Chapter 2

Days later, Olivia was still in the hospital, quiet, her eyes empty.

The doctors said she was physically recovering, but her spirit was gone.

Then the video appeared.

Someone sent it to my phone, then it was everywhere online.

Olivia, cornered in the locker room, crying, her clothes torn.

Brittany's voice, sharp and cruel, taunting her.

Jessica filming, laughing.

It was raw, humiliating.

My hands clenched, nails digging into my palms.

This was their unrepentant cruelty, displayed for the world.

I watched Olivia stare at the hospital ceiling.

"I shouldn't have let them," she whispered, tears leaking from her eyes. "I was so weak."

My heart ached for her, but a different feeling simmered beneath it.

A familiar darkness, something I'd kept leashed for years, mostly for Olivia's sake.

She was the only one who could soothe it, calm the predator inside me.

Now, she was the reason to unleash it.

"I'm going to Northwood," I told my parents that night.

They looked at me, understanding in their eyes.

"As Olivia?" Mom asked softly.

I nodded. "They need to pay."

Dad put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure, Alex? You know how you get."

"I'm sure," I said. My voice was flat, devoid of emotion.

The homeschooled years, the quiet property, the family secrets – they had prepared me for this.

Olivia was my twin, my other half.

They broke her.

I would break them.

It was time for Alex to go to school.