Smoke and Bones (Smoke #4)

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Ever since Nate had left town, it was as if something had shifted in the universe. Things had felt a lot more dull. Even just being outside in the warm weather felt unnatural. I wasn't sure what it was, but even waking up in the morning felt off.

It didn't help that I was getting calls and texts from everyone asking to ask me about the breakup. I genuinely wasn't interested in fulfilling their desire to know more about my choice to remain in Melbourne.

"DUNKLEY. OPEN UP!" I yell tiredly, banging my fists against the door.

I was eager to push through and keep focused on getting through my story assignments for Code. But I had forgotten one story my editor assigned me to cover was a profile on Josh Dunkley - out of all people too.

Yeah, that was something I wanted. Not only was I was dealing with losing the man who a saw a future with me. I was also stuck interviewing the man that wouldn't know humility if it had fell on him from the sky.

"JOSH! SERIOUSLY, OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" I yell out in frustration.

It had been such a hassle trying to get Josh to agree to speak with me. The Bulldogs randomly ghosted me during my attempts to set up a time with him. Then I had to get Adeline to convince him to speak with me, which she did. But then I had to reschedule the interview three times because something had just 'come up' for him.

Josh had eventually told me to drop by his house today. That would have been great if he had only realised our interview was meant to start ten minutes ago.

"Hey. You've reached Josh Dunkley. I can't make it to the phone right now. But if you could leave your name and number, I'll get back to you. Tah." The voicemail message sounded as I rolled my eyes.

I let out a scream and ran my hands through my hair.

Faintly, I could hear music playing in the distance. A Post Malone song, to be exact. Someone was around. But the question was, who?

I marched in the direction of where the music was coming from.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WANTING TO DO THIS INTER -" I shout, but soon stopped myself after noticing a shocking sight.

"Scarlett?!" The Dunkley brothers gasped in unison.

"Bea?!" I gasp, staring at the blonde sitting on a sofa. She looked back at me, surprised.

"Kyle. Quick, shut the door." Josh demanded. I watched with wide eyes as Kyle rushed over and shut the door behind me.

I had to have been hallucinationing. There was absolutely no way that Bea King was still alive. Vanessa made it clear that she had killed her. I heard her saying it myself.

"Wh - what the hell is going on here?" I question in disbelief.

"You cannot tell anyone about this. You need to promise me that you won't tell a soul, Scarlett." Kyle added in panic.

"Don't tell anyone what? That Bea is alive? Oh, don't worry. They'd all think that I was crazy if I even tried." I scoffed, unsure of what to make of the entire thing.

"Well obviously my girlfriend is still alive, Scarlett. Bea is sitting right there." Josh Dunkley angrily added.

"I can see that. Not sure if you've been living under a rock Dunkley, but everyone thinks that Bea is dead. You did that press conference, and Vanessa went on about how she killed Bea. I overheard her myself when I crawled up that vent. I'm sorry. This is all really overwhelming." I exclaim and take a seat on the chair nearby.

"You crawled up a vent?" Josh asked in confusion.

"Uh, yes. I genuinely had no other way to get out and find help for Chet Bryant. Don't you remember?" I questioned the footballer.  But Josh looked at me as if he didn't remember my whole ordeal with the mohawk creep.