Hidden Books

BY:

Lydia Kennedy
 Chapter 1

I know how it ends. Of course I know. I just forgot how it began.

It might’ve had something to do with the fact that my parents were dead. And no one even cared.
That’s just how cruel and heartless the world really is.
It could’ve been that no one arranged a funeral for them. I had to stand in front of their gravestones,
alone, while people just walked on by without even a second glance.
This is the moment when I swore to myself that I would hate every living person with every single
fiber in my body.
I like to break promises. It’s like breaking the rules. And you know what they say about those: Rules
are meant to be broken.

I’m still underage so my mother’s stepmom has to take custody over me. We have no relative blood
but she claims she’s taking me in because she considers me as family even though this is the first time I’ve
ever seen her other than in pictures.
She lives in Bel Air, Los Angeles. Ironic since one of my least favorite shows is The Fresh Prince of
Bel Air; but it always made mum smile when it came on the radio. Her name is Norma and she is what I
would call strict, and that’s saying something.
You see, I have a tendency of getting into trouble a lot, but then I get away with a lot of stuff, too.
My guess is that it’s genetic. Norma didn’t like that when she started scolding my dead mother about the way
she raised me and blamed a lot of it on my father while spilling most of her tea and helping all of the
croissants topple to the floor at breakfast. She has a bunch of spite and fire for such an elderly lady.
While she was still raging about the mess she made, I excused myself as politely as I could from the
table and left to go explore the huge mansion that I currently live in and can now call my own.
All the bed- and bathrooms are upstairs on floors 2 and 3. There’s a huge kitchen by the dining
room, which I just left. A living room where there’s a giant square TV in the middle of the room with four
screens so it kinda looks like a four room theater combined into one. There’s a sauna near the back of the
house, right next to the wine cellar. There’s a saltwater pool out back with a bar on the patio beside it. The
front door and entry hall has bodyguards lining the walls and standing so still I thought they were statues until
one of them sneezed. There’s lots of pictures and self portraits of Norma hanging on the walls. In one of
them, she sits like an evil queen that has to look after her subjects.
After a while of just roaming aimlessly around the halls, I started to get bored. In my free time I like
to build motorcycles and my last one I had to leave behind because Norma wouldn’t let me take it with me.
She said it was, and I quote, “too loud and distracting,” while she has like 5 different kinds of cars plus her
own personal helicopter and jet.
So I decided to go to AutoParts, the mechanic store, without her permission and not telling her
where I was going. I told the guards I was just going for a walk around town to get familiar with the area.
Technically, I wasn’t lying, I just wasn’t telling the whole truth either.
Anyways, I’m walking down the street that goes straight into the heart of town while walking slowly
so I can take in the beautiful scenery. There’s trees everywhere, whether they’re palm trees, cherry blossoms,
weeping willows. They’re all over the place.

