by Marlowe Blue
Who was he telling? But I got it. Hunter hadn’t signed on for this. We were in the last few months of our senior year and he shouldn’t have been worrying about dead kids, psycho killers, and stalkers leaving mysterious notes. I was asking a lot of him and I wasn’t sure what he was getting in return. The guilt I already carried was weighed down even more by these added feelings.
I took his hand and squeezed it. Even though the night was cool, his palm was sweaty. “Hunter, if all of this is too much for you, just say so. I totally understand and I can take it.” He deserved to be with a carefree girl who could make him happy.
He pressed his lips together and squeezed my hand harder. “It’s not that, I don’t want to break up with you, Lela, but this is heavy. I want it to be over and I want you to not have to worry about it anymore.”
Relief washed over me. I wanted that too.
Hunter hopped off the hood. “Maybe we should do a little research on the Downs family just in case—if anything, to eliminate them as suspects. The library’s still open for another hour.”
I nodded, but something was eating away at me. The Downs family—mainly his mother and father. I’d stared at them in newspaper articles every day, talking to their pictures and telling them how sorry I was for everything. I told them that I’d forgiven Officer Downs for lying on me and how I wished the two of us had never crossed paths. I’d done that every day up until a few months ago. Looking at their pictures again was bound to take me back to that place.
The parking lot of the community library was fairly empty, it being a Friday night and all. As Hunter parked, I took a few deep breaths, then I followed him, walking toward the building like a zombie.
Twenty-eight of the thirty computer stations were available, so we chose the one in the farthest corner.
Hunter and I sat side-by-side and I couldn’t help but to notice how good he smelled even after engaging in long hours of physical labor. Kind of like cologne and spearmint.
I took deep breaths as Hunter pulled up a search engine. “His parents are Edward and Caroline Downs. He has a brother they call Eddie Jr. who’s two years older than him.”
Hunter plugged in the names of the parents first. What popped up was the same old, same old. A website had been set up in memory of Officer Downs. His parents were putting any donations received toward scholarships for high school seniors. I had been tempted to give many times, but as ridiculous as it sounded, I feared that would start a paper trail that would lead back to me somehow.
“Wow.” Hunter skimmed a few of the articles. “Caroline is a retired first grade teacher and Edward owns a fishing shop.”
I knew all that. As much as I tried to be distracted by my phone, my eyes slowly wandered to the lovely-looking couple on the computer screen.
Edward was a stout man with a thin crown of grayish-white hair and gold-rimmed glasses. Caroline was slender and frail-looking with short white-blond curls and less wrinkles than I would have expected from a woman of her age. They seemed to be perfectly nice people. Not ones who would be involved in complicated plots of revenge against a group of teenagers.
Hunter looked up Eddie Jr. next. Eddie was a thicker, burlier version of his younger brother. Most of the pictures that came up during the image search were of Eddie in his hunting gear holding a shot gun. In several pictures, he held up dead animals as he beamed with pride. Eddie had a wife and two teenage daughters. He didn’t have any social media accounts we could find, but his daughters did. They were thirteen and fifteen years old and seemed to fit the bill of typical teenagers.
Hunter tapped Eddie’s face on the screen. “Him right here. He could be our guy.”
Yes, he could have been, but it still didn’t make sense. Why was I still alive when I was the one who had killed his brother and why were AJ, Brayden, and Charlotte dead when they’d had nothing to do with it?
I gave up. My brain was working in circles and threatening to crash. I pressed the little button to shut the computer monitor off. Relief washed over me as the screen turned black. I couldn’t stand to look at the family anymore, not when I was the one responsible for their loss.
Exhausted and burned out, I turned to Hunter. “Will you take me to the police station?”
22
Hunter and I waited out front in the lobby for Officer Nichols. He was off duty, but he had given me his personal number in case of an emergency. I was happy when he said he would come right away because I had no intentions of talking to anyone else.
