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Poppy had been smitten by the online listing that had popped up on her Facebook feed. Whether it was an ad or a link someone had posted, she couldn’t recall, but it made no difference.
It will matter later im sure
Six months ago, she’d been sporting Converse All-Stars that matched his like something out of a sibling parody; the little sister emulating her older brother. He had hated Lark picking up the All-Star trend, had bitched about it because who the hell wanted to match shoes with their kid sister?
You dont fucking own the look babe, slow your roll
That, however, didn’t matter, because as soon as his hand hit the doorknob, the front door swung open on soundless hinges, unlocked. Leo furrowed his eyebrows, then looked over his shoulder and back down the dock. His family was still with Gill and the boat. It was weird, though, the door being open the way it was. Maybe Gill unlocked it, he thought. Nobody else would have been out on the island, so why not just leave it open?
Well you could have all probably avoided death if you'd said something dumb dumb
While the detail of the front door being open only amplified the weird vibe the house gave off, Leo shrugged it off and stepped inside. But the moment he set foot in the entryway, he stopped dead. Because while he’d never been here before, he was hit with a scent so familiar it made his skin crawl; a scent he knew so well, it made him want to turn and run.
Death?
It would have been nice to have her mother’s support when it came to doing what she loved, but Lark knew that that kind of support was rare. Reality was nothing but annoyed mutterings beneath her mother’s breath, and it made Lark wonder if her mom’s annoyance had grown bigger than the size of her cell phone; if it had, perhaps, grown wide enough to swallow the entirety of her mother’s affection.
Ooft
This vacation was about trying to fix everything he’d broken. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he could make it happen. Hell, he’d already half-way convinced himself that he was here because he was a good husband, a good father no matter his mistakes.
Comfirming the he cheated theory
Yes, he wanted those things, but that wasn’t why he was here. This little vacation was a way to get as far away from the mess he’d left back home as he could, and for now, a private island was as close to total seclusion as he could get.
His mistresses husband kills them?
She knew Thailand didn’t have anything to do with her. That didn’t, however, make the idea of Leo leaving any less painful. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter why Leo left. All that mattered was that he’d be gone, free-floating in a world she would no longer be a part of.
Cut the cord lady. Hes a person, not your doll
It’s why she had fallen so hard for David; his sense of humor, his tenderness, his ability to read her moods even though he was hundreds of miles away, hidden behind the digital veil of a cell phone screen. It’s why it had hurt like hell when he had stopped talking to her, as though Lark’s telling of Leo’s emotional nosedive had been too much for David to handle. Baggage, he had probably thought. But that was Lark’s Achilles heel. She told people too much. Trusted too quickly. Loved too hard.
Sus. Probably got groomed. Also shes definitely ND
there was plenty of Lipton in the cabinet over the stove. Poppy had initially sighed at the lack of selection—not a single bag of Twinings to be found—but
Twinnings is definitely the superior tea brand
Maybe it was the adult in her—the parent that wanted to see their child find success rather than struggle on a starving artist’s paycheck. Poppy and Ezra had raised two artists between them, and while Teenaged Poppy would have rejoiced at the prospect, Poppy the Parent was scared for them both.
Nah dont blame that shitty mentality on being a parent, thats just on you
knee-high boots.
I thought she had docs on?
Amelia had sent him a handful of messages after their breakup, most of which were heartfelt and tearful. Mostly, she was making sure he was okay, which only served as a reminder of why he’d fallen in love with her in the first place. Amelia had been a steadfast cheerleader in Julien’s fight to survive. She’d been supportive of Leo’s determination to be at his best friend’s side. And what had she gotten for her unwavering understanding? A hard lesson in just how debilitating grief could be.
Poor Amelia
Mom pressed a hand to her forehead, then exhaled a sigh. Only a few hours in and her plan for the perfect getaway was falling apart.
Because you're an uptight control freak
This was supposed to be a vacation, not some test of will. If her mother thought banishing phones was a smart attempt at bonding, she was out of her mind. Puzzles and small talk? It was proof of just how out-of-touch her mom truly was.
Liiiiiterally
The round galvanized wall mirror still hung from a thick rope above the headboard, undisturbed.
Oh fuuuuck no. No chance.
he had no way of illuminating whatever may have been lurking within that vertical crawl space. Maybe there was an animal living inside the wall—a bird, or chipmunks, or maybe bats.
Or more likely, a person
Amelia had cried, but she hadn’t argued.
Earlier it said she yelled at him during the breakup?
Maybe that’s why you keep smelling that scent…the one nobody else seems to smell.
The smell is Felix? I thought it was Julien
Paired with his teacher’s salary
He was totally fucking the person who killed Julien. Was probably even in the car that night
But Ezra still had his moments. One didn’t just shrug off such deeply ingrained familial trauma,
Yeeeeop
“Leo,” Ezra said, their son’s name giving rise to goosebumps along the backs of her arms. “Looks like he’s finally pulling out of his funk.” Poppy squeezed her eyes shut. Yes, perhaps he was pulling out of his depression. She only wished that he’d let her help him break the surface of that dark water; wished that she could be part of his healing, that he’d let her in. It seemed, however, that he was determined to go it alone, holding her moment of hesitation back at the house against her—that moment where all she’d done was stare at him while he’d beaten his fists against the back of their
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Get the actual fuck over yourself!!!
It only assured her that regardless of what she tried, she wouldn’t change his mind about his trip abroad. He’d leave, and she wouldn’t know how to go on.
What the fuck is wrong with you. Your obsession over your son is unhealthy
Because if she couldn’t fix their relationship, where would that leave her when both kids were gone? Vanished, she assumed. Erased from the world.
