Hey, guys!
Soooooooo, an update…. There would be a longer AN down there, so I'll just zip it now.
Enjoy :)
Chapter Four: Mystery
Present Time
The six were sitting in the same arrangement in the living room, wheels turning in their heads, trying to figure out what to do. One by one, their cell phones started ringing, signaling text messages.
"That's just…" Lucy looked up at a loss for words.
"Seems like whoever is sending those texts are sitting right here with us." Logan supplied, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.
"How?" James asked, sticking his phone into its place in a small bad attached to his wheelchair's arm; "How do they know what to send to us to have our minds reeling if the book is still with Jo?"
Jo shrugged and James was about to discuss it further more when his phone rang again. He picked it up and read the text.
Open the door, man of the house!
He read the text out loud for all of them and stuffed the phone back in its place. He turned around in his wheelchair and raced himself to the front door. He opened it and found no one. Muttering a curse under his breath, he was about to close the door when he saw the CD case on the floor. He tried to reach down and grab it but he couldn't due to his wheelchair.
"Guys!" James called inside, "I need help, I can't reach this fucking thing on the floor!"
Logan sprang up from his seat and went to James's aid. He picked the CD and pushed James, one-handedly, back, shoving the door closed with his foot. When they were back in the living room, Logan turned on the TV and DVD, stuffing the CD in its place and James turned it on.
A picture of all the six of them in front of James's villa appeared on the screen, an old song playing. Judging from their clothes and the landscape around the villa, they knew it was taken in the eighties. Logan had jumped on James's back, James half-bent down, while Logan's arm hung lazily around Camille's shoulder. Lucy was standing, also bent down so she could be in the same level as James, and was planting a kiss on his grinning cheek. Kendall and Jo were standing next to each other, Kendall had one hand in his pocket while the other wrapped around Jo's waist.
The picture and the song disappeared after exactly one minute. A silhouette appeared instead and a voice, an electronic voice, started talking.
Happy to have you all here, gang! I feel like you're not exactly thrilled I got you all in one place; I thought you'd be dancing on your feet right now. There was never a group like you, there was never a friendship like yours. Despite everything, you still stayed friends through everything, do you know why? Because birds of feather flock together, right?.
You? God, you are the dirtiest motherfuckers I've ever had the displeasure of encountering. I'm one, or two or ten… of the many people who have lost their everything because of you stepping over them like they were nothing. I could be one of people who crossed James… Or one of the people that Kendall had ruined… Or maybe even one of Logan's ex-patients… I, or we, could be anybody. And we have happened to agree that all of you need to be punished for your deeds and for everything you've ever did to us. Everything you have managed to hide or bury… it's all going to be up in the open…. And you'll pay.
But this time, you won't protect each other like you used to. Because you aren't you any more.
And those nights just… don't come back.
James turned the TV off and set the remote on the table. He turned to face the others. Logan was rubbing his temple, his legs jumping up and down. Lucy was shaking her head back and forth in distress while Kendall reached for his pack of cigarettes, pulling one out and shoving it into his mouth shakily. Camille and Jo were both staring blankly at the TV.
"Did any of you keep a diary?" James asked, receiving no answer from anyone; "Did any of you tell anybody anything?"
"Are you kidding me, James?!" Lucy snapped; "Are you asking if any of us would actually go out of their way and what? Tell out scandals? Why would Logan tell anybody that he stole organs from patient's bodies? Why would Jo tell anybody about her deceased husband's private agenda? Why would Camille tell anybody about the hell she has been living in with you? Why would Kendall tell about the torturing he had done? What about you James? Why would you tell anybody about the people you killed? And me? Why…. Why would I tell anybody about being raped? About being pimped out like a whore? Huh? Why would anybody tell anything?" She shook her head; "Isn't that the reason we 'killed' Jo? To take our secrets to the grave?"
James nodded in understanding and turned to Jo; "Are you sure the book is with you? And was with you, through all those years?"
"Until Leah found it." She nodded; "I'm sure."
"Then whoever sent this is just bluffing." James concluded; "And whatever he or they know, it was just a coincidence they found out. He just wants to blackmail us."
"Even if that's the case…" Kendall exhaled; "What do we do now?"
"What we always do." James shrugged; "Bury everything, forget it ever happened."
"We'll go clean her up and prepare her." Lucy supplied, getting up and pulling Camille and Jo with her.
James opened the TV again and replayed the video, Logan and Kendall quickly losing interest. They both stood up and walked to a corner to talk.
"God, if this person isn't just bluffing…" Logan trailed off and shook his head; "I don't even wanna think about what might happen to us."
Kendall drew a long drag from his cigarette; "We are all going to go to prison." He said, smoke coming out with every word.
"That easy?" Logan said in disbelief; "That easy, everything we've ever done will just… disappear?"
