Her body was found at the kissing rock.
The very last place I was supposed to meet Trent and his friends last night.
Madison wasn’t supposed to be found dead at that rock this morning. It was supposed to be me.
Nine Years Later
“Have you talked to them yet?” Katherine asks from her position across from me.
I lift my shoulder noncommittally because no, I haven’t talked to my parents, even though I know I should. It’s nearing the ninth anniversary of Madison’s death.
Nothing ever felt right since that morning, especially not at home with my mom and dad. When parents lose a child, most of the time, they lose themselves. They neglect responsibilities in turn for their grief, which is understandable. Only, during their grief, my parents forgot about me. They forgot about how much pain I was in, too. They didn’t see how much I needed them. Or maybe they did, and they just didn’t care.
I haven’t seen my parents in eight years. Eight long, lonely years.
After I graduated, it seemed as though this black cloud loomed over my family’s heads—more like the entire town. When I left Ferndale, my parents offered no resistance. They didn’t beg me to stay or offer to be present in my life as I’d hoped. They didn’t even attend my graduation ceremony. I guess it was too hard for them to watch me walk across the stage without Madison.
I hoped the college experience would help me move on from her death. A new coast. A new city. A new crowd of people. A new everything.
It didn’t.
If anything, my time away from Ferndale made me think about Maddie more than I wanted to. She was everywhere, yet not really where I needed her to be. My thoughts of her verged on obsessive. Why did this happen to her? Did she suffer? And my biggest fixation was, why would someone want to murder my sister, and why hadn’t her killer ever been brought to justice?
When a murder in a small town like ours goes unsolved, it leaves a taint. And that’s exactly what Maddie’s death did to Ferndale. The happy-go-lucky town turned into a sad, neglected place tourists no longer wanted to visit.
Young girl gets brutally murdered in the woods? Yeah, that’s not the best advertisement to entice tourists and vacationers to bring their families.
“I’ll give them a call sometime later,” I mumble, opting to gulp a mouthful of my strawberry mimosa to avoid saying any more lies.
Kat shares a look with our friend Vera before she shoots me a look across the table, her perfect brows arched and all. “You know, Kenz, I think—”
“Can we not talk about this right now? Please.”
Her mouth snaps shut, and she nods. I think this is the most self-restraint I’ve ever seen from her.
Vera and Katherine don’t know everything about my past, but they do know my sister died, and I no longer have a close relationship with my parents. What they don’t know is that my sister was my twin, and I’ve blamed myself for her death for the past nine years.
Kat goes back to flipping through the pages of her gossip magazine. Vera and Kat live for those things—the who’s who and most eligible bachelors here in New York. All the stuff I really couldn’t care less about.
When she lands on something particularly juicy, she lets out a squeal and starts fanning her face. She’s about as dramatic as they come. Immediately, Vera scoots closer, trying to get a look at what she’s squealing about. As they scan the page, their eyes widen, and if possible, their eyes sparkle. I can damn near see the money signs in their gazes.
“Holy shit.” Vera gasps. “This is going to be the hottest event of the year. Can you imagine how many connections we could make? We need to be at that club opening.”
The glint in Kat’s eyes says she wholeheartedly agrees with that statement.
“Check this out.” Kat, completely giddy, slides the paper they’ve been glued to toward me, and I roll my eyes, preparing to read something that will no doubt be a waste of time.
That’s when I see it.
Or him.
The tattoo on his forearm is a dead giveaway.
My mouth goes dry as I stare at the man in the photograph. It’s been years since I’ve last seen him—any of them, really—and I’m instantly transported back nine years in time.
I sprint out of the house, the front door banging against the wall in my haste. I don’t bother looking over my shoulder to see if Sheriff Keller is following me or still trying to console my parents. I have one thing on my mind, and one thing only—Trent Ainsworth.
What happened last night? Was this his plan all along? Did he and Madison get in a fight at the kissing rock, and that’s how she wound up dead? So many questions and possible answers hit my brain at full force, but I don’t like any of them. I need to know what happened last night.
The real story.
Still dressed in my pajamas and the fuzzy slippers Mom and Dad bought for me last Christmas, I sprint down the dirt road, heading toward the one place I know the Savages will be. The courts.
Every Sunday, the guys play basketball at the courts. Just as every Friday since the dawn of time has been reserved for their football games. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember, which is why I know, deep in my gut, that they’ll be there.
Gravel and pebbles of dirt kick up against the backs of my ankles and calves as I sprint through the streets of Ferndale. The bitter coldness of the morning clings to my skin and seeps into my chest. It almost feels as if I’ve swallowed a block of dry ice. With each puff of air, more plumes of white vapor escape my lips. My chest feels like it’s on fire, and there’s a tight stitching in my side that almost has me doubling over and vomiting along the road, but I can’t stop now. I can’t give up now.
Fatty Kenzie will not give up.
My heart squeezes at the nickname Madison gave me. Tears sting my eyes, but it’s not for the reasons one would think. I’m used to Maddie and her harsh words, but the thought…God, just the thought of never hearing her voice again, never seeing her curl her beautiful long hair in the mornings before school, never watching her tip her head back when she laughs devastates me. I can’t get any of the moments back with my sister. My twin. The girl I shared the womb with.
She’s gone.
She’s really gone.
Tears stream down my face as I think about my sister. She wasn’t always so snobby and mean. She used to be my best friend. My protector. Hell, we even shared the twin phenomenon of feeling each other’s pain and sharing the same thoughts once upon a time.
So why didn’t I feel her last night?
Why the hell didn’t I feel how afraid Madison must’ve been during the last seconds of her life?
Shaking my head, I dig deep and run through the pain. My calves start to tighten and cramp. When the abandoned streets clear, I know I’m getting closer. In the distance, I can see the courts ahead and the low fog that clings to the earth, almost hiding the dark figures playing up ahead. But I can feel them. I know they’re there.
My slippers slap against the pavement as I near their game. The fog hanging close to the grass near the courts starts to disappear, and before I know it, I’m there, standing before the five—wait, scratch that—the four formidable devils—the Savages of Humboldt County. I’m sure I look absolutely insane still dressed in slippers and pajamas with bedhead and tears streaming down my face. I can only imagine what they’re thinking.