Chapter 22 #2
“That was before you opened your stupid mouth,” Sutton said, rolling her eyes.
“Guys! Enough! How many times do I have to tell you to stop sniping at each other?” Caitlin said. “It’s not helping!”
“How about you stop telling us what to do?” Sutton fired back. “You’re not even at risk here. So you can stop pretending any of this matters to you.”
Caitlin’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
Sutton gestured wildly around the room. “Did you forget what’s happening?” she said. “It’s only Legacies getting killed.”
“We don’t know that for sure. He could start going after other pe—”
“Just look!” Sutton shrieked, cutting her off. “There were sixteen of us at the start, and now there’s seven! But you Dirtbags? Seventeen at the start, still seventeen now!”
“It doesn’t mean we aren’t in danger. He might start going after other people next. We have no way of knowing.”
Their argument kept going, voices overlapping, sharper and angrier now. Jasmine leaned in beside me, her shoulder brushing mine as she grabbed a protein bar. “This is getting bad,” she muttered.
“I know,” I said quietly. “I think it’s time to tell them about Rhys.”
“No.” She shook her head immediately. “Absolutely not.”
“Jasmine, we have to say something.”
She shook her head again. “We don’t actually know if it’s him or not, and you heard Sutton last night,” she said, voice low but urgent. “If we accuse him and we’re wrong, they could turn on us. Kick us out to fend for ourselves.”
“I don’t think they’d actually do that.”
“It’s not just that. They might even think we’re making stuff up to divert attention from us, because we’re actually the real killers.”
I sighed. “We’re just going to have to take that risk.”
“Wait. I’m not done.” Jasmine lifted a palm. “Think about what happens if we tell everyone about Rhys and our suspicions, and we actually turn out to be right.”
I blinked. “Um… the case is solved?”
“Think a little more short-term.”
“I’m not following,” I said, minutely shaking my head.
She took a deep breath. “Right now, he’s leaving us alone.
Probably because we’ve been feeding him, and also because he’s got a raging boner for you,” she said.
Her gaze flicked briefly toward the door.
“So if he really is the killer, then right now we’re pretty damn safe.
Especially you. You could probably go and dance in the woods at midnight and you’d be fine.
But if we expose him and accuse him… what do you think happens then? ”
My stomach instantly started churning. “We make ourselves his number one targets.”
“Exactly. So I’m sorry, but until we have enough evidence to prove that he’s actually guilty, I think we need to keep our mouths shut.”
“But how are we even supposed to get any evidence at this point?” I shot back under my breath. “He’s anticipated everything so far, and he’s covered—”
“What the fuck are you two whispering about over there?”
My head snapped up. Sutton was staring straight at us, arms folded tight across her chest.
“Um… what?” I said.
“I asked what you’re whispering about,” she replied, eyes narrowing.
“Same thing as everyone else,” Jasmine said. “This fucked-up nightmare we’re all stuck in.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. Really.”
Sutton stepped closer, lip curling. “Do you honestly think the rest of us haven’t noticed you two sneaking off together every five seconds? Or constantly whispering to each other?”
Jasmine rolled her eyes. “What are you implying?”
“Maybe you two are behind all this.” Sutton’s brows rose. “Hiding in plain sight.”
A few people shifted uncomfortably.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Jasmine said, voice laced with exasperation. “Not this shit again.”
“Why can’t you just tell us?” Sutton narrowed her eyes. “Why are you constantly sneaking off together?”
“Fine. If you really must know the big bad secret, here it is,” Jasmine snapped. “I got my period recently, and whenever I have that, I get a lovely case of the period shits. I’m sure at least half the girls here know exactly what I mean by that.”
A couple of girls nodded, grimacing.
“So, yeah, you’re right. I’m constantly sneaking off…
to the toilet,” Jasmine continued. “Alissa comes with me because I’m not an idiot who wants to wander around alone.
And if you’re wondering why I’m not just using the staff bathroom in here, it’s because I don’t want to blow it up for everyone else. Clear enough for you?”
Jesse lifted a hand. “She did mention… digestive issues yesterday.”
Wren, Tamsin, and Simon all nodded as he spoke.
Maren lifted a hand. “It’s true,” she said. “Grace and I went to the bathroom with her yesterday, and we ended up being stuck in there for twenty minutes.”
Jasmine tilted her head, venomous gaze still focused on Sutton. “Should I pull down my pants and show you the murder scene in them?” she asked. “Or should we get back to focusing on the actual murder scene all around us?”
Sutton glowered at her. “Whatever,” she muttered.
Silence fell over the hall again, but it wasn’t the same as before. It felt thinner now. More fragile. Like one more push would crack it completely.
