Previously on The Haunt...
Eddie shook his head. "There's nothing we can do. All we can do is wait." A hint of a smile appeared on my face. "What are you thinking, Patricia Williamson?" He gave me that stupid smile I fell in love with a long time ago.
"Maybe we should catch him in the act."
"I can already tell this is a bad idea."
"I talked to Eddie earlier, and I was right, he did know something." I stared at my hands. "Fabian told him who he was going after next." I looked back up at Lindsey. "You."
"The house and its residents will be under the supervision of our best officers twenty-four seven. Especially you know who." He sighed.
"I'm still in love with you, Patricia, and I need you in my life." Eddie pulled me closer. "Can I..?"
I nodded. He leaned in and kissed me, and, this time, I kissed back. I felt the spark that I'd felt before we broke up again, the connection between us, as I pulled him closer, so that our bodies were touching.
You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into.
Amber waited another day to reply. I know about Jenna and Kylie.
I laughed. "Everyone knows you just like Lindsey because she looks pretty similar to Amber."
"That's not true." Alfie replied quickly. "Lindsey is the coolest girl I've ever met. She's nice, and funny, and she's so easy to talk to, and she's beautiful, and just perfect in every way." He took a deep breath and glanced at me.
"I know." I sighed. "I just didn't realize you did." I trailed off for a second. "But I still don't think you should just..."
Alfie cut me off. "You're wrong."
"I..." She took a breath, still sobbing. "I broke up with James."
"What? Why?" My eyes widened.
"I didn't want him to get any more involved." Lindsey wiped some tears away. "And I didn't want him to be upset when I die."
Jerome took off his shirt, then helped me out of my own. I kicked off the heels I was going to wear when I would go out with Lindsey later to help her get over what had happened with James. As I reached down to unbutton my jeans, I noticed that his shoes were off as well, but the height difference was still undeniable. In seconds, we were in only our underwear.
You know where I am. You know what I am. But you don't know who I am.
That was the first thing I saw when I walked into my room the next day. There was bright red spray paint on the wall, making the message look like it was made of blood.
Then Alfie did what he'd wanted to do since the day he met Lindsey.
He kissed her.
Alfie felt sparks fly in every direction. When he opened an eye, both of Lindsey's were closed.
But then he pulled away. "I am so sorry." Alfie exclaimed, feeling like an idiot. "That was so unbelievably insensitive. You just went through a breakup and-"
Lindsey cut him off by kissing him again. At first, Alfie's eyes were wide in surprise, but, as he eased into it, they closed. It lasted for a few seconds before Lindsey pulled back. They looked at each other, both with stupid grins on their faces. But Lindsey's quickly dissipated.
"Oh my God..." She stood up, putting a finger to her lips. Alfie got up, too, but she put up her other hand, signaling for him to stop where he was. "I'm so sorry..." Lindsey made her way to the door. "I can't."
Chapter 54: You pay the price eventually
Jerome and I broke apart, both of us rolling onto our backs and gasping for air.
"Wow." Jerome breathed, a huge smile spreading across his lips.
"Yeah." I replied quietly.
A click sounded as the door suddenly unlocked. I looked over at Jerome with wide eyes. "Alfie." We said at the same time.
"What do we do!?" I whispered urgently.
Jerome stood up. "Just, um... Hide in my closet." He started slipping into his clothes as I got up.
"What!?" I looked at him incredulously.
"Just do it!" Jerome handed me my clothes and I ran to his closet.
I pulled on my pants as I closed the door and Alfie walked in. "Hey, Alfie. What's up?" Jerome rubbed the back of his neck anxiously.
I stared down at the shirt I clutched in my hand. My bra was missing. I closed my eyes in disbelief. "You tell me..." Alfie came close enough to Jerome that I could see him giving him a weird look.
Jerome laughed, clearly nervous. "What..?"
"Your hair is all disheveled and your bed is suddenly unmade." Alfie narrowed his eyes at Jerome.
I put on my shirt anyway. I would have to get my bra once Alfie left. If he left.
"I fell back asleep." Jerome forced a grin. He was trying way too hard.
Aflie rose an eyebrow. "Oh, really..?" He glanced at the ground, then leaned over and picked something up. "Then why do you have this?" Alfie held up my bra with his thumb and index finger. I ran a hand through my hair. I knew something like that would happen.
"I..." Jerome gaped at Alfie, at a loss for words. "I, uh..."
Alfie rolled his eyes. "Patricia, you can come out now." He called. It was like he knew the whole time I was there. "Unless you don't have the remainder of your clothes on. Then don't come out." I reluctantly stepped out of Jerome's closet. "I believe this is yours." Alfie held out my bra.
I grabbed it from him. "Thanks..." I felt heat rise to my cheeks.
"Go ahead, I won't look." Alfie smirked at me. He seemed really pissed. "I can't promise the same from Jerome, though." Alfie closed his eyes, even though I just put it on under my shirt.