"What more can disappear?" Kendall chuckled; "We lost ourselves, Logan. A young woman just lost her life because of us. That girl, if she was really Jo's, she could be mine. There's a huge possibility that I'm going to go and bury my own daughter in a random spot outside California, no tombstone, no funeral. Like dogs. So what is there to lose?"
"But she could be mine, too." The doctor said; "She could be Jo's or Camille's for all I care, but either way, there's a chance she's mine. It's almost a fifty-fifty chance." He rubbed his forehead; "And in that case, everything will just… shift. Can Camille or Jo actually hide the fact that either of them might have been pregnant?"
A few minutes later, Lucy called for the guys.
Leah had been cleaned up and ready to go.
Logan had carried her down; her being wrapped in a clean white bed sheet was weighing heavy on all their minds. They loaded her into the back of Kendall's car, the latter going to the basement and got a few shovels that were normally used by the Diamonds' garden-keeper, unaware of the young Jett Diamond, who had pushed aside the book and was now watching their every move, marveling at how those tight group of friends were so close, yet had managed to hurt each other in the worse ways possible.
And for now, he was confused to why Jo Taylor hadn't reported Kendall Knight when she had the chance…
February, 1986.
"What do you mean you'll catch up?" Camille sighed, agitated. They were all coming out from the police station after Logan testified when James stated that he had to go home and grab something, instead of driving with them to the hospital; "What could be more important than going to the hospital and making sure she was alright?"
"I forgot my wallet and I need it." James stated, leading the group of five to his car, him and Camille leading and the other three trailing behind.
"Alone? Don't you need someone to accompany you?" She pressed then added sarcastically; "Lucy, for example?"
"No, Cam." James replied, stopping in front of his BMW 635csi and turned to face her, "I'll go alone and I'll come back alone." He said, used to her jealousy of Lucy. It had been going since he and Camille got together, she was never really was comfortable with the fact that James's ex was Lucy, so he checked it out as her being her usual self, instead of her being snarky after finding out about him sleeping with Lucy. He waited for Logan, Kendall and Lucy caught up, he handed his car keys to Logan; "Don't let Kendall drive, okay?" He waited until Logan nodded and he turned to all of them; "I'll see you guys later."
"I had a feeling someone was watching me." Jo said to the police officer who was taking her statement. She had just waken up from surgery and was immediately pampered with questions from the officer; "I wasn't really focusing and I thought nothing of it, I went up and unlocked the door to my apartment and I felt that guy push me inside. He attacked me and I tried to defend myself, which proved to be the most stupid thing I've ever done." She paused and winced slightly, her hand coming to rest on the place where the knife was plunged into her, "He fought against me and he picked up the knife from one of the kitchen drawers and he stabbed me."
"So he didn't have any kind of weapon on him, he used a knife from your apartment?"
"Yes."
"What about your boyfriend?" The officer asked; "Kendall Knight. When was the last time you saw him?"
"Yesterday. He drove me home, like always." Jo replied; "He dropped me off and went on his way."
"Has there been any sort of… disagreement… between you and Kendall lately?"
"Even if there was," She shrugged; "What would it have to do with anything?"
"Was there anything else stolen from the apartment?"
"No." She answered; "Just a few rings and necklaces from my room, that's all."
A few minutes later, the officer left the room, leaving Jo alone with her mother, who had stayed silent throughout the entire conversation between her daughter and the officer.
"How do you that only a few rings and necklaces were gone?" Her mum asked; "I checked when the police asked me to, nothing was stolen Jo. Who are you covering? And why?"
"I'm not covering anybody, mum." Jo replied; "And why do you care about that, all you should care about is my welfare."
"I should care about what is happening in your life." Her mother answered; "What would I have done if you died?"
"Can we drop this?" Jo said and adjusted her head on the pillow; "I'm really not in the mood to argue."
Half an hour later, James was going through his room, making sure that nothing of Lucy's was forgotten there; he really didn't want to get into trouble with Camille.
Or his parents.
As he made his way down the stairs, he was wondering why his parents didn't approve of him dating Lucy, or later of his proposal. He thought their issue was the money, but his parents had, literally, started from the bottom and they approved of him dating Camille, who was even poorer than Lucy.
He stepped into his father's office, heading straight to the house safe, still deep in thought. The safe was in the wall, hidden behind the book case, behind a row of thick books. He was still distracted by the thoughts running through his head that he didn't notice the pool of blood he had stepped on.
He looked down and his eyes grew wide. He bent down and touched the blood with his forefinger, pulling it away quickly. Another drop fell and his eyes darted up, seeing the book he had carelessly shoved over another line of books. He stood up from his crouch and retrieved the book.
There was blood on the tips of the pages, seeping towards the spine of the book and out. A thin line of blood extended from the spine, to the outer cover and then falling out in little drops.
