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𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 : 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒

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Dolion didn't let go of my arm until we reached the parking lot. I rubbed the spot he had been gripping, watching him as he strode to what must've been his car, throwing open the back seat door and sticking his head inside to dig around. When he emerged, he held up a pack of cigarettes and a lighter with a triumphant grin.

"Want one?" he asked.

I crossed my arms. "You brought me out here to smoke? Are you serious?"

He rolled his eyes, pulling one of the cigarettes out and placing it between his lips. He tossed the pack back inside his car and shut the door before lighting the little thing. The smell hit me instantly and I curled my fingers into the palms of my hands, pressing down hard.

Believe it or not, I was in the middle of trying to quit smoking. It had been a nasty little coping mechanism after my dad died, as if the smoke would somehow take away everything I had been feeling. As if it would heal what had been broken.

"You don't remember me at all, do you?" he asked, blowing smoke from his lips as he stuffed the lighter into his back pocket. I gave him a blanket look because where the hell was I supposed to remember him from? Surely I would've recognized him if I did, he was handsome enough for me not to forget. "Gotta say that hurts, just a little."

The clouds overhead looked darker than this morning, thick and moving slowly across the sky. We were going to get rained off if he didn't finish his little game and tell me what was going on.

"I'm guessing your dad wasn't one to bring you to the office much," he said with a shrug. "Just surprised he didn't mention me."

I took a step away from him, suddenly very cautious of what we were doing out here alone. "My dad? What's he got to do with anything?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"My father's dead, he didn't tell me what?"

He flicked the growing ash from his cig, dragging his eyes down my body. He gave me a surprised raise of his eyebrows and said, "He really didn't tell you? I'm shocked, I would've guessed he was the one to bring his work home with him."

"He worked in a church, part time," I said, heart thumping against my chest. Did he know something I didn't know about my father? About what happened?

"Yeah and my family did some work with him."

"And this pertains to me? How?"

"You were there, one of the days my parents and I came in," he murmured, taking another slow drag of his cigarette. The blow bellowed out from his nose and mouth as he said, "God, I'm starting to see how this might all sound insane to you."

"You have no idea," I snapped. I couldn't see how any of this mattered. I knew my father did business with all sorts of people, hell, Brown admitted to it when he said he'd done great things for the community. My father was a businessman, this wasn't new.

"We met briefly," Dolion continued his explanation. "Your dad was the one to introduce us, actually."

"Okay, so?"

"Listen, what I'm trying to get at is that his work with that church...it wasn't what it seemed."

I frowned. My father worked for the Clandestine Church in town for as long as I remember, and probably even longer before that. He had stepped down from the board to take up a part time job, wanting to be more involved with the family and as much as that pleased my mom, it only irritated me. It was like he was trying to make up for his neglect.

Dolion studied me, finally killing his cigarette on the ground, stomping it out. "You really don't know anything, do you?"

"Know what?"

He made a sound in the back of his throat like a scoff through a laugh as he shook his head. "I brought you out here to accuse you of what happened, to tell you to your face what a monster you must've been to be involved with that church." He shook his head again and my eyes narrowed. "But you're just as clueless as the rest of this stupid town."

"I'm sorry," I hissed under my breath, "but what the fuck are you talking about?"

"Your father's work, it wasn't just with cute little old ladies looking to switch churches and organize community events," Dolion snapped, growing just as irritated as I was. "My parents are dead because of him and those assholes he works with!"

My mouth fell open and I choked on my breath, coughing out, "What?"

"My parents came to your dad and his people for help," he said, tone softening like he was just now realizing how he was speaking to me. "My mom and dad...they knew what the church was a front for so they asked for help with some money because my mom got laid off from work and dad, well, he couldn't afford anything except what comes in brown paper bags." He rubbed the back of his neck, giving me a sorry look. "They gave us a loan and when they couldn't pay them back by the time they wanted them too..." He shook his head again. "Those people in that church, their little group, killed them. They had my parents killed."

