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PROLOGUE

JAY HIT THE DOOR WITH HIS SHOULDER, BUT IT didn’t splinter beneath his weight or anything quite so dramatic The handle, which was probably old and in disrepair anyway, fell apart on iainst the wall on the other side The crashing noise filled the dark house, echoing off the walls

The sound of rushing water was stronger in here, as was the stink of urine Violet recoiled froments of the space around her, tiny pieces of the rooed shards catching bits of light froy-looking curtains billowing in on either side of it; a

“Chelsea,” Violet whili frolowing, a blur of light that Violet couldn’tfar too quickly now

“Jay,” she tried to warn, but it wasn’t necessary

Whoever he was, he was already launching hi himself over the sill just as Jay was about to reach hi of water and the stench of old urine

Two of his imprints

“We did it,” Violet breathed “We found her” Outside, the shrill sound of sirens ca except that they’d found Chelsea

And then, before she could stop him, before she could even shout his name, she watched as Jay, too, hurled hie

She started to get up, to go to theto see if he was okay To see if he’d landed safely, but a hand stopped her Chelsea’s hand

Relief rippled within her and spread outward

“It’s okay, Chels, I’m here now I’m here”

She heard it then, a wheezing sound, and she felt frantically for Chelsea’s face, her hands stroking her friend’s cheeks “It’s okay,” she repeated, but this ti

She kept going, her hands searching the girl beneath her as the sirens outside grew nearer and nearer When her hands reached Chelsea’s belly, she felt so warm and sticky and wet

Her first instinct was to draay She didn’t want to touch it Not this Not Chelsea’s blood

But thatas she heard the commotion below her, just outside the“Help! We need help in here!”

She pressed her hands as hard as she could to the wound, it was all she could remember froht thatht be

And then Chelsea went still beneath her

Not the kind of still that happens when someone falls asleep, when you continue to feel their breaths, when you know that their blood is coursing within them

No, this was a different kind of still The kind that Violet had only seen in death

The final kind of still