Piranhas in Pink: Piranhas in Pink Book One

by Nova Knightley

  “Holy shit!” Dani shouted. Kyla grabbed Mei’s wrist, feeling for a pulse. “She’s still alive. What do we do now?”

  Seiko stepped toward the girls. “There’s only one thing to do. We need to get rid of her.”

  Dani looked up at her. “Get rid of her? Seiko, what are you talking about? I know you hate your cousin, but—”

  Kyla took Mei’s hand and squeezed it. “Yeah. We can get her help. We need to just get her help, and everything will be fine.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Eden. She stood back, enjoying the show like a proud puppet master.

  Seiko bent down and slapped Kyla’s hand away from Mei’s. “Ky, think about it. Mei is not only a snitch but also a liar. She’ll tell everyone we tried to attack her. We’ll get in so much trouble.”

  I gave Seiko’s reasoning a C+. Of the many reasons to kill someone, that one just wasn’t strong enough.

  Seiko shook her backpack from her shoulders, unzipped it, and removed a butcher knife. Moonlight reflected off the ten-inch blade. “Here, Lennox. This is your final task. Play God. Get rid of Mei once and for all. Stab her in the heart—only in the heart, or it doesn’t count.”

  Right. Her heart, which is protected by a bulletproof vest. It was the part where I was supposed to be shocked—maybe even break down and cry.

  She held the knife out to me like she was offering me a lollipop.

  I looked Seiko in the eye. “Are you sure? Are you really sure you want me to do this?”

  “Positive.”

  I wrapped my fingers around the handle and took the knife from her. “No problem.”

  Seiko glanced at Eden then down at Mei. “R-Remember, only in the heart.”

  Kyla and Dani stepped back, watching me, wide-eyed.

  Dani’s lips trembled. “Wait, maybe—”

  “Shhh!” Eden hissed.

  Dani turned, facing away from us.

  Their acting skills were improving.

  If they wanted a show, I was going to give them one. Slowly, I knelt over Mei. The girls circled us like wolves. I ran a finger over the flat side of the silver blade. Holding the knife above my head, I knew what the girls were thinking. They couldn’t believe I was actually doing it. I was supposed to have said no and freaked out. They were waiting for me to back out at any moment.

  I wasn’t going to pull a Bree. Taking a deep breath, I brought the knife down, plunging it into Mei’s chest. Her dark eyes opened as her body jerked. Something was wrong. I expected the blade to bounce off the vest, not sink into Mei’s chest.

  “Oh my God!” Seiko squealed. “I can’t believe you actually did it.”

  Then something happened that wasn’t supposed to. Blood pooled around the knife, running down the front of Mei’s sweater, covering the calico kitty in red. Gasping, Mei grabbed my wrists, watching me with confusion in her eyes. Pulling from her grasp, I let go of the knife still buried in her chest and crab-crawled away from her.

  Seiko stood over her cousin.

  Mei peered up at her. “You said she wouldn’t…”

  The world stopped moving but then started again in slow motion. This was not happening.

  Dani knelt beside Mei, taking deep breaths. “What the fuck, Lennox?”

  No. No. No. No. No!

  Seiko tore off her hoodie, folded it into a ball, and pressed it into her cousin’s chest.

  It took me a few moments to remember that I had a voice and that I had to use my mouth to make it work. “I-I thought…”

  Kyla grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. “Lennox, what did you do? What the fuck did you do?”

  I couldn’t take my eyes off Mei while Seiko tried to slow the bleeding. Mei’s body made sharp, jerking motions. Is she in cardiac arrest? How many blood vessels did I rupture? How long can someone live after being stabbed in the heart? Patting my pockets, I felt for my phone. Where is my damn phone? “I’m so sorry. You told me to. You told me to! I thought this was all fake.”

  Eden put her hands over her mouth. “This didn’t just happen. This didn’t just happen. Is she dead?”

  My phone was in my bag, and my bag was in the cave. “I’m calling 9-1-1.”

  I turned to climb down the rocks, but Eden grabbed the back of my hoodie, pulling me back. “Forget it. They’ll never get here in time.”

  I struggled to get out of her grasp, but she wouldn’t let go. “What are you talking about? We have to at least try.”

