III
Tori
“T hank you, Miss Reynolds.” The cop clicks his pen before sticking it and the notebook he’s barely written in into his pocket. “You can go.”
I don’t move. “That’s it?”
Officer Sullivan turns slightly to nod at his colleague at the door. As the other officer opens it, Sullivan looks back at me. “We have your number. We’ll call you if we need any more information.”
“Declan tried to kill me.”
I don’t miss the roll of his eyes as he stands, staring down at me. “Yes. And you also said he was alone. Mr. Salaway is dead. What do you want us to do? Arrest a corpse?”
It took the cops about forty minutes to arrive at Rainer House. From the mutterings I overhead of them complaining, they’d had some difficulty arriving because of the snow. I’d refused to leave Declan’s apartment, standing by the window that overlooked the main entrance of the building, while Peter and George sat glaring at me from the couch, like I’d been the one to kill their roommate.
After leaving some colleagues with Declan’s body, Office Sullivan ushered the six of us to one of the administration buildings that campus security opened for them. We’d all been separated into faculty offices after that, and it took another twenty minutes before Officer Sullivan and his partner even came to speak to me. From the moment they walked in, they seemed unbothered about everything, even the fact that Declan tried to kill me.
No doubt, they’d spoken to Syn first.
“Or was someone else there?” Officer Sullivan asks when I don’t move.
I’ve spent countless hours trying to investigate what really happened the night JP was murdered, including requesting the police reports. Until then, I’d never seen a police report before, but I didn’t need to be an expert to know the contents were severely lacking. One officer tried convincing me that because my brother had straight up confessed, there was no reason to conduct an ‘unnecessarily thorough’ investigation I was expecting.
Whether that was from general incompetence, lack of care, or someone convincing them to sweep it all under the rug and close the case as quickly as possible, I wasn’t sure. But right now, I can tell that trying to tell them that I’m sure Declan was put up to it by Syn is going to fall on deaf ears.
My voice has almost given up on me. They’ve not offered me anything to drink since I’ve been here, and I don’t have the ability to argue.
I also don’t have any evidence to link Syn to any of this.
“No,” I whisper.
“Then, we’re done here.” This time, he doesn’t wait for me to stand. Instead, he walks over to his partner, and the two of them leave me alone in the room.
Getting up from the low leather seat takes more effort than I expect, and I decide that I’ve had enough of today. I want to take a shower, some painkillers, and curl up under a blanket.
I walk out of the office, and I’m surprised to see the corridor empty. I was expecting Royal, Gemini, or even Syn to be waiting for me. But I’m not disappointed to find they’re not there. Right now, they’re the last people I want to see anyway.
Before I can check if they’re waiting for me somewhere else, I head further into the building. I’ve been here before, and I know there’s more than one entrance. I leave through the back and cut across a courtyard to a neighboring building, successfully escaping undetected.
Maybe they weren’t going to threaten me to keep quiet?
Only, as I’m shuffling along the cleared paths, heading towards my dorm room, a small nugget of doubt starts to form.
Because, if their goal was to kill me, even if Declan’s attempt had failed, all they needed to do was not ‘find’ me until later. There’s several feet of snow on campus, and the sweats that I’m wearing aren’t doing much to keep the icy air out. Yesterday was no different; I’d have frozen to death.
As I replay things in my mind, I can’t deny that Royal, Gemini—and even Syn—seemed… I’m not sure I can go as far as to say they looked worried. Royal, maybe…
News of Declan’s death seems to have spread around campus because by the time I reach my dorm, the girls are lingering in doorways, reactions ranging from shocked to some sobbing hysterically.
Despite my appearance, no one seems to pay any attention to me as I make my way to my room. Realizing I’ve not got my room key on me, and that these dorms don’t have coded access, I walk the extra feet to Penny’s room and knock on the door.
“Tori!” The door swings open, and Penny goes to launch her arms around me, but thankfully, stops herself at the last moment. Her mouth drops open, and then she ushers me into her room. “I thought you were leaving. The group chats are saying something happened to that Elite freshman, Declan. Are the cops here because of you? What happened? Are you okay?”
