Page 75 of Alamort

“For fuck’ sake, Ben. Leave the poor bird alone!”

“Malice! Where have you been?” He hiccups.

“Are you taking the piss?” I rip the clipboard from his hands. On it is a drawing of a beard. I can only imagine why he drew that. With a nod to the bearded lady, she dips out of sight.

“Where’s your brother?”

“He was asking the same about you earlier. Where’d you slither off to anyway?” Bennetts jab about being a snake isn’t as subtle as he thought it was. They haven’t seen me since Saint spilled the beans.

“He left after we ran into Robert Carter. Then poof. Gone with the wind.” He giggles at his joke. My teeth grind against each other, giving me comfort in the pain. Leave it to Bennett to fuck up a simple task like finishing the checklist Crew left him. It’s out of the norm for Crew to leave his irresponsible brother in charge of something so big.

“I know that look and I don’t need to be babysat, Malice. It’s you everyone should be worried about.” He attempts to poke me in the chest but misses.

“Let’s go find your brother, you wanker.” There’s something off about him disappearing and we’re going to find out what it is. “Which way did he go?”

Bennett points towards the back of the massive tent, the flaps fluttering in the light breeze from outside. “Now that I think about it, that’s the same way Priya’s dad went.” He burps and doubles over. “I don’t feel too good.” Fucking lightweight. “I wanna talk to you about something real quick.” The asshole sits down on the ground crisscross apple sauce and pats a dirty spot next to him. Time is of the essence and he’s wasting it.

“I know what you’re thinking and I’m not moving until your grumpy ass shits down.” He laughs, “I mean, sits down. Same thing.”

Taking a deep breath, I play along with his shenanigans. I won’t get far otherwise. “All right, Ben?”

“No. You really hurt my feelings. Our feelings.” I blink slowly. He’s joking? This is going to be a long night.

Paramore - I Caught Myself

The night loses its comforting embrace with the new knowledge I’ve gained about my Shadow and River. Usually, I listen to River whenever she tells me to go. She’s been at Cox Academy a lot longer than I have, dealt with the Demons’ presence more often than me. I’ve never thought to question it. River has been nothing but kind and welcoming to me since I have arrived. But what threw me off was the way she tensed up the night I told her what I had discovered about Megan Riley. All the times I’ve asked or brought it up, she’s brushed me off by changing the subject or warning me away from it. Intuition told me to stay behind and listen to her and the Shadow Man.

That’s because she knew. She knew what happened to Megan. I was unable to catch most of their hushed argument, but I heard what I needed to hear. From both of them. A confession.

The dwindling chirps of the crickets matched the waning energy of the night, while the biting chilly wind seemed to carry with it a sense of deceit and confusion that infiltrates my thoughts.

When River finally caught up with me, I brushed her off by telling her I wanted to go home. With a soft ding, the elevator doors open and I exit. River faithfully trails behind me. On the other side of that door, I can almost hear the serene silence beckoning me. I just need to get there. The hallway seems to grow longer the more I walk.

“Pri—”

“Thank you for everything. I mean it.” I cut her off mid-sentence, attempting to mask my annoyance with a feigned cheerful expression.

“Priya. We need to talk.”

Without thinking, I instinctively cross my arms over my stomach. Avoiding eye contact, she keeps her gaze fixed on the floor as I impatiently tap my foot.

“D-did you hear?”

“Yeah.” Enough of it, but it would be stupid to tell her how much I heard. I would rather her rat herself out, thinking I heard it all.

“How much?” She wrings her fingers, twisting her hands. “I was going to tell you.”

I scoff, avoiding her first question. “When? Just like you were going to tell me about the bet?” She had time. The perfect time was when she admitted to murdering her rapist. Maybe throwing in that she knew what happened to the missing girl everyone refuses to acknowledge would have been a perfect time.

She shrinks away from me, “No, I mean it. It just never seemed like the right time.”

A laugh escapes me. “Right… I’ve heard this before.” Screw this, turning my back on her like I should’ve when she showed up at my door the first day we met. My hand reaches for the knob, the cool metal beneath my fingertips.

“He’s my brother!”

In an instant, my hand freezes, and I spin around to face her.

“S- I mean Mal is my brother.” She corrects.

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