Forest Lake

Chapter 64

Mason POV

“Tomorrow is Halloween.” Jax said as we sat down at the table. “There is a party. Are we going?”

“Are you serious?” I asked, raising my eyebrow at him.

“I am.” he nodded. “We need a distraction.”

Yes, but not in the form of a party.

“Come on, Mase.” Jax sighed. “It will be fun.”

I looked at Emma. She wasn’t even listening to our conversation. She was staring down at her plate, and she was completely lost in thought. There were dark circles under her eyes because she had barely slept since that nightmare two days ago.

“Eat, Emma.” I said softly.

She picked up her fork and started eating slowly.

“Is she okay?” Chris asked me quietly, leaning toward me.

“She isn’t sleeping.” I answered quietly.

Chris glanced at Emma worriedly.

“Do you know anything about Monica?” Hazel asked.

I clenched my fists. That bitch deserved to burn in hell. We still didn’t know for sure if it was her, but I had a feeling it was. She was crazy enough to help a psychopathic killer. I really didn’t know what the fuck I was thinking when I decided to fuck her. She wasn’t even that good.

“No.” I said, gritting my teeth. “She is denying everything.”

“Bitch.” Chris mumbled angrily.

“It has to be her.” Jax sighed, looking down at his plate. “She is the only one who ever approached Emma.”

“I’m sure there were other jealous girls, though.” Hazel added.

I looked at Emma again. She wasn’t eating again. She was just staring at her plate.

“You need to eat, Emma.” I told her, placing my hand on her back.

She flinched and looked up at me. She was exhausted.

“What did you say?” she asked me quietly.

My heart clenched painfully. She needed sleep, but no matter what I told her or what I did, she kept refusing to close her eyes. She was so exhausted that she accidentally fell asleep a few times, but she would wake up an hour or two later, covered in sweat, shivering and sobbing.

“You need to eat, Emmy.” I said, pointing down at her plate. “You barely ate anything.”

“I am not hungry.” she mumbled, looking back down at her plate.

“You still need to eat.” I sighed, picking up her fork and handing it to her.

She took it from me and sighed.

“I really think we need to go tomorrow.” Jax said, looking at Emma. “What do you think, Em?”

“About what?” she asked, moving her food around the plate.

“Halloween party.” Jax said. “We should go. You need a distraction.”

“I’m not really in a party mood, Jax.” Emma said quietly.

“And that’s exactly why we need to go.” Jax said. “You need to stop thinking about that fucker. What better way to do that than to put on a costume and watch a ton of chicks trying to get your brother’s attention?”

I rolled my eyes. “Really, Jax?”

“What?” he shrugged. “It’s going to be hilarious. You won’t take your eyes off of Emma because you will be overprotective as usual, and a ton of girls will try to get you to look at them. I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when they realize that they don’t have a chance.”

Chris snorted and shook his head. Hazel chuckled. Emma didn’t say or do anything. She was just staring down at her plate.

“I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you realize that none of that will happen because we are not going.” I said sternly.

“Why the hell not?” Jax sighed.

“Are you really asking me that?” I rolled my eyes at him again. “What if it wasn’t Monica? What if that jealous bitch tries to hurt Emma at the party?”

“Would you really let that happen?” Jax asked, raising his eyebrow at me.

“Of course not.” I said, clenching my fists.

Just thinking about someone hurting Emma had me ready to burn the fucking world down.

“We don’t have a problem then.” Jax said as he smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.

“No.” I said sternly.

“What do you think, Em?” Hazel asked, looking at Emma.

“About what?” Emma asked, looking up at Hazel.

The four of us sighed. She was completely distracted, and I was worried as fuck.

“Halloween party.” Hazel said softly. “We are going tomorrow.”

“I don’t have a costume.” Emma mumbled, looking back down at her plate.

“I do.” Hazel said. “You are borrowing mine and we are going.”

Yeah, no.

“Am I speaking a foreign language?” I asked, annoyed. “I told you that we were not going.”

“I think Emma needs it.” Hazel said, looking at me. “She needs to stop thinking about him and get out of that room.”

I looked at Emma and took a deep breath. I knew she needed a distraction, but I wasn’t sure that a party was a good idea. Too many people who could hurt her would be at that party.

“Emma?” Hazel called her, making Emma look up. “How about you and I have a girls’ day tomorrow? We could spend the day together, and we could get ready for the party together. What do you say?”

“No.” I answered for Emma. “I am not leaving her.”

“Fine, not the whole day.” Hazel sighed. “We could have a girls’ night.”

“No.” I said, shaking my head. “I am not leaving her, even for a minute.”

“Come on, Mase.” Jax added. “We will be right next door. Nothing will happen.”

Was I really speaking a different language? What part of ‘I am not leaving her’ and ‘we are not going’ didn’t they understand?

“Can you help me explain these two that it wouldn’t be safe for Emma to go to a party and that I don’t plan on leaving her alone?” I sighed, looking at Chris.

He was looking at Emma with a worried expression on his face.

“Maybe it’s not a bad idea, Mase.” Chris mumbled. “She would be safe with us. No one would manage to approach her, let alone touch her. She could use a night out.”

Was he serious?!

“What do you say, Emma?” Chris asked her. “Would you like to go tomorrow?”

She looked up at Chris and furrowed her eyebrows. Did she really already forget that we were talking about going to a party?

I was worried as fuck. I needed to talk to doctor Chase about this. Maybe she needed pills to sleep. Or maybe she needed to go to therapy. Whatever it was, I would do it for her.

“If Mason is going then I am going as well.” she mumbled quietly, looking back down at her plate.

“You see, Mase?” Jax smiled. “She wants to go.”

“That is not what she…” I started to argue, but I was interrupted when my phone rang.

I took it out of my pocket. Peters was calling me.

“Yes?” I answered, clenching my fists.

“Where are you?” he asked me, and I could hear people talking around him.

“Dining hall.” I said. “We are having lunch.”

“Can you be in the principal’s office in half an hour?” he asked. “I have some news.”

“Of course.” I said. “Was it Monica?”

“I don’t want to do this over the phone.” Peters said. “I will see you in half an hour.”

“Okay.” I said, trying to stay calm.

Peters hung up, and I placed the phone back in my pocket.

“What did he say?” Chris asked nervously.

“He wants to meet us in half an hour.” I said, looking at Emma. “He didn’t want to tell me anything over the phone.”

I put my arms around Emma and kissed the top of her head. I hoped that Peters had some good news for us. I hoped that both of them would be locked up soon. Emma needed to move on from this. She deserved to be safe and happy. She deserved to go to a party tomorrow without worrying about her safety.

She wrapped her arms around me and leaned her head on my chest.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down a little. I couldn’t wait for Peters to come. Half an hour seemed like eternity.