I bent over to pick up the book and froze. My mind rebelled. It must be a stuffed animal—someone’s idea of a horrible joke. It just couldn’t be what it looked like.

The smell of rust and death proved me wrong.

Lying at the bottom of my locker was a rabbit—a bunny rabbit, actually—the kind I’d wanted for a pet as a kid. It was the same kind Olivia would’ve loved to snuggle, all fluffy and soft-looking.

But the tuffs of white fur now were stained red.

Its stomach had been torn open; the insides looked jellylike. The rabbit had to be a fake, because this… this couldn’t be real.

I covered my mouth, but it couldn’t stop the horrified scream from escaping. Time stopped, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to have Olivia’s gift. I wanted to reach inside that locker and bring the poor bunny back.

“Ms. McWilliams, are you okay?”

The voiced snapped me out of the daze. I jerked back from the locker, breathing heavily.

“Ember, what’s going…” Mr. Theo trailed off when his eyes fell into the locker. “Is this some kind of joke?”

Nausea built up in my stomach. “I don’t know.”

“Okay.” Mr. Theo turned, about to place his hand on my shoulder, but he stopped short. He pulled back, shaking his head. “Don’t look at it.”

“Why would someone do that?”

“Has anyone been giving you a hard time here?” He looked back into the locker.

“No. I don’t know anyone here.” But I could think of three people right off who didn’t like me. But did any of them dislike me enough to gut a poor rabbit? I shuddered. God, I hoped not. Whoever’d done this was messed up, really messed up.

I wanted to hurl.

“Are you sure, Ember? People, well, people just don’t do that.”

The sound of footsteps echoed through the empty hall, drawing my attention. Hayden stalked down the hallway. “What’s taking you so…” His words faded off as he halted beside me. “Ember, are you okay?”

I pointed at my locker, pretty sure if I opened up my mouth I’d vomit.

“Holy crap.” Hayden stepped forward, eyes narrowing. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Mr. Cromwell, do you have any idea who would do this?” Suspicion colored Mr. Theo’s words.

Hayden’s head snapped up, his eyes burning. I swore the temperature in the hallway skyrocketed. “No, but I’d like to know who did.”

“As would I,” Mr. Theo said.

“I want a new locker.” My voice came out small, but it stopped both of them.

Theo cleared his throat. “That can be done. I’ll talk to the principal and get you reassigned, but that doesn’t address this issue here. Who would put this in your locker?”

I had my suspicions, but it wasn’t like I could voice them—not with my English teacher standing there. Mr. Theo continued asking questions I didn’t have any answers to, and all I wanted was to get away from the locker, away from what was in there.