December 20 | Friday #12
“We’ll see,” Liam replied, glancing somewhere over Will’s shoulder.
Will instinctively turned around but was immediately scolded.
“Don’t look. He’s supposed to be the one doing that, right?
” Will brought his eyes back to Liam. “It’s not about the fact that you’re talking to me, it’s about how you’re doing it.
Just act like you’re having a good time. ”
“How?”
“Get into it.”
“Can’t we do something so we actually are having a good time?” Will suggested, before his brain registered how that sounded.
“Here? In front of everyone?” Liam grinned widely. “You sure?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Will hissed, blushing again. “I meant we should, like, do something. It’s pointless to just sit here.”
“It’s not pointless. Trust me and just talk.”
“About what?”
“What does it matter?”
At first, Will’s frustration only grew, because he really didn’t understand how this was supposed to help him, and the conversation wasn’t flowing. But eventually, he loosened up a bit. They started talking about school, and it went from there.
Liam was laid-back and funny. Will had to admit, this wasn’t how he’d imagined his school tormentor. At one point, he was tempted to bring up the subject of that damn ball, but he ultimately decided against it. He didn’t want to hear anything that would ruin his mood.
Not long after, Liam got a text. He checked his phone, then shifted away from Will.
“Sorry, gotta go,” he announced, getting up. “Next time.”
“Sure,” Will replied, but he didn’t let Liam get two steps away before he blurted out, “Can I have your number?”
Liam raised an eyebrow. A faint smile played on his lips.
“You know, in case I have any questions, or something,” Will added, clearing his throat quietly. He didn’t want it to look like he was hitting on him. Because he wasn’t. Absolutely not.
“You already have my number.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Check.”
Will rolled his eyes.
“I know I don’t,” he said, a note of irritation in his voice, wondering if Liam was messing with him, just leading him on to shoot him down spectacularly in the end. He reached for his phone anyway and looked at his contacts. “See? There’s no…”
Damn it. His eyes widened when he saw Liam in his contact list. Maybe it was a different Liam? Because…
“I added myself.”
“When?”
“When I took your phone.”
Will was speechless.
“Why?” he finally asked.
Liam shrugged.
“In case you had any questions, or something.”
Will snorted under his breath.
“Right,” he said, amused. “Fine.”
“Have fun.” Liam gave him a knowing wink and then headed for the exit.
Will watched him go, then glanced surreptitiously toward Oscar. Oscar happened to be looking at him, but he looked away as soon as he was caught. He still seemed engrossed in conversation with his friends.
Will sat on the couch for a few more minutes, until a couple making out finally drove him away. He wandered aimlessly around the room until he decided he should get going. Maybe Dan wouldn’t be asleep yet and they could watch something together after all.
He put on his jacket and went outside. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Will took a deep breath. He heard the door open behind him.
“Will!”
He turned and saw Oscar heading toward him. The guy hadn’t put on a coat. Apparently, he didn’t want to risk Will getting too far away.
“Hey,” he said with a small smile.
“Hey,” Will replied.
“We were talking about the movies the other day, remember?” Oscar asked, and Will’s heart began to beat faster. “Would tomorrow work for you? We could meet at the Athena at two.”
Will couldn’t help but smile.
“Sure.”
“At the main entrance?”
“Absolutely. I’ll see you then?”
“See you,” Oscar confirmed, before running back into the house.
Will walked on, grinning happily. Finally! He had no idea if Oscar had actually gotten jealous or if he was just waiting for a moment like this, but either way, they had a date.
He stepped onto the road, heading for the bus stop. That’s when he noticed a black car parked off to the side. Despite the harsh conditions, it looked like it had just driven off the lot. Will recognized it. It was Blake’s.
Driven by curiosity, he peeked inside, but there was no one there. Norma had said Blake wasn’t coming. Had something changed?
It didn’t look like Alden had gone to Norma’s house, though. The footprints in the snow led deep into the forest.
Will hesitated for a moment. On one hand, it was totally none of his business, but on the other, he was intrigued by what Blake was doing in the woods so late at night. Maybe something had happened? Maybe he needed help?
Driven more by curiosity than concern, he slid down a small embankment and then moved on, lighting his way with his phone.
He tried to follow the tracks, but at some point they became confusing, and eventually he lost them completely.
He was just considering turning back when he heard an irritated question, “What are you doing here?”
Will spun around and came face-to-face with Blake.
“God, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” he complained, taking a deep breath.
“Then why did you come snooping?”
