She giggles, hugging me. “We wouldn’t change it for the world, though.”
I nod, agreeing, but then remember what I wanted to talk to her about. “Um, so the pain, this burning feeling… It goes, right?”
She stares for a few moments before bursting into laughter. “Yes, it does. You do realise he’s probably just big? When Mum sat me down for the sex talk, she told me her first time was uncomfortable at first, and disappointing.”
“Like yours?” I tease, remembering her coming to mine angry at the world. Her boyfriend was experienced, and according to gossip, slept with his fair share of girls, but when it came to actually performing, he only cared enough to get himself off. She was disappointed.
“Yeah,” she laughs, but then stops, going quiet. I look at her again, noticing the serious expression she has.
“What has you thinking so hard?”
She turns to look at me, tears in her eyes. “Do you think it’s wrong for me to be this happy after everything I’ve been through? Did I rush into things with Cole?”
I shuffle in next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “Low, you’ve been through so much, but you need to remember there isn’t a time limit for grieving, for getting over a traumatic event. Do you feel it’s right with Cole?”
She looks at me with shock plastered across her face. “Of course, it’s right. I love him.”
I smile, squeezing her shoulder. “That’s all there is to it, then. No one has the right to judge you for moving forward. They haven’t walked in your shoes. What’s really brought this on?”
A tear slips down her cheek and my heart clenches. “At the game, I went back to the car to grab some gloves for Becca, when I heard those girls whispering.”
“What were they saying?” I ask, yet again feeling like a shit friend for not being there for her.
“That I was lying about what happened to me because I didn’t look or act like someone who had been raped.”
I gasp, horrified, and get to my feet. “I’m going to—”
“They said fucking what?” Cole growls, making me jump.
I spin around to find him fuming in the door way, his face filled with rage. CJ looks just as angry as he walks over to me, pulling me into his arms. He kisses me quickly before turning to Cole, who is kneeling in front of Willow.
“Who said that about you?”
She wipes under her eyes, forcing a smile. “It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. They don’t know a thing about you or what you’ve been through.”
She smiles at him, this one real. “No, but you do. Allie and I were just talking, and for a moment, I felt like I was going to explode from happiness. Everything is perfect, as perfect as our lives can be. Then their words came to me and it made me feel wrong somehow.”
He runs his hand down the side of her face before cupping her jaw. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she says, before pushing herself up to kiss him.
I look away, smiling, and face the light of my life. My mouth goes dry at the mere sight of him, suddenly forgetting what we were talking about.
Sheesh, he’s magnificent.
“Hey.”
Gaining my senses, I melt into a puddle at the sound of his voice. “Hey.”
He smirks down at me, pulling me against him. I relax against him, then gasp when I feel his bulge pressing against my stomach. “CJ,” I hiss quietly, but can’t hide the fact my body reacts.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, and I look away for a second, blushing.
Willow giggles before speaking up, “She’s really sore, big guy.”
“Big guy?” Cole growls, looking at Willow, then CJ, his brows scrunched together.
CJ booms out a laugh, slapping his thigh, before looking down at me. “Ah, Cupcake, you’ve been bragging about me.” He turns to Cole, grinning smugly. “Shucks, but your girl knows I’m bigger than you now.”
Cole goes to get up off the floor, but a laughing Willow stops him. “Stop teasing him, CJ.”
Still looking smug, he shakes his head. “I can’t help it. It’s so easy.”
The door to our flat flies open, banging against the wall with a loud thud. I jump, turning towards the door, finding Becca and Rosie clutching arms, breathing heavily.
“Are you okay?” I ask, pushing out of CJ’s arms.
Rosie bursts into tears, and in a second, both CJ and I are by her side.
“What’s wrong?”
“I—it was… Oh, God, I’m going to be sick,” Becca announces, before rushing down the hall to the bathroom.
