“You see, why would he say that?”
“Because I’m fat. Because I’m disgusting. Because I don’t deserve to be alive.”
“That’s absolute garbage. You look fine. A lot of guys will fancy you if you don’t wear your heart on your sleeve. It has nothing to do with your looks or weight. He’s just a superficial person. You’re better off without him.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice.”
“I’m saying it because you’re my friend. And it’s the truth. I wouldn’t lie to one of my friends. Especially not my best friend.”
“You mean we’re best friends now? What about Erin?”
“I’m still friends with her. But I think you’re my best friend.”
“Why would I be your best friend? What’s even good about me? All I do is sulk around and complain.”
“You’re a good person, Bryonie. You’re inexperienced, you don’t have any street smarts. You sometimes put your foot in your mouth. But you mean well. You know what to say when your friends are feeling down. And even with all you’ve been through, you never have an unkind word to say about anyone. I could learn a lot from you.”
*
Bryonie was scrolling through photos of Leah on her phone. Hundreds and hundreds of photos. The earliest ones were from 2012 when they were still in high school. Their final year. She found one of Leah, Taylor, Erin and herself standing about the schoolyard together. Laughing at something. Bryonie couldn’t even remember what it was.
She touched the photo. The screen emitting a bright and beautiful sky. Faces bobbed up in the background. People she recognized but hadn’t seen in years. She wondered where they were now. She wondered … if they knew how beautiful Leah had looked that day…
“Hi.”
A voice above her.
Bryonie wiped her tears before looking up.
Leah’s sister Daphne handed her a piece of cake and sat in the chair next to her.
“Thank you,” Bryonie murmured.
“What are you looking at?” Daphne asked leaning over.
Bryonie handed her the phone.
“When was this taken?”
“2012,” Bryonie answered. “Final school year.”
“God, it went by fast didn’t it?” Daphne replied. “It’s amazing how you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone.”
She handed the phone back to Bryonie.
“I am so sorry,” Bryonie said. “We should never have gone out that night.”
“Hindsight is an amazing thing,” Daphne replied.
“It seems so stupid. All I could think about was what I was going through. I never stopped to consider how…”
“Don’t beat yourself up. No one blames you for what happened.”
“I blame me.”
“You really shouldn’t. I know if Leah was here she wouldn’t point the finger at you. To be honest I’d be surprised if she pointed it at anyone.”
Bryonie lowered her spoon. Broke off a small piece of cake.
But she didn’t feel like eating it.
“It means a lot for you to say that,” Bryonie said. “I feel so ashamed.”
“What are you doing to do with yourself now?”
“I don’t know. Kill myself probably.”
“Seriously.”
Bryonie shrugged. “I haven’t thought about it. Just getting through each hour is hard.”
“I know what you mean.” Daphne paused. “You know, Mom and Dad wanted to let you know you’re always welcome here. You can drop round whenever. We’ll have coffee and talk. Heal together.”
“Thank you,” Bryonie said.
Erin appeared in the archway. Daphne stood up and crossed the room to embrace her.
Erin gripped tightly onto Daphne’s back.
“I was just saying to Bryonie, you’re both welcome here, any time you want. We need to look after each other.”
Erin nodded. “That means so much.”
“I’ve got to see how Mom’s doing,” Daphne said. “But I’ll be back in a moment if you –”
“It’s fine,” Bryonie said quickly. “We’ll – We’ll be fine.”
Daphne forced a smile. And then headed on her way.
Erin sat down in the chair opposite Bryonie.
“I guess we shouldn’t sugarcoat it,” Erin began. “I know we’ve had our differences. We never really got –”
“Forget that shit,” Bryonie said quickly. “It’s done.”
“I just … wanted to say … You’re like the only real friend I have left. From the old days, I mean.”
“You haven’t been to see Taylor then?” Bryonie asked.
“No,” Erin said firmly. “You haven’t, have you?”
“No.”
“How do you feel about her?”
Bryonie closed her eyes.
She saw Taylor’s face as she coldly relayed to her and Finn that Leah, Vanessa and Darien were all dead.
“I don’t want to see her ever again.”
“Same here.”
Bryonie exhaled.
She put her cake to the side.
“I can’t get over the fact that I wasn’t there,” Erin said. “That I was off frolicking around with that asshole and I didn’t even tell you guys where I was.”
“Yeah, I was so relieved to hear you were okay.”
“You probably thought I was going to turn up dead like the rest of them.”
“I didn’t know what to think.”
Erin wasn’t looking at her directly. She had her hands interlocked, shivering a little.
Something was on her mind.
“Have you seen Finn?” she asked.
“What?” Bryonie exclaimed. “No.”
“Not since that night?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Bryonie hesitated. “Cause … cause he’s the reason. If I hadn’t … gone after him…”
“What did he say about it all? When it happened?”