“I saw your car. I thought something had…”
At that moment, Will’s hand tilted involuntarily, and the light fell to the right. Then Will saw something that made his blood run cold.
A dead girl was lying in the snow. Her black hair was fanned out around her head. Her lips were parted, her eyes open. She was lying in a pool of blood.
Will shifted his terrified gaze to Blake.
“What did you do?” he whispered weakly.
“What? Nothing. It wasn’t me.”
Will started backing away.
“I’m serious. I didn’t do it.”
He moved faster.
“Wait.”
He turned and started to run, but Alden caught up to him in an instant. Will screamed. Blake covered his mouth with his hand.
“It wasn’t me, you hear? Shut up!” he ordered sternly. Will struggled with all his might. “You’re going to get us into trouble!”
“What’s going on?”
The familiar voice made Will calm down a little. A few feet away stood Liam, watching them intently.
“Liam!” Blake called out, relieved. “Tell him to shut up!”
“Everything okay, Will?” Liam asked.
“Y-Yeah,” Will confirmed nervously, glancing furtively at Blake, who moved away but still stood close enough to silence him if needed. “What happened?”
“So when you saw me, you immediately assumed I was a murderer, but seeing him somehow calmed you down?” Blake asked, irritated.
“You’re a vampire,” Will reminded him pointedly.
“And he’s a werewolf! You think his ancestors never devoured people?”
“They probably did,” Liam admitted freely.
Will glanced at him anxiously.
“Besides… you racist…” Alden seethed. “Take a good look. See this hole in her head? I didn’t gouge it out with my fangs, she was shot!”
Will really didn’t want to, but he moved closer to the body and examined it carefully.
Alden was right. There was a bullet wound in the girl’s head.
And they weren’t the only visible injuries.
She had cuts on her, and her wrists bore the marks of a rope or something similar.
Will felt sick. He had never seen anything so horrifying.
“Who did this?”
“We don’t know.”
“The police are on their way, right?”
He got no answer.
“You didn’t call them?”
“She’s a witch,” Blake announced.
“So what?”
“So we’re not getting the police involved in our business. We’ll handle it ourselves.”
“How?” Will asked, unable to imagine it.
“None of your business. Disappear,” Alden ordered harshly.
“See you Monday, Will,” Liam added, which was a very subtle way of saying get lost.
“See you Monday,” Will replied weakly.
A moment later, he was back on the road, where he ran into Abby.
“Hey,” he said, surprised.
“Hey,” she replied, then headed deep into the forest.
Will stopped for a moment and closed his eyes, recalling the ghastly sight of the dead girl.
This was not how he had imagined the day would end.
November 16 | Saturday
Will didn’t get up until after twelve. While he didn’t remember his dreams, he had a feeling they hadn’t been peaceful.
He did, however, remember his date with Oscar—as if he could forget—so the first thing he did was get ready to go out.
Downstairs in the kitchen, he tried to focus on his plans for the day and not think about the ghastly end to the previous night.
Danny wandered into the room a moment later, seemingly to take stock of his roommate’s condition.
“How are you holding up?” Will asked him.
“Fine,” Dan replied tersely, which meant he probably hadn’t found a job. “Want some coffee?”
“Yes, thanks.”
A moment later, Will was sipping the warm drink, looking out the window at the pervasive whiteness. Not even that view could discourage him today.
“I’m heading out soon,” he informed his friend.
He expected Dan to ask where, and then he would deliver the wonderful news.
Dan didn’t ask.
“I have a date with Oscar.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m serious. You can ask him on Monday if you want.”
“I’m not going to. It’s just kind of hopeless that I have to second-guess everything you tell me and still not be entirely sure whether to believe you.”
“Seriously?” Will felt offended. “I apologized. It only happened once!”
Danny gave him a piercing look.
“You’ve only lied to me once?”
“Yes.”
In a way, that wasn’t true. In another way, it was.
He had, of course, lied to Dan every time he assured him everything was fine and every time he pretended he had no idea what was happening with the electricity in their house.
He saw no other way. But he couldn’t recall deceiving him on any matter not related to his troublesome abilities.
“Uh-huh,” Dan muttered skeptically.
“God, Danny!” Will hissed. Did they have to have this conversation right now?
“By the way, I transferred you the money for rent.”
“I told you that you don’t have to. Especially now that you’re out of a job.”
“That’s exactly why I have to,” Danny replied with a grim smile. “Because with all your new friends, who knows how quickly they’ll take my place if I turn out to be a bad roommate.”
Now Will wasn’t just offended. He was hurt.