I glance at CJ, biting my lip worriedly. He shrugs, pulling Rosie tighter to his chest. “What happened, Rosie? Can you talk about it?”
She must be in shock because she’s letting CJ hold her. I give him a look to point it out, and he nods, looking worried himself.
She wipes under her cheeks, looking up at me with sad, sky-blue eyes. “We were walking down Alton Avenue when we heard a couple start screaming for help. We rushed over and… and a girl was lying there, bruised and beaten, in a bush. She was only half covered.” She pauses, her skin as pale as snow. “It was horrible. I’ve never seen anything like it,” she whispers.
She starts to sob again, and I gasp. “Are you okay?”
It’s a stupid question, but I don’t know what to say. I’m stunned and a little shocked that another body has been found so quickly. It was only yesterday Marie Fleet was found. This is out of character for the killer. And if she was beaten, it’s another thing to add to the list that doesn’t add up.
“Do they know who it was?” Cole asks, pulling Willow against his chest.
She shakes her head. “She was pretty badly beaten; she was barely recognisable. The police questioned us, but there wasn’t anything we could really say to help. We heard the couple scream and ran over. Everything from there seemed to happen quickly.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” I tell her, just as Becca comes out of the bathroom.
“I swear, I’m looking into a new school. This place is hell.”
Tears run down her face and Willow moves to her friend, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. “Hey, everything will be okay.”
“Not for those girls it won’t, or their families,” she cries.
She’s right, it won’t. When someone is killed so tragically, there isn’t just one victim, there are two. One is the victim who is killed, the other are the family and loved ones who are left behind to grieve. This killer is doing that, and he doesn’t even care. It makes me wonder if he’s even human.
“We’ll get through this, Becca. Don’t make any rash decisions just yet, okay? You’ve worked hard to be here. Hopefully, the police will have some suspects soon and can stop whoever is doing this.”
“And what about the next thing that happens? Did you know, before we arrived there was an explosion at the city hall? No one was killed, but twelve people were seriously injured. Then there was Logan and Jamie, and now this. How much more could happen? And why do we keep finding ourselves right in the middle of it? I don’t know how much more I can deal with. My heart can’t take it.”
Willow steers her over to the sofa, sitting a hysterical Becca on the sofa. CJ pulls Rosie with him, sitting her next to Becca and taking the free seat next to her.
“We stay together. We’re stronger together,” CJ tells her, squeezing Rosie a little tighter against his chest. She looks pale, and still in shock. “I promise we will do everything in our power to keep you girls safe. It’s horrific—the things that are happening around Whithall, but sadly, it’s the world we live in. It won’t matter if you move across the county, or to another country all together, bad things will happen wherever you go. We’re a United Kingdom for a reason, though. Together, we will prevail. Together, we will get through this. Together, we are united.”
“Dude, that’s deep,” Cole whispers, his eyes wide with shock.
“I’m a deep, emotional person. But I stand b
y what I said. We will make sure nothing else happens to you. I know it’s hard to see with everything that is going on, but things will start to get better, safer.”
“It’s just so hard. How could someone do this? These girls are innocents, victims, and he’s killing them for no reason other than enjoyment. I can’t wrap my mind around his reasoning. Someone doesn’t get up one day and decide to start killing people.”
“I don’t know what to say. But we have to trust that the police will find this person.”
“My uncle mentioned to my dad that they had police investigators coming in. He’s a serial killer, not someone the local police can catch on their own. They aren’t adapted to this kind of thing. But he did say they are working around the clock to find the guy.”
Becca wipes under her eyes, nodding at Cole. “I just want this to be over.”
“Guys,” Jordan rushes out, walking inside the living room.
I look around her, noticing the door is still wide open, and move over to shut it before Tom, Dick and Harry let themselves in, too.
“What’s wrong?” I ask when I reach her.
She looks away from Rosie and Becca, her face pinched. “I came to tell you another body has been found and—”
I put my hand up to stop her when Becca gags. “We know. These two were walking down Alton Avenue when the couple found her. They saw her.”