When he arrived, Hunter stayed in the lobby while Detective Nichols led me back to a small room. I told him everything, about the notes, about the investigating I had done on my own. His brow furrowed in concern. “Why didn’t you tell me about this after the first note?”
“The note told us not to and I was afraid we wouldn’t get any more clues after that. I’m sorry.”
He nodded as if he understood. “I don’t want you and Morgan to end up like your other friends. We’re putting you both under twenty-four-hour protection and that’s not negotiable.”
Shivers ran down my spine as I realized how much danger we were in. Whoever was sending us those notes, could just as easily kill us like they had our friends when they got tired of toying with us. I was glad I had come to Nichols, although I wasn’t happy with the police being on our tails twenty-four-seven.
Nichols scooped the letters into a plastic baggie, promising me that they would look into it. He meant well, but I knew there wasn’t much he could do. Those notes could have come from anyone.
23
A few weeks later, on a bright Saturday morning I received this text from Morgan:
Pack an overnight bag! I’ll be there in an hour!
After that she wouldn’t respond to any of my texts or phone calls so I had no idea what was up. A little over an hour later, she pulled up to my house in her father’s SUV. On the way out the door, I told my parents I would be spending the weekend at the Thornes’.
Three weeks had gone by since my meeting with Detective Nichols. Since nothing had transpired during that time—no more letters, no one following us—our protection detail had been called off. Morgan and I were both elated. It’s no fun having someone follow you around all day every day. It was like being grounded when you hadn’t done anything wrong.
I climbed into her father’s SUV. “Morg, what’s going on?”
She grinned from ear to ear, obviously very proud of herself. “I was thinking we’ve been through a lot so a weekend at the cabin will do us good. The others are coming up a little later.”
The mention of the cabin sent my pulse racing. We were supposed to have taken Charlotte there for her birthday. I had even planned on ordering red and black cupcakes for the occasion. I pushed the somber memory away.
Behind me the vehicle was packed with lanterns, coolers, charcoal, and bags of food. I turned back to Morgan. “Your dad let you borrow his car to take us up to the cabin?” That sounded so unlike her overly-protective parents.
Her smile faded a little. “Not exactly. I kind of told him that you and I were going to take a college tour. He couldn’t say no to that.”
I tossed my bag in the back and relaxed. I needed this little getaway and some time out of the house. Hunter being there would have made it absolutely perfect. I remembered Morgan’s suspicions of him and decided maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.
We spent the two-hour drive to the cabin being silly and singing songs at the top of our lungs. Letting loose had taken my mind off things.
Once we arrived I helped Morgan unload the gear and food supplies. The cabin was a little stuffy so we opened all the windows to let it air out. Not long after, the others arrived in Peyton’s car. Moments later we were all sitting around the living room holding tall glasses of Dr. Pepper. The familiar taste of the Hex’s favorite drink brought my mood down just a little.
“We should do something really cool tonight,” Toby said.
Shana scrolled through her phone. �
��Like what?”
Morgan stood with her hands on her hips. “Well, we’re not going to spend the night looking at our phones.”
Toby held his up. “I propose a no-phone rule. Everyone set your phones on the table and we’ll only touch them in case of an emergency.”
I glanced down at my phone. I had sent Hunter a text on the way up that he hadn’t replied to. I hadn’t expected him to because he was working and his father didn’t allow phone use on the job, but I knew he would text back once he got off. That didn’t really qualify as an emergency. Reluctantly I set my phone on the table.
“Don’t worry,” Morgan said. “I’ll come up with something really fun for us to do.”
We took a quick soak in the hot tub, played a couple of board games and ate grilled hot dogs with baked beans for dinner. Shana delivered a mini concert of Sia songs. I had no idea the girl could sing. Her big mouth was actually good for something. For a while, Morgan disappeared, claiming she had to take care of something outside.
