“It’s a huge honor,” the guy who hadn’t spoken yet finally answered. He had curly blond hair and a black eye. “Most chicks would be excited. It’s a big deal that Oakley wanted to include you. And my older brother told me about this. I know where they’re taking us…” His voice sounded ominous.

“Where?” I demanded.

“Devil’s Backbone.”

* * *

The van finally stopped. I couldn’t see where we were because the windows were covered in black construction paper. For some reason, I found this really funny and started giggling. I was in the back of a van against my will, supposedly at a place called The Devil’s Backbone, and the windows were covered in a crafting supply from a preschool classroom. It must have been the combination of the adrenaline flowing through my body and my anxiety spiking. The guys looked at me like I was absolutely insane. Oh well, at least I wasn’t in my underwear.

The back doors of the van flung open, and I could barely see past our kidnappers into the absolute darkness. The sun had fully disappeared in the time it took us to get here. There was no source of light. No street lamps, no buildings, not even the headlights from the van. Fun fact, I slept with a night light until I was twelve. I. Could. Not. Do. This. I didn’t even know what this was, but I was out. I tried to panic quietly to keep at least a shred of dignity. The guys started to get out of the van as though this was just a super normal thing to do on a Wednesday night. My ass stayed firmly parked where it was.

“Come on, Amanda,” one of the mostly naked freshmen said to me, gently. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”

Uh, no. No, it would not be okay. Hazing was illegal for a reason. I’d read enough dark romance books to know that a secluded place in the woods with three nearly naked men was a recipe for something I wasn’t ready for.

“Hey, Solver. How was the ride?” a stupidly cheerful voice said from outside the van. There was only one emotion I felt stronger than fear, and that was blinding hatred for this massive pain in the ass of a man.

“You!” I screamed while scrambling out of the van. Some light chuckles could be heard as I tripped in the dirt and tried to lunge for him. Bright headlights from another van illuminated the varsity team, who were standing in a line with Oakley in the middle.

“What the hell is going on here? Hazing is hella against the law,” I yelled.

Dale, who was standing next to Oakley, spoke up. “We don’t like the term hazing here. This is a team building exercise.”

“I’m not a part of the team!” I yelled.