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Oh my god, is she dead? I’ve never seen so much blood! It looks like something out of a movie. Another death on campus? How is this place still open? Oh my god, I think I’m going to throw up. I thought there was meant to be increased security? How did this happen in the middle of the day?
I push my way through the crowd, ignoring Bhodi’s shouts for me to stop. Summer went this way. I need to make sure it’s not her. I elbow people to get them to move, not caring that I’m touching strangers and the cumulative panicked thoughts of the crowd are threatening to cripple me. I push and push and push until I’m staring at the body of…
It’s not Summer.
I almost breathe a visible sigh of relief but then I realise how many people are staring at me right now.Freak. There’s always one who just wants to gawk at the body. Maybe she’s a hungry vamp.
“It’s not her,” Bhodi says gently, taking me by the elbow and pulling me away. This time the crowd parts to let us through and I allow Bhodi to guide me away from the scene of yet another crime.
“Why does this keep happening, Bhodi?” I whisper as tears start to fall down my cheeks. “Why can’t the authorities stop it?”
“I’m sure they’re trying.”
“They’re not doing enough.”
“I know. Come on, let’s get home. You look so pale. Are you okay?”
I shake my head. “I think I’m going crazy,” I whisper. “I keep hearing voices in my head and they’re not always nice.”
Bhodi gives me a long, searching look and then sighs. Pulling out his phone he types a quick message to someone, and then pockets it.
“Come on. We’ll go home and wait for the others to arrive. I think it’s time we all had a little chat.”
I sigh, really fucking pissed off that we’re having to have this conversation. Malia is staring at us all with huge wide eyes and even though she’s trying to hide it, I can see that she’s shaking as we all sit around the dining room table.
As soon as Bhodi texted us, I walked out of the seminar I was leading without a backwards glance. Another death on campus takes precedence over all else, and the videos circulating online of Malia pushing her way through the crowds to get to the dead body are already going viral.
There’s no hiding her now. Surprisingly, Malia speaks first, toying with the unopened bottle of water I gave her.
“What’s going on?” Her voice is barely above a whisper, shell-shocked and cracked. Another deep sigh leaves me as all eyes turn to me, silently asking me how much we’re going to reveal.
“Why don’t we start with you and Bhodi telling us what happened?”
A flicker of annoyance crosses her face but she nods nonetheless and begins talking.
“After the lecture and you told Bhodi to take me home, we stopped by the coffee shop to get a drink to go. I was thirsty and Bhodi needed the caffeine. While we were in there, there was a scream, and when we got our drinks we went outside.”
You saw Summer on the way in, didn’t you?” Bhodi reminds her.
“Oh, yeah,” she agrees, a slight pink hue tingeing her cheeks.
Did she mean to omit that detail? Is it significant?
“How was Summer?” I ask.
“Fine.” She’s definitely being cagey.
“Bhodi?”
“I don’t know the girl that well, but even I could tell there was something off about her.”
“Malia?”
“She seemed distant, unconcerned. She pulled away when I hugged her and she was ice cold. She looked awful to be honest and she’s lost loads of weight, but I’m hardly one to talk. She said it was just stress, that her parents were putting a lot of pressure on her.”
“And she was trying to find out where you were staying,” Bhodi points out.
“Did you tell her?” I ask sharply.