  She pointed at Mei. “Look. Look at all that blood.”

  Dani collapsed beside Seiko and Mei, pressing her fingers into Mei’s throat. “She’s dead. Lennox, you killed her. You killed Mei!”

  Her last words echoed into the darkness, a stark contrast to the sounds of the gentle waves rocking back and forth. I wanted to tell her to shut up. What if someone else is around?

  I had to be dreaming. It wasn’t supposed to be real. The color had drained from Mei’s face. Her mouth was open, like she was trying to tell us something.

  Everyone was still and quiet for a long time. Finally, Seiko bent over to kiss Mei’s face as Kyla rubbed her back.

  I kept waiting for Mei to pop up and for everyone to laugh. No way could I accept the fact that I had killed someone. “How could you guys let me do that? This was supposed to be fake.”

  Seiko’s face was soaked with tears. “Are you kidding me? How could you go through with it? You were supposed to say, ‘Hell no.’ That’s what a normal person would have done.”

  “What’s done is done.” Dani turned to Eden. “What do we do now?”

  Eden gulped and held her head high. “Lennox is right. We call the police. We have to tell them what happened. I’ll call my dad.”

  I shuddered. I was going to prison for the rest of my life over something that wasn’t supposed to be real. How is this happening? Mei’s vacant eyes looked up into the nighttime sky as if they were asking the same question.

  What will Mom think? What could I possibly say to her? I had just promised her that morning that everything would be fine.

  “But,” Eden said, “we’re PIPs, even though Lennox isn’t one of us officially. No matter what, we have each other’s backs. We stick together.”

  My throat tightened. I couldn’t breathe.

  Seiko narrowed her eyes at Eden. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that I’m really sorry about what happened to Mei, but Seiko, this whole thing was your idea. We should never have involved Mei in this.”

  Scowling, Seiko plopped down beside her cousin.

  Eden’s expression softened as she watched her. “We need to put her to rest in a nice peaceful spot, then we’ll figure things out from there. Mei’s dead, Seiko. I’m sorry, but going to the police isn’t going to change that.”

  Seiko stood, pointing at Mei’s body. “You have got to be shitting me. She murdered my cousin, and you want to act like it didn’t happen?”

  Eden rested her hands on Seiko’s shoulders. “As I said, I’m sorry about Mei, but you need to look at the bigger picture here. We could all go down for this. Lennox didn’t do this on purpose, and if it weren’t for us, mainly you, we wouldn’t be here right now. I mean, what would your parents think of you if they ever found out? They’re already so disappointed in you, Seiko. What would they think when they learned you were the mastermind behind this whole thing? They’d never forgive you. Your entire family would hate you. Think about your poor sweet grandmother.”

  Seiko turned around and backed away. She was quiet for a long time. A huge gust of wind pushed through, and I wished it could carry me with it to wherever it was going.

  She looked out at the ocean. “Do what you have to do, but I want no part of it. I don’t even want to know what you’re going to do to her.” She held her hands out in front of her. “I’m going to get this blood off my hands, then I’ll be waiting in the car.”

  Seiko climbed down the rocks and headed for the water. I wanted to keep telling her how sorry I was, but apologies weren’t go
ing to fix anything right then.

  Eden clapped her hands. “Okay. Suck up the tears, girls, and let’s get this done.”

  She paced back and forth for a few moments while I stood there in a daze. I couldn’t get my mind to keep up with what was happening.

  Dani ran her fingers through her hair. “Eden, we can’t cover this up. We’re not trained assassins or the Mafia. We’re going to get caught.”

  Eden’s gaze traveled to Seiko, who was still rinsing herself off at the shoreline. “Dani, we can do this. I know it seems overwhelming, but nothing is impossible. The words itself says, ‘I’m possible.’”

  Kyla scoffed. “Really, Eden? You want to quote Audrey right now? Don’t involve her in this bullshit.”

  Eden focused her attention back on Mei’s lifeless body. “Okay, Kyla. What should we do, then?”

  “Let’s just toss her in the water,” Kyla suggested.

  “No,” I told her. “That’s a horrible way to dispose of a body. It’ll just bloat and float.”