“He uh … tried to comfort me. But everything was a mess at that point. I got into a fight with Taylor. She punched me. I punched her back. But … it’s just a blur. I guess he must have pulled one of us off the other.” Bryonie looked up. “Have you seen Perry?”
“No, he’s a jerk. I wouldn’t have seen him anyway.”
“Were you together the whole night or…?”
“No, he took off shortly after we left. We got into a fight so… I tried calling Taylor once. Then I just went home.”
Bryonie nodded. “Hey. Want to see a picture?”
“Of what?”
“Us. All of us. Here, I’ll show you.”
Bryonie tossed the phone across to her.
Erin caught it and turned it over.
“Oh my God,” she gasped. She covered her mouth. “You know I … I don’t remember this one.”
“There’s heaps of them. Probably uploaded a bunch online as well.”
“Do you miss it?”
“What?”
“School?”
Bryonie reflected. “I miss Leah.”
Erin nodded. “I miss her too.”
CHAPTER FOUR
A little while later Bryonie found herself in Leah’s backyard looking for Daphne and Leah’s Mom to let them know she’d be going. She made her way out into the centre and saw the barbeque had been packed away and thrust into the shadows of the garage. She stared at it a little while, images of past days coming to life in her mind. She turned back to the house and saw Leah’s Dad Clifford standing by the backdoor, watching her. Bryonie thought for a moment he was going to come over. But in the end he just wound up going back inside.
“I heard Leah’s parents are getting divorced,” Erin piped up behind her. “When this is all over.”
Bryonie whirled around. “Really?”
“Mostly because of this business with Taylor.”
“It isn’t – isn’t because of anything I said, is it?”
“The initial rumor was that
it was between him and you. Whoever overheard him got you and Taylor mixed up.”
“So it’s all true then?”
“Looks like it.”
Bryonie lowered her head. “That’s horrible. I feel so bad for them.”
“I can’t imagine what they must feel for Taylor.”
Bryonie swallowed. “Yeah. Tell me about it.”
A gust of wind blew by them. Bryonie brought her knees together and looked up to the sky. In it she found the remnants of a day that should never have happened.
Erin put a hand to her shoulder. “Are you going home soon?”
“Yeah. I was … I’m just looking for Daphne. Say goodbye.”
“I think she’s out the front. Come on, we’ll say goodbye together.”
“Okay.”
Bryonie followed Erin through the backyard and around the house to the side gate. She remembered not so long ago chasing after Taylor here in the middle of Leah’s celebration. Now she wished she hadn’t.
Daphne was outside with her Mom hugging a few relatives to see them off. Erin promptly made her way over to them, while Bryonie lingered on their surroundings.
“Thanks for coming,” Leah’s Mom said embracing Erin. “Stay strong.”
“You too.”
She moved onto Daphne and then it was Bryonie’s turn.
She felt so small, so weak. Even as her mother looked at her, Bryonie had to use all her willpower to keep from breaking down.
“You have a home here now,” Leah’s Mom said. “Any time you’re feeling down you can turn to us. Both of you.”
Bryonie nodded and grabbed hold of her.
“Promise me something, girls, will you?”
Bryonie pulled back and they listened closely.
“Don’t let what happened to Leah make you afraid of the world,” Leah’s Mom said. “Don’t swear off going out, or having adventures, or getting into trouble. Don’t swear off falling in love. It’s true there are dangerous things in this world … but nothing is more dangerous than living your life in fear. So you go ahead and find whatever it is you’re searching for. Nothing can stop you. I know even though her passing is sad, Leah would have no regrets about her life. She wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Bryonie fell to her knees. She couldn’t believe how her mother didn’t blame her. How even on this dark day, she was still only concerned with their happiness. And living all their lives to the full.
Leah’s Mom broke down herself shortly after and Daphne waved goodbye as she led her away into the house.
Erin helped Bryonie up and they walked over to her car.
But as it turned out, they weren’t going home.
CHAPTER FIVE
Bryonie wasn’t paying much attention to Erin. What her demeanor was, where they were driving. After about five minutes in the car she leaned out the window and saw they were slowing down. They were pulling up alongside a house she didn’t recognize. This wasn’t even her street.
“What’s going on?” Bryonie asked.
Erin put the car into park and shut off the ignition. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“What?”
“I’m sure by now you know Taylor’s ‘cousin’ that she brought along was an undercover agent for the paranormal police.”
Bryonie nodded.
“She was investigating Finn, whom they believed was the perpetrator in a chain of unsolved murders.”
“Right.”
“Well, the investigation is still open. I was approached by them this morning.”
Bryonie’s jaw dropped. “But no – wait – Darien was –”
“They’re not completely satisfied Darien was the perpetrator. The only reason they even have to believe he may have been involved in the first place is based on Taylor’s account of what happened. There’s still a lot of unanswered questions. In the event that Darien was guilty, there’s still no way to know whether he was working alone.”
“Well, gees,” Bryonie gasped. “They’ve gotten to you, haven’t they?”
