DEMONitized

Chapter 6

Though Madelyn and Lester deemed it necessary to ground Bethany following her outburst at the campfire party, both parents relented that sending a high-school senior to her room didn't have the same impact as it did when she was younger.

Stealing her phone or locking up her laptop was a fool's errand. They found this out the hard way when she was caught doing donuts with the lawnmower for a TapTok video - and still managed to post it from isolation. The couple chalked it up to technology outgrowing them, a sad fact of modern life and parenting. 

So, Bethany wasn't allowed to leave the house and enjoy her spring break with the other kids until Tuesday. But that didn't stop her at all from texting them. Sprawled out on her pink-blanketed bed in a bespoke room that mirrored a page in "Teen Vogue," she kept her small screen to her face.

It was unbearably hot and humid, even with the sun beginning its descent. Bethany found opening her window to be of two uses - to let the hot air circulate and signal to her girlfriends on the ground that it was okay to climb up the trellis on the side of the house.

A girl named Colbie appeared first and daintily stepped through the windowsill from the roof; she wore no bangs and had a sleek, black ponytail more fit for a businesswoman than a teenager. Gracie followed her, another younger teen garbed in fairy kei. 

"We're busting you out of here!" The latter, more whimsical one, joked. 

"Not now," Bethany grunted impatiently. "I think we may have a breakthrough."

The two visitors took that as their cue to scrunch down on a pair of beanbag chairs Bethany kept by the window. 

"Let's cut to the chase," Colbie insisted, keeping stern despite her disadvantageous position. "You say you have an update for us about that Gwen Warner drama?"

"I do!" Bethany sprung up to a sitting position on her bed. "I tried to pick a fight with her yesterday. I called her out in front of everyone to expose her for what she did to Elise Briarberger!" 

"And?" Gracie asked while bouncing up and down.

"You're looking at it," Bethany deadpanned while motioning to the group's room. "I expose a killer, and I get told I'm crazy! I bet when the law does come down on that girl, whoever catches her will get a fat payday."

"I thought we agreed that stopping Gwen Warner was about saving the world, not making money," Colbie complained.

"Why can't we do both?" Bethany shrugged.

"Did you see the latest Philosocopter video on Gwen? They say she closed comments on all her videos because of that stalker dude," said Gracie. 

"She's hiding out across the street," Bethany mocked. "She deserves it for bullying Elise to death. For bullying all those girls."

"Imagine thinking you're hot shit because you go on vacation all the time," Colbie agreed. "Other people can't help it if they're poor."

"Anyway," continued Bethany, "I may have a new lead for us. GossipFox's video on the follower deaths suggests Gwen is totally aware of what's happening."

"GossipFox? You know that show's a whale," Colbie grumbled.

"I already submitted my tip to them about where she's hiding out," Bethany smiled. "I told them that she denied having anything to do with Elise Briarberger or the other ones."

"Do you really think that's wise?"

"If we can stop Gwen Warner and her rabid followers, we can save so many people from bullying, getting canceled, or worse! Just think of it as sacrificing one bad egg to save the rest of the carton or something."