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 There’s also lots of animals and bugs, too; bees buzzing around the blossoms of flowers, squirrels
chasing each other around tree trunks and fighting for food, stray cats and dogs roaming among abandoned
alleyways. I stopped to give a dog a granola bar from my back pocket. It was black and brown with some
white spots scattered over its coat of fur. I saw that she was a girl when she came up to me and grabbed my
granola from my hand. She was a little skittish at first when I tried to pet her so I left her alone. I walked a
good ways away before I looked over my shoulder and saw her following me. I turned back around to watch
where I was going and smiled slightly to myself.
I find a mechanic shop quickly after I enter town and go inside. The dog following me stops at the
glass door and whines but sits down to wait for me. I look around, trying to find the parts I need for my
motorcycle when I see a guy holding exactly what I need. I walk up to him and tap his shoulder. He turns
around and my heart literally stops.
He has dirty blonde hair hidden under his red baseball cap, which he wears backwards, with dazzling
blue eyes that compliment his slightly tan skin. He raises an eyebrow in question but before I can even get a
word out, an old guy with an irritated look on his face pops his head out from the doorway into what I’m
guessing is the supply room.
“TJ Katz, stop flirting and get back to work!” The guy yells. Then, he slams the door closed. We
stand there awkwardly, just staring at each other. The boy, TJ, has a light blush dusting the bridge of his nose
as he rubs the back of his neck nervously.
“Sorry,” he says, finally. “My boss is a little strict. Did you need something?” God, his voice was so
nice. It was like a combination of light and feathery to dark and husky. He sounds like someone who gets into
trouble a lot.
“Oh, I just need that,” I say, pointing to the part he still has in his hand. He chuckles and looks down.
I’m dying on the inside because he’s so adorable.
“So,” I try to start a conversation with him, “what does TJ stand for?”
“Thomas Jefferson,” he says with a straight face. I laugh as if it were a joke. He doesn’t laugh with
me. He looks grim, as though he expected my reaction.
“Wait, seriously?” I look at him incredulously. He mutely nods. “Well, nice to meet you, Thomas. I’m
Kayda. Kayda Montoya.” This time, it’s his turn to laugh. I roll my eyes while trying to bite back a smile. It
doesn’t work; his laugh is contagious.
“Like in The Princess Bride?” He asks while wiping his eyes of fake tears.
“Yeah, yeah,” I smile at him. “Anyways, I kinda need that part you have so I can work on my bike.
How much is it?”
“What, this old thing?” He smirks as he holds it up. “It’s not much. All it costs is your number.”
“Smooth,” I say while taking out a pen from my back pocket. I clasp his free hand in mine and write
my number along with my address, just in case. He smiles and hands me the part then I walk to the door. I
look back at him, smile and wink. I open the door and the dog stands up from her laying position to follow
me home. Not even two seconds down the road, I feel my phone buzz.

Unknown Number: Hey, it’s TJ

I smile. I put my phone back in my pocket and continue walking so it doesn’t make it seem like I was
just waiting for him to text me. When I see the mansion grow closer, I pull out my phone again and text back
saying:

You: Hey. Miss me already?

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 Unknown Number: Ha! You wish!
You: Yeah, well, I gtg. Ttyl?
Unknown Number: Sure

I went into my contacts and saved his number before changing his name to TJ. I gave myself an
approving nod and put my phone away. Then, I kneeled down and reached my hand toward the dog.
“Hey, baby girl,” I cooed. “Wanna stay with me forever?” She let me pet her for a little bit then
flopped down on her back so I could give her a belly rub. She absolutely loved it.
“Ok,” I say, getting up. “Now, let’s figure out a name for you. Hmmm…” I cross my arms and peer
at her closely. She barked once and sat down. “Juno, River, Roxy. Any of those?” She whined, layed down and
looked up at me with big green eyes. They were the most beautiful emerald green I’ve ever seen.
“I think I’m gonna go with River,” I told her. “Do you like it?” She barked and jumped up, seemingly
smiling. I smiled back. I turned to the front door and knocked. It opened and a guard let me in saying my
grandmother was looking for me. I thanked him and went inside, River at my heel.
I found Norma in her study, watching the news using her data implant that everyone has. The strange
thing is, she never uses her data implant, always saying she doesn’t like it. She looks really bored.
“You asked for me?” I called. She didn’t even flinch at my loud volume. I crept closer while holding
out a hand for River to stay. She sat obediently where she was, waiting. “Ms. Norma?” Finally, she moved. She
started hacking and coughing like a mad man. I quickly went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water but
when I came back, she wasn’t there.
“That’s weird,” I mumbled to myself. I left the cup on the side table and started exploring the house
again to see if I could find her somewhere in this maze of halls and rooms. She was in the indoor garden, just
staring at a tree. I’m starting to wonder if she’s crazy.
“Are you okay?” I ask her tentatively. She glances at me and sniffs then turns back to the tree. I walk
up to her and stand by her side. I look at the tree, too. It was kind of memorizing to look at so I guess Ms.
Norma’s not a total crazy person. The thick trunk rose to be about 50 feet, the lush green leaves at the top
catching the sunlight incredibility, making it seem as though there were fireflies hiding in the branches. There
was just one thing that didn’t appear right: one twig that was just barely hanging on by a thread.
I gazed at it for a while before extending my arm to touch it. The second I hit contact, though, it
broke off all the way and seemed to float to the ground. As it met the floor, it started turning to ash and, after
some time, there was nothing left.
“Woah,” I whispered, astonishment settling over me like a fresh blanket of snow. Then the cold chill
came. I looked at Norma, who was already staring at me skeptically, like she couldn’t decide if she could trust
me or not to take care of her cat (which she doesn’t have). After our staring contest, she realized we weren’t
alone and when she found out there was a dog in her house, she freaked.
“What is that thing?!” She screeched, taking a frantic step back and pointing at River. “Get it out! Get
it out!” I chuckled at her reaction and waited for her to calm down.
“So,” I say, ignoring her requests to get rid of my new dog, “what’d you need me for?” Norma
smoothed any non-existing wrinkles out of her cream colored business suit before folding her hands in front
of her and sniffing once. She turns back to the tree and presses a knot right in the center. Then, the
unthinkable happens.
The tree frickin’ opens like a door. In the darkness of the opening, all I see is a set of stairs going
down into the abyss. I’m so shocked, I hardly feel Norma’s hand on my shoulder.
“Come,” she says, almost gently for once. “Follow me.” Then she descends into the dark ravine that
used to be a tree. I stand there for a second, trying to wrap my head around this, trying to see any logic

