Chasm sits up like he’s been electrocuted, turning an aghast expression my way.
“You’ve lost your mind, that’s what. If the dude that kidnapped Parrish is the Slayer then that would—”
“Make him my dad?” I query back, my voice much calmer than my actual emotions. “Apparently.”
Chasm just keeps staring at me like he can’t quite process the information. Eventually, he starts running his fingers through his hair and muttering in Korean again.
“That’s not possible.”
I sit up, too, crossing my legs and letting my hair tease my bare knees.
“Maybe not. Maybe the kidnapper isn’t the Slayer. Maybe he isn’t even my dad. But you know what I do know? He has Parrish tied to a fucking chair. Does it even really matter who the crazy fucker is?” I rub at my face. I’m beyond exhausted, but how could I possibly sleep through this? How?
“How does this guy even know about Tess’ typewriter? About the car?” Chasm murmurs, tucking his knees up close to his chest and putting his arms around them. The sleeves of his blazer climb up with the motion, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of his tattoos. I can barely stand to look at them. Parrish did that; that’s Parrish’s art. “Anything else I should know about? I told you to call me.” He looks supremely irritated, narrowing his amber eyes in a way that reminds me of Parrish. “I can’t help you if you won’t let me.”
“I know.” I cross my legs and rest my elbows on my knees, putting my chin in my hands. “It just felt so … personal.” Chasm doesn’t say anything, but he never takes his eyes off of me. I laugh, but the sound is far from pretty. In fact, it’s one of the ugliest sounds I’ve ever heard on my life. So bitter. So twisted. “He made me tell Tess such awful things … Whoever he is, this is personal. Extremely personal.”
“So you did what he asked. Now what?”
“He wants me to find Parrish,” I begin, thinking about the stag mask, wondering what it represents. A quick search online gave me a possible answer: fatherhood. Gross. “This is … it’s like a game to him.” I glance back at Chas to find him frowning, mulling over the situation and doing what I’ve been doing since this morning: looking for a solution to the puzzle. “As long as I do what he says, he’ll keep Parrish alive. But it’s up to me to figure out where he is.” I pause for a moment, picking at the black comforter beneath us with my fingernails. “He knows you know, by the way. The kidnapper, I mean. He says he doesn’t care who I pick as my ‘pawns’, as long as you don’t tell anyone that’ll try to intervene, like Tess or the cops or something.”
“He what?” Chasm repeats, blinking in surprise. “How could he possibly know that?”
I lift up the phone and give it a little shake before tossing it onto the bed in front of us.
“Take your best guess, but I would assume through the phone camera? How else?” I groan and rake my fingers through my hair. This is a lot to process; I’m fairly certain that I’m still in shock. My emotions are not that of a normal person right now. I feel detached, distant, like this is happening to someone who isn’t me. “Anything interesting happen at school?” I ask, trying to change the subject so I can have a moment to breathe.
“Everyone thinks Parrish took off to escape Tess. It’s like this is a big game to them.” He sighs heavily, but I can easily see that being the case. In a school full of rich brats with private jets at their disposal, this actually happens a lot. Two weeks ago, a senior girl took off mid-class and flew to Spain without telling her parents. “Danyella and Lumen were worried about you though.”
They’ve been texting me all day, but I haven’t had the strength to respond. I even have messages from Maxine as well as my grandparents, even with all the risk that entails. Everyone’s worried about me when they should be worried about Parrish instead.
“You look exhausted,” Chasm tells me, uncurling his arms from his legs. “You should try to get some sleep. I’ll watch the phone and wake you up if another message comes through.”
I give him a look.
“I can’t sleep right now,” I say, as if that’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Are you joking? I’m not sleeping until Parrish comes home.” Chasm’s face falls in a way that scares me. It scares me because he looks away, tries to hide it. “You don’t think Parrish is coming home, do you?”
“I think that this is going to go on a lot longer than you think. You can’t forgo sleep for … however long it takes to resolve this.” Chasm reaches out and pulls me into his arms, dragging me down to the bed and tucking my head beneath his chin. I go completely stiff, a sense of betrayal snaking through me. It should be Parrish holding me here like this, not Chasm. I shouldn’t like Chasm holding me either. It’s fucked. It’s so goddamn fucked. Told ya you were cringey, Dakota. “Shh. Just relax. I’ve got you, Little Sister. We’ll get through this together, no matter what it takes.”
