He held his hands up in surrender. “You got it. But you better be on your best behavior tomorrow. Even though I won’t be there to supervise, we will still have eyes and ears on you.”

“Good, so when they cart me off in a body bag, you’ll have a front-row seat.” I left him with that morbid thought and headed out of the studio.

I knew he wouldn’t have a comeback for that, and I couldn’t resist getting one more jab in. Since I had no control over what would happen, I could at least control my actions, and being snarky made me feel better. That was probably a character flaw I should work on, but it was my only defense mechanism for now.

Chapter 2Shiloh

“What did I miss?” I questioned as I entered my cousin Sonya’s living room.

Her long legs were sprawled across her roommate Devon's, who was also sitting on the couch. The two cackled like hyenas, which usually meant they were up to no good or high… or both. But I wasn’t asking.

“Shy! What are you doing here?” Sonya seemed shocked to see me, even though it was Saturday afternoon, and we had spent this time together every week since we were teenagers.

“Was I not supposed to come today?” She and Devon sometimes liked to do their own thing without me, but I figured she would have told me beforehand.

They had been joined at the hip since high school, which was over a decade ago, but some things never changed. Even though I had grown, they seemed to stay the same.

Regardless, Sonya was my best friend-ish, but I wasn’t hers. I tried to find other people to hang out with, but Shy wasn’t just a nickname—it described my personality. Meeting new people was painful for me, and I tended to stick to what I knew, which was these two perpetual teenagers.

“No. Of course, you were supposed to come. I didn’t realize the time.” She dropped her feet to the floor and pulled my arm. “Sit,” she insisted, and I plopped in between them.

“Is everything okay? You’re acting funny.” My eyes scanned them both, trying to figure out who would crack first, but they both gave me blank stares.

I wasn’t sure if they were acting or if they had genuinely forgotten what they had been laughing about.

“Are you hungry?” Devon asked, and Sonya seemed to jump on that bandwagon.

“Starving!” She reached for a bag of cheesy puffs on the coffee table and tossed a handful in her mouth. That probably meant she was high, but I tried not to let my annoyance show.

Sonya and Devon loved to partake in “medicinal” drugs. They claimed it helped with their anxiety, but I wasn’t sure what they had to be anxious over. Neither of them had a stressful job. Sonya played video games for a living, and I didn’t know what Devon did. I was pretty sure she worked, but I couldn’t guarantee that. Besides, it didn’t matter because they never took anything seriously.

On the other hand, I was a ball of nerves all the time and could benefit from extra help. However, weed was not the “medication” of choice for me. I had taken one of Sonya’s edibles one time, and my paranoia had me convinced that a zombie apocalypse was plausible and that we needed to have a plan of defense. Granted, we were watching The Walking Dead at the time, but still. I was worse off after taking it than I was before, so never again.

I stared at Sonya, trying to solve the puzzle of her. She was a beautiful, tall, curvy blonde who could turn a lot of heads if she wanted to. But she didn’t seem to care, and when she was at home, she was a total slob.

I watched as she wiped artificial orange dust on her sweats before passing the bag to Devon.

Devon and Sonya could have passed for sisters. Devon had long blondish hair and was also about 5’10”. To say I was jealous of them was probably an understatement. I had short, dull brown hair and was lucky to be 5’1” in shoes. They were both living on their own planet, and I wondered if that was by choice or design.

After Devon grabbed some puffs to munch on, she offered the snack to me, but I shook my head.

“No thanks. I just ate.” I tried not to show my disgust for the processed junk that was trying to be passed off as food.

“More for us.” Sonya yanked it into her lap and crunched on a few more before throwing one in the air for Devon to catch in her mouth, which she did not, and it rolled onto the floor.

“Don’t worry, Flo will get it.” Sonya laughed, and I wondered if she had hired a maid.

Just then, she called to her home assistant, “Start Flo Slut,” and a robot vacuum wheeled into the room.

“You named your vacuum, floor slut?” I stared at her disbelievingly, although I wasn’t sure why I was surprised—she was twenty-nine going on thirteen.

“What? I call it like I see it. She picks up all my sloppy seconds.” She laughed so hard that she stood up, crossing her legs. “Oh my god. I have to pee.” Instead of walking toward the bathroom, she danced around like a toddler.

“Why don’t you go then?” I asked, stating the obvious, and she appeared dumbfounded.

“Gross. I’m not going to piss my pants—again.” She threw her head back as she roared, but finally took off to relieve herself.

“Obviously, I didn’t mean she should go in her pants.” I turned to Devon, who shrugged, and I wasn’t sure why I bothered explaining myself.

“So, how goes the hunt?” Devon never made much sense, and this was no exception.

I was a vegetarian, so I was clueless as to what she was on about, but I found with her that it was better to play along than ask for clarification because it would inevitably leave me more confused.

“It’s on point.” That seemed to be the right amount of vague.

“Yeah? Well…” She turned toward the bathroom before continuing. “We helped.” She beamed, and my stomach sank.

I didn’t know what that meant, but it couldn’t have been good. The two Tweedles had no idea what would benefit me, so that was the first clue I was in trouble.

“Please don’t do anything. You know I don’t like to ask for help.” Maybe she could take it back, and no harm would come my way.

“Don’t be silly. You didn’t have to ask. We wanted to do this.” Devon appeared proud as a peacock while Sonya strolled in, smiling.

“What did we want to do?” she asked as she sat beside me.

“You know.” Devon eyed her, and then an understanding gaze crossed her face.

“You told her? I thought it was going to be a surprise!” Sonya seemed annoyed, but no one could be more aggravated than me.

“She didn’t tell me anything, but someone better start talking!” I surprised everyone, including myself, with my harsh tone. I never raised my voice, especially not at Sonya, because I still had an inferiority complex around her. But this had pushed me over the edge.

“With anger issues like that, I guess you do need our help.” Sonya tsked, and Devon nodded in agreement.

I took a relaxing breath and tried to calm the rage bubbling inside my soul. “Please, just tell me what is going on.” I stared pleadingly into Sonya’s blue eyes, which were as empty as a crystal ball.

“I don’t think we should tell you.” She crossed her arms defiantly, and I fought my urge to scream.

“So, I’m just supposed to guess what this ‘help’ is?” This was worse than I could’ve imagined. How was I supposed to live my life when I would be in constant fear of how they interfered?

“You’ll know when you know.” Sonya glared at me smugly, and I turned to Devon to see if she would give anything away, but she appeared as confused as me.

“Fine.” I stood up. “I’m heading out. I have things to do.”

“You’re still doing your Sunday ritual tomorrow, right?” Sonya inquired, and my alarm bells began ringing.

“What do you mean by that?” Sure, I was predictable and adhered to a routine on the weekends, but I needed to know what part she was referring to.

“You know, your crossword at Java Jive around ten.” This had to be where their “help” would go down, right?