And with it came crawling shapes that made my skin crawl: spiders spilling across the floor, over the boxes, over my shoes.
I screamed.
Stings hit my arms, my neck, my cheek. Bites sank into my ankles.
Pain lit up everywhere at once.
“Stop!” I sobbed, pounding the door with both fists. “Somebody! Help me!”
No one came.
No footsteps.
No voices.
Only the twins’ laughter outside, sharp and delighted.
“Next time don’t mess with us!” Vale taunted.
My right eye started swelling shut, heat throbbing under the skin. I couldn’t breathe properly. I couldn’t see properly.
But I didn’t stop.
I forced my hands back to the lock, fingers moving faster, desperate.
The stings kept coming.
My skin burned.
My lungs felt tight.
Finally—
The latch shifted.
The door gave.
I shoved it open and stumbled out, gasping, half-blind, screaming as I ran.
I bolted into the courtyard, air cold against my skin.
The twins were waiting.
They stood under the courtyard lights like two small demons, eyes hard, faces blank with hate.
“You really don’t learn,” Vale snarled, his hands curled into fists.
Ian stepped forward. “You should never come back.”
Then they shoved me.
Hard.
I stumbled backward and fell into the pool.