Betrayed in Blood

Chapter Nineteen

"Did you do that to anyone else?"

"Oh, let me tell you," Ava began, and Camilla laughed at her enthusiasm. It was so casual, sharing their experiences committing murder, that Camilla found it funny. What were the odds she met and interacted with another murderer? She wondered if Ava was a psychopath or a sociopath.

"So," Ava proceeded, a bubble of excitement audible in her throat, "this all started last year, okay? I had just been held back a year because I didn't give a shit about school, and it was my senior year too, so I had to go through another whole senior year. And my very few friends had all graduated, so I was just ready to drop out. Seriously, I was planning on killing my mom and quitting. I didn't have a plan for what to do after that, but it didn't matter because I never dropped out.

"That year, I was taking a psychology class, and I really only took it because it was an easy elective, and it wasn't like I was in the smart-kid classes anyway. But, let me tell you, even though André was one of those smart kids, he was in that class, and I'm so glad I took it!" She squealed, and Camilla cringed. How could somebody really care about a person like that? It just didn't make sense to her. She only liked people such as her friends, Michelle, Jared, Meagan, Shane, and André, and her secret boyfriend, Zach, and she only appreciated their existence because they made her look good and were helping her case.

"Anyway," Ava continued, "he just so happened to sit next to me, and like, I thought I was only interested in girls before, but, holy shit—not anymore! I'm serious, the first day I met him, I knew he was my soulmate."

Camilla rolled her eyes. "He was your 'soulmate,' really? What does that even mean?"

"It means we were meant to be together." When Camilla laughed mockingly, Ava asked, "What? Have you never had a soulmate before?"

"No, of course not," Camilla answered, amused. "I've never 'fallen in love,' as you weirdos call it. I mean, I have a boyfriend—not André, a secret boyfriend—but I don't love him. I just use him to do my dirty work."

Ava paused for a moment. "Who is he?"

"He dropped out a few years back, but while he went here, he found out the truth about me and decided to help me. Apparently, he caught feelings, and when he asked me out, well, I had to say yes to keep my secret safe and, of course, to take advantage of his dedication to me." Quieter, Camilla continued, "But aside from the fact that he makes my criminal life a lot easier, I don't really care about him."

Ava sighed. "I wish André did that for me, but he's just so kind that he couldn't live with the fact that I was a murderer once he found out."

"He found out? How?"

"Oh, right, so basically, in our shared psychology class, the only class we had together, there was this other girl. She was normal, seemed cool, I guess. But once I found out she was André's girlfriend, I lost it. I decided, as soon as I found out, that I would kill her. And the very next day, she was found dead from overdosing—according to the police, at least. Truthfully, I drugged her unconscious, then gave her the heroin.

"Naturally, André was devastated. He didn't come to school for a few days, and that really hurt me. I mean, why would he even care about her? She was ugly as hell, honestly. And so was the next girl that got in my way. In fact, she was worse. She was a preppy bitch—a cheerleader, I think—who reminds me of you, now that I think about it. She started talking to André, and even though they weren't official, she had to go. I was getting so close to his heart, but these girls just kept flocking to him! Seriously, what the hell?

"Anyways, I thought I killed her the same way as the first girl, but she ended up living because someone found her barely alive and called 911. But she ended up becoming a heroin addict and dropped out. She might be dead now, honestly, I don't know, but she's not my problem anymore."