I don’t wait for her to close the door behind me as I make a beeline for her bed and fall down on her hot pink covers. Inhaling a peach scent that is reassuringly familiar, I close my eyes.
“Tori, you’ve got to give me something, because if not, I’m going to make sure those cops come here. What did Syn do to you?”
“If you can get me a drink, I’ll tell you everything,” I rasp at her, wishing I could just keep my eyes closed and go to sleep. But no matter how I feel, turning up at Penny’s door like this does require an explanation.
Penny closes and locks the door before she busies herself with making one of her infamous hot chocolates. By the time she’s done, I’ve crawled up against the headboards and curled up under her thick blankets.
Starting from leaving her room to returning here, the story takes a lot longer than I’d expected, especially since Penny has to stop to top up my mug another two times in between. By the time I’ve finished, she’s just staring at me in horror. Her lips are slightly parted, and her complexion is competing with mine in paleness awards.
“You can’t stay here, Tor. I know how much you want to free your brother, but this is too much for anyone to go through. He wouldn’t be mad or disappointed if you quit now.”
My hands are wrapped around a fresh mug of hot chocolate, which I’m holding close enough to feel the heat on my face.
She’s right. I know she’s right, but…
“We need to get you to a hospital because the only reason you’re not agreeing with me right now is a concussion. Or brain damage.” Penny shuffles over so she’s kneeling in front of me. “It’s not worth all this, Tori. Please.”
Something happened the night JP was killed. Something that has been covered up by god knows who, and after that conversation with Officer Sullivan, I’ll probably never find out.
“It’s not weak to give up, you know? It’s not like you’ve not tried your hardest.”
I draw my gaze to her face before gently shaking my head. “I know. I just… I’m exhausted, and I’m not sure there isn’t a part of me that doesn’t hurt. I need a shower and sleep, and then I’ll figure out what I’m doing next.”
Penny doesn’t say anything as I extract myself from under the covers and make my way to her bathroom. Under the hot water, I examine my body, watching as the forming bruises that cover me start to blend into the red my skin turns under water that’s almost too hot to handle.
Using Penny’s body scrub, I attack my skin until some of the freshly forming scabs are rubbed away, and blood joins the peach scented bubbles. Only then do I sink to the floor and wrap my arms around me as I allow the shower to wash away everything.
Giving up isn’t weak, and I know that.
After Syn released my sex tape, I’d planned to leave James Keyingham University. I’d only gone back to Denali House to get the camera I’d hidden in Syn’s room to see if I could finally get his password. I’d wanted to leave this place with my own incriminating tape.
Being here and putting up with all I had done wouldn’t have been so bad if I was actually leaving with a way to free Cole.
But leaving with nothing at all feels soul-crushing.
“They’re cancelling this week’s finals,” Penny says, reading from her phone screen. “Well, cancelled for the Elite. They will receive a passing grade of compassion , whatever that means. Everyone else can defer their exams to next semester, if needed.”
I have no idea what the right thing is to say, or even if there is a right thing. Instead, I just nod.
“Members of the Elite aren’t expected to stay on campus, and they’re bringing in grief counselors for those that need them.” Penny lowers her phone. “They’ve not mentioned you. They’re just saying it’s suicide.”
Somehow, I slept through the whole night without waking once until Penny’s alarm went off a little while ago. Even though the curtains are open, the room is lit with Penny’s bedside lamps because dark clouds are blocking what little light the sunrise should be giving us.
There’s a dull ache that seems to have spread all through my body. Except for my jaw and cheek, which send shooting pains when I speak. When I checked the mirror earlier, the area surrounding my eye socket had turned purple. Thankfully, it isn’t swollen, and I’m still able to see properly.
“Scattered snow showers, but nothing as bad as the weekend, and they’ve finished clearing the road down to town, so I can get a car here for us when you’re ready to leave… Tori?”
My throat shares the same dull ache as everywhere else until I swallow. I’m sure it’s not the case, but it feels like when I swallow, it gets stuck where the very visible thick, red welt lies. My voice is stronger than last night, even if it is still raspy, but it’s easier to speak in a whisper.