Her face pales as she turns to Rosie. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just shaken up,” Rosie whispers, and whether she realises she’s doing it or not, she rests her head on CJ. He smiles softly down at her, leaning back and getting comfy. His chest puffs out, proud he’s a part of a miracle.
It doesn’t even bother me because this is the progress we’ve been waiting for. CJ has hated it every single time she’s flinched at his presence or avoided him all together. He might say he knows he’s nothing like he’s father, but I think, deep down, he’s worked hard to prove to others he isn’t. Seeing how Rosie reacted to him every day must have been killing him.
Jordan gives me the same wide-eyed, surprised look I gave CJ earlier. I nod, giving her a small smile and a thumbs up.
“I may or may not have been listening to the police scanner. I heard them ask for officers to go collect CCTV footage from the university.”
CJ seems in thought, before looking up. “Do you think it was Marie Fleet? The girl who was reported missing yesterday?”
“No, her hair is longer than the girl’s we saw today, but I can’t be sure; she was barely recognisable.”
I’m a little confused at first because Alton Avenue, which is near the English Building, doesn’t have any cameras. It’s a dead-end street that used to house the old university’s dormitories.
I want to jump with joy when I realise the meaning of what she’s said. Over our holiday, the university had cameras and other safety measures put into place to keep students safe. That street, since it’s still used to get from the English building to the science building, had cameras put in.
“Oh, my God. It will be on camera. They’ll know who the killer is.”
She smiles, looking as excited as me. “Yeah, if he doesn’t know they’re there. But it looks like they might find this person. They need to lock him up and throw away the key.”
“Hey, have they said who it was? My mate from our rugby team called me this morning. His sister was supposed to be at the game yesterday but didn’t show up, and they haven’t been able to get in touch with her.”
Becca glances at Cole, looking green. “What friend?”
Oh, shit. She said her crush has a sister.
“Leroy. He’s pretty worried. This isn’t like her at all. We’ve met her a few times. She’s a good girl.”
Becca’s shoulders relax somewhat when she hears it isn’t who she thinks it is.
“What’s his sister’s name?” Jordan asks.
He pulls his phone out of his back pocket, and a few seconds later, he looks up, answering, “Kate Morrison.”
Jordan pales, sitting down on the edge of the arm chair. “I’d go be there for him. I heard the name Morrison over the scanner but didn’t hear what they said before.” She pauses, looking to Rosie and Becca, trying to figure something out. She seems to come to some conclusion because she continues. “When I was on my way here, I was walking down Layton road. The police have taped the end of the road off, so everyone is milling around, waiting to see what’s happening. There was a couple crying next to an ambulance. I was about to leave when the girls in front of me started talking. They mentioned someone called Kate. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.”
Rosie looks at Becca, lifting her head off CJ’s shoulder. “That’s who was crying,” she says to her, before turning back to the room. “We asked to leave, not wanting to be there any longer, when a couple turned up. They ran straight over to the ambulance. It wasn’t even seconds before we heard the mum screaming and crying.”
Oh gosh, that’s terrible. That poor family.
“Fuck!” Cole groans.
I’m about to tell CJ to go, to make sure his friend is okay, when Rosie suddenly sits up, her eyes wide and cheeks pink. She glances at CJ. “Oh, no. I’m so sorry. I’m lying all over you.” She pauses, looking at me. “I—I’m… I didn’t mean—”
I cut her off. “It’s fine. He gives great cuddles,” I tell her, trying to lighten the situation.
She relaxes but doesn’t move back into her position. CJ grins, tapping her on the shoulder and making her jump. I see a flash of hurt across his expression before he masks it.
“If you ever need to cuddle, I’m always here.” He pauses before leaning in and whispering, “And I didn’t smell that bad, did I?”
She giggles, shaking her head. “No, you don’t smell.”
