Evelyn was texting Annie as she walked into the kitchen. It was late Wednesday night, and she was feeling hungry. Honestly, she might have a bowl of cereal. She was feeling those raisins calling her name.

  Maybe she’d just have a box of raisins. Those were pretty good.

  She placed her phone on the countertop and grabbed a small box. Nick was at the table, doing homework with his hand in his hair. The stitches were out, and Evelyn’s eyes lingered on the scar on his cheek. It looked bad now, but it would get better. Nick had come into her room Sunday night to apologize for everything again, and Evelyn didn’t let him finish. She had forgiven him. If she hadn’t already in Calawit’s tent, she would have when she felt Chaos’s presence. Nick went through hell, and she would not hear him apologizing for anything. He accepted her apology, and she saw no reason to require an apology from him.

  They were practically back to how they were. Despite the very long month of what felt like their relationship shredding to bits, it was so much easier to know Nick had never been that person.

  “Hey, Evelyn? Can I see your phone for a second?” Walt asked, picking up her phone. “There’s some safety features I want to check.”

  Evelyn popped open the box of raisins, frowning. “What kind of safety features?”

  “Oh, social media apps and making sure you haven’t downloaded anything that’ll attract predators,” Walt said.

  Evelyn frowned, holding the raisins. “Um…”

  Walt gave her a humorous look. “No, I’m not going to look through any of your private conversations. You’re not Nick.”

  At his name, Nick glanced up, then realized he didn’t want to be a part of the conversation and focused on his homework again. Evelyn’s frown deepened at Walt’s ability to insult Nick when he was right there.

  “Dad, come on,” Evelyn said.

  Walt shook the phone in front of her. “I won’t read private conversations, I give you my word. I just need to check some apps.”

  Evelyn held in a sigh. To be honest, she was afraid of saying no, but she also knew this day would come eventually. Nick could be the least favorite child for only so long. “None of my private conversations.”

  “Absolutely none.”

  “How long do you need it?” Evelyn asked.

  “As long as it takes.”

  Evelyn didn’t like this, but she didn’t dare disagree. “Fine. I want it back in ten minutes.”

  “We’ll see,” Walt said, walking over to the table with the phone.

  Evelyn wanted to stay, but she wasn’t sure if she could handle it. Walt would probably get annoyed with her sitting on the chair next to him, breathing over his shoulder.

  She forced herself to turn around and enter her room. If she started to annoy Walt, he might try something more dictator-like. It was a careful balance beam she was walking. Walt gave her everything, and if she started to get on his bad side, he could take away everything, too.

  To keep her mind off things, she took a nice, hot shower. It was almost nine-thirty, after all, and she had school.

  She walked out of the shower, dressing in her pajamas before putting on her bathrobe and starting her nightly skin routine. Once she was finished, she would check in on Walt. Make sure her phone was back. It made her skin crawl that he had it for so long as her mind went through the conversations she had.

  He wouldn’t be able to understand the CCNC group conversations, would he?

  No, he promised he wouldn’t go through her private text messages.

  Did she trust her dad, though?

  She hated that she had to ask herself that question. Hated it more that she didn’t have an answer.

  She walked out of the bathroom and moved to her bedroom. Once she was done with her skin care, she’d get her phone back. She sat down at her desk, grabbing her lip balm. She put a generous amount on her lips, because Arizona sucked all the moisture from her skin. She was starting to wonder when the last time she exfoliated was when there was a rap at her window.

  Evelyn frowned, a figure at her window. She blinked, seeing it was Tyler. What was he doing here?

  She got up, opening the window, feeling very exposed without any make-up on. “Tyler?”

  “Are you okay?” he asked, breathless, like he had run straight here from Tucson.

  “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

  Tyler was still breathing deeply, leaning against the outside wall as he stared at her. “You’re… sure? Your text. You said you were scared.”

  Evelyn frowned, confused. “Text? I didn’t text you. My dad has my phone.”

  Tyler stared at her, his breathing stopping all together. “You’re… dad?”

  “Yeah. He said he…” Evelyn paused. She glanced behind her shoulder, then back at Tyler. “He wanted to…”

  Check the safety measures to make sure no predators were after her.

  A dawning realization hit Tyler before he jerked his head to the side and all the color fled his face. “Shit,” he whispered.

  Evelyn tried to see what was going on, but she couldn’t deny the terror in Tyler’s voice. Faster than she could react, Walt appeared, grabbing Tyler by the arm and dragging him from Evelyn’s window.