Once it got dark, she had us gather in the living room by the fire place. We sat on large cushions in a semi-circle, taking in the warmth. The flames caused shadows to dance on the walls. The room felt eerie and cozy at the same time.
Morgan adjusted the fire wood with a poker. “I’ve come up with the perfect game to play.”
I had no idea what Morgan was up to, she’d been full of surprises all day, but I did know that I wasn’t up for a game of spin-the-bottle.
“What’s the game?” Peyton asked. She leaned forward on her cushion, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement.
Morgan tossed her hair over her shoulder. “It’s called ‘Kill Annie’.”
I choked on the water I’d been drinking. “Kill Annie? What the hell?”
Morgan looked at each of us. “I borrowed the doll my dad keeps in the garage for his job, you know, he’s a CPR instructor. I hid her somewhere out in the woods, not too far out. I have flashlights for everyone. The first one to find Annie and kill her is the winner.
“You can use any weapon you can get your hands on, but the wounds you inflict must be fatal or it doesn’t count. You’ll be eliminated and then I’ll hide Annie again.”
Shaking my head, I waited for the others to protest the insanity but no one said a word. They didn’t even look slightly disturbed. “Morgan, I don’t want to do this. Can’t we just watch a movie or something . . . normal?”
“Booorrrring,” Shana sang. “What’s the big deal? It’s just a game.”
Morgan sank into her seat. “Yeah, Lee. I would think you would be used to things like this. I mean you can car surf and bungee jump but you can’t play a little game of hide and seek in the dark?”
My stomach tightened. “You know this is not the same. This is sick, Morgan. How could you even come up with an idea like this?” Especially after all we’d been through. A murder game was hitting too close to home.
She stood, ignoring my question. “Fine. Lela doesn’t want to play with us.” She went to the kitchen and came back with a box. She tossed a flashlight to the other three. “You have two minutes to find a weapon then the game will begin.”
Shana, Toby, and Peyton raced around the house and then returned to the living room as Morgan called time. Shana came back with a long knife with a red handle and Toby had a pair of gardening shears. He snapped them open and shut. “Found these bad boys on a shelf in the laundry room.” Peyton, who had come back empty handed, grabbed a poker from the fire.
Morgan opened the sliding glass door that led to the woods beyond the cabin. “Okay,” she shouted. “On your marks, get set, go!”
The three took off. I moved away from the fire and sat on the couch thinking I would have whether been anywhere else. I even contemplated calling my parents to get me. Sure, they would be pissed about me lying to them, but at least they’d take me home.
Morgan placed a glass of red wine on the coffee table before me. “My parents keep this for special occasions, but they won’t miss one bottle. You need to relax, Lee. Live a little. I mean, that’s what you’ve always told me.”
“I’m sorry, Morgan, but this is just weird and a little creepy. Don’t you think there’s something strange about people running through the woods at night looking for a doll to kill it?”
Morgan shrugged. “It’s just a game. I thought you’d like it. It’s really not a big deal.”
The glass door slid open and Shana stepped in. “Is this dead enough?”
I would say so. She held Annie’s head in one hand and her body in the other.
Morgan jumped up from the couch, clapping. “Decapitation. Nice job, Shana.”
Toby and Peyton returned moments later looking flushed and disappointed.
Shana held out her hand. “Hand it over, Toby.”
He lowered his collar and removed a black necklace with a skull-and-crossbones charm dangling from it. He placed it around Shana’s neck. “You finally won one.”
I glared at my best friend. “Morgan, what is this?”
She looked at the others who had taken their places on the couches. “Should I tell her?”
They nodded in unison.
I suddenly felt short of breath. “Tell me what?”
“When I first moved here and heard about the Hex, I liked the concept of it so I decided to start my own group. Only we didn’t do stupid stunts. We did real things. I wanted you to be a part of us but I knew you had to be free from Coach’s grasp before you could be.”
My stomach plummeted. “Morgan, what are you talking about?” She’d had her own secret group all this time? How could I have not known that?
