Delusions

by Amy Crandall

  Code word: empty.

  “Sure,” Abigale said. A rush of fear raced through her. What was she doing? The last thing she should be doing was going off alone with a strange boy who could very well be her tormenter.

  She willed her legs to move forward after Mike, who began walking down the hallway. She held back a few steps behind him, feeling a little uneasy. This wasn’t smart of her, not after everything that had been going on. Then she had an idea. Pulling her phone from her hoodie pocket, she held it limply. Instantly, she felt more secure, knowing she could call someone if things got out of hand.

  The bleachers were empty, just like Mike thought they would be. She was alone with someone she didn’t know well enough to fully trust. What was she thinking?

  Mike took a seat near the top of the bleachers. Abigale sat next to him, making sure there was at least a foot between them and folded her hands self-consciously over her thighs. Mike’s usually bright eyes were dimmer. He was nervous, she realized.

  “I feel like we started off on the wrong foot,” he said. “I’ve noticed you’ve been quite timid around me ever since we met. I thought it’d improve, but over the past month, it never did. I feel like you’re scared of me now.”

  The hurt in his eyes was evident. Abigale felt a twinge of guilt in her gut. “I’m not scared of you. I never was.”

  “Then what was it? Something is making you act differently around me.”

  He appeared hopeful. Abigale pursed her lips together and let her gaze drop to the space between them. “You were dating Bethany, and I was trying to stay away. I was trying not to be that girl.”

  “What girl?” His forehead furrowed in confusion. “You know Bethany and I aren’t together anymore, right?”

  “Yes, I know that. She almost beat me senseless because of it, remember?”

  Mike grimaced. “I remember.”

  “Look, Mike…” Abigale peered up at him again. Their eyes locked, and her knees felt like jelly. “I just…I don’t think it’s a good idea to be affiliated with you. It would hurt Bethany, and I don’t want to hurt her any longer.”

  He took her hand between his own. Abigale knew it was wrong, but she didn’t pull away. “Abby, I know things came about at the wrong time, but I want you to give me a chance.” He leaned a little closer. “To give us a chance.”

  Abigale pulled away a little, keeping her hand between his. “It’s not a good idea.”

  “Maybe it isn’t,” he murmured, touching her face gently. He leaned closer still. “But you’ll never know unless you give me a chance.”

  Her heart slammed against her chest, excited by how near he was. She knew it was a terrible idea, but at that moment, she only thought selfishly.

  “Okay,” Abigale whispered. “I’ll give you a chance.”

  THE INTERROGATION

  PART FIVE

  June 26, 2015, 12:04 A.M.

  Case No. 20150625-04

  Agent Ross didn’t stay long after he threatened to have Abigale arrested. She, of course, had refused to answer any further questions, resulting in his dramatic exit. They were trying to prosecute her for a murder she did not commit, and they could easily twist anything she said. Until this point, Abigale didn’t realize she was a suspect for the murder of her former friend.

  The thought of Jules’ body under that white sheet when morgue officials wheeled her out of the school had haunted Abigale’s mind since the day it happened. She hadn’t been the one to slit Jules’ throat, but she might as well have been. It was her fault. All of the deaths around her were her fault. Her friends and her family had suffered because she had an attachment to them.

  She wondered what Jules’ parents thought of her.

  Fatigue was setting in. Abigale could barely keep her eyes open, but she was afraid she’d miss something important if she fell asleep. That damn analog clock was still ticking, counting down her life as she knew it. It seemed to grow louder after every passing moment. Abigale figured they put the clock in there just to drive their suspects insane.

  Abigale shuddered. Was she actually a suspect in Jules’ murder? Or was Agent Ross just trying to scare her into telling him what he wanted to know? She didn’t kill her friend, but would the FBI try and prove differently? It sounded like they had enough evidence to convict her, but she wasn’t being thrown in a cell yet, so it gave her hope.

  Then a horrible thought came to her. What if they were waiting until they could charge her with the murders of everyone she cared about? Her mother? Jules?

  Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to the interrogation room swung open. Detective Collins stepped through, his face grim.

  Abigale stood as the door closed with a click. “What is it? Have you found my dad?”

  “Relax,” Collins replied, taking a seat across from her. He motioned for her to sit as well, and she reluctantly obeyed. “We haven’t found your father yet, but we’re looking tirelessly, I can assure you.”

  Abigale folded her arms across her chest, her lips twisting into a frown. “How am I supposed to believe that? That agent is trying to pin Jules’ murder on me.” She leaned closer, making sure that he heard her next sentence. “I didn’t hurt her.”

  “I believe you, Ms. Fern. Agent Ross is just trying to figure out what happened. He does believe you had something to do with her death, yes. Frankly, there is a substantial amount of evidence against you.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” Abigale asked quietly, her eyes now fixated on him. “Is this some sort of good-cop-bad-cop routine you two are running? Because I can assure you, it won’t work on me.”

  He chuckled, leaning back in the chair. “No. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this.” His gaze turned serious. “I don’t think you killed Julia Holland, but I do think you know more than you’re telling us, which is unfortunate. Her killer is still out there, and you’re sitting here defending him. It appalls me that you would defend the person who stalked, kidnapped, and attempted to murder you.”

  Abigale inhaled sharply. Flashes from that night bombarded her thoughts, but she pushed them away with a hard blink. “I’m—I’m not defending him.”

  “Yes, you are. By not giving us a name, you’re withholding information—which is a criminal offense by the way—and you’re protecting him by doing so.”

  “I’m not meaning to do anything, Detective,” she muttered. “I have no desire to protect him.”

  Detective Collins leaned back in his chair. “Then why aren’t you telling me what I want to know? Wouldn’t it be so much easier for you if you just told me?”

  “Yes, it would be easier,” replied Abigale. “But I’m not going to tell you. I’m done talking. I want my lawyer.”

  Collins shook his head. “You aren’t a suspect, Ms. Fern. Therefore, you don’t require a lawyer.”

  Abigale laughed coldly. “Really? That FBI agent seemed to think I was a suspect. He was about to arrest me an hour ago. I’m not that stupid, Detective.”

  He was silent for a moment. Abigale stared into his eyes, her arms crossed over her chest. “I didn’t kill Julia Holland,” she told him firmly, her voice steely calm. “I didn’t kill anyone.”

  Detective Collins said, “You seem very certain about that.”

  Her steely look wavered. “What do you mean? Of course I’m certain! I didn’t kill anyone!”

  The detective stood without another word, grabbing the file from the table. He opened it and pushed it toward Abigale. “This is the blade that was used to kill Julia Holland. Would you mind explaining why it has your fingerprints all over it?”

  Abigale stared at the photo. The blade, pressed against a ruler, was still stained with remnants of long-dried crimson liquid. She froze. “I’ve never seen this blade before in my life. Y-you have to believe me.”

  Detective Collins nodded. “I do believe you, Abigale. I told you this already. I’m just showing you the evidence that is piling up against you. You could be in a lot of trouble if Ross decid
es to press charges, and he will if you don’t tell us what we want to know.”

  Abigale shook her head vigorously. “I didn’t—I don’t know what happened! I was at my locker when Rachel came up to me. I was nowhere near the bathroom!”

  Collins looked at her skeptically. “Agent Ross has shown me footage that proves otherwise, Ms. Fern. Would you like to reword your statement?”

  Abigale refused to speak. She was cornered, and the detective knew it.

  He stood, tucking the folder under his arm. “I’m just trying to help you. I wish you’d realize that.”

  Then he was gone.

  CHAPTER

  EIGHTEEN

  “You did what?” Jules screeched, jumping off of the bed with a start. Her blue eyes widened with alarm. “Please, tell me you didn’t.”

  “I did.” Abigale sighed, shaking her head. “It’s so wrong of me, isn’t it?”

