A Hurt So Sweet Volume Four (Elite of Eden Falls Prep 4)

Three days into my and Alli's visit to my mother, I'm more confused than ever, and Alli seems to share my opinion—my mother is slightly... bonkers.

I've seen her popping pills on too many occasions to count. She smokes right in front of us—and it's not cigarettes, either. She switches from motherly and caring to completely detached and indifferent. Alli and I have only been here a few days and we've already witnessed so many mood swings I stopped counting at twelve on the first day.

She's a wildcard. But at the same time, her sweet moments make her dangerously endearing. And fact of the matter is, I have nowhere else to go. So I stay in the house of wonders in Stormcliff, hoping for something to happen.

What I really want is for Dexter to come get me and bring me back to Eden Falls.

But the thought of wanting that stings. He's a prick who just wants to hurt me for the fun of it. And yet I'm so hopelessly, irrevocably in love with-

"Oh my god."

"Hm?" I look up from the book in my hands that's been turned to the same page for twenty minute.

Alli sits in front of a TV in my bedroom. I get up from my window seat and walk over to her. I've already gotten into the habit of resting my palm protectively on the taut skin of my stomach, and when I find myself doing it again, I quickly pull my hand back, pretending I hadn't done it at all.

I can't care about this baby.

Not when I don't even know if I'll be allowed to keep it when someone finds out it exists.

"Pandora..." Alli swallows thickly, jumping up and blocking my view of the screen. "Let's go take a walk."

"What? Why?"

"Don't look at that," she begs me, but I knit my brows together as I sidestep her and look up at the TV screen.

"And that was Kayla Greene with the last update on the scenario unfolding in Eden Falls," a sombre looking news anchor explains. I feel like I'm going to be sick again.

"What's happened?" I whisper just as Dexter's picture flashes across the screen. I feel hollow. Another photo pops up and I furrow my brows at the screen.

"Suspect is now in custody after being arrested for the murder of his best friend, Lai," the anchor reads out. "More at eleven."

"I'm so sorry," Alli whispers. "I wanted to tell you myself... I had no idea this had happened."

"Lai's d-dead," I stutter.

Alli grabs my hand, holding it tight. "Oh god, Pandora."

"But who killed him?"

She knits her brows together, cocking her head to the side. "Oh, Pandora... Honey."

"What?" I turn my panicked stare to hers. "It wasn't him. It couldn't have been. Dexter would never... he'd never..."

She just stares back, shaking her head in disbelief. "I'm sorry, Pandora. But Dexter Booth is a murderer."

2

Dexter

They wrangle me into the police car and I spend the ride to the station staring numbly through the passenger window.

My life is over. My best friend is dead, and my head is full of ideas on how I could have prevented the disaster that took Lai's life. But it's too late now. He's gone.

My hands form fists in the handcuffs. I never allow myself to be weak, but the murder has made it damn near impossible not to... feel. For someone who's locked all emotion behind a brick wall for a decade, it's a fucking impossible feat to move on now. It feels as if the dam holding back my innermost thoughts is breaking down. I'm approaching a meltdown. Staring down the barrel of th

e gun. And there's no one left to help me.

Lai is dead.