James held it between the tips of his fingers, walking to his father's desk. He put the book on the desk, picking up a tissue and wiping his fingers clean. He sat down, unwrapping the thread around the book and opened it. He pulled his hands back in shock, almost falling back with the chair when he saw the writing on the first page on the book.
James descended the stairs, yawning. He had been reading a book when he heard the bell ring; he almost ignored it; if not for the persistent person who wouldn't stop ringing.
He yanked the door open, ready to yell his head off when he saw Lucy on the other side, leaning against the door frame. "You forgot something or your brother again?"
"A bit of both." Lucy answered, a smirk on her face; "Are you gonna let me in?"
"Wouldn't want you sleeping on the streets." James chuckled and took her hand in his, leading her in and closing the door.
He led her upstairs and into his own room, both of them were too busy and oblivious to the book that was in the office. The book was, literally, bleeding, for the lack of a better description. Blood was seeping from between it's pages, sliding over the three books that were supporting it, off the shelf and onto the floor.
James frowned as he kept reading, everything that had happened between him and Lucy the night before was described in perfect details, as if whoever wrote this was right there; watching their every move.
He kept on reading, shaking his head when he read about Logan and Camille's kiss the day before. He shouldn't be surprised anyway; he knows those two were in love. He kept on reading, frowning when he read what exactly went down with Jo the night before.
"It doesn't look like any of us is going home tonight, we just have to wait on James and have our little sleepover in the waiting room." Lucy joked as she relaxed back in her seat in Jo's hospital room. It has been a little over an hour since they made it to the hospital and James had yet to make it to the hospital.
"I don't think that any of us would actually want to go home with Jo stuck in here." Camille snapped. She was sitting on the opposite side of Lucy, Logan in a chair beside her while Kendall was squirming in the one beside Lucy.
Jo sighed from her place on the bed. She was sure a lot of things had happened last night. For some reason, Camille hadn't stopped glaring at Lucy, who mostly looked to the ground in guilt, while Logan and Kendall were engaged in a glaring match of their own. With the intensity of the glaring going around the room, a person would have thought they were having a tournament of some sort going on.
That was even distracting her from glaring at Kendall.
Lucy shuffled awkwardly and stood up; "I'm going to use the restroom." She said and walked outside, heading for the restroom that was down the hall as Jo's mum was currently occupying her private one.
A few seconds later, Kendall stood up, throwing on his jean-jacket; "I'm going to go get something to eat."
Logan stood up; "I'll be right back." He mumbled and turned to catch up with Kendall; "Wait up, Ken!"
Jo raised her eyebrows at the weird behavior of her friends. She thought that she was the only one who had a bad night, but apparently everybody had ended yesterday on a rough note. She turned to face Camille, wincing slightly at the look that was on Camille's face; she looked royally pissed.
And nobody likes to deal with a pissed off Camille.
"What's going on?" Jo asked; "Are you and Lucy alright?"
Camille shrugged and stood up, walking out of the room, leaving Jo looking at her in confusion.
Camille found the nearest restroom easily. She walked inside and passed by each stall, making sure they were all empty. She reached the last stall and recognized the shoes and the pair of socks she knew so well. She also heard the sobbing, so quiet that she almost missed it.
She leaned against the row of sinks, directly in front of the stall she knew Lucy was hiding in.
"Since when, Luce?" She didn't get an answer but she heard the sobbing ceasing slightly, the sound of hiccups following. "Since when, Lucy?" She repeated again.
"Since his parents told him to leave me." Lucy replied quietly; "We broke it off in front of you guys and kept our relationship a secret, we didn't want his parents cutting him off."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Camille asked and ran a hand through her hair; "Why didn't you say anything when I told you he was trying to get close to me?"
"Aside from my feelings for him, you have to admit; James is a once in a lifetime chance of happiness and wealth." The dark haired woman paused and Camille could have sworn she was shrugging her shoulders; "One of us had to take him, Cam."
"That was before I told you." The brunette tried again; "But after I told you, you should have walked away, Luce."
"I did." Lucy replied and Camille could almost taste the bitterness in her voice; "I did and I fell for someone else. But that other guy turned out to be in love with you, and imagine my surprise when I figured out that you love him just as much. I found you both ways Camille, blocking me. What was I supposed to do? Be with James who loves me back or try and be with Logan who is as oblivious as they can get because the only woman he sees is you?"
"My God, what are you saying?" Camille replied; "Nothing has happened between me and Logan. Nothing but a few kisses here and there, not since James asked me to be his girlfriend."
"I'm just saying what you should admit is true before you stand there and judge me behind closed doors." Lucy sniffled; "You can try and hide your feelings for Logan all you want, but you can't hide it from me. I have to admit, you two are great at hiding it, I almost didn't see it. But a few stared and too many lingering touches speak louder than your voices. I'm not saying what I did wasn't wrong, but I'm saying you're not a saint, Camille." Lucy waited for Camille to say something back, but when she didn't, she spoke up; "Why aren't you talking? Upset that we're both two faces to the same coin?"