Toby sighed. “I don’t know how she’s going to become a member if she’s afraid to do a dummy.”
“Shut up!” Morgan shouted. “She did her first kill before all of you!”
I held my breath as all eyes were on me. This wasn’t happening. Morgan wasn’t blurting out my deepest darkest secret to a group of kids I’d just met. “Morgan, what are you doing?”
Shana’s hair looked like it was ablaze as she stood in front of the fire. “What are you talking about?”
Morgan turned to me. “It’s okay, Lela. In this group we take secrets to our grave. Tell them about the cop.”
Peyton raised an eyebrow. “What cop?”
What was Morgan doing? I swallowed hard as the others watched me expectantly. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Toby threw his hands up. “This was a mistake.”
Morgan picked up her wine glass and swirled it around. “She’ll come around. I know she will. She’s my bestie.”
I was so confused. “Morgan—”
“See, the Hex was cute and everything, but that stuff was child’s play. We wanted the ultimate thrill. You know what gives you the ultimate thrill, Lee?”
I shook my head slowly.
“Not breaking windows or playing chicken. Nothing gives you that ultimate feeling or burst of adrenaline like taking a life.”
This was a sick joke. I waited for them all to say they were punking me in an attempt to cheer me up. They all had a terribly sick sense of humor.
“Yes,” I said. “Killing a dummy must give you the greatest feeling in the world.”
Peyton scoffed. “That was for your benefit. We’ve been playing this game for months. This was your chance to learn. Turned out to be a huge waste of time since you turned out to be chicken shit.”
I looked at the table where our phones were, but they were gone. “Where’s my phone?”
“Why do you need your phone?” Toby asked.
“Why do you think?” I snapped. My parents thought I was safe at Morgan’s house. They probably wouldn’t try to call me until the next day.
Morgan sat beside me and took my hand. “Lee, relax. Your old friends weren’t as good as you thought. They never liked me. They excluded me the second I couldn’t complete a challenge—I failed that challenge on purpose by the way. Then after all that they wanted to us
e me for my cabin. Not to mention how Coach was making you his prisoner—I had to save you because you’re my best friend.”
I shivered under her touch. “Morgan, what are you saying?”
“We’ve been practicing up until a while ago. We had to make it real. We finally had to commit. The Hex was perfect because minus you, there was one for each of us. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t just play the game with people for no reason. They have to deserve it.”
I snatched my hand from her and moved away from the couch. “Get away from me. All of you get away from me.”
Peyton made a tsking sound. “So ungrateful. I knew we should have done her too.”
Morgan shot eye-daggers at Peyton whose gaze fell to the ground. Morgan stepped closer to me. “I’ve done a lot for you, Lela and you’re not being very appreciative. I took Coach out for you. I left you alive. When you got pinned for the murders, I made Neil confess so they’d let you go.”
I held on to the edge of the couch because the room wouldn’t stop spinning. I didn’t know what Morgan thought she was doing, but none of this was funny. If anything, it gave me the overwhelming urge to get away from them. I headed toward the bedrooms. “Uh, I have to use the bathroom.” The four of them watched me leave the room, but they stayed put.
I darted to the bedroom Morgan and I were sharing that weekend. I tore the room apart looking for my phone. Finally, I found it buried underneath a blanket in the closet.
I only had one bar so my reception was going to be shoddy. I dialed my mother’s number but the call dropped and didn’t go through. Immediately after that, my phone rang. I thought it was my mother calling me back, but according to the caller ID it was Detective Nichols. Why was he calling?
“Hello? Detective Nichols?”
He sounded rushed and panicked. “Lela, where are you? Your parents said you were at Morgan’s but neither of you are there.”
So that’s what this was about. I knew my parents would be pissed, but I didn’t think they’d call the police. Our little weekend trip was busted. “We’re at the Thorne’s cabin.”