He fakes relaxing against the sofa, doing it with such dramatic flair it makes me smile. “Good. Now that you’re comfortable with dribbling all over me, I expect some Rosie and CJ cuddles in the future. I was starting to wonder if I had something wrong with me.”
She just stares, shock written over her expression, before she surprises us by bursting into laughter. “You are terrible.”
He just grins before turning to Cole. “Shall we go see if he’s been told?”
Cole nods, looking down at his phone. “Yeah. Dylan is meeting us downstairs.”
“Downstairs?” CJ asks.
Absently, Cole nods. “Yeah, he’s moved into a spare room on the third floor.”
“The third floor?” I ask, wondering why I didn’t hear of any free places available.
CJ shakes his head at me, grinning. He gets up, pulling me into his arms. “No, Cupcake. Just… no.”
“But—”
He kisses me, silencing me, before pulling back, grinning. “No. I’ll be back in a few hours. We’ll go grab a DVD to watch.”
“Something funny?” Becca pipes in.
CJ grins. “I want to see that Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, so I’ll grab that.”
“Okay. I’m going to go lie down for a bit. Can you wake me up when it’s dinner?” she asks, looking over at me.
I nod, agreeing. “Promise.”
She leaves, moving to the room she’s sharing with Rosie. I turn back to CJ. “Pick up pizza, too?”
He grins at me. “Anything for you, Cupcake.”
“You two are so sickeningly sweet,” Jordan groans, before sitting down next to Rosie.
“The sweetest,” CJ sings, before kissing me. “Be back soon.” He winks, tapping my nose, before turning to Cole.
With that, he and Cole go, leaving me and the girls alone. “So,” I start, rolling on the balls of my feet. “What you want to do?”
“Um, why are you grinning? It’s kind of freaking me out since we’ve just found out another girl has been killed.”
I lose my grin instantly, feeling heartless. I didn’t even realise I was smiling until she mentioned it.
Damn CJ.
“Oh, Missy here lost
her virginity.”
Jordan and Rosie gasp, their heads turning slowly my way, smiles on their faces.
“So, what was it like?” Jordan asks.
“You lost your virginity?” Becca asks, poking her head round the door frame, a glass of water in her hand.
I groan, covering my face with the palms of my hands. The girls giggle, making me groan louder before dropping myself down in the arm chair.
“Come on, spill.”
I uncover my face and open my eyes at Jordan’s request, feeling myself go all dreamy before I start telling them everything. Well, not everything.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The university has been on edge for two weeks since the announcement of Katie’s death was spread. Dylan, her brother, after hearing the news, dropped out for a term, needing the time to grieve his younger sister.
The day Becca and Rosie found her, Cole and CJ didn’t come home until the next morning. They, and their team mates, stayed with Dylan and got drunk.
Really drunk if CJ’s breath and swagger was to go on.
I was glad he was there for his friend. I just wish there was something we could do to help. None of my research on the murders has revealed anything.
The family from the newspaper clippings I found online is another dead end, but not one I’ve given up on. I’ve tried to find other living relatives, or to see if they had a child together. Nothing is coming up. Jordan has asked around too, but so far, nothing. I’m not giving up though. In my gut, I feel like this is the lead we should follow. The murders are too similar.
We did find out the woman was a sociopath. Jordan, ever the regular Nancy Drew, somehow managed to get her hands on a few pages of her medical history. She’s still trying to locate the rest. I didn’t ask questions, but she seemed a little flustered when I asked her how she got them
Her reply: ‘It’s better not to know’.
The few pages we had were from ages sixteen to nineteen, when she was seen regularly by a psychiatrist. The doctor had written down that Claire Laney had shown signs of a mental disorder. Claire admitted to having bad thoughts about her younger sister before she died. It went on to explain Claire didn’t feel any empathy towards her sister’s death. She even blamed her sister for being weak, just like their brother said she was.
Game Over (Whithall University Book 2) Page 15