~Hansel~

WITHOUT ANOTHER WORD I DRAGGED MY STUBBORN LITTLE PSYCHO far from the smirking asshole watching us leave. His grin boisterous.

Makoto Kaiser. The fucking Chairman of the Board's son.

I disliked him on sight. His presence was creating a mess between my brothers, and quickly setting me off like nothing else ever has. Particularly with Madelyn. Seeing his hands on her was enough to imagine smashing his head into a locker.

I sound possessive, yes. But everyone could go fuck themselves if they had a problem with it.

Madelyn was a Sparrow.

We just had to convince her to wear our ink. To be ours officially, even if Kieran might be the one engaged to her at the end of this all. That is...if she accepts.

"Hansel. Where are you taking me?" she stubbornly asked, dragging her feet. Her effort to stop was not lost on me as we turned down another corridor. There were less students around here, and that was exactly why I brought us here.

Heading straight for the last door at the end of the hall, I swung it open.

"Where are we?" Madelyn questioned as I thrust her into the room swallowed in darkness.

The door shut behind us. Completely blind, I filled around for the switch and lights shot upon a grand stage surrounded by red seats. A Steinway was centered in the middle of the wooden floors where buckets of paint and props for an upcoming musical production- littered.

Madelyn turned to me with question marks in her abnormal gaze. She pointed downwards to gesture about the room in which we stood as if I had no clue.

"This is the auditorium," she stated.

"Yes." I nodded.

She rolled her eyes at my obvious tone. "What are we doing here? We're supposed to be meeting with the others for lunch."

"I need to talk to you."

"About what?" she inquired, crossing arms over her swelled chest.

Leaning back against the hood of the entrance like a lazy cat, I watched her from a distance. Dragging my gaze down her lovely body in uniform. The skirt wasn't small enough to reveal too much skin, but the exposure of thighs didn't stop me from imagining the dirty things I could to her. I always fantasized about fucking a schoolgirl in uniform, but none of the chicks appealed to since Carnation.

"Eyes up, Hansel." Madelyn snapped fingers in my face. 

Laughing it off, I noticed she wore the brochette we offered her back at the cabin- in Montana. Her birthday gift from us. Little did she understand the charm was a symbolic presentation to the entire school- and any fucker willing to make advances- that she was off limits.

She was ours.

"Has Kieran spoken to you?" I asked.

Madelyn frowned. "What does Kieran have to do with this?"

"Has he?" I pressed her.

"That depends on what you think he came to talk to me about. Tell me what this is really about, Han."

I pushed off the door and approached her.

"We recently had a discussion about you over the summer. Kieran told us he spoke to you about Carnation that night we rescued your family and Ridley. Among other things."

Her face softened.

She nodded. "He spoke very little about her. The topic was a bit of a trigger for him, I guess."

That was understandable. Kieran and Carnation's relationship had complications not one of us understood. Given that upsetting wedge, he did care for her at a time before we decided to devote ourselves to her as a harem of the richest, meanest rulers at Raven Oak Prep. We'd been children back then. Our families entwined because of their loyalship together as Sparrows, passed down from generations of fathers and so on and so forth.

In adulthood the branding of a Sparrow never leaves. It follows you.

A curse and a gift.

"Their relationship was complicated," I stated.

"And you?" she wondered, eyes curious. "What was your relationship like with her?"

"I loved her." There was no point denying that.

But did I love her enough? No.

Carnation Sweet was a different sort of breed.

When I think back to the past, growing up together, Carnation was a clingy girl the four of us were made to take care of. Beau included. Our parents arranged playdates all the time so we would be distracted from their hushed conversations, which was based on the principles we would inherit as a secret society, therefore it didn't stop us from eavesdropping.

Carnation was no exception. She liked trouble. It was one of the best qualities that attracted us. During her life at Raven Oak Prep it was no secret drama stirred wherever she went. Cara had a habit of  mistreating people. Regardless of the consequences. With us she thought she was untouchable to the world. That was only partially true. Even with as much power as we had, we made enemies ten times over that being rich, entitled assholes didn't exempt us from their plots to take us down. Or kill us.

Wouldn't be the first time.

"Is that why Ridley hates me so much?" she said, taking a cruise around the stage.

"Ridley doesn't hate you." Hate was too strong a word.

She scoffed. "Well he certainly doesn't like me."

"To a point," I amended, to which she rolled her eyes.

If only Madelyn saw the truth.

Ridley's feelings for her extended from a dark place in the past. Our life and what it used to be. After the tragic events with Carnation's death caused a cloud of darkness to hover over him. His life after Cara was no longer in it became filled with anger and pain and grief for his sister. That's when the investigation started on suspicion of her "suicide" as police officers reported. Ridley believed someone murdered Cara. Discovering her body at the edge of the waterfront, lifeless as she was, bleeding out, a single crumpled and wet note in her hand was the worst catalyst for his drive to find her killer.

That confirmed what we suspected, prior.

"He's cautious for you."

"Cautious?" she spun to face me with a disbelieving laugh. "Ridley would have to show something other than loathing, for me to believe that. What does he possibly have to be cautious of."

I shook my head, running a hand down my face. Fuck, this girl was stubborn.

"Look," I started, becoming serious. "The others won't like that l said anything about this, but there are things people didn't know. Things we kept hidden from everyone to prevent worse situations."

"Things like what?" Madelyn demanded, hotly.

"Carnation had a stalker," I blurted. "The notes. The creepy riddles. The dead bodies. This has all happened before."

Madelyn looked pale as I met her gaze. "What do you mean again?"

I sighed. The guys were going to kill me for this.

Irregardless, Madelyn had a right to know, because at the end of the day, we were at fault for what happened to her.

~

What do you think the past wuith Carnation has to do with Madelyn? Is Cara's stalker the same person after Madelyn? If so what do you think he wants? Will history repeat itself?

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Next chapter up next weekend!