than just sending me home. “Already breaking the rules, aren’t you, Teagan?”
I don’t answer; I don’t even glance over my shoulder in his direction. I’m sure he’s talking about Lucaagainbut I didn’t ask for that. I wonder if he saw him leaving the room or if one of the girls told their daddy on me. He crosses the room and sits beside me on the sofa. Still, I keep my eyes trained on a spot in front of me, refusing to look at him.
It’s quiettoo quietuntil my own voice fills the space. I swallow the lump in my throat.
I recognize the video. It’s a chapter I read last week from Let the Right One In, coming from Brady’s phone.
“I actually find your voice oddly comforting,” Brady says, leaning against Rhett who watches the phone from over his shoulder, as if they’re both invested in the story.
“It’s very velvety, isn’t it?” Rhett agrees.
“Can we not listen to that?” I ask. My tone comes out flustered, bothered, and I immediately recognize my mistake.
“I don’t know, I actually really liked the movie,” Rhett says. “And we’ve watched a couple of episodes nowI’m invested.”
“Same,” Brady says.
“The book is nothing like the movie,” I tell him. “But fine. I’m just going to go lie back down, then.”
I start to stand, but a hand closes around my shoulder and forces me back down onto the seat. “I’ve got a better idea,” Declan says.
He grabs a television remote from the table in front of us and fucks around with it until a browser pops up on the screen, and I realize exactly what he’s doing.
No.
I watch him type my handle into the search engine and then lower my head, grit my teeth, and breathe through the rage.
“We’ve still got a couple of hours left in this drive. Why don’t we let Teagan read us a story? Rhett, Bradyyou guys don’t mind if we go back to Chapter One, do you?”
They both shake their heads.
“Not at all,” Rhett says.
I cross my arms and lean back in the seat. “Awesome,” I say, still refusing to look at him.
Declan’s mouth twists into that thing againthe thing that would look like a smile on anyone elsebefore he pushes play on the video and turns up the volume.
Four-eyed fucker.
I listen to myself introduce the story, feeling my face flush when they laugh at the innuendos. I dig my nails into my arms and wonder for the second time how I got here. I know why I wanted to be here; that isn’t what I mean. But there is only one way onto this bus that I know of, and not only am I not sleeping with any of them, I’m not allowed to talk to one of them, and another one hates me.
So, why the fuck am I here?
Does he know? Oh shit.
But no this is fine. Even if he does know about my true crime podcast and obsession, who is to say he would connect that to my interest in the band? Neither the police nor the internet sleuth community have shown much interest in them or these girls at all. Maybe this is part of the processmaybe they do this to every new person who steps onto the bus. It could be some sort of hazing. He said something about wanting to see if I’d break. Maybe they all went through something similar with him.
And I can take it. I can. It’s not like this is new to me. It’s just that I’m an adult now, and I haven’t had to in a very long time.
I lean toward River and whisper, “Is he always like this with new people?”
She shakes her head and gives me a sympathetic look. “No. Never. I’m sorry.”
I sigh and turn away, staring at the space below the television screen.
“What’s wrong, Teagan?” Declan asks. “This is what you want, right? Attention?”
“No.”
“No? Then what is it that you want?”
I meet his eyes and surprise myself when an honest answer leaves my lips. “You wouldn’t understand.”
I cross my arms and slouch in my seat.
“Whoa, what’s this?” Alana asks as she comes downstairs.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.