  Abigale had invited Jules over after school because of the encounter she had with Mike earlier that day. She felt uncomfortable talking to her mother or her other friends, especially Tiffany. She was afraid of what Tiffany would think of her. Jules was her best option because she’d been there for her during some of her recent most embarrassing moments.

  Jules hit her palm to her forehead in exasperation. “Abigale, you can’t go out with him! One of your friends just had her heart ripped out! What were you thinking? Bethany will be crushed when she finds out!”

  Abigale hunched over on the bed, suddenly feeling sick. “I know, Jules. I shouldn’t have agreed to the date. He was just so hopeful. And…” Abigale paused, her snack from earlier threatening to reappear, “I have feelings for him.”

  “Abby, he just broke up with Bethany a week ago. If you want a real relationship, you can’t be dating him this soon. The fact he asked you now makes me believe that you’re just his rebound.” Jules sat down again, placing a gentle hand on Abigale’s shoulder. “I don’t want to see you hurt, and I don’t think you want to hurt Bethany.”

  “Bethany has hated me since the day we met. She’d hurt me in a heartbeat.”

  “Even so,” Jules said, “I don’t believe you’d want to hurt her like that. I know you better than that, Fern.”

  Abigale’s shoulders slumped. “You’re probably right. I just don’t think I can back out of the date now without hurting Mike. I’ll just have to make him lose interest in me so everything can go back to normal.”

  Jules nodded slowly. “That would probably be the best decision, although I don’t know if I’d recommend you go out with him at all.”

  Pursing her lips together, Abigale said, “He’s way too persistent. If I say no now, he’ll just keep bothering me.”

  “Yeah.”

  Abigale turned to Jules with concern. “What’s wrong? You’ve seemed off ever since school ended.”

  Jules met her gaze, but she was distant, like she was thinking about something.

  The faraway look scared Abigale. Her friend rubbed her shoulder as if she was remembering something painful. “Jules?”

  Jules’ eyes returned to normal and she dropped her hand into her lap. “Yes?”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Abigale again.

  She looked down, her fingers fiddling with the bottom button on her shirt. “Do you remember the boy who pushed you down on the first day of school?”

  Abigale nodded, her chest tightening at the thought of his disgusting words. “Yeah. Donny, wasn’t it?”

  “That would be him,” Jules replied. It was then that Abigale noticed how tired Jules was. The dark circles under her eyes were prominent, as was her inability to focus on one thing for long periods of time. “Has he been bothering you?”

  “Surprisingly, no. We’ve passed each other in the hallways, but he’s barely glanced at me. Why? Has he been bothering you?”

  The look Jules gave her confirmed what Abigale was thinking. “Yeah, he has been bothering me. Taunting me, pushing me up against lockers…He used to be my boyfriend in the ninth grade before he became a big shot.”

  Abigale’s eyes widened. That was why Jules was so shocked when she found out what Bethany had done. “Really?”

  “Yeah,” Jules murmured, rubbing her shoulder again.

  Abigale’s gaze hardened. “What’s wrong with your shoulder?”

  “Hmm? What do you mean?”

  “Show me your shoulder,” Abigale demanded. Her heart pounded in her chest.

  If Donny hurt her…

  “There’s nothing wrong with my shoulder, Abigale. Don’t be ridiculous,” she chuckled uncertainly.

  “Jules, you’ve rubbed it three times since we sat down. Show me your shoulder.”

  Jules glanced from Abigale to the window, panic fresh in her eyes. Finally, she sighed and rolled up her sleeve.

  The injury was worse than Abigale had expected. Jules’ shoulder was blotched in shades of blue and purple. The discolored skin crept toward her collarbone and down the length of her arm. Abigale gently took hold of Jules’ elbow. “Did he do this to you?”

  Jules appeared fearful. “I-he didn’t mean to. I know he didn’t.”

  “Did you see a doctor? The school nurse? Anyone?”

  Jules shook her head. “No. I’m going to put ice on it when I get home. I don’t want my parents to know. They’d press charges and I don’t need that kind of publicity right now.”

  Abigale understood why Jules wanted to keep it under wraps, but it was frustrating at the same time. “Would you like an icepack?”