“I’ve agreed to help them,” Erin said. “No blackmail required.”
“What are they going to make you do?”
“They want me to get close to Percy again. See what I can find out.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“I don’t think Percy is guilty. I mean I fucking slept with him, so…”
“What?”
Erin shook her head. “He could have hurt me any time he wanted. I would have wound up like Lucille or Penelope –”
“Why don’t they just send another agent in like they did last time? Surely there’s another way to –”
“The sharks are on high alert. They have all sorts of security around them now. The police can’t get to them. They … gave me a whole kit of gadgets and stuff. It’s under the backseat. I should show you.”
Erin shifted out of her chair and went over into the back. She returned with a black plastic case resembling a toolbox. She undid the latches and opened it.
Bryonie looked inside.
“This thing goes in my ear, so I can hear them. This thing goes on my wrist so they can hear me. This necklace, has a built in camera. This is a tranquilizer, and this is an electric taser–”
“I don’t need to see this,” Bryonie exclaimed. “Please!”
Erin closed the case up. She put it away.
“I really don’t think you should do this,” Bryonie said. “I think you’re crazy.”
“They killed our friends, Bryonie. People we know. You just want to let them get away with it?”
“No, I didn’t mean –”
“This is up to us. The sharks aren’t going to be in town again after tonight. We’re not going to get another chance.”
“What do you mean ‘us’?”
Erin closed her eyes. “They won’t let me go in by myself. They said I have to talk you into it too.”
Bryonie swallowed. She felt sick. “No.”
“Please Bryonie.”
“No Erin, no!”
“Did you even listen to Leah’s Mom? We can’t live in fear. We can’t be afraid of danger. We have to continue our adventure!”
“NO!”
Bryonie pushed open her car door and stepped out into the road.
The wind was cold. The air was thick.
She started to walk.
Erin’s door opened behind her. “Just answer one thing!”
Bryonie kept walking. She didn’t want to hear it.
“Do you believe he’s innocent?”
Bryonie stopped. Tears welled in her eyes.
“I said, ‘Do you believe he’s innocent?’”
Bryonie turned, her mouth wide open. “I don’t know.”
CHAPTER SIX
As the sunset across the city skyline, Finn was seated in the executive lounge of the central international airport, waiting for his flight. His left foot casually rested on his right knee. He was wearing a black overcoat and a pair of shades. The tablet in front of him contained various files and data sets displayed on the screen. He hadn’t quite finished his work yet. But he wasn’t sure if he could continue.
Finn reached out and picked up the glass of liquor sitting on the marble bench. He took a brief sip, replaced it, and exited out of his work documents. He opened a folder which contained a photo of Bryonie. He’d saved it from her dating profile.
Finn stared at her.
Such innocence.
Such purity.
He had felt something with her. Something special.
While the engagement had now passed, and it was time to move on, a feeling of sadness lingered. There had been a failure on his behalf. An inability to follow through. Was it too late then? Or was there still time?
“Sir?”
Finn looked up.
One of the lovely attendants was standing over him, smiling politely.
“Yes?” Finn replied.
“We’ll be ready to board you in five minutes.”
<
br /> “Okay. Thank you.”
“A pleasure.”
She wandered off.
Finn took another drink from his glass. At that point his phone started ringing.
He withdrew it and flipped it open. “Hello?”
“Hi Finn. It’s Perry.”
“Hello Perry. What can I do for you?”
“You’re aware Colton expects to meet with us tonight.”
“Yes.”
“Will you be there?”
“That … seems doubtful.”
Perry exhaled. “What are you doing then? Are you going back to –?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Well, I’d keep an eye out if I was you.”
“For what?”
“The police aren’t finished with us,” Perry explained. “I’m looking out my window now, and there’s got to be half a dozen of them posted somewhere. I know I wasn’t even their main target. They must be all over you.”
Finn looked sharply out the corner of his eye.
A man reading a newspaper behind him turned its page.
“You’re just being paranoid,” Finn said.
“I’m serious,” Perry said. “They’re not going to let you get on that plane.”
Finn scanned the lounge’s area in search of the flight attendant. He spotted her at the far end of the room. She was on a cell phone, glancing awkwardly in his direction.
Finn stood up.
“This is bullshit,” Finn said. “They know it was Darien. Why are they still after us?”
“You really think it was Darien?”
“What else am I supposed to think?”
Perry swallowed. “They said … they said they found a child’s severed foot on board the ship. In your room.”
“Yeah.”
“You think they’re just going to let us go?”
“What else are they going to do?” Finn hissed. “It’s not like there’s any hard evidence against us. Is there?”
“Do you really think Darien was capable of that?”
“Of what?”
“Of murdering all those people. Of murdering a child.”
Finn sighed. “Well, what do you think?”
“From what I heard, you were with Bryonie when he attacked the girls on the roof.”
“That’s right. I was nowhere near it.”
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