The Cursed Series, Parts 3 & 4 (Cursed #3-4) - Rebecca Donovan Page 0,27

watch several students in the dining hall, eating dinner. A large monitor is cut into quadrants, flashing through different aerial views of the Court, positioned to capture every garden and passage. There are screens showing inside the library, including the hallway where the study rooms are located on the basement level. He can spy on the entire campus from here. I search for one inside the girls’ dorm but don’t find it.

When I notice a computer screen tucked behind the others on the main desk, I collapse onto the rolling chair. My fingers brush the glowing screen where a girl is lying in a hospital bed, a tube down her throat, an IV in her arm and various wires attached to her body. She’s still. Almost peaceful-looking. A woman sits in a recliner next to her with a book on her lap and one hand holding the girl’s.

“Allie,” I rasp, blinking back tears.

The sound of Sophia tapping on a keyboard snaps me out of my sorrow. She’s typing like crazy on a laptop set on the corner of the desk. She’s hyperfocused on the blur of symbols threading down the screen. The letters look like an alien language. Or code—basically the same thing.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to figure out how he’s gained access to the security feed. What network the other cameras are connected to. I’ve never seen them before,” she explains, fixated on the screen, the string of code reflecting in her unblinking eyes.

I inspect Sophia’s calm face, completely zoned in. It’s like I’m seeing her for the first time, aware of how much I don’t know about her. What she’s capable of. And how well she knows this school, like … where the cameras are located and how to access them.

Something rattles in a drawer. I open it to find a phone, the screen lit with an incoming text.

The bubble on the lock screen reads: How is she? The sender is coded as P.

I tap on the bubble, but it asks for a password. I set the phone back in the drawer and stare at it like it might bite me.

“Are there any files on that laptop?” I ask, shutting the drawer.

“Huh?” Sophia’s eyes remain glued to the screen while her fingers fly across the keyboard. They suddenly stop. “Bastard.”

“Can you look for files? Videos on me or a girl named Allie?” I request a little louder to get her attention.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” She types and clicks on a few things. “There’s files on all of us, even … me. What the …” She clears her throat. “Which one do you want to look at first? They’re protected, but I should be able to open them.”

I point to the first file in the top-left corner. “Allison Pixley.” A fire blazes under my skin when I see the endless rows of file icons that fill the screen. Each with a different name. “Holy shit.”

After what feels like an eternity of Sophia muttering under her breath while her fingers move in a blur, as if on their own, she declares, “Got it.”

She slides the laptop over, so I can view the folder’s contents. At a glance, it appears to be a police report, hospital records and … a video.

“Play the video for me.” I prepare myself, but I’m not truly ready for any of this.

Sophia expands the video, so it fills the entire screen. It’s a still image of a stairwell. The camera is positioned in a corner, angled to focus on the stairs and a door with Exit above it. She presses play before I can change my mind. Or ask her not to watch.

The door opens, and I step through. The image is grainy, but it’s evident I’m annoyed. I turn back toward the door to open it again. Before I can, a guy in a leather jacket grabs me from behind. His face isn’t visible, but the hideous tattoo of a dragon on his shaved head makes him easily identifiable. He proceeds to shove me against the wall, my head colliding with the concrete. I can almost feel the pain, just watching it.

“Is that … you?” Sophia asks in shock.

I don’t respond.

I should shut it off. But I can’t.

There isn’t sound. But the image is horrific enough. And when Allie walks through the door and jumps on his back to defend me, I want to reach into the screen to stop her, to make her go find Seth, get away from this monster. But I know