“I’m ready to wake up now.” Rory whispered.

“What?”

“I wanna wake up now. Why aren’t I waking up?”

Ollie gripped his shoulder, and he hated that he could feel it.

“You are awake.”

“I can’t be.”

“Do you know that girl?” Ollie said close to his ear.

“She’s not dead.” Rory hissed, “If I’m not asleep, then this is a lie, she’s not dead.”

Ollie pried the newspaper from under his arms, and Rory stared down at the table where Erica’s face had just been.

“Car crash, three weeks ago…”

“No, it’s rubbish. Some evil prank by someone in here. There’s no way.”

“I’m sorry.”

Rory curled back his lip. “Don’t say you’re sorry, don’t fall for it, it’s a lie. I don’t know who, and I don’t know why, but this isn’t true.”

The coiling sensation around his heart released, and a tidal wave of anger rushed through his body. She wasn’t dead, but someone wanted him to think she was. Someone got pleasure out of tricking him, deceiving him, and he wanted them to pay.

“Come on, I’ll ask if we can go back to the wing.”

“I don’t want to go back to the wing,” Rory growled, “I want to know what bastard has done this. Who the hell is trying to get to me?”

“I don’t think anyone is.”

“Yes, they are!”

“Calm down, sweetheart.”

Rory forced a savage laugh. “Yeah, I should’ve guessed it was you.”

“Rory…” Ollie warned, grabbing his arm.

“Me, sweetheart? It’s all about me.”

“Yeah…”

Rory launched out of his chair and rushed at Pauly. They tumbled to the floor, and the classroom exploded into noise and chaos. Rory rained his fists down on Pauly’s face, and he unleashed everything he had. The anger and the adrenaline surge kept his punches brutal, kept him focused on the man underneath him.

He couldn’t stop, despite being dragged about, and struck by other inmates, he kept swinging his fists, and his legs, whatever connected with the evil people that tried to remove his heart. Pauly and his group of bandana-wearing inmates, they must’ve been behind it, and Rory was going to punish them all. He wasn’t the only one fighting. Teddy and Sebastian were with him, and the guards ran forward, adding to the brawl.

Arms closed around Rory and dragged him back, out of the madness and the violence, but they couldn’t save him from his own whirling mind.

“Enough, Rory, stop.”

He struggled free. “No.”

He went for Pauly again—Pauly on the floor not moving, Pauly covered in blood. Pauly who had somehow faked a newspaper article to destroy him. Pauly who wasn’t going to get away with it.