3
behind it. After sensing none, I shrug and decide to obey her, following her through the hole in the trunk of a
tree. When I catch up to her, she’s standing in front of a glowing blue door. But there’s no handle or knob, no
hinges or door frame. Just a luminescent wall in the middle of the hallway. I can’t see anything past it but I
know there’s something back there, something important, secret, hidden.
With one giant step, Norma passes through the barrier. I can’t see her anymore but I know she’s
waiting for me on the other side. I lift my hand so it hovers right before it meets the threshold then I steel
myself by taking a deep breath, closing my eyes and walking in. When I reopen my eyes again, they’re blown
as wide as saucers.
“This is against the law,” I mumbled. “It’s illegal. So, so illegal.”
“I thought you liked breaking the rules,” Norma said stiffly but there was the hint of a smile on her
face, as if she was proud she could finally tell somebody about this. Standing in front of me, in all its glory,
was a library.

4
 Chapter 2

There were hundreds of them. Books, I mean. Hundreds upon thousands of books. With actual paper. For so
many years, books were forbidden and everyone just used data implants as forms of entertainment. I guess I
now know why Norma hates them so much. She has the real thing.
Now, let me give you a little background information about books. A long, long time ago, people
realized that trees were our source of most oxygen and we were just carelessly cutting them down for land,
money, paper and other things. So we decided to stop. We still cut them down for tools and more useful stuff
but not as many as we used to. People thought books were wasteful and started banning them until all things
related to books were gone.
So that’s why I’m so surprised to see a library. And a big one at that. This must be the most books in
one place at a time.
“How did you find them?” I voiced my thoughts so softly I thought maybe Norma didn’t hear me
after she didn’t answer right away. As I was about to repeat my question, she spoke.
“I didn’t,” she replied. “They were here before me and will be here after me.” She sounded so sure,
like nothing in the world could stop her. I wasn’t so certain.
“Now,” she returned to business, “I’d like for you to read at least 5. I don’t care which 5, just make
sure you do. Got it?”
“Mhm,” I wasn’t really paying attention but I nodded anyway. I walked toward a shelf and pulled a
book off. It was the most beautiful cover of a book I’ve ever seen. It was all black with gold lettering. There
was even a red built-in bookmark! The title of the book was The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
and connect-the-dot stars seemed to join the letters together in the same gold imprint.
“Ah, yes,” Norma murmured over my shoulder. “That’s a good one. I think you’d like it.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, still sort of speechless at this miracle. River barks. I didn’t even know she
followed us. Norma sniffed distastefully then turned on her heel and started toward the door. Just before
exiting, she turned her head back to me and said, “The lairs are where you can read safely. There are 5 of
them; in the corners and the center. Enjoy.” Then she left.
I stood there for a second before shrugging my shoulders and walking to my right, where there’s
supposedly a ‘lair’ so I can read. I found it after a while and it was the best thing ever. There were so many
blankets and pillows just thrown across the space. A bean bag sits against the wall near the back. It’s perfect.
River makes herself comfortable quickly, curling up on a fluffy blanket and propping her head on a
bear shaped pillow. Then she promptly fell asleep, snoring softly. I smiled and sat down in the beanie, pulling
a blanket over the bottom half of my body. I opened the book to the first page and started reading.

