Poor Little Dead Girls (36 page)

“Finn, listen to me. Your family is brainwashing you, just like everyone else. But you’re wrong. That’s not how the world works. You don’t take power — you earn it.”

He took another draw on his cigar, and let it out in a series of lazy smoke rings. “That’s what weak people always say.”

He loosened his tie and pulled it off. When he started unbuttoning his collar, she thought about Olivia and gagged. Even that felt weak and slow.

He snickered. “In another few weeks you would have been begging for it, but I’m not interested.” He leered at her anyway, his eyes running over her bare legs. “You’re unsuitable. You all are.”

She paused. There was something there. She could feel it. She didn’t let herself hope, though. Not yet.

“That’s not true, Finn,” she said slowly. “I passed.”

He shrugged her off, now rolling up his sleeves. “That’s what they told you so you would cooperate, but it’s in your blood. The only reason you’re even here is because they couldn’t pass up your fortune.”

Before she could stop herself, she let out an exaggerated groan.

“Nothing you’re saying is even making sense. I don’t have a fortune — I don’t even have a car. Let me go, and I swear none of you will ever see me again. I’ll go back to Portland and never come back.”

“Do you really think I’m that stupid? You’re the last heir. You may not have the money yet, but you will.”

Sadie flashed back to the night of her initiation, when Thayer had told her about the Ralleighs. There’s no one left.

The room around her was starting to blur, and she blinked until he came back into focus. His edges were muddled now, like his body wanted to spread out beyond its borders.

He grinned. “Feeling the buzz?”

She shook her head, but as she did she had to put out a hand to steady herself on the armrest.

“Look, members of the Order are recruited for two reasons. Some are here to improve the bloodline and keep it pure. Others are here to provide capital. Ideally, most members fall into both of those categories, but you’re not so lucky. Even if you had stayed, you wouldn’t have been allowed to reproduce — at least not in the traditional way.”

Sadie closed her eyes. “That’s what the eggs are for.”

He smiled. “The technology isn’t quite there yet, but we’re working on it. Soon we’ll be able to clean them all — create a stock of perfect eggs to use for future generations. That’s why all female members are required to make regular donations. They need a constant supply.”

He picked her phone up off of the coffee table and smirked. “Have you had this since, like, second grade? I didn’t know they still made these.” He flipped it open.

“Now, let’s say you were going to kill yourself. Which you are, by the way. What would you say to your dad?”

“Finn, please. You can still stop this.”

He waved his hand. “We’ll go with the tried and true, ‘goodbye’ then. You would be boring like that. Plus, with your family history, they won’t need much to connect the dots.”

He hit a button and snapped the phone shut. “No points for creativity, but I think it gets the job done. I would send one to your mother too, but we both know she pulled a similarly uninspired goodbye-cruel-world years ago.”

Sadie shut her eyes, willing him to stop talking.

“What happened to my mom?”

Finn shrugged. “Who knows. She was crazy and drugged out. She ran away.” He held up his hands defensively. “That one’s not on us, promise.”

“Bullshit. Someone hurt her when she was here … she almost died on the rocks below the tower.”

Finn looked almost sympathetic. “Dude, your mom was trash. My mom told me all about her. It’s not our fault she couldn’t handle everything that was going on. Some people can’t. Anyway, we need to get going. Any last questions?”

Sadie floundered. His mom? She needed to keep him talking — by now Jessica and the others would be looking for her. “What happened to Anna?”

Something flickered across Finn’s face. His features flinched just slightly, and Sadie’s heart beat faster. Now hope flared, white and hot and fast.

“He killed her, didn’t he? Just like he tried to kill my mom.” Her limbs were starting to tingle, and she had the urge to stand, but she forced herself to stay still.

Finn’s lip curled. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You guys dated, didn’t you? Before you started pretending to like Thayer again. What happened to her, Finn? Did she find out about your stupid eugenics plan and tell you to kick rocks?” She stood up. Her body was light, humming with raw energy. She felt the urge to go higher. She wanted to be free.

“We both know you don’t handle rejection well. Did Daddy have to step in?”

