Damned

Chapter Twenty-Six

My phone buzzed on the nightstand, alerting me to wake up. I let it ring and ring until eventually, I turned the alarm off. I was already up. In fact, I don't think I really slept last night. After the Police questioned me and my friends for hours, my mom drove Dara and me home. Dara stayed behind to check out the "crime scene."

The car ride home had been frigid. My mom didn't say anything. When we got home, Gran was there with tea and snacks. Mom just went straight to her room and shut the door. I blamed it on the fact that she was in shock, but honestly, I think she was over it all.

I didn't blame her. We all were dumbfounded that it happened again. Death was becoming my life. My phone buzzed again. When I checked it, I saw it was a text from Daniel. He wanted to come over. I think he was worried about me. Despite not getting any sleep last night, I wasn't tired.

I text him back, telling him to come over in an hour. Then, I forced myself to get up and take a shower. I was still wearing my dress from the party. I peeled it off and hopped in the shower. Yesterday had been quite the eventful day. I had been so stressed about making sure it was perfect, I let my guard down about Sarah Good.

Now that I thought about it, it was the perfect crime scene, especially for someone like Sarah Good. She could slip in and out, taking a new body prisoner. It was the perfect plan. I was majorly kicking myself for not seeing this sooner. We could have set a trap.

I threw on some sweats and a t-shirt, then went downstairs. My mom was gone for the day with Gellar. She hadn't wanted to go, I heard her talking to Gellar about how she should stay home. Then, Gran convinced her to go, told her she would watch Dara and me. That was hours ago, but I was glad my mom went. I couldn't bear her sulking around the house.

In the kitchen, Gran was perched in her chair. I joined her after pouring myself a heaping cup of coffee. There wasn't enough coffee to prepare me for today.

"Hello, Little Bird, what do you have planned for today?" She made it sound so casual. She put a bookmark in her novel, set it gently on the table and looked up at me. 

"I think Daniel is coming over," I left it at that. It was my Spring Break. I should be relaxing, but that wasn't a possibility now. I wanted to go through the photos from the party and see if I saw Cessair or Vayne. It wasn't much, but it was a place to start. 

"Do you think he'll be hungry? I could make breakfast." She was being polite. I knew Daniel made her uneasy, but she never showed it. She'd never know how much I appreciated that. 

"That's okay," I told her. Daniel would probably eat before he got here. I didn't want to think about what all that meant. "Gran?" I took a deep breath in, feeling my chest tighten. 

"Hmm?" She hummed.

"You don't think I killed those girls, right?" I found myself asking her, my voice small. She blinked several times as if she was unsure of what to say.

"Little Bird, I know you through and through. I know your soul." The mention of my soul sent a surge through me. I wanted to ask her how she knew my soul when even I didn't know. There were so many versions of me throughout the years, what did that mean for me? 

"You're the purest-hearted person I know. I know without a doubt, you could never hurt a soul." She continued. I didn't know what to say, so I stayed quiet. Her hand reached for mine. "Do you remember when we had to vanquish Levi?" I nodded.

"The way you talked to him, even after you realized he had been attacking and killing those girls, you were about to give him a second chance." I hung my head, remembering that night. "I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean." She wet her lips. "You forgive and humanize people -- even if they did an evil thing. It's an amazing quality, which is why I know you couldn't possibly kill anyone: good or evil." As she said this, I was filled with guilt.