Buried (Bailey Roberts Trilogy #1) Editing

12: If I Die Young [3rd Draft]

"Now, where were we, Sammy..." he whispered, adjusting her hips backwards, positioning himself as he pushed forward. He gave a deep, rough, satisfied growl as he jerked against her. "Mmm, there's my girl."

She grunted at the force of him smacking into her, slamming her into the wall. "No," she cried. "No," the last was a silent whimper before she fainted.