A tremor passed through him, and for a moment she could see every vein in his neck. “Anna was trash, just like your mom. I couldn’t see it at first, but she was threatening everything. It’s time for you to go now.”

He was close. She needed more time. “Did she — ”

“You still don’t get it. It’s already over, Sadie. You’re dying already, but you’re going to jump first. It’s more convincing that way.”

He stood up then. She was out of time.

He jerked his head toward the door. “Go. It’s unlocked.”

She just stared, confused, until the corners of his lips turned up in a cold smile.

“We’re giving you a head start. Sportsmanship.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she almost laughed at how twisted it all was. He wanted her to run. He wanted her to try to get away, just so he could catch her and have the satisfaction of watching her die. But she wasn’t done. She wanted to be closer to the sky first. She wanted to fly.

At the door, she turned and made her last move.

“It was you, wasn’t it? You killed Anna.”

His face stayed frozen in that smile, but one hand — one finger really — started to shake. He was breaking.

“She was unsuitable. She tricked me.”

Sadie took a step back toward him and shook her head. “No Finn, she wasn’t. I saw her results. She passed.”

“You’re lying.” His voice was low and flat, but she kept pushing.

“Whoever told you that is the one that lied. Who was it — your dad? He made you kill her for nothing.”

He looked at her with such hatred in his eyes, she felt a new, cold lick of fear spread down her spine. He lunged around the desk and came toward her.

Then she was running. She stumbled down the hallway, trying not to listen to Finn’s voice as it echoed around her. She just knew she had to go up. Thayer’s voice rang in her head:
It’s not like
there’s a fire escape
. She kept going, anyway.

Finally she found the stairs and climbed. Each time she lifted a foot it felt like it was stuck in quicksand. Her chest burned, and she gasped in air until the edges of her vision went black, but she kept going. She thought about the running test at the beginning of the year, and she almost laughed. She clenched her fists and pressed on.

The stairway spiraled upward for what felt like miles, and by the time she reached the top she was dragging herself up with her arms, one step at a time. If she could only make it to the top, she could fly away.

At last she saw a door. She swung it open wide, and the rush of air that met her was so bitterly cold she had to fight to stay standing. She struggled forward, feeling the icy stones burning her skin.

When she got to the ledge, she looked out over the wall. It was all darkness, but she knew what was beneath her. Rocks and waves. Freedom.

She placed one foot on the ledge and hoisted herself up so that she stood with her back to the door. She knew he would be there soon.

She watched a single snowflake as it floated past her. A cold wind hit her bare legs, and she shivered, but she kept her head high. She was numb already anyway.

Muffled footsteps fell on the stairs, and the door behind her opened. She heard him pause to catch his breath. She didn’t turn around, but she knew he was watching. She lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. She couldn’t let him win that easily, even though everything inside of her was whispering to jump.

“Just tell me why they tried to kill my mother. Then it’ll all be over.” She shouted the words out into the abyss. She didn’t want his face to be the last thing she saw.

Silence.

“Anna, then. I have to know what happened to them.” The wind whistled around her, muffling her words.

Finally someone spoke. “It’s simple, really. They didn’t belong.”

Sadie whirled around, one foot skidding beneath her on the icy stones. The woman had short blonde hair and a long black coat wrapped tight against the cold. Something about her face triggered a memory, but it was all wrong — like it had wilted and hardened into something Sadie didn’t recognize.

The woman took a step forward. “They were unsuitable. They were a threat to our plans. And now so are you. Jump, please.”

Sadie shook her head. One of her feet slid a few more inches on the slick stone, but she caught herself. “Not until you tell me the details.”

Another step forward. “Your mother tried to take something that wasn’t hers. Anna did the same.”

Sadie wanted to scream. “What does that even mean?”

Moonlight glinted off the woman’s face, and something slid into place. Sadie saw the woman decades earlier — younger and happier, in a photo with her arm around her best friend.

“It was you, wasn’t it? In that photo with my mom.”

The woman just stared back at her. “That’s not important.”

Sadie clenched her fists. “But you did know her. Did they try to kill her because she wanted to leave? You at least owe me that much.”

The woman just threw her head back and laughed.

