The Riley Curse | Ethan Landry

13. The Shrine

Tara and Chad sat around an ambulance while Mindy got her injuries checked out. "Wait, so she purposely did that? Why would she do that?" Tara asked after Mindy explained what happened. "She wanted to buy Anika sometime to cross it. She clearly didn't think it through," Mindy said.

Tatum was like a sister to all three of them. Seeing her like that was more horrifying than any of them could ever imagine. "She'll be okay," Chad said hoping to be reassuring and Tara nodded, she knew that, but she was trying to figure out the reason behind it. She knew she wanted to help Anika, but why not just hold the door shut or lock it?

"Are you guys okay?" Victoria asked as she joined the three of them at the ambulance. "No, we're not fine, Vicky. Where the fuck were you?" Mindy asked and Victoria looked shocked by the outburst. "I'm sorry, I had to work the overnight shift. I thought I told you guys this," Victoria said.

Victoria glanced over to the alleyway and saw the body bag. "Who is that?" She asked with a horrified look on her face. "Anika," Tara said and she looked at Mindy. "I'm so sorry, Mindy," She said.

Victoria looked around the group, only seeing four instead of five. "Where's Tatum?" Victoria asked.

"She's on her way to the hospital," Tara said.

"Why the fuck are we still here then?" Victoria asked.

"They still need to get our statements," Chad explained.

Then Chad noticed Ethan walking into the crime scene. Chad walked past Victoria and up to Ethan. He grabbed Ethan and shoved him against a car. "Where were you?" Chad asked.

"What? When?" Ethan asked.

"Last night!" Chad said.

"What? I had Econ. You know this," Ethan said.

"Bullshit, man! You disappear and my sister almost gets killed!" Chad said, not realizing two other people disappeared also. "Dude, I was in a study hall with a hundred other people. You can ask any of them," Ethan said.

"Fuck, man," Chad said as he let him go. Then Ethan noticed the body. "Oh, my god. Who?" Ethan asked.

"Anika and Quinn," Chad said and Ethan started walking towards the ambulance. "Mindy, I'm so sorry," Ethan said.

"Step the fuck back. You and Liam are at the top of my list," Mindy said.

"I had Econ," Ethan said and he looked around the group. Noticing one was missing. "Where's Tatum?" He asked.

"She's on her way to the hospital," Chad said.

"Is she okay?" Ethan asked.

"We don't know yet," Chad said and then Tara's eyes widened. "Shit," Tara said and Ethan looked at her. "What?" He asked.

"I need to call her mom," Tara said as she searched for her phone. She found it. "I don't think you need to call her," Ethan said as he pointed at Gale who was now talking to Sam. Tara stood up and walked over to the two of them. "Hey, are you okay? I came as soon as I heard," Tara heard Gale say.

"Gale, I swear to God..." Sam said and Tara stood next to Sam. "Truce, okay? I'm here for whatever you need," Gale said and Tara looked at her sister. Sam shook her head as if to not tell her about Tatum yet. "Yeah, okay," Sam said sarcastically.

"I really am! Ugh, okay. Off the record," Gale said.

"Okay. Thank you," Sam said.

"You're the cop, right?" Gale asked looking at Detective Bailey who nodded. "I did some digging on your first two victims and I found something. I know where the masks are coming from," Gale said.