DOes she murder suicide them? The crazy cunt
Besides, even if David was there, even if he had followed her, maybe it was because he had realized what Lark had always known: he loved her just as much as she loved him. Perhaps he was playing at subterfuge because he was nervous she’d reject him. Maybe he was just awkward and didn’t know how to approach her. Or, it could have been that this was all on purpose—a mystery for her to unravel until the time and place of his choosing, when all would become clear. I’m here because I can’t live without you. I’m here because this is meant to be. Of course, the Twinkies. They were a gentle nudge.
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Girl is delulu
Lark couldn’t help it. She lifted her hand as if to rub at her mouth again, her nerves continuing to buzz like a livewire, her stomach twisting into a double-knot. Could it be? Had David really planned all of this as some sort of elaborate apology? With her fingers flitting against her lips, she tried to hide her smile from Leo. Because she’d figured it out, hadn’t she? It was him. He’d come for her. He loved her, and he was here to prove it.
Delulu
Anyone else would have said, Sayonara, you crazy bitch and bailed, but Ezra and Gemma had been sharing their secret for nearly two years by then.
Thats disgusting
Poppy’s breath hitched in her throat as she stared ahead, unable to look away from that phantom declaration. LIAR Assuring her that it was exactly what Ezra was. What he’d always been and would always be.
Its for sure his mistress then
iPhone 9000.
ive never heard of that in my life
She’d only seen a single photo of David, and she knew it could have been a random picture he’d found online, but she caught herself thinking it anyway: that isn’t David. That isn’t him. Maybe David had hired two people to set his romantic plan of winning Lark back into motion. It was possible, right? This whole thing was crazy, so why not two people instead of one?
You delulu bitch
“…and who is Felix Bellamy?” Lark asked. “Julien’s fuck-up of an older brother,” Leo told her. “And Marla Singer? That’s his mom.”
Wtf
A friend told me you aren’t who you say you are, that it’s the only reason why you’d act this way. Finally, David responded: Your friend is right. The text stuttered her heart to a standstill. Anger bubbled up within her diaphragm, making it hard to breathe. He was screwing with her, trying to push her aside. His roughness was hard to take after months of what had felt like bliss, but maybe this was it, their first fight. Maybe this made it official: they were a couple, battling it out. Or maybe he’s telling the truth about being a liar, she thought. Except, no. She refused to go down that
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D E L U L U
Poppy: weak-willed and easy to lie to. Even easier to control.
Naively autistic
What wasn’t so simple was explaining why Julien’s mother was in Raven’s Head with him. That was what was nagging Leo the most, the fact that Mrs. Bellamy was in on whatever insanity was being played out.
Because she's Gemma
Safe because the dead couldn’t speak.
Yep knew Julien was going to tell Leo about the affair
No, this whole thing was about one person and one person only. Gemma Bellamy. The woman with nothing left to lose.
Ding ding ding
Pulling onto the soft shoulder of a rural road, he’d been alone. If, however, that was true, how the hell had he ended up here? “Jesus,” he whispered, grabbing his coat off the wall hook in the kitchen. “No way she knows,” he whispered. “No way.”
How disgusting that you killed your sons best friend and didnt have the guts to come clean. Coward.
Pennywise—the new one with the independently roving eyes and long-toothed smile. I’ll never understand why so many people love Tim Curry’s version, she had told her kids while walking out of the theater.
Saaaaaaame
Despite everything, there was still magic in that possibility. Because what if, during that meeting, Felix realized what Lark had known all this time—that they had something special, that they had made a connection, that they were meant to be? What if, faced with the task of looking into her eyes, Felix came to understand that this whole Raven’s Head thing was nothing short of a fiasco; that despite the lies he had told her, he did in fact love her? What if he could see that she still loved him?
OMG GIRL
FUCKING DELULU
“Do you like the house?” Gemma asked, casting a glance to the wall at her right. “A bit cluttered, but from what my aunt tells me, the tourists love it.”
I knew it!!
He wanted to see her go Mama Bear? Bring it on.
He was talking about his own mum not you lol
A wide gash slashed Felix’s face from his ear down to the corner of his mouth. The bone of his cheek glistened beneath a coating of red, as did a few of his teeth.
Whoa how tf did a boat oar do tht
It was only then, when he’d shut out the world, that he heard his sister speak. “Felix,” she said. “Or should I call you David? I’m so excited to finally meet you.” A second later, like the shudder of thunder outside, there came another hard crack.
Fuck yeah Lark
The way the knife pulled across Felix’s throat forced Leo’s gaze away. Rather than a clean cut, the serrated blade tore at his flesh with as much grace as a dog shaking its prey.
Holllllyyyyy shiiiiit
The glint of a blade, which Leo’s father had been holding against her back, now came around her front. He wouldn’t, Leo thought,
THEY KILLED LARK
OF COURSE HE WOULD IDIOT
readjusted his grip, rather than pulling the knife out and away, Dad jerked the knife upward, tearing a hole in Gemma’s belly from navel to sternum.
Chris Pratt excited gasp gif
Felix crumpled in a heap. Gemma’s body, an empty husk. Lark. Poor, beautiful Lark.
Im in shock still
“But now I understand that there was nothing I could have done, because I’d done nothing wrong. You punched your fist through our son’s chest and tore out his heart to protect a lie. And now you’d lie again, say that it was self-defense, all while standing over your own daughter’s grave.”
Facts
They can have me, but not you,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper a moment later. “Thank goodness you stayed behind at home. I begged you to come. Pleaded. But you can’t talk sense into some kids. You were never here, Leo. Thank god, you were never here.”
Except the police will be called when he shows up to the hospital with stab wounds lol
Julien Bellamy. And beside him, his mother. Gemma. Their new identities, at least until they reached their destination.
Im so glad they went together