A small sound suddenly broke through it. At first, I thought it was someone laughing under their breath at Jasmine’s final dig at Sutton. Then I realized it was Grace. She was sitting in the same place she’d been earlier, and her shoulders were shaking like crazy.
“Oh my god,” she muttered, the words barely holding together.
“What’s wrong, Grace?” Sutton asked, moving closer.
“What’s wrong? What’s fucking wrong?” Grace’s head lifted, eyes wide and glassy. “Are you serious?”
Sutton let out an irritated sigh. “I just meant what’s wrong with you right now? Do you need something to drink? Eat?”
“You’re so fucking delusional,” Grace said, a strange, breathless edge creeping into her voice. “You’re all talking about food and plans and bathroom habits like any of this matters.”
“Grace,” Maren said quietly, stepping closer. “Hey. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” Grace snapped, her voice jumping an octave. She surged to her feet so suddenly it made both Maren and Sutton flinch. “It’s not okay! None of this is okay!”
“God, not this again,” Jasmine muttered beside me. “How many mental breakdowns can one girl possibly have?”
“Don’t you see? None of us are getting out of here alive!” Grace said, words tumbling out faster now. “He’s blocked everything. Every single way out. And he’s picking us off one by one while we sit here and talk about fucking periods!”
Sutton lifted a palm. “You really need to calm down.”
Grace shook her head again. “I can’t do this anymore!” she cried. “I can’t just sit here and wait for my turn!”
Her voice broke then, splintering into something raw.
“I’m done,” she said, backing away from everyone. “I’m done waiting. I can’t take it anymore. I just… I want it to be over.”
“Grace, don’t—” Jesse started.
But she was already moving. She turned and bolted for the doors, shoving them open so hard they slammed against the wall.
“Grace!” Sutton shouted, running after her.
Maren followed her, and they stopped at the threshold. Grace didn’t. She kept going, running right into the clearing outside.
“Get back inside, you fucking idiot!” Sutton shouted at her. “Now!”
But she was already out in the open clearing, spinning in a tight, frantic circle, arms thrown wide.
“Come on! Just fucking do it already!” she screamed. She spun again, faster this time. “Put me out of my fucking misery!”
The rest of the group surged toward the doors, stopping just short of the threshold like they’d hit an invisible wall.
“Grace, come back inside!” Jesse shouted.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Garrett yelled. “Get in here!”
“Grace!” Maren’s voice cracked. “Please!”
But no one stepped past the doorway. No one crossed into the dark.
Grace either didn’t hear or didn’t care. She staggered a few steps, then let out another broken, hysterical laugh, turning in a slow circle.
“Where are you?” she screamed. “Isn’t this what you want? Come on! I’m right here!”
“Stop it!” Tamsin cried from behind me. “You’re going to get yourself killed!”
Grace froze for half a second. Then she laughed again. Loudly.
“Good!” she shouted back. “That’s the point.”
Before anyone could react to that, she turned and bolted, sprinting out of the clearing and onto the path that led toward the cabins, her voice carrying back to us in ragged, echoing bursts.
“Come on! Do it! Just fucking do it!”
“Fuck,” Jesse muttered.
“We have to get her back inside,” I said, stepping forward.
A hand shot out and caught my arm. “No,” Jasmine said sharply. “Going outside at night is a suicide mission.”
“But we can’t just leave her out there!” I said, trying to pull free. “She’s not thinking straight!”
“And you are?” Simon cut in. “You run out there right now, you’re dead too.”
“We tried to stop her,” Garrett said, jaw tight. “She made her choice.”
I shook my head. “If we’re fast enough, we can get her back inside before anything happens to her.”
“So what exactly do you want us to do?” Noura demanded. “Chase her out into the woods in the dark? Split up? That’s literally what the killer wants!”
“She didn’t go into the woods. She just went down to the cabins,” I said. “It’s not that far. We can make it before anything happens.”
Maren was standing just inside the doorway, staring out at the path Grace had disappeared down. Her face was completely drained of color.
“Maren,” I said, turning to her. “We have to go.”
She didn’t move.
“She’s your friend,” I added.
“I know,” she whispered.
“Then come on.”
Her gaze flicked to me, and for a second I thought she might actually step forward. Then she shook her head. “I… I can’t,” she said, voice breaking. “I can’t go out there.”
A sick, hollow feeling opened up in my chest.
“Anyone?” I looked around at the others. “We can’t just stand here and do nothing.”
No one answered. A few people pointedly avoided my eyes. Others just stared out into the dark like if they didn’t acknowledge the issue, it would go away.
Jasmine’s grip tightened on my arm. “Please stay here.”