AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Everyone in school was off. Even the teachers seemed a little out of it. The other students were gossiping and restless, unable to focus on whatever the teacher was trying to teach. It was almost like the day itself had been taken out of time; everything felt weird.
But time wore on, as it always did. It stopped for no man or woman… or corpse. No, it definitely didn’t stop for the corpses. If anything, it trampled right over them with no regard for their sanctity. Time was as much a desecrator as anything else.
After what felt like an eternity, lunch rolled around. I was at my locker, stuffing everything inside and wondering what fresh hell lunch would be today when an older figure approached me: Principal Huckleberry.
“Ms. Montgomery,” he spoke, giving me a tiny, wrinkled smile. The old man refused to call me Ms. Dent, apparently, even after I’d corrected him numerous times, just like I always corrected my teachers when they made the mistake of calling me a Montgomery.
I was eighteen. Just because my mom married Alistair didn’t automatically make me a Montgomery, too.
That’s what these people didn’t understand. I didn’t want to be a Montgomery.
“If you’ll please come with me,” Mr. Huckleberry said as his arm gestured for me to go with him. “Sheriff Jones is here. He wants to ask you a few questions.”
Rick was here? And he wanted to ask me some questions? I’d bet anything that meant he was asking other students questions too, and that now was my turn so it wouldn’t seem suspicious that he’d ignored me.
So, I quietly shut my locker and followed Mr. Huckleberry to the main office. We walked around the secretary’s desk, and the plump woman gave me a warm smile and a nod of her head. He led me to his office, holding the door open for me and allowing me to step inside past him, where Rick was waiting, standing near the desk, his arms folded over his chest.
“Thank you,” Rick spoke with a nod to Mr. Huckleberry.
When Rick and Mr. Huckleberry stared at each other for a while, it was like a lightbulb moment in the principal’s head, because he exclaimed an “Oh! Of course,” and then shut the door, giving us some privacy.
Rick pointed to one of the old seats facing the principal’s desk, and I was measured in taking it, not once breaking eye contact with him. He wore his sheriff’s uniform, had his gun on his hip. He looked like he’d gotten no sleep last night.
“I have a few questions for you, Brianna,” Rick said, his tone careful. “With everything that’s been going on, I came to speak with Neo’s friends. They said you went to a game with him. Did he seem off to you at all? Did he seem like he was hiding anything?”
The things we had to do in order to keep appearances up. I shook my head once. “No. He seemed fine.”
Rick’s voice dropped to a whisper, possibly so Mr. Huckleberry, standing in the hall, couldn’t overhear this part, “Mr. Watts was… mutilated. His face was unrecognizable. Brett’s dangerous. If he tries to contact you again, tell me or Alistair.” Louder, he said, “So you have no idea why Neo might have it out for Erin Watts and her family? No idea what his connection to them might be?”
“No,” I said loudly, but I fidgeted in my seat a bit, which Rick instantly noticed, and his dark eyebrows came together. He leaned down in front of me, which caused me to lean back, as if putting more space between us would stop him from seeing the truth.
But it was too late, because as his green eyes bore into me, he knew. “That asshole called you again, didn’t he?” he whispered.
“He called me this morning,” I muttered under my breath. “He said he saw some of my art and that I…” I paused, the realization dawning on me. “Inspired him.” If Mr. Watts was mutilated so badly that you couldn’t recognize his face, Brett had to have done it because of my art, because of me. More desecration because of me.
And I’d bet anything it’d only get worse.
Rick knelt before me, his hands finding my knees and squeezing. An inappropriate gesture if Mr. Huckleberry walked in, but not if it was just us. “What else did he say? Did he give any hints as to who’s next or where?”
“No,” I said.
“I need to tell Alistair he called you again. Maybe I can tap into your phone somehow, and if he tries to contact you again, we can get his location that way—”
“And what if he doesn’t call again?” I asked in a whisper.
Rick let go of my knees, standing straight as he shrugged. “We’ll go from there. We should have every base covered, just in case. We can assume he’s got two more bodies, but after that… he might make a move on one of you.”
I held his stare. “Or you.”
“Or me,” Rick spoke with a nod. “But I can handle myself. It’s you I’m worried about.”
My eyes fell to my lap, and I muttered, “He won’t come after me, not until it’s all done. He wants me to watch everything crumble, hurt me as bad as he can before he finishes it.” Brett knew I was the one who’d killed Neo, so it wasn’t far-fetched to believe he wanted my torment to be everlasting.
Rick walked to the door, opening it up and nodding at me, a professional smile on his face. “Thank you for your time. Be sure to contact me or anyone at the sheriff’s office if you think of anything else.” Putting on a show for Mr. Huckleberry’s sake, who stood in the hall, watching us both. As I slipped past them both, I heard Rick tell him, “You can grab the next student on the list.”
I made it to the cafeteria, making a beeline to our table, where Kaity, Cherith, and Angelina were already sitting. No one was eating. Cherith wasn’t even reading on her phone, paying attention, for once.
All of their eyes were on me as I slid into my seat, and Kaity was the one who asked, “Where were you?”
