Stay(46)

Multi-colored lights had been strung up along the fence that surrounded the covered pool. One of the pine trees along the lawn’s edge had even been decorated with big, shiny, red ornaments. I turned around and saw that the whole house was outlined in icicle lights. A big wreath rattled in the wind on the back door. The whole Stepford Wives vibe sent a chill down my spine.

We left the patio and walked several yards through the lawn until we reached a storage shed. Jackson spun the dial on the padlock and opened the door. He held out his arm, motioning for us to go inside.

I stopped dead in my tracks. “No,” I said firmly.

“Nate wants us all to stay in here,” Jackson told me, as if that explanation was enough to make me listen to him.

“I don’t care,” I spat. Phoebe reached behind her and took my hand. “I don’t want to be locked in.”

“You won’t be locked in,” Jackson said slowly. “I’ll be in there with you.”

I almost scoffed. Like that made it any better. Phoebe gave my hand a tug.

“Please, Addie. It cold out here. Don’t get hurt,” she begged. “Come in with me.”

I pressed my lips together in a frown and stepped inside the shed. Jackson clicked on a flashlight and set it on a shelf. He moved out of the shed and began pushing snow around with his foot until he found the end of an extension cord. He shook the snow off, gave it a tug, and dragged it a few feet into the shed. The doors wouldn’t shut all the way with the cord sticking out, but I was grateful for the small space heater it powered.

“You gonna tell us why we’re out here?” Lily asked Jackson.

“Nate’s sister and her family are in town,” he began. “They’re coming over for Christmas dinner. He doesn’t want us in the house.”

The words were like a sucker punch to the face. Nate, who I considered the scum of the earth, got to spend Christmas Eve with his family, and I didn’t. Suddenly, I decided that I wasn’t going to feel sorry for myself anymore. A new kind of rage burned inside me, one that made me want to find the nearest pointy object and stab Nate repeatedly.

“That’s fucking bullshit!” I spat. Jackson looked at me in surprise. I had barely spoken to him, let alone cursed in anger. “He gets to sit in there and act all normal and be warm and eat good food while we freeze our asses off huddled around a little heater in a shed!”

“Act normal?” Lily questioned, her blue eyes wide.

“Yeah, normal.” I shook my head. “Or at least like a decent human being.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, and a bit of innocence was visible on her young face again.

“His sister doesn’t know what he does. If she did, he wouldn’t have to hide us outside.”

“Oh,” Lily said. She looked down, her thoughts salient in her expressions. She knew everything about it was wrong, but she was so brainwashed, she was having a hard time figuring out just why it was wrong. “What he’s doing is illegal,” she concluded.

“And immoral, and degrading, and objectifying, and—”

I cut off when headlights illuminated the road in front of the house. A van pulled into the driveway, disappearing from view when it parked in front of the house. Then the back door opened, and Rochelle stepped out, looking behind her as she ran through the yard and joined us in the shed.

Everyone huddled around the space heater. I stayed by the door, watching the house through the crack in the door. We weren’t far; I could easily get Nate’s sister’s attention. I could see them through the kitchen window. His sister was tall and blonde, just like him. I wondered if she had any idea just how sick and twisted her brother was.#p#分页标题#e#

I looked behind me. The four had their backs to me. They wouldn’t notice if I slipped out. Slowly, I pushed the door open. I walked several feet toward the house and bent down, picking up a handful of snow. I balled it in my hands, ignoring the instant sting it brought my fingertips and waited for the surface to melt just enough to help the snowball hold its shape.

I focused on the kitchen window, pulled my arm back, and swung it forward. Right before the snowball left my fingers, Jackson grabbed me.

“What are you doing?” he cried and pulled me to him. The snowball flew through the air and smacked into the side of the house, missing the window by only a few inches.

“Let me go!” I screamed.

Jackson put his hand over my mouth and wrestled me to the ground. Someone rushed to look out the window and find the source of the noise. Jackson pressed his body over mine, pushing me down and out of the line of sight.