Havoc at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys #1) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,146

I recognize the shoes he’s wearing. My stepdad has a pair, and I know they cost mad money. Mom wouldn’t stop talking about how she got them for free from a friend’s husband because they didn’t fit, and the guy couldn’t be fucked returning them.

“I mean, he got the crap beat out of him, didn’t he? I thought it was just a B&E sort of thing?” the other guy—who probably thinks he’s clever, wearing a breathalyzer costume with a hole on the crotch that says Place Mouth Here—replies.

“That’s the story, but it was fucking Havoc, man. They carved the word Rapist into his forehead. The wound was, like, deep enough that it dug into his skull. Don’s gonna be in and out of laser treatments for years to get that shit removed.” There’s a long pause there where everything goes silent around me, my heart beating frantically in my chest. “They cut his balls off, too, man. They castrated him.”

My throat goes completely dry and my eyes get wide.

“You okay?” Aaron asks, appearing beside me. I glance his way, but there are no words. I’m not sure if the gossip I just heard is true or yet more Havoc rumor and speculation, but … Does the fact that I’m hoping it’s true make me a bad person?

“Did you guys cut off Don’s balls?” I ask as Aaron approaches me, and his face pales. Even beneath the layer of makeup he’s wearing, I can see it. It’s true. It’s fucking true. “Jesus Christ.”

“You didn’t think we’d let him off easy, did you? Bernadette, I tried to warn you. We’re messed-up. Havoc is fucking messed-up. You just—” He pauses, clenching his teeth to stop the flow of words, like he’s just realized he’s about to reveal something important to me.

“I just what?” I ask, turning and getting in his face. “I just never saw it? You guys were fucked to me, but … you could’ve done worse. Why didn’t you?” Aaron scowls at me and tries to turn away, but I’m not letting him go. I’m onto something here, I know it. “Aaron, talk to me, goddamn it. What did Kali have on you? Why didn’t you guys fuck me up like you did Don?”

“Bernadette,” Aaron starts, turning back to look at me, the skeleton makeup on his face turning his visage into a grim one. But then he pauses and looks up, eyes darkening. I follow his gaze and see that the crowd’s parted to reveal a group of people standing near the front doors.

They’re all wearing grinning clown masks, bandages on their right shoulders darkened with faux blood. I do a quick headcount and come up with almost two dozen people standing there. It’s impossible to tell if they’re male or female, with their masks and dark clothes.

“Jesus,” Aaron grinds out as I feel my pulse start to pick up.

Shit.

This is what I was waiting for.

Havoc never gets a day off.

“Are those bandages supposed to be in support of Mitch or something?” I whisper as this EDM/dubstep rap comes on, blaring through the speakers as Vic moves forward to greet the new crew. Aaron clenches his jaw and looks down at me, like he’s considering spiriting me out the back door or something.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Vic asks, his voice booming out across the crowd. “Party crashers?”

“Havoc’s rule at Prescott High is done,” the leader of the gang says, his voice manipulated by a voice changer. “It’s over, Victor.”

“Is it?” Vic asks as several dozen people in the crowd remove plastic skeleton masks from inside their jackets, sweaters, and costumes, sliding them over their faces in solidarity. “If you want to rule that school, or this town, you’ll have to fight for it.”

“Gladly,” the leader says, and then he pulls out a weapon from inside his jacket. People start to scream and scatter as Aaron grabs my hand.

“I’m getting you the hell out of here,” he says, just before the first shot goes off, exploding one of the paper lanterns near the ceiling. Clown Dude—who I’m just sort of guessing is Mitch—has missed his shot. Instead of blowing Victor’s head off, he’s just been hit in the shoulder with Callum’s nail-ridden bat.

A fight breaks out as the two sides rush each other, like soldiers going into war. Several more gunshots go off as the Havoc crew meets up with the newcomers.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I grind out as Aaron tries to pull me toward the clown-covered archway