PROLOGUE
SEBASTIAN
Blood pooled around my unlaced sneakers. The potent, iron-like scent was a fist around my throat, squeezing and squeezing and squeezing until I choked on the density of it. I reached for oxygen as though it was something I could capture inside my fist and punch through my chest.
A scream formed low in my gut, wild and feral, and when it finally burst past my lips, the force of it was enough to stop time. I got lost in its echo, bones quivering and heart still. My kneecaps bobbed fiercely beneath the jeans I wore, and I collapsed against the pavement. My palms found purchase in a puddle of his blood, and I watched the thick liquid race past my wrists and dribble down my forearms.
The sight made my stomach heave, and I felt the telltale burn of vomit as it thrummed violently in my chest and burst from my throat. My hand shook as it shot into the night air, fingers aching as they searched for someone, anyone, to anchor themselves to.
Foster. The only pillar I’d ever known.
I linked my warm fingers with his cold ones, lifting his lifeless hand to my chest. I pressed his palm to my heart as though the unsteady force would be enough to make his beat again.
His arm remained limp in my grasp, his veins prominent and blue as they rose to the surface of his grimly painted skin. Blood flowed from both of his nostrils, over the curve of his lips and down the slope of his chin. The green in his eyes had vanished alongside his soul, and I stared into their unfamiliar darkness, my conscious screaming at them to brighten again.
Each of his legs were crooked, bent at unnatural angles, and I possessed this sudden, painful urge to straighten them—to put him back together. His right hand was frozen in a tight fist at his side, drowning in the ripples of his own blood. Once blond hair was now stained red with the last of the blood that flowed from it.
Sweat surged down my neck as quickly as tears stained my cheeks, and I felt my heart jump in my chest as I collapsed against his body and scooped his blood into my palms. My movements were frantic, and breath burst from my chest in uneven exhales as I desperately tried to shove his blood back into the wound that pierced his head.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
I felt the sound of that clock low in my gut. Each thrum got stronger than the last, cracking the earth that surrounded us. I was racing against that sound, and my moves became more hectic and determined as I willed my efforts to be enough.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
Tick…
…tock.
CHAPTERONE
SEBASTIAN
8 MONTHS LATER
Ridgemont High was cast under a veil of darkness. Rows of cracked bricks were stacked one on top of the other, lined with moss and littered with leaves. Rain pummeled the curved edges of the building, tearing sections of old paint off the window sills. Its peak was concealed by shadows, protected by the thick morning air. Between its angled walls sat a two hundred year old clock that never stopped singing. The ominous noise was buried in the sounds of the storm, camouflaged by taps of rain and the whistles the wind made.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
Tick. Tock.
The heavy sound was near palpable—enticing in a way that made it Ridgemont High’s very own siren song. The slow melody the clock sung charmed teachers into aisles of isolation. It lured students into tunnels of somber hallways and silent classrooms.
It promised life… but only ever managed to tie us all to death.
Fragments of cobblestone shifted beneath my feet as I walked. Rain curled around the edges of the hood I wore, pooling in the tops of my eyebrows before racing down the sharp angles of my cheeks. My knuckles popped when I curled my fingers into my palms and shoved my fists deep into my front pockets.
The hairs across my neck rose to attention when a violent rush of students flew past me. They dodged dimly lit puddles with curses leaving their lips. Some had textbooks clutched to their chest while others held soggy cups of coffee. Their urgency seemed to syncopate with the sounds of the clock, and it felt a little louder with each step I took.
Tick. Tock.