"Jesus-fuck-"

I needed to leave, I needed to just turn around and go back to class, I thought to myself. It all felt like some ruthless prank, teasing the new girl because why not? Trying to scare her off with thoughts of her secret murderous father and his band of criminals.

"Your dad, he was a part of them, he's been a part of the Morticianers for decades," Dolion whispered, a frightening look growing in his wide eyes. Was it fear? Or, perhaps, it was something smug? "And he was killed because of it."

"My dad died in a car accident," I breathed out, shaking my head. "You're crazy, okay? You're psycho--"

"I'm telling you the truth!" he cried, hands curling at his sides like he was tempted to grab me again, to shake me until I understood. "You need to believe me, okay? No one else, not even my uncle, believes me when I say those people at that church are-are evil."

"You're crazy."

Wind blew past us, bringing on the scent of oncoming rain and lingering cigarette smoke into our faces. It nipped at my skin and I curled my arms around myself, hoping I could get out of this and just get back to class. I didn't need some random kid telling me my father was a secret murderer, that he was something even worse than I thought.

My father had been a good man. Hadn't he?

He tried to do right by our family, he was trying. He was making it home for dinner, he was actually asking us about our days, offering to take a family trip to the local movie theater, and even offering to take us all out to a fancy dinner once a week. He had been changing, a bad man couldn't change like that, could he?

"You don't know my father," I whispered, breathless. "He-he did good, honest work for that church and the people in this town."

"They only want money, and loyalty. They want power, Blaire. They aren't good people."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

Even as I said that, I felt panic rise up in my throat. Didn't I know my father? What he did? Didn't I know him better than I thought? He was my dad, my flesh and blood, he wouldn't hurt people. He would deliberately go after someone because of money, we had enough money then as it was.

He was a good man, he was a good man, he was-

"You can look me up," Dolion whispered. "Everything that happened? It's all there. The police attributed their deaths to a random burglary, but I'll tell you this--" His eyes grew dark and the breeze swept his hair from his face. "--nothing was stolen. Not a single thing out of place. Why would a random burglar not steal anything? The guy didn't even search for money or anything valuable."

I wouldn't play into his twisted fantasy, this lunatic story.

"Like, don't you get it? What they're trying to do there?" He let out a hollow laugh and I wondered how many other people had to stand where I was and listen to him rant and rave. "People are being cheated out of their lives, people are dying in this town!"

I swallowed, hard, my throat dry. There was sweat building up on the back of my neck and I ignored my nervous tick to gather it all in my hands and twist it up against my head. This was the first thing Dolion had said that I believed.

People were dying here.

My father wasn't the first, and he certainly wouldn't be the last. Although his death hadn't been suspicious to the police, it hadn't settled well within me. Local Man Dies In Tragic Drunk Driving Accident. The headline burns in my mind, my father wasn't a heavy drinker, there was no reason for him to be drunk that night.

"Why are you telling me this?" I whispered and he met my eyes, the tension in his shoulders easing. Do I trust you? I thought, watching the way his lips parted and his eyes relaxed, no longer wide and raging. Do I trust you and fall down your rabbit hole?

"You need to know the truth, I can't be the only one who knows." He sighed. "I guess I'm just trying to protect you," he murmured, shaking his head and running a nervous hand through his hair. "I thought you had known about what they did, that you were just another silent accomplice like your father and I'm sorry for trying to accuse you of that, but you gotta listen to what I'm saying. You need to stay away from the church, if you want to live."

"Or what?" I asked. Would someone sneak into my home in the dead of night and kill me in my bed? Would someone steal away my livelihood and take the life of my silent, beautiful mother? Would the police call it a nameless robbery gone wrong?

"They'll kill you, just like they killed your father, and just like they killed my parents."

I shook my head, snapping out a little too aggressively, "Well, you don't have to worry about me going to church anytime soon. I haven't been since my dad's funeral and I'm not about to start going now."

He sighed, watching me with his dark eyes as he murmured, "One way or another, we always go back."

lol why do i still hate these first few chapters even after i've edited the hell out of them

if u see this changed again in the future just know it's because im indecisive and cant stick w one thing fucking ever

vote/comment or dolion will spread rumors about your family