  Kyla shook her head. “I guess you would know, Michael Myers.”

  “Yes,” Eden said before I could respond. “We need to bury her. We’ll go by my house and get some shovels and a plastic tarp, then we’ll drive somewhere far, far away.”

  Eden removed the knife from Mei’s chest, and without a word, she climbed down the rocks and tossed it as far as she could into the water.

  Kyla had blankets in the back of her Range Rover, and we wrapped Mei’s body in them. Even with four of us, it was a struggle. Together, we lifted Mei and put her in the back like a sack of groceries. She was heavier than she looked. We dumped heaps of sand over the spots of blood on the rock. Seiko insisted on being dropped off because she couldn’t bear to be with us when we buried Mei. After that, we swung by Eden’s and grabbed two shovels. Aside from Dani’s occasional sobbing, the ride was quiet.

  I had never been more grateful for silence, but then Kyla had to break it. “I don’t… I don’t understand why you would actually stab her. You had to know we obviously didn’t want you to do it. We just needed to know how far you would go before you stopped.”

  “Well, that was stupid,” I snapped. A girl was dead because they’d assumed I would behave a certain way. I didn’t want to get Bree involved, but them being mad at her was the least of my worries. “Bree told me what happened during her trial. She told me that Mei was wearing a bulletproof vest that would protect her.”

  Eden and Kyla exchanged glances.

  “Oh,” Eden said quietly.

  We drove for two hours. The winding roads had been practically empty for the last hour.

  “Here’s good,” Eden said.

  Kyla pulled over next to a dark wooded area. I didn’t know where we were, and I didn’t want to know. If someone ever asked me where Mei was, I could honestly say I had no clue. It was almost one o’clock when I got a text from Mom asking where I was.

  Sorry. Fell asleep watching a movie. Staying at Eden’s.

  Mom: OK. See you in the morning.

  Kyla cut the headlights off. The best way to dispose of a body was in pieces—pieces scattered in different locations—but they didn’t have the stomach for that. We hoisted Mei from the back of Kyla’s car and carried her through the murky maze of trees for what seemed like forever.

  I held Mei’s legs, which threatened to slip from my hands at any second. Dani had her head, and Kyla had the midsection. Eden walked ahead of us with a flashlight and a shovel. There were so many things wrong with hauling a dead girl through the woods like a rolled-up carpet.

  The fallen leaves crunched beneath my sneakers as I shivered in the cool autumn wind. Moonlight peeked through the branches.

  Eden stopped abruptly. “This place should be good.”

  We took turns using the shovel to dig a hole. The dirt was hard and stubborn, like it knew what we were about to do and wanted no part of it. When one of us got tired, we would hand the shovel off to the next person in line. My shoulders and arms ached with every movement, but I had to push.

  Dani threw the shovel down. “I’m exhausted. This is deep enough.”

  I grabbed the discarded shovel. “It’s not. We need to keep digging a little more.”

  Finally, when the hole was deep enough, we laid poor Mei to rest.

  Dani used the shovel to pick up a load of dirt.

  “Wait,” I said. “Shouldn’t we do something—like have a moment of silence.” We couldn’t just cover her with dirt like a dead girl was no big deal.

  “Yeah, right,” Eden said. “Let’s do that.”

  We each bowed our heads and stayed quiet for a minute. Just hours before, Mei had been a high-achieving honor student, but now she lay in a hole, soon to become worm food—all because I had plunged a knife into her chest. If I could have traded places with her, I would have.

  We covered Mei with dirt, made the ground as smooth as we could, then headed home.

  A sudden thought hit me as we pulled off. “What about her car and her phone?”

  No one said anything at first.

  Eden sighed. “Mei’s phone is at home. Seiko hid it from her earlier. I’ll take care of the car.” She looked at Kyla. “Can you drop them off then take me to the car? I’ll drive it somewhere. Then I’ll need a ride back.”

  Kyla nodded, but she clearly didn’t want to do that.

  “You have to disable the GPS tracking,” I told her, “if she has it.”

  Eden bit her bottom lip like she hadn’t thought of that. “Right.”

  Kyla groaned. “Do you even know how to do that?”