“Don’t worry, I’m leaving,” I tell her. “But it doesn’t sound like you’re getting exempt from any exams, so you might as well stay and get them done. That way they’re not lingering over you over the winter break.”
Pursing her lips, Penny looks over at the exam schedule she’s printed and pinned to the wall by her desk. “I’m not letting you leave by yourself. It’s just a law exam.”
If she wasn’t wanting to be a future Supreme Court Justice, then maybe it would be just another exam. Even if it’s an undergrad freshman class, it’s still important.
But I know there’s nothing I can say that will sway her decision to take me back to my mom’s apartment in Jersey. “It looks like that’s the only one you have today, so go do it. Have the car collect us later this afternoon,” I suggest. “I can stay here until you’re done.”
It takes Penny a moment of staring at the schedule before she concedes. “You need to put a chair in front of the door and don’t let anyone in except me. Especially not Synclair, Royal, or Gemini.”
I told Penny everything I could when I told her what happened to me, but when I was falling asleep, I remembered something else.
When I asked Declan why he was trying to kill me, he told me that Syn wanted me dead.
There doesn’t seem much point in telling her this extra bit of information. She’s just going to worry unnecessarily and insist we go to the police. If I thought it would do any good, I’d go straight to the police right now, but Officer Sullivan’s response yesterday makes me think, at best, he’d just tell me that it’s my word against a dead person’s. Again.
Penny’s condition comes from Royal turning up at her door after Syn released the video.
“They don’t care anymore. If they did, they would have been here last night.” I stand and reach for my coat. “Let’s get breakfast before it gets busy.”
Penny has been hanging onto the things I didn’t take with me into Denali House. There’s not much, but it’s nice to be in my own clothes, even if I’m the only one not wearing the college uniform.
True to their word, the college has now cleared all the paths to the dining hall, and the crunch beneath our feet comes from the thick layer of salt that’s been spread over the stone. Even with the announcement that most exams are still going ahead, the campus is busier than I’m expecting. Inside the dining hall, there’s a decent crowd of people, but the atmosphere is much more subdued than normal. Chatter is at a minimum, and wherever I look, people look tired.
Despite how tender my face feels, Penny has worked some magic. Red lipstick—for color correcting the bruise—and a thick layer of foundation, which feels too unnatural for me, but the combination of both is making the bruise almost invisible. She’s loaned me a silk scarf for my throat, and everything else is hidden beneath my clothes. It’s far from perfect, but I was hoping I would be able to eat breakfast without too many stares.
The top table that Syn, Royal, and Gemini usually sit at is empty. I’m glad. We take a seat at a table in the only corner that’s hard to see from there if they do decide to appear. My plate is piled high with soft, scrambled eggs, which take little effort to eat. It still hurts to swallow them, so I’m picking at them as I listen to Penny tell me for the fourth time that she’s coming straight back to her room after her exam is over.
She’s almost finished her breakfast when her phone rings. She pulls it out of her pocket and grimaces as she looks at the screen. “It’s Bubbe.”
“Go talk to your grandmother. I’m still eating.”
Penny purses her lips.
“I’m in the very public dining hall. I’ll be fine.”
With a final glance at her phone, Penny gets up, answering it as she walks away. No doubt, word of Declan’s suicide has reached her grandmother’s gossiping ears.
Continuing to slowly eat my eggs, I zone out until a shadow stops in front of the table. As I look up, I barely have time to process it’s not Penny before something is poured over my head.
I jerk back, but my escape is blocked by my chair hitting the wall behind me. I stumble out of the chair as more liquid is thrown at me.
Bright red liquid.
Someone broke into my dorm room while I was asleep and painted the word murderer in red paint and dumped what was left in my bed. When I’d woken up, covered in the paint, I’d first thought it was blood, but it wasn’t.
This doesn’t smell of paint, either.
Some of it is in my mouth, and it tastes coppery—like blood.
“How dare you come here?” Lissa Carmichael snarls at me, her face twisting into a sneer. “How do you have the audacity to walk into this dining hall? Declan is dead because of you.”