Page 53 of This Stays Between Us
And Kyan and Adrien went after her, furious.
I open my mouth, but the words are barely audible, a whisper on wind. “Declan, does this mean—”
But before I can finish the thought, I’m interrupted by a sound. The latch of a door.
“Shite,” Declan whispers. “Randy must be back.”
Declan holds his finger to his lips before taking one large step forward and pulling the string to the overhead light.
We’re plunged into darkness, just as I hear footsteps trail closer to the door.
Declan and I back up against the wall, our arms rubbing against each other. After a moment, I feel his fingers slip into mine.
The footsteps continue closer until they veer towards the left, followed by a steady thud against the stairs. Not one set, but several.
I slowly exhale but keep my fingers entwined with Declan’s. It’s just the others coming in from outside.
I turn to Declan just as he does the same, our faces so close I can feel his breath warm against my cheek. As my eyes adjust to the dim light sneaking beneath the crack in the door, I can feel his gaze lock on mine. And suddenly it’s ten years ago again, my world narrowed into nothing but him. His face moves slowly towards mine and I draw even closer. My eyes brush closed as I anticipate the feeling of his lips on mine, one that I never thought I would experience again. And then…
The noise erupts through the closet. So abrupt that I skirt backwards, my spine connecting with the wall.
Declan’s wide eyes confirm my suspicions.
“That was a scream.”
24
Claire
Now
“It came from the parking lot,” Declan says, as we fly through the closet door, no longer caring if Randy sees us. I follow him in that direction. The first thing I notice when I reach it is our rental cars, the only two vehicles in the parking lot aside from Randy’s old pickup truck. My sight lands upon the tires, limp and useless. It’s clear, even from where I stand in the doorway, that they’ve been slashed. Randy’s truck, however, remains in its usual substandard condition.
“Kyan!”
Declan’s shout cuts through my thoughts, and I look at what he’s running towards. When I see it, my breath lodges in my throat. Kyan is lying face down on the gravel, legs splayed, unmoving. A sheath of red flows outwards from his body. And then I notice the slash in the back of his shirt, the perfect size for a blade to puncture.
Footsteps erupt behind me, but I can’t tear my eyes from Kyan’s prone form on the ground.
“Oh my god, what happened?” Ellery yells.
When I finally turn around, I see the others have all joined. Josh, Adrien, and Ellery, with Randy slinking through the door behind them.
“Call an ambulance!” Declan yells from where he’s knelt beside Kyan, his hands pressed against his wound. I fumble for my phone, but Adrien’s already holding hers to her ear, her hands shaking.
Through the chaos, one thought emerges. A suspicion I hadn’t dared to truly indulge before now.
Someone is picking us off one by one.
25
Phoebe
Then
“The hostel is putting on an ABC party tonight.” Claire chatters as we dig through our suitcases, yanking out swimsuits and towels. “Anything but Clothes.”
It’s the day after the total shitshow on the boat in Cairns. After Tomas alerted Adrien about my plan to swap her pills with mine, she lost it on me, yelling her head off about how I was trying to drug her. It turned into a whole thing. Nick got involved, told me if I ever pull shit like that again, he’s putting me on the first flight home.