I’ve been reading for over 2 hours when Norma came to fetch me for dinner. We sat in silence while
we ate breakfast for supper. After a bit, Norma grew tired of how quiet it was and started up a conversation.
“I expect you have questions,” she told me, not even looking up from her plate. I nodded. “Well, go
ahead.”
“How come no one’s found out about it?” I though long and hard about my questions and I’m not
letting up on the option to speak my mind. Norma sighed deeply before making eye contact with me.
“Because it’s been protected for many generations.”
“Protected? By whom?” I was really confused.

5
 “By me. And any family members before me.” Okay…
“From what? No- wait, stupid question. From people, of course. Duh,” I rolled my eyes at my
stupidity and smiled bashfully.
“Not ‘duh’,” Norma glared at me. “There’s also other things to worry about. Keep it clean,
organized, don’t mess any of them up and- are you even listening to me anymore?” I was feeding River some
of my bacon and eggs. I snatched my fork away and trained my eyes on Norma, giving her my absolute full
attention. She narrows her eyes at me intimidatingly, making her seem meaner than she really is.
“No more questions,” she sniffs and dabs at her mouth with her napkin.
“Just two more.” She gives me a stern look. I try to imitate her. “Two or I’ll tell everyone what you’re
hiding in your basement.” I raise my eyebrows at her as a challenge. She falters and I give her my most
victorious smirk. “First, why keep something so illegal? And second, why were you watching the news on your
data implant if you hate it so much?” I use my tone of voice to emphasize my point. She keeps a straight face,
for the most part, but furrows her brow at my second question, as if she can’t recall ever doing that.
“First,” she starts regally, sitting up straighter, “for the reasons such as how nice it feels to just hold
one in your hands instead of staring at a transparent screen, how they smell, how they look, and also the
imagination that can take place when you read a sentence, just visioning that one line in your head. And to
answer your other question, I never watch the news nor do I ever use my implant.” I scrunch my face up in
bewilderment. That doesn’t make any sense. Then realization crashes down on me like a tow truck.
“What if someone was spying on you? Like, they already have suspicions that you’re hiding
something?” I look at her with panic filled eyes, which I try to get rid of before she can notice that I’m scared.
She sees anyway, though. She knows everything. Her eyes soften slightly.
“I’ve had a few past,” she clears her throat, “incidents. But nothing I couldn’t handle.” She tries to
put on a smile for me but it just looks like a grimace.
Just then, the doorbell rings. Perfect timing. Norma excused herself from the table and went to go
check who it was. I just sat there, staring at my half empty plate, trying to convince myself that nothing was
going to happen and we’ll all be fine. I hear footsteps coming in my direction and start hyperventilating. I
don’t mean to but I can’t help it. Pathetic, my brain tells me, weak, she didn’t even say anything serious and you’re
having a panic attack. Get over it!
The smell of grease and cologne filled my nostrils as someone pulled me into an embrace. They
smoothed my hair and whispered little nothings into my ear. I started breathing normally again and realized
my face was wet with my tears. I hadn’t even noticed and wiped them away quickly. Then I looked up into my
savior's eyes. They were a beautiful sapphire blue with a small sparkle when the light hit them just right.
Wait a minute… I know those eyes. I gasp and feel my face heat up in embarrassment. I cover my
face and TJ chuckles, which rumbles in his chest. I peek at him through my fingers and give him a shy smile.
He smiles back but I can see the worry and concern in his eyes. I can’t help thinking that it makes him look
older and wiser than he is. I’m not sure if I like it.
“Are you okay?” He asks, prying my hands away from my face so he can see me better. I tilt my head
down a little self conscious, biting my lip while giving him a small nod and peering up at him through my
eyelashes. He sighs in relief and gives me a reassuring smile. Now I have time to take a better look at him.
He’s wearing a white tank top with grease smeared all over them. He has a leather necklace with a shark tooth
attached to it. His hair isn’t hiding in a baseball cap anymore and is a little messy but it still looks good. My
gaze lingers on his hair and TJ frowns, reaching a hand up to pat his head as if there’s something wrong with
it. I envy his hair.
“I wish my hair looked like that,” I pout and cross my arms, glaring at his nice head of hair. That
startles a laugh out of him and I grin at the sound of it. After he calms down, he stares at me with a weird

