44 | Liam
Liam
It is a little after nine when Mike and Jessica burst into my bedroom, where Nate and I have been sleeping after our night with Jess.
Each holding one mug for themselves and one for each of us, they set the drinks on the dresser before joining us in bed.
Mike settles in the middle in the arms of a very sleepy Nate and pulls Jessica against his chest as I settle on her other side, claiming her lips with mine.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I greet her. I see Mike making a face and sticking his tongue out in response. I flip him off, and both of them laugh.
“Why are you all in my bed?” Nate asks, and laughter bursts through the room again.
“Not to burst your bubble, buddy, but you are in my bed,” I inform him, and Jessica chuckles.
Nate grunts, his eyes searching for something. “I smell coffee,” he murmurs.
Jessica gets off the bed and returns with his mug. He takes what she offers, and she bows theatrically in return.
“At your service, sir.” She laughs again. Her laugh is the most amazing sound I have ever heard in my life.
This is how I want to spend every morning from now on. With my family all in one place—laughter, jokes, and good coffee. I take the mug Jessica offers me and bring it to my lips. After a long sip of the hot liquid, I change my mind: this is not good coffee.
“God, this coffee is awful,” I say. Laughter fills the room again, accompanied by a sound from Nathan’s side that either means he agrees with me or is about to kill whoever brewed this liquid served as coffee.
Remind me to never let Mike and Jessica make it again.
You’d think she would know how to brew a decent cup after working in a diner for as long as she has.
“We should go to Rosa’s for coffee,” I announce, and I see Jessica’s eyes grow distant.
“I’ve told them I’m sick for a few days now, but I assume I should give Rosa my notice since we’re moving to New York, right?
” she asks. Nate nods in agreement, but the rest of us question this decision in silence.
I’m not sure he’s even awake enough to give a valid answer, but I’m not going to be the one to tell them this is a bad idea.
Even though a selfish part of me wants to keep Jessica forever, her behavior last night was concerning to all of us.
Not only did she join the hunt, but she was also the one who planned it.
This girl, who was once the polite waitress in my favorite diner—the one who greeted everyone with a smile and cared for them—is now eager to dip her hands in blood.
If we care as much as we claim we do, we should leave her to her peaceful way of living, her drunk father, and her diner shifts. We shouldn't bring her with us into a life of horror and blood.
“THREE MEN AND THEIR girlfriend go to dinner,” Mike jokes as we walk into Rosa’s diner, and Jessica laughs from behind me. She is walking next to Nate, his arm draped over her shoulder as we pass through the front entrance.
Mike walks beside me as we head to my regular booth, while Nate and Jess stop to greet the owner.
We came up with an excuse for Jessica’s time off that incorporated her original story of being sick, allowing us to come here without raising suspicion.
After all, she did tell everyone she was taking a few days off to recover from an illness while she was actually living under our roof, hunting a redheaded woman in a maze. This is messed up, Jessica.
Rosa, a smiling old lady with grayish-blonde hair, approaches them. She hugs Jess and offers her hand for Nate to shake. Of course, our well-mannered good boy does as expected.
The view of Nathan shaking the old lady’s hand is poetic in a way. Even when dressed in casual attire, everything he wears is too fucking expensive. He might be living a simple life away from luxury, but he doesn't belong in it—yet he chooses to endure it for us.
There was a time in our lives when we tried the opposite approach. Fitting into his world instead—going to fancy schools and living like we deserved all the luxury—should have been easy enough to manage, but not for us.
Mike always looked uncomfortable at every restaurant Nate’s parents took us to, and I had no interest in any of it. It was clear to Nate that we would never be happy in his lifestyle. But what set it in stone was the night of that college party.
The screams of our first victim, her blood on our hands, and the way my brother laughed as he dipped his blade into her flesh formed a bond between the three of us that nothing could break it.
He knew he had to adjust to protect us. We all did, in a way.
You can't live in luxury and remain undetected while killing your way across the country.
As they join us at the remote booth where I have sat every morning for the past month, I can’t stop thinking.
We shouldn’t keep dragging Jess into our madness.
We chose this life, but she still has the opportunity to leave.
Her hands are still clean of blood—I made sure of it.
All three of us have taken a life now, but she did nothing more than participate in the hunt.
She can still save herself by staying the hell away from us.
The only witness to yesterday’s events is now dead. No one has to know.
I made sure I was the one to kill the redhead to protect Jessica from doing it. I wanted to give her the chance to escape us. But as time passes, it’s clear to all of us that she isn't planning to leave.
Our food arrives. Jessica ordered for all of us, wanting to treat us to something nice.
Alan did his best, and the food is as delicious as ever.
Pancakes with various toppings sit in front of us, and Mike digs into his plate like a feral animal.
Nate gives him a sharp look, while Jessica ignores them both, picking apart her own food.
I just sip my coffee, observing the three people I’ve spent every waking hour with for the past few days, and my thoughts drift back to the night before.
I had never killed anyone before last night.
I had made sure I wouldn’t. I only participated in the hunts, helping dispose of the bodies and organizing the kidnappings.
I made myself useful enough to stay around without taking a life.
I felt no need to kill, but the adrenaline of the chase was enough of a high to keep me participating.
Someone outside our little group might think I didn’t want to be involved at all, and that would be a fair assumption.
I didn’t want to, but I love my brother and my friend, so I stuck with them.
Mike found a way to cope with the horrors his stepfather and mother inflicted on him through that twisted little game, and one could argue that Nate has a twisted nature of his own.
I stuck around because I love them. I wanted to make sure they would never get caught.
I disposed of every body myself, researched every victim, and made sure we stayed free.
Now I need to ensure we continue to stay free.
She has to go. The realization is clear to me now. She can’t stay.
My process is flawless; it will give us enough time to disappear before anyone here suspects anything, even with the mistakes we made.
I stalked every victim, gathered information, and planned their abductions in such detail that it would take days before they were reported missing—and even longer to be assumed dead, if ever.
And if people do notice, they’ll assume it’s some local serial killer.
There’s always one around to take the blame.
I refuse to get caught just because I fell in love with a woman.
Every step I’ve taken over the years was calculated to ensure we never get caught—to ensure my brother and my friend would never be held accountable for their actions, and that I would never have to answer for mine.
She needs to go before she takes us down with her.