When Lucy didn't get an answer, yet again, she stood up and opened the door, poking her head out to see the empty restroom. She walked out of the stall and to the sink, turning up the water and splashing her already wet face.
James flipped the page, reading what he thought were the events of the day he was living today. All of what he was reading, he was sure It was happening in the hospital as he read it like a novel.
"Kendall!" Logan yelled; running down the hospital's staircase, right behind the taller blonde. He finally caught up to him and spun him around to face him; "What the hell, man?"
"Sorry, Logan." Kendall said sarcastically, "Didn't hear you there, anything I can do for you?"
Choosing to ignore Kendall's rudeness, Logan shoved his hand into his pocket taking out the small bottle that had been bothering him all morning; "You promised you'll explain this."
Kendall sighed; "Logan, listen-"
"You're not getting out of this." The brunette cut him off; "Now tell me exactly why you felt the need to drug me."
Kendall's face fell and he crossed his arms and looked down. Logan stood there, right in front of him, waiting for Kendall to explain. When the blonde looked up, though, Logan was surprised. He had known the blonde since high school, and he was sure this was the first time he had ever seen the Kendall Knight cry.
"It was an accident, I swear it." The blonde hiccupped; "You know I love Jo, I would never hurt her, and it was just an accident. It was an accident and I got scared. And I jus-"
"Kendall, Ken!" Logan cut him off when the blonde hyperventilated. Kendall bent down, hands clutching his knees tightly; "Just breathe, okay? Calm down and tell me what happened."
"Her mother was out of town." Kendall started; "She was supposed to come back today. I drove Jo home and we went up, but we were arguing; we were made and we said things we didn't mean. It got a bit physical and she threatened me with a knife. I was trying to fend for myself, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. There was so much blood and I didn't leave her side until I was sure I stopped the bleeding, it didn't take long and I went straight to your place; fully intending to drug you" He shrugged, wiping furiously at his tears; "That was my plan, using you as my alibi. When you fell asleep I took your keys and slipped out. I went back to her place and I cleaned everything up, made sure she was not bleeding and that her heart was still beating strongly. Then I came back and slept, knowing that it wont be long until her mother found her."
Logan grabbed Kendall by his collar; "And what? Left her to die?"
"What? No!" The blonde shrugged Logan's hands off; "I stopped the bleeding! I made sure she was going to be okay!"
"You can never be sure of that! You got lucky!" Logan yelled; "The knife could have been infected! Her wound could have started bleeding again!"
"Would you keep it down?!" Kendall screamed, panic in his voice; "She covered me in her statement and now you're going to out me?!
"She did so because she loves you!" The doctor continued; "You should be thankful that she's a much better human being than you'll ever be! She could have sued you, ended your career! You should be on your knees! And after all that, you had the nerve to use me as your damn alibi?!" Logan was fuming, positively red in the face. She shook his head, bumping into Kendall and ascending the stairs back again, two at a time; heading back for Jo's room.
James ran his hand through his hair in distress.
This is heavy…
Present Time
Jett sat in his car, around fifty meters away from the scene that was taking place. He was thankful that there was no light around this area, seeing as it was over three-hundred meters away from the nearest road. He had followed the adults with the car's light off, guided by nothing but the lights from their two cars.
Logan and Kendall had finished their dirty deed and Leah was six feet under. Logan had long lost the suit jacket and his tie, rolling the sleeves of the shirt up and letting the vest hang open. Kendall Had also taken off his jacket and tie, and he was sweating like crazy as he took both shovels and stuffed them into James's car.
While Logan and Kendall were doing the hard work, James was still in his wheel chair, with the three women by his side, watching Logan and Kendall.
Jett sighed as the six of them piled in the two cars and waited until the cars were too far away. He started his own car and drove to where they had buried Leah. He stopped the car and got out. He opened the door to the backseat and pulled the shovel that he had taken from the basement.
He walked to the front of the car. Looking at the thin wheel-marks his father's wheelchair has made. He trailed his eyes around the ground, fully illuminated by his car. He took a couple of steps forward.
And started digging.
Soooo…. I have a brain surgery tomorrow. I thought I would get this out before it's time. I have no idea when I'll be able to update again, recovery time differs from one person to another so I can't really know. And after the surgery (assuming I actually live through it, I'm scared shitless), I'll go back to college way far behind, I won't have a lot of time to write and that's basically why I'm going to be updating once-per-month.
I hope you guys can understand that.
Anyway, be nice, leave a review and let me know what you all think.
Wish me luck!
See ya when I see ya, people!
-J
