He noticed me standing there as he opened his eyes, and a wide smile spread across his face. “Oh, shit. Hey, baby.” He got to his feet, uncurling his long limbs and enfolding me into a hug. As he let me go, I noticed a collection of spray paint cans in the corner, nestled on the floor behind a large canvas on an easel.

“Is this your new painting?” I said, crouching down to get a better look. The canvas was splashed with various colors, depicting a psychedelic sky over a field of tall green grass. The vague outline of a figure was walking through the field, their back to the viewer and their face turned slightly, as if they were about to look over their shoulder.

“Yep, started it on a whim,” he said. “I took an edible last week and had this really vivid dream…I had to try to get it on canvas.”

“It looks amazing,” I said. The way the colors swirled together reminded me of the iridescence in a pool of oil, and the vastness of the field made me feel as if there was an entire world waiting on the other side of the trees along his horizon.

As I stood and had another look around the room, I spotted some hooks on the wall beside his bed. There were neatly coiled lengths of rope, in various colors and material, alongside a plethora of impact toys: big and small paddles, leather straps, even a slim wooden cane. There was a black chest on the floor beneath the hooks, and I bit my lip curiously.

Vincent noticed me looking.

“That’s the toy box,” he said, nodding toward the chest with a sly smile. “I’ve got all kinds of fun things in there.”

I had no doubt he did, but a rapid popping noise from outside caught my attention. I stood on my tiptoes at the window to peer down and spotted Jason standing along the side of the garage. He lifted a gun to his shoulder and pulled the trigger, the popping sound pinging again as splatters of bright yellow paint hit a rusted car door leaned up against the side of the garage.

“Paintball?” I said. “Looks like fun.”

“It’ll be fun all right,” Vincent said, coming to stand beside me. “He and Lucas have been putting their heads together for weeks, trying to figure out how we’re going to get back at Alex and the others.”

I turned, looking at him with wide eyes. “Like a revenge mission?”

“Oh, yeah. Those fuckers need to be taught a lesson. You should go talk to him. I have a feeling they have a very important role for you.”

He gave me a wink, and curiosity got the better of me. Leaving him to his artwork, I went back downstairs and out into the yard, trudging around the side of the garage.