Chapter 7

The moment they stepped into the hallway, Carrie slammed Jerimiah against the wall.

She pressed her forearm against his collarbone, pinning him in place.

"Stop filling her head with that peasant garbage," Carrie hissed, her teeth bared.

"It was the protocol!" Jerimiah whispered frantically, holding his hands up. "We agreed to be normal!"

"Normal doesn't mean she becomes a basement-dwelling loser!" Carrie snapped. "She is terrified of the world. She's retreating. We have to send her to school. She needs to establish dominance over her peers."

Jerimiah frowned, his protective instincts flaring. "Public schools are a mess. What if someone bullies her?"

A dark, bloodthirsty shadow crossed Carrie's eyes. "If anyone touches her, I will level the entire building."

Carrie released him. "She is going to Erie International Academy. It's the best."

Jerimiah rubbed his neck. "Carrie, that's a school for billionaires and politicians. We are supposed to be poor."

"Fix it," Carrie ordered, pointing at the study. "Use your keyboard."

Jerimiah sighed. He walked back to his desk and cracked his knuckles. He pulled up a terminal window.

His fingers flew across the keys, a blur of motion. After nearly twenty minutes of tense, rapid typing, he had bypassed Erie Academy's heavily encrypted corporate-grade firewall and found a backdoor into the admissions database.

He inserted Ava's name into the system, bypassing a two-year waitlist. He fabricated a flawless academic record and forged a 'Community Star Diversity Scholarship' to explain their lack of wealth.

He hit enter. The confirmation email popped up.

"Done," Jerimiah said.

"Add Cody," Carrie commanded from the doorway.

Jerimiah froze. "Carrie, Cody is a sociopath. He will kill someone."

"Ava needs a bodyguard," Carrie said flatly. "Do it."

Jerimiah swallowed hard and forged a second application.

At noon, the family gathered around the dining table.

Carrie smiled brightly. She pulled two crisp, printed acceptance letters from her apron pocket and slapped them onto the table.

"Great news!" Carrie announced. "Tomorrow, Ava and Cody are going to school!"

Cody stopped chewing his broccoli. A rare look of genuine horror flashed across his pale face.

He set his fork down. "I refuse. Group socialization is a statistically proven waste of biological energy."

Carrie's smile didn't waver. She picked up her serrated steak knife. She slowly dragged the tip of the blade across her porcelain plate.

Screeeech.

The sound was deafening, vibrating right into their teeth.

"Darling," Carrie said softly. "It wasn't a request."

Cody felt the suffocating pressure of her killing intent. He closed his mouth, picked up his fork, and silently ate his broccoli. He had surrendered.

Ava looked down at the letter. The gold foil crest of Erie International Academy gleamed under the lights.

All the blood drained from Ava's face. Her stomach churned violently. That was the school. The Savage family's territory. Her nightmare was starting all over again.