6
expression on his face. He starts to lean in and I do too, not even conscious of my actions. When our lips are
centimeters away from each other, he stops as my breath hitches. He gives me a second to pull back but I
don’t. Then he has to go and ruin the moment.
“If you were a fruit, you’d be a ‘fine-apple’,” he smirks. I slap his arm and veer away from him, giving
us a bigger distance between our faces. I can already feel the loss of warmth but it’s too late now since it is his
fault. TJ gives me puppy eyes as if that’s an apology. I don’t forgive him. Yet.
A voice clears their throat from where the door is. Startled, I jumped out of TJ’s lap and turned to the
sound. Norma stands there and looks like she’s about to scold me. But instead she just sighs.
“If that went any further, you'd need protection, you know,” she states matter of factly. I go red faced
while TJ laughs his butt off on the floor. I didn’t even know we were down there. I guess I was too…
distracted. Norma shakes her head, annoyed. “Anyways, I hope you don’t mind that I interrupted you but I
have more pressing matters to discuss with the both of you.”
“You told her?” TJ seemed genuinely surprised but he covers it up. “Didn’t think you’d have the
guts.” Norma gives him a warning glance.
“Yes, I did. She’s family.”
“She’s right here,” I raise my hand, annoyed. It’s like I wasn’t even there! “Wait. Does that mean TJ’s
family?” TJ snorts and Norma looks like she’s trying to hold in a laugh of her own.
“No, sweetheart, it just means Norma trusts me a lot,” TJ says, covering his hand over his mouth to
try and smother his snickers. It doesn’t work out very well. I huff and turn my face away from him, feeling my
cheeks turn rosy again. I’m about to retort but Norma beats me to it.
“Anyways,” she intervenes before things get too out of hand, “TJ’s staying overnight. I hope you
don’t mind but seeing as you were about to eat each other’s faces, I suppose it won’t hurt too much to have a
friend.” She says that like that’s what she wants us to be and for it to stay that way. I smile. That’s what she
thinks but this is just another rule for me to break. She doesn’t need to know that though.
With that said, she sniffs and nods at us then pivots on her heel and walks away. TJ and I stare at
each other for a few seconds, starting a staring contest. I won but only because I ‘cheated’. I’d walked over to
where he sat on the ground so he had to look up at me backwards. I leaned forward until my face was just
above his and placed my hands on both of his cheeks then leaned over even more so I could feel his breath
on my face. He leaned up so our lips could touch but I pulled away at the last second and kissed his nose
instead. He whined and blinked then and is now pouting, trying his best to ignore me as I try to make it up to
him by telling him that there’s dessert in the kitchen. It works; he jumps up like a puppy about to go for a
walk. It’s so cute.
We go to the kitchens and I find a maid pulling a freshly baked cake out of the oven. TJ and I share a
mischievous grin. We tell the maid that she’s excused and she departs from us, leaving all the piping bags on
the counter. This was gonna be so much fun.
I pick up a piping bag with blue frosting in it then walk over to the still-cooling cake. I start making
the crumb coat and I’m not even halfway done when I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist. TJ’s head
rests on top of my shoulder as he watches me work. I roll my eyes and smile.
“You know, you’re gonna have to help if you want a piece later,” I tell him. I shiver as his breath turns
to fan the side of my face when he moves his head to look at me. I keep focused on my frosting.
“I’m waiting for you to finish, Carissima,” he whispers into my ear, placing a delicate kiss on the
bottom of my earlobe. I sigh in content as I close my eyes and lean my head backwards until it hits his chest.
TJ starts leaving featherlight kisses along my jaw and all the way down to my collarbone. He flicked his tongue
against one spot which startled a noise out of me. He seemed to like the sound and did it again, nipping softly
a few times as well. It felt good, like, really good. He stopped and I whined but he just spun me around so he