  “Dad! Dad, wait! No!”

  Evelyn wasn’t even sure what was going on, but it wasn’t good. Nothing was good when it came to her dad. She bolted out of her room when she saw Walt push Tyler farther from her window. She raced down the hall and out the front door.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “-you could come to my house? To check on my daughter?” Walt asked.

  “Dad, leave him alone!” Evelyn said.

  “I… I…” Tyler started to say.

  “You are a college aged man, hanging around my underaged daughter!” Walt shouted.

  Tyler dropped his hands, trying to stand up straight. “So that was you?” Tyler asked. “You texted, posed as your own daughter, trying to lure me into a situation?”

  “Why’d you fall for it, Tyler? Hmm?” Walt asked as Evelyn felt her stomach drop.

  “Dad, please. Please, drop this,” Evelyn said.

  “It seemed like she was hurt,” Tyler said, not nearly the level nor the anger of Walt, but the betrayal. “It sounded like she had nowhere else to go, and I wanted to help.”

  “Dad, what did you do?” Evelyn demanded, feeling her own anger trickle in.

  Walt shoved Evelyn’s phone into her hand, still glaring at Tyler. “Do you know that Nick programed Tyler’s name into his phone as Rafael? Pretended to be Rafael so I wouldn’t get suspicious why Nick was talking with him so much. It had been going on for almost a month.” Walt spat the word out. “He accidently called Tyler Sunday, but actually called Rafael right after. It didn’t click for me until last night. I double checked the phone number with Evelyn’s phone. You sure do talk to my daughter a lot.”

  “Private conversations!” Evelyn shouted, not sure why she felt the need to shout it. “You promised you wouldn’t go through private conversations!”

  “I didn’t,” Walt said, his eyes still fixed on Tyler. “But I did see how much you called her. You even called her at five in the morning once. What did you need to talk to my daughter about at five in the morning?”

  Tyler stared, eyes wide, chest heaving. When Evelyn was scared and needed someone to talk to, Tyler checked in on her. She had gone to him multiple times this past month, because he calmed her down. She felt so safe in his presence. She… needed him.

  Nick walked through the front door, then froze on the front porch at the sight in front of him. Walt shot Nick a deadly glare.

  “Whose idea was it to change the numbers in Nick’s phone?” Walt asked, taking another step toward Tyler as he scuttled back.

  “Sir…” Tyler said, glancing at Nick.

  “Whose idea was it?” Walt sneered.

  “Mine,” Tyler said.

  Evelyn had the distinct impression that Tyler would much rather take this fall than let Nick take it, whether or not it was true. Nick flinched, glancing at Walt, bracing for impact. Evelyn’s muscles were already taunt, prepared for something.

  “It was mine,” Tyler said again.

  “I knew it. You start buttering up my son, so he looks the other way while you seduce my daughter.”

  Tyler blinked, surprised. “What?”

  “You knew where her bedroom window was. Didn’t even have to think about it. Have you entered her bedroom door before?”

  “Hell no. Mr. Larsen, you can’t possibly think-”

  “Why are you hanging out around us so much?” Walt asked, taking another step forward. “Why are you suddenly more interested in doing a game no one showed interest in for a year.”

  Tyler swallowed, visibly distressed. “It’s… this new campaign idea. Really… kicked off. Everyone’s excited about it, and we want to see where it goes.” His voice was strangled with stress.

  Nick stumbled closer, his eyes fixed on Walt, which was good, because Evelyn couldn’t keep her eyes off Tyler. She was terrified for him.

  “I don’t believe that for a second,” Walt said.

  “It’s far easier to believe than anything happening between Evelyn and I,” Tyler said. “Ask anyone in the group. It’s as you say, Evelyn’s a Sophomore in high school. I’m not interested. If I have to scream it for you to believe it, I will. But what you’re accusing me of is frankly not true. I have a girlfriend.”

  Walt narrowed his eyes. “Then tell me, Tyler. Why would a college age boy with a girlfriend answer a text from a sixteen-year-old girl late on Thursday night? Why would he believe her that she was scared and needed his help, and his help only? Why did you travel thirty minutes and go straight to a sixteen-year-old’s bedroom window at night?”

  Tyler stared at Walt, then tore his gaze away to look right at Evelyn. She didn’t realize there were tears falling down her cheeks until he looked at her.

