The Initiation (Darkness Within Duet 1)

“The one that says you want to play and see how far we can push her.”

Draven smiled. Harper hadn’t been on their radar for very long. He wondered what she’d do if they pushed her even a little bit.

“Oh, hell yeah, he’s interested,” Buck said.

“I want to know how deep that rage goes. How far we can push her?”

Axel laughed. “Come on, no chick has been able to handle what we throw at them.”

“True, but none of them have been like Harper,” Jett said. “She’s different.”

“She’s changed,” Draven said.

“Yeah, and if she really has, why did she run?” Axel asked. “I think you’re all giving her too much credit.”

“Maybe, but she didn’t run, did she? She walked home, and did you see the way she looked at her dad?”

“She didn’t want to be there,” Axel said. “I see where you’re going with this. You want to push the little princess to see how dark she can go.”

Chapter Two

After an entire weekend of her father and Hannah smooching over each other, and of course them telling her how important it was to follow rules, Harper was more than happy to go to school come Monday morning. She’d have done just about anything to get out of the house, even walked to school on her own, but lo and behold, Hannah was determined to make friends with her.

Forcing a smile to her lips, Harper stared out at the large, imposing building that she still had to finish this final year before she could even graduate. Hannah brought the car to a stop, and several of the guys gave her a wave as if she was one of them.

“Boys, they always think they’re all that. I remember this place. So many good memories.”

“Is that why you got my father to cheat? You were just making memories?” she asked.

Hannah’s face went pale. “I want to make this work, Harper.”

“You can drop the act. That would be great.” She opened the door, not really caring that she was waiting behind a whole lot of cars. She had no interest in getting to know Hannah or in playing nice.

With her bag high up on her shoulder, she didn’t look toward anyone. She’d been a loner for a long time, never making friends.

She’d tried when she’d been younger, but there were only so many ways she allowed herself to get bullied before she gave it up as a bad job. She’d have girls or boys tell her how fat she was, how stupid, how she needed to change to make herself better. She wouldn’t change just to make friends with the right crowds. So, in high school, she kept to herself.

Walking across the parking lot, she headed toward the front of the school, going through the doors. She noticed all the people whispering behind their hands as they glanced her way.

She was the weirdo who’d found her dead mom.

Good times.

With her bag high up on her shoulder, she made her way toward the locker room. Luck hadn’t been with her this year as she’d been placed right next to the gym, so if she didn’t make it in time, jocks and cheerleaders were always around.

She didn’t like to have them point out all of her many flaws, but it was a pastime of theirs, a hobby.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Draven and his little gang standing near his locker. She had forgotten he had a locker just down the hall from her.

She thought about what she’d witnessed the other night, and she kept her gaze on her locker, working the combination.

Lifting up the latch, she opened the locker and gasped, standing back as dirt spilled out.

She wasn’t fast enough as plenty got on her shoes. Staring at the dry dirt, she couldn’t help but look toward Draven.

This was a message. She hadn’t said anything to anyone, but now, he was stating it as a fact. They’d seen her. They knew what she saw.

This was their message.

“What on earth is going on here?” Mr. Arnold asked. He taught science.

Turning her attention to the teacher, she released a breath.

“A prank,” she said.

“Go to the janitor now, Harper. Get something to clean this up.”

Dropping her bag on the ground, she walked right past Draven without giving him the satisfaction of seeing how pissed she was.

She knocked on the janitor’s closet, and of course, no one was there. The janitor was nearing eighty and walked so slow. The other janitor was the one she saw in the woods, who always gave her the creeps. She liked the older janitor. He’d been here for a long time, and reminded her more of a grandparent than anything else. Sweet guy and he didn’t mind her eating her lunch in the gym when it was empty. She opened the door and grabbed what she needed, heading back to her locker.