  Jules nodded. “Yes, thank you, Abby.”

  Abigale’s hands were shaking from what Jules had just told her. “I’ll be right back.”

  She flew down the flight of stairs to the kitchen, searching through the freezer for an icepack to no avail. Eventually, she came across a frozen bag of peas.

  This should do the trick, she thought.

  Her phone rang from her back pocket. She checked the notification that had been sent to her phone. However, it wasn’t the new social media notification that scared her.

  It was a text from DarkHeart434 that had been sent ten minutes before.

  Abigale dropped the bag of peas and they hit the floor like a hacky sack. She reached for the nearest knife she could find, a steak knife, and opened up the Facebook notification with shaky fingers. While the page loaded, she scanned the area around her. She was worried someone was going to pop out of nowhere and kill her like on TV. She’d seen all the Scream movies. She knew what could happen if she wasn’t careful.

  The page loaded, and the message popped up across the screen. Abigale’s blood ran cold, and she had to bite her lip until it drew blood to keep from screaming. The metallic taste made her gag.

  DarkHeart434: From abusive ex-boyfriends to hunky new boyfriends with secrets. Who should I hurt first, dearest Abigale?

  He was listening to her and Jules upstairs. Did that mean—

  Oh, my God.

  Abigale swiped the bag of peas from the floor and ran upstairs as fast as her legs could carry her. “Jules!” she yelled. Nearly tripping over the top step, she yelled again. “Jules!”

  “What happened?” Jules asked, alarmed. She was standing when Abigale threw the door open, her bruise still exposed. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost! And is that a knife you’re holding?”

  Abigale looked down to the steak knife in her hand, then back up at Jules. She felt like fainting. “I…I thought I heard something. Sorry for scaring you.” She set the knife down on her dresser and walked over to Jules. “Here’s the icepack. Sorry I took so long.”

  Jules didn’t appear like she believed her, but she took the ice pack from her gratefully. “Thanks. You sure you’re okay?”

  Abigale gulped and nodded. “Never better.”

  CHAPTER

  NINETEEN

  Friday night arrived sooner than Abigale realized. She had been dreading it all week, for it was the night that she had to go out with Mike and make him lose interest in a relationship with h
er in the process.

  Part of her didn’t want to follow Jules’ advice, but part of her knew her friend was right. She didn’t want to hurt Bethany more than she already had. Abigale wished the situation wasn’t so difficult.

  At six-thirty, a half hour until Mike said he was going to pick her up, Abigale stood in front of her floor-length mirror. She studied her eyes, which were bloodshot from lack of sleep. The dark circles underneath were as prominent as ever. Her skin was pale, more so than usual. Abigale’s sleeping habits hadn’t improved over the past while, and in fact, had worsened. She was beginning to fall asleep in class, and teachers had threatened to call her mother on more than one occasion. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to keep up with her studies, so her grades were taking a plunge as a result. She didn’t mention any of this to her mother though. She’d have a fit if she knew.

  Abigale adjusted the necklace that hung down past her collarbone. The pendant, a wide-eyed owl, stared back at her through the glass. The way it peered up at her was like it was asking what she was going to do about the situations on her mind. Mike and DarkHeart434.

  Surprisingly enough, she hadn’t gotten any other messages from the account since Wednesday when Jules was over. She shuddered when she recalled what the message said. It was the first actual threat she’d received from DarkHeart434, and she wasn’t sure if it was serious. All she knew was that it was possible for someone to get hurt, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to stop it.

  “Abigale?” her mother called from outside her bedroom door. “May I come in?”

  “Sure,” she called back, her attention still focused on her reflection.

  Her mother entered the room, a warm smile appearing across her lips when she saw Abigale. “You look lovely, dear.”

  Abigale’s cheeks warmed. She scanned her outfit in the mirror. She’d paired a frilly red blouse with a pair of skinny jeans and flats. Her dark hair curled around her face as it always did. Besides her tired expression, Abigale thought she looked pretty. Then she frowned.