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“Why would she have done this?” asked Cricket.
Mako said nothing, just stood in the doorway, looking stunned. Hannah would expect him to be raging; that was his default setting when things happened that he didn’t want. His picture-perfect weekend was ruined. Usually he’d be yelling and ranting. Calling everyone they knew to try to figure out where Liza might be. But instead, he looked ill—pastier than he had been downstairs, leaning heavily against the doorjamb. What wasn’t he telling them? She found herself staring at her brother. His eyes darted to hers and then away.
Bruce walked into the room and approached the bed, pulled back the covers where the pillows had been stacked.
“Hey,” he said, taking a step back. “Is that blood?”
“What the fuck?” said Cricket, moving in. Hannah came up behind her.
Three big stains of red blossomed like roses on the pure white sheets.
“Oh my god,” said Hannah. She couldn’t bring herself to turn around and look at her brother. But both Cricket and Bruce did.
Hannah was surprised at the rush of emotion—anger, fear. She moved closer and saw that the stains were still wet, had transferred onto the top sheet as well.
This moment, this feeling.
It brought her back to an ugly place she’d been with her brother before. She felt the cold finger of dread trail down her spine.
This was all wrong.
“So she packed up all her things and left without any of us noticing?” Hannah said. “But she forgot her toiletries bag. She left you this letter—which doesn’t even look like her handwriting?”
“What are you saying?” asked Mako.
“I’m notsayinganything. I’masking. Does that seem like Liza to you?”
Mako looked at her blankly. “No—not really.”
“So—what?” asked Cricket. “Do you think something happened to her? Like someonetook her?”
“Woah,” said Bruce. He did not like drama, or Cricket’s desire to create it. “Let’s not overreact.”
“That chef was a creeper,” said Cricket. “His horrible stories. The blood on his apron. And they just kind of snuck out, didn’t they?”
“And I saw the host earlier,” said Hannah, feeling a dark tingle of fear. “He seemed really off, too. Like he was standing too close to her.”
“What?” said Mako, alarmed. “When was this?”
“When you went into town.”
“And we saw someone out by the lake,” said Cricket, grabbing onto Hannah.
Bruce looked inquiringly at Hannah who filled him in. “We couldn’t be sure. We took some gummies.”
Hannah’s buzz was long gone. This secluded cabin, which had seemed so serene, now just felt like a house of horrors.
A bright flash of lightning lit the room, casting them all in harsh white. It was followed by a boom of thunder so concussive that it rattled the house, Cricket issuing a frightened shriek.
Then everything went dark.
27
Cricket
What the actual fuck?
Seriously?