  Shrugging, Eden answered, “I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.”

  Don’t worry. Eden was trying her best to keep us all calm, but I had never been more afraid in my life.

  ***

  It was almost four in the morning when they dropped me off. Moving carefully so I wouldn’t wake anyone, I showered and crawled into bed. If Mom asked why I was back when I should have been at Eden’s, I would make up something. That was the last thing on my mind.

  I didn’t sleep a wink. I couldn’t even close my eyes. Every time I did, I saw Mei’s purple lips and wide, confused eyes. I’d killed her. The reality of it all still hadn’t fully hit me. Even though she was buried, that would never go away. I could never take back that I had killed a girl for such a stupid reason. I wanted to text Abby and tell her that I had done a very bad thing, but I couldn’t. Some things, you couldn’t even tell your best friend.

  ***

  Sunday, I spent the day in bed. I told Mom I had monster cramps and I wanted to be left alone. She never showed any inkling of knowing that I’d stumbled in at four o’clock.

  I’d thrown up three times, even though I’d only eaten a few crackers. My stomach was twisted in knots, and my shoulders felt like I was carrying an elephant. As I stared at the ceiling, all I could think about was Mei’s cold body buried in the woods and how I would bear the guilt of it for the rest of my life.

  Eden called to check on me around noon. “How are you?” Her voice quivered a bit.

  “I don’t even know. I can’t put the way I feel into words.” Though I was tempted to ask about the car, I didn’t. Just like the specifics of where Mei was located, I didn’t want to know what they had done with her car.

  Eden was quiet for a while. “I don’t… we didn’t mean for last night to get so out of hand—”

  I bolted upright. “Out of hand? Mei’s dead!”

  “Quiet!”

  I couldn’t help but be angry with the PIPs. If it hadn’t been for them, none of it would have happened. I pictured Eden sitting in her bedroom or wherever she was, looking totally composed and calm as always while I was a barfing mess. My pulse raced.

  “I’m sorry,” she said again. “This was only our second time doing a trial like this, and with Bree, everything went according to plan because she refused to do it. How were we supposed to know you were a raging psychopath?”

  That comment sent
me to my feet. I was five seconds from putting on my shoes, going to her house, and slapping her. “What did you just say?”

  “Lennox, you put a knife through a girl’s heart just because we told you to.”

  I paced back and forth across the room. “Are you kidding me? I told you what I thought. Bree told me Mei was wearing a bulletproof vest so the knife wouldn’t have hurt her.”

  Eden was quiet for a long time. “Still, that was a huge risk to take off the word of Bree—the girl vying for the same position as you.”

  Those words hit me like a truck, and I felt dumber than I ever had. “I know. I shouldn’t have believed her. She was so distraught about it, I thought she was telling the truth.”

  Bree might have played me to get what she wanted. She was going to be a PIP, and I had the blood of an innocent girl on my hands for nothing. Before, I had wanted badly to be a PIP, but now, I wanted nothing to do with them.

  I took deep breaths and sat on the edge of my bed. “Have you spoken to Seiko?”

  “Yeah. She was my first thought this morning. Her parents are freaking out because Mei didn’t make it home last night. They’ve been throwing a fit at the police station. Dad says it’ll be a couple more hours before they declare her missing and call an official search, but they’ve already started looking.”

  The knot in my stomach grew tighter. I imagined the police crawling around, asking questions, and interrogating everyone who had contact with Mei. I could stick to a lie and do what I had to to stay out of trouble, but I wasn’t sure about the others. What if one or all of them break and turn on me? I was just a girl they’d met two weeks ago. There was nothing to keep them from throwing me to the wolves.

  “Lennox?” Eden had been talking, but I zoned out.

  “What?”

  “I was saying that maybe you should avoid Seiko at school tomorrow. She and Mei acted like they hated each other but in a rivaling-sister kind of way. Deep down, they loved each other.”

  I imagined what Seiko was feeling. I would never forget how I’d felt when Piper was taken from me. How am I ever supposed to look Seiko in the face again? What could I possibly say to her? “I’m not going to school tomorrow. I just can’t.” I never wanted to leave my bedroom again.