7
could pin me to the counter. I let go of the frosting and busied my hands by tangling them in his hair, tugging
on the strands every once in a while. He groaned lowly every time I did so I kept doing it. He trailed his kisses
up to my chin then stopped, causing me to open my eyes. He was already looking at me and he had that same
weird expression on he had before. He pressed his forehead against mine, maintaining eye contact, before
glancing down at my lips and licking his own. His gaze came back up to meet mine, asking for permission. I
nodded ever so slightly and closed my eyes again as his lips brushed against mine before he smashed them
together.
I’m not gonna say any of that cliché stuff and be cringy but I will say that it was the best first kiss I
could ever wish for. Our mouths seemed to mold together perfectly. TJ prodded my closed lips with his
tongue, asking for entry. I decided to tease him a little and denied, smirking mentally. He growled, put his
hands under my thighs and lifted me up onto the countertop. I gasped, which granted him access. He slipped
his tongue through my now parted lips and I moaned softly. I wrapped my legs around his torso and pulled
him closer to me. I broke away for air and he didn’t waste any time to attack my neck with his mouth again.
His hands started traveling from my thighs to under my shirt, resting on my stomach. He nibbled his way
back up my neck then pecked my lips before pulling away so we could talk.
“God, that was hot,” I panted, trying to catch my breath. He quietly laughed and ducked his head so
his hair fell into his eyes. He looks up at me, bites his lip then smiles awkwardly. It’s the cutest thing ever, if I
do say so myself. I secretly picked up a pipe bag full of frosting and hid it behind my back. I grinned at him
before bringing it out and putting a big dollop on his nose, smiling even wider at his shocked expression.
Then he smirked and picked up another pipe bag and squirted some on my cheeks. We don’t go any further
than just making out.
“You look ridiculous,” I laugh. “And you’re an idiot.”
“But I’m your idiot,” he counters, wiping the frosting off his nose with his thumb and popping the
digit in his mouth. I blushed and averted my eyes, still smiling. He moves away so I can jump off the counter
and we continue frosting our cake. After it’s completely covered in icing, I gotta say, it looks perfect. By the
end it looks like lilly pads in a turquoise green pond with pink roses here and there. And it tastes amazing! We
did a pretty good job. We also signed our names on the top. After that we went to the garden.
TJ touched the right knob on the tree so we could descend down the stairs, past the blue portal thing,
and into the library. River is still down there when we arrive and so is Norma too. She’s acting weird, though.
She’s looking around the place in awe, slowly turning in circles, like she’s never seen the place before. That’s
when I realized something was up. This is wrong.
I signal to TJ to keep quiet by putting a finger to my lips. Together, we creep forward almost silently.
Almost. I don’t watch where I’m going and trip over a stack of books, making them all tumble to the ground.
I scold myself mentally for being such a klutz and brace myself for whatever happens next. ‘Norma’ turns
around, looks at us blankly then starts sprinting as fast as ‘she’ can down the aisle we’re in. I hear TJ curse
under his breath and start running after the imposter. I stand there, too stunned to move, before chasing after
them. I used to play soccer before my parents died but quit because they were never there anymore, so I’m
pretty fast.
I pass TJ and catch up to ‘Norma’ before ‘she’ suddenly comes to a stop. I’m running too fast so I
don’t stop myself in time before I bump into ‘her’ back, forcing ‘her’ to topple forward.
“Oops,” I say, out of breath. I looked up to see why ‘she’ stopped and saw the real Norma glaring
down at the imposter as if ‘she’ were a disease. Concealed fear shines in Norma’s eyes, as if she knows what to
come but has to stay strong for me and TJ. The imposter takes off ‘her’ mask, which looks like it’s made of
some sort of advanced technology, but keeps her head downcast, staring at Norma’s feet.

