Chapter 47 – Lily
LILY
Shouting emanates from the house as Aster and I stand outside the front door.
By the sound of it, I’d assume Jackson and Violet have a lot of explaining to do for Liam.
If there’s one person who was gutted by her death as much as I was, it’s him.
The last year we’ve spent in this house, Violet’s house, mourning her, and now she’s just… back.
“How can I live here like everything is normal?” I ask Aster, my hand frozen on the door handle.
My brain is so jumbled I can hardly breathe.
Guilt settles inside. “I’m ecstatic she’s alive.
Truly. But I also feel like I don’t know her at all.
” She keeps giving me half answers, and what has she been doing this whole time?
I shake my head, eyes meeting his. “I’m supposed to just sleep under the same roof and act like the past year of my life never happened? ”
“Babe.” He grabs my hand, pulling me to him. “There’s a very simple solution.”
“Oh, really?”
“Move in with me.”
“What?” I huff a laugh. “We’ve been dating for, like, two weeks.”
“Yes, but if you count our mutual stalking courtship, it’s been almost two months.”
“That is an insane technicality.”
“But it’s also true.” He takes my hands in his. “And I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep without knowing you’re safe beside me every night. So really, it’s a selfish ask.”
“Let’s see how this conversation goes first.”
“Well, I hope you don’t feel like it’s necessary. But just in case.” He pulls out his keys and twists one off the keychain, handing it to me.
“You know I could just break in if I really needed to.”
“Would you just…?” He holds it between us, and I take it, clutching it to my chest.
“I’ll cherish it with my life.” He pulls me to him, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips.
“I love you, Karma baby.”
“I love you too, Grim.”
A moment later, we’re inside, indecipherable shouts echoing through the space.
I slam the door, and the house goes silent.
When we walk into the living room, Jackson, Liam, and Violet turn to face us.
Liam’s face is red and blotchy. Violet’s is the same.
And Jackson looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. Honestly, me too.
“Hey,” Violet says, hesitancy swimming in her green eyes. It’s so nice to see her.
“Hi,” I force out, looking between her and Jackson. “I’m trying really hard not to be angry at you both.” And I can’t even imagine how angry Aster must be with Jackson, but that’s a whole other conversation.
“We understand,” Violet says as her gaze falls to Aster, then returns to me. “Could we talk? Just the two of us?”
My heart twists. I don’t trust her, but I’m not afraid of her. “Sure.”
“Lily,” Aster says.
“I’ll be fine,” I assure him, reaching out a hand, and he squeezes it three times. I do the same. His eyes hold mine, and he comes close.
“I love you.”
“And there’s a scorched Earth to prove it.”
I follow Violet down the hallway to her room. The way I’ve done so many times before. The way I never thought I’d be able to do again.
Once we’re inside, she shuts the door, and the room buzzes with electricity and answered prayers.
She turns to face me, then throws her arms around me, and my body stills by reflex. “Oh my god, I’ve missed you, Lil,” she says into my neck, and for a flicker of a moment, I melt into her. “So damn much.”
“Apparently not enough to tell me the truth,” I grumble, pulling away and putting space between us as my frustration consumes me.
“What the hell is going on? Were you ever planning to come back?” All the questions tumble out of me at once.
“Do you know who the Kodak Killer is? Is it Jackson? Was it Jude or Vetrel?”
“Breathe, babe,” she says, gesturing in and out. “Come on. You’re not asking the right questions.”
The flicker of a deep, eerily modulated voice comes to mind, and my body freezes. “What the hell did you just say?”
“I said, you’re not asking the right questions, Lil.
” Lil. I’d considered the anonymous caller was someone familiar to me.
They had access to my home, knew things about me, my schedule.
Used nicknames like they were something more than just a random caller.
I assumed it was Jackson after he drugged me but…
My heart seizes, hands trembling as the glass shatters in my mind.
“You’re my psycho caller?” I say, brain trying to catch up with every new truth bomb being dropped on me.
“Well.” She smiles like she did me some kind of favor. “I’d prefer guardian angel.” She touches her necklace.
Xo, A.
A as in Angel.
Oh my god. “Violet.” My voice comes out a whisper. “But why? Why the calls? The gifts? The deception?” My voice cracks, and she looks at me, expression puzzled. “Why not just tell me you were alive?”
“When we read those choose your own scare books as kids, you always said the adventure of the mystery was so much more fun than the plot twist was.” She shrugs with a smile. And now the Goosebumps birthday gift makes perfect sense. “You looked like you needed some fun in your life.”
Disbelief consumes me. “You thought I’d find searching for my best friend’s murderer fun?!”
She bites the inside of her cheek. “Well, yes, kind of.” She tilts her head, gaze puzzled. “Maybe I was wrong?”
“Ya think?!” I pace the room, raging heat surging through me. “I can’t believe this. So you were the one trying to help me find the Kodak Killer? Trying to convince me about their motives? It was you all along?”
“Lily.” She grabs my arm and pulls me to a stop, our eyes connecting.
“Do you know who he is?” I ask, and she rolls her lips together, hesitancy swimming in her expression. “Do you know who Kodak is?” I grit out, sick of the lies. The bullshit. The deception.
“Yes.”
“Who?” My brain goes foggy, skin tingling, “Tell me who they are.”
“I need you to be totally chill for, like, the next ten minutes.”
My eyes narrow. “I can be chill.” Can’t I?
“It’ll all make sense after I explain.” She squeezes my hands, seemingly nervous, but a trickle of excitement crinkles at the corners of her eyes. “Can you promise you won’t freak out?”
My heart pounds erratically in my chest. “I promise.”
The answers are so close, I can taste them.
“It’s me.” She takes a deep breath, then smiles. “I’m the Kodak Killer.”