"You can open your eyes." I mumbled.
Alfie turned to Jerome. "If you'll excuse us, Patricia and I need to have a private conversation. Don't worry, I won't make out with your girlfriend." He paused, glancing over his shoulder at me. "Oh, wait... She's not your girlfriend. Although I do distinctly remember her dating someone else."
Jerome stared at me uncertainly and I shrugged. He hesitantly left the room and I crossed my arms. "What?"
"I just wanted to say sorry." Alfie sighed. "You were right."
I scoff. "Well, I'm right about a lot of things. Which one are you referring to?"
He glared at me. "Lindsey."
"What the hell did you doo?" My eyes widened.
"I should be asking you the same thing." Aflie snapped. "You're ruining Jerome, Patricia. You're destroying him." I took a step back. He was very rigid as he continued. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Just... Go." Alfie pushed me out the door and slammed it shut.
I stood there for a few seconds, stunned. Obviously something didn't go too well between Alfie and Lindsey, which meant...
I wasn't sure what that meant. But, whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
I knocked rapidly on the girls' bathroom door. When I went to my room, Lindsey wasn't there, and she wasn't in her room. I asked Nina where she was, which was actually the first time I spoke to her in a while because of Fabian, and she said the bathroom. "Lindsey, it's Patricia." I called.
The door swung open, almost hitting me in the face. I let out a yelp as Lindsey pulled me inside, closing and locking the door behind her. Tears streamed down her face. "I made such a horrible mistake. I'm an awful person." She cried.
"What are you talking about?" I questioned, gently touching her arm. "What happened?"
Lindsay took quick gasps of air between sobs. "I kissed him." She looked at me with sad eyes. "I kissed Alfie."
I stared at her. "Wait..." I rose an eyebrow. "You kissed him, or he kissed you?"
Lindsey bit her lip. "Well, both." She sighed. "He kissed me first and he started apologizing and I just..." Lindsey cried harder, unable to continue.
"So, I know why you're upset..." I paused. "But why is Alfie?"
"Because!" She exclaimed, as if it were obvious. "I... I told him everything. About me, about James. And then I kissed him, and I couldn't do it. I couldn't make him go through that."
I processed what she was saying slowly. "Are you saying that you actually like Alfie..?"
Lindsey took a few deep breaths. "I didn't realize it before, but..." She wiped a tear away. "When he kissed me, I felt something that I've never felt before. Not even with James. And I... I don't know, I just realized that..." Lindsey found herself at a loss for words. "I like him a lot. And I'm going to lose him. I'm going to lose everything." She started bawling again.
I gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry." I pulled her into a hug. "It'll be okay."
"I'm basically already dead." Lindsey whispered into my shoulder.
"I'm not going to let you die." I held her close. "I promise."
She laughed. "Don't make promises you can't keep."
I pulled back to look at her. "Listen, the best police officers around are protecting you from him. You're not going to die. If I can't do anything about it, they can." She nodded. "Oh, and if it makes you feel any better, I'm basically the biggest narcissist ever."
Lindsey rose an eyebrow at me. "What do you mean?"
I put an arm on her back, steering her out. "Boy, do I have a story to tell you."
Clare sat in her office late that night, studying all the information she had on the Anubis House members. She had a feeling that it was right there in front of her, everything she needed to prove who the killer was. Clare ran a hand through her hair as she pulled out another file and looked through all their information. She was about to get another, but something made her stop short. A name. Two, actually. Jenna and Kylie. Clare opened the texts on Amber's phone again to make sure she was right, but she already knew. She looked through everything in the file again and realized the person had been at the scene of each murder. "Oh my God."
I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing way too early in the morning. I groaned as I rolled over and grabbed it. I answered it and muttered, "Hello?"
"Patricia, it's Clare." Clare replied urgently from the other end.
I sat up, suddenly awake. "What's wrong?"
I heard pages turning from the other end. "I figured it out. I figured out who the killer is, and there's evidence. I need you to come to my office right now.
"Clare, wait." I said, but she'd already hung up.
I got out of bed, slipped on a hoodie and sweatpants, and ran out the door.
As I got out of the cab and paid the driver. I realized that I probably should have brought somebody with me. It was never a good idea to go anywhere alone.
But I didn't really care as I went inside the building and used the stairs instead of the elevator. I figured it would be faster.
Before I knew it, I was opening the door to Clare's office, panting. "Clare, what is it?" I questioned, but there was no reply. I looked around the room, my hand hovering over my mouth.
Clare's office was completely ransacked. Papers were strewn across the room and items were knocked over and thrown everywhere. The wall had a message sprawled across it. Stop digging or you'll be next. It was in the same red spray paint that had been on my own wall. Worst of all, bloody hand prints ran down the wall near Clare's desk and made a trail all the way across the floor to the door.
Clare was gone.
Keep guessing who the killer is, because I'm not guaranteeing that Fabian is or isn't the killer. ;) You never know...
Xoxo ~L