“Honey, your mom didn’t want out. She wanted in. But she didn’t have what it takes.”

“She was unsuitable?”

“As far as the Order is concerned.”

Sadie shook her head. “What are you saying?”

“Her test was fixed. Everyone has a price, and she had to go.”

Sadie’s jaw dropped. “But you were her friend!”

The woman’s eyes glittered like black marbles. “And she stabbed me in the back.”

She moved closer, and Sadie studied her face. There was something else nagging at the edges of her mind.

The woman took another step forward, and the moonlight glinted off a stone she wore around her neck. Sadie had seen that stone before — green, with a gold C that clutched the gem like a spider.

The weight of the realization almost sent her crashing to the ground.

“It was you.” Anger built behind the words.

No reaction.

“You’re Pamela Cranston. Teddy was going to choose May instead of you. You were jealous.” With the anger came fire, burning away the numbness in her arms and legs and head. Things started to clear. Maybe this was what dying felt like. At least now she knew.

The woman’s mouth stretched into a thin line.

“And you’re out of time.”

“You tried to kill your best friend, for what — a last name? Some creepy, manufactured life that was all planned out ahead of you?” Sadie could hear her voice rising to a shriek. “Did you ever even love him?”

Pamela raised her chin. “They weren’t a good match, anyway. A Cranston marrying a Ralleigh … what a waste.”

The anger bubbled up even higher, warming her from the inside. A gust of wind blew around her legs, and she glanced behind her over the wall but the lightness was gone. She turned back to Pamela with new resolve. Fuck freedom.

She made her voice hard.

“That’s bullshit. You wanted Teddy, and you did what you had to do to get him.”

The cold smile returned. “We live in a meritocracy. Initiative is rewarded.”

Sadie couldn’t take it anymore. “But murder isn’t.”

Anger flashed across Pamela’s face.

“Did you kill Anna too?”

Pamela took a step toward Sadie. “I did what had to be done.”

“She was a kid. What threat could she possibly have been to you?”

Sadie could have sworn she saw a hint of pain in Pamela’s eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it had come. “Like I said, I did what had to be done. Now we’re done talking. Jump.”

“Screw you.”

Pamela smirked. “See now, Ms. Marlowe. That’s why I had to make sure your mother didn’t end up with Teddy Cranston, and that’s why I had to make sure her niece didn’t end up marrying my son. I was not about to let the Cranston family bloodline be polluted by filthy Ralleigh genes.”

“Then why did you even bring me here? I didn’t even know. I never would have found out.” She took a deep breath as the last piece fell into place. “You wanted my family’s money. I’m the heir. That’s why I’m here.”

“Despite your family’s unsavory reputation, they’ve amassed quite a fortune. And once we have it, we’ll have enough. More than the U.S. treasury. It’ll be the smoothest coup in the history of modern government.”

She smiled so wide, her cheekbones looked like they would crack in two.

“That’s why you took my eggs.”

Pamela rolled her eyes. “After you’re gone, we’ll spread a story that you ran away. And if in sixteen years, someone shows up claiming to be the long-lost last remaining heir to the Ralleigh fortune, then so be it. We’ll even have the DNA to prove it. Now jump. Get on with it.”

Sadie lifted her chin. “No.”

“Do it now. Fly away, Ms. Marlowe.”

She shook her head. “I’m not letting you do this. I’m not trash, and neither was my mother. But you know who is? Your son.”

“Jump.” Sadie could see the tendons jutting out of Pamela’s neck. Her face flushed red.

“He’s a drunk, worthless piece of scum who raped Olivia. He should be in jail.”

“Shut your mouth, and jump.”

“He’s a rapist, and I’ll tell everyone what he did! You raised a monster. How’s that for polluting the Cranston family name?”

Pamela stepped toward her, her face now a deep, angry purple. She clapped her hands over her ears and screamed. “Stop talking and jump!”

Sadie took a deep breath and shouted as loud as she could: “Finn. Cranston. Is a — ”

Before she could finish, Pamela lunged. Sadie watched her, frozen, as she came forward. Her blonde hair was blowing back off of her face, and in her eyes was a hatred so pure and concentrated that it took Sadie’s breath away.