8
 “Look at me,” Norma demands. The fake lifts their head ever so slowly and both TJ and Norma
inhale a sharp intake of breath. They know this person, I think. I see the fraud smile unnervingly as they stand to
face their audience. I can tell it’s a man with dark hair that’s gelled back and piercing emerald eyes.
“Hello, Mother,” he smiles even more wickedly than before as he turns his gaze to her before he
turns to peer at me then TJ. His crooked smile never falters. “Hello, Theo.” TJ grits his teeth as he holds back
the urge to argue that that isn’t his name. “And hello, niece.”
My heart literally stops beating and I can’t breathe.
“I don’t have an uncle,” I wish my voice wasn’t so shaky, it makes me look small and sound afraid. He
just chuckles and takes off the rest of his costume to reveal he’s wearing a suit underneath.
“Yes,” his voice is smooth with an edge, like a knife. “You see, your mother thought I was a bad
influence and ‘dangerous’. So I would expect her to keep my existence a secret from you.” My mother kept a
secret from me? It doesn’t seem real. It makes me wonder how many other secrets she also kept from telling
me. I shake my head to rid my mind of any thoughts about her. She’s dead and isn’t important right now, my brain
says. Focus on what’s going on in the present then backtrack later.
“The name’s Zane, at your service,” he mock bows then straightens back up.
“Why are you here?” I ask, cutting right to the chase (pun not intended). I fold my arms protectively
over my chest and narrow my eyes at him as I wait for an answer. I can feel TJ’s body close to mine but don’t
dare look at him, for fear of showing how intimidated I really am.
“To see what ol’ mum is hiding from me but it seems I’m not the only one who’s been kept in the
dark,” Zane trains his eyes on his mother now, grinning like a maniac, “for the whole world should be
informed of what you have in your basement.”
“You wouldn’t,” Norma whispered, for once looking distraught. She looks as if she’s about to beg.
“Oh, without a doubt,” Zane looks like a madman as his eyes pop insanely out of his head and a few
strands of hair fall out of its slicked back style. He’s giving me a lot of Loki vibes. Tense silence is followed by
the echo of his words ringing in everyone’s minds. Norma softly slaps a hand over her mouth as she looks
broken to pieces.
“You’re crazy,” TJ finally speaks, shattering the quietness while shaking his head with disbelief. Zane
doesn’t look even the least bit insulted.
“I know I am,” Zane replies, pulling out a remote control and pressing the only button it has. I hear
sirens in the distance and my eyes grow wide.
“What did you just do?” TJ starts to get mad but I grab his arm so he doesn’t do anything he’ll regret
later. He glances at me and sets his jaw.
“Oh boo-hoo,” Zane mocks us, “looks like his little girlfriend is scared. Don’t worry, you’ll still be
together. In prison!” That’s when the doors burst open.