  Because we’ve had a hellish month. Derek was kidnapped. Nick’s very words were altered so none of us understood him. Monsters are running around, their footprints starting to be seen, their movements invisibly tracked. The apocalypse is coming earlier than expected, and Tyler has found himself responsible for the five of us. After what Tyler’s experienced, he would willingly drop everything and run to make sure I was okay. To make sure any of us are okay. And Dad will never understand that.

  Evelyn blinked, more tears falling down her cheeks as Tyler glanced back at Walt. Tyler cleared his throat, glancing at the ground. “I… see now how this looks. I promise you, sir, nothing is going on between your daughter and I, and I will be sure to check myself in the future to make sure nothing is implied.” It was the quietest whisper Evelyn had ever heard. What she understood was that she could no longer call or text Tyler. Ever.

  She finally tore her gaze from Tyler to see how Walt was taking this. The look on his face caused her stomach to tie itself into knots. She had been here before. On a dark night with talks of sexual things. The same look in Walt’s eye that there was in Nick’s. The huge difference being that Rafael did something. Tyler did not.

  Nick appeared in front of his dad, staring at Tyler with an amount of urgency.

  “Go. Now,” Nick said to Tyler, his voice quiet but the urgency impossible to miss. Walt might not have murdered Tyler, but if Evelyn saw the similarities between the two nights, Nick no doubt would, too.

  Their friend didn’t need to be told twice. He sprinted toward the road where his car was most likely parked away from the house.

  “I never want to see you around my daughter again you worthless piece of shit!” Walt shouted into the dark as Tyler kept running.

  Evelyn’s hands started to shake. It had transferred to her entire body as she headed for her dad.

  “What the hell, dad,” Nick whispered.

  Walt didn’t have time to answer. Evelyn was already there, her shaky fists beating his shoulders, his arms, his face, clawing at him when he tried to grab her wrist to stop him.

  “I HATE YOU!” Evelyn screamed.

  “Evelyn, stop!” Nick said, alarmed.

  Evelyn didn’t stop. She wanted to make Walt hurt. Wanted to cause him the same level of pain and anguish that he gave her. Not just tonight, but every day for three years. The pain she felt standing to the side while he abused Nick. Crushed his spirit. Bullied him. And now he started doing the same to Tyler. Walt grabbed both her wrists, and she started kicking. She was barefoot, but she didn’t care. The anger had taken over, and she needed to see her dad get hurt. Nick grabbed her waist and dragged her away, keeping her from hurting Walt.

  “I HATE YOU, DAD! I HATE YOU!”

  She had nothing else to say. It was the truth, and she screamed it. She didn’t care who heard. She was sick of lying. Sick of pretending everything was fine between them.

  “Evelyn, please,” Nick said, dragging her away.

  Evelyn tried to break his grip, tried to go back to give Walt more pain. Give him more pain than he ever gave Nick and Tyler. Let him know exactly what she thought. Why was Nick stopping her? Didn’t Walt cause him pain, too?

  Walt brushed himself off before straightening his shirt. “You’ll thank me for this one day, Evelyn. You’ll see.”

  Evelyn pulled all her weight against Nick, but her older brother simply scooped her up and carried her inside. Evelyn was screaming at Walt, trying to break free.

  “Don’t, Evie. Please. Don’t end up like me. You don’t want that. I promise,” Nick said.

  Nick placed her down into her room and she collapsed, sobbing. Walt tricked Tyler, then punched him. She couldn’t believe it. There had been blood all over, and she wouldn’t even know if he was alright. There was no way Tyler would call her now. Walt had successfully isolated her from him, and she hated that it hurt. It hurt so deeply.

  Evelyn was inconsolable. She grabbed her pillow and sobbed. Nick leaned against the wall, hands in his hair as he stared ahead, the shock of it hitting him too. Evelyn kept sobbing, feeling the ache of it all. The unfairness. The injustice. Walt promised not to go through her private messages, but she hadn’t thought creatively enough. She knew he was up to no good. She should have refused. Why hadn’t she been stronger? Why couldn’t she have stood up to her dad.

  Nick stayed by her door, blocking her in as she sobbed. He had sunk to the floor, head in his hands as he stared ahead. Walt started shouting upstairs. By the sounds of it, Walt and Tyler’s dad were having an argument of their own over the phone. It wouldn’t matter. Walt was too stubborn. He was stuck on this idea that Tyler wanted Evelyn. Her dad had successfully made sure that Tyler kept her at a distance. Possibly forever.

  As Walt kept shouting, Evelyn kept sobbing, and Nick remained blocking the door to keep her from attacking Walt again as he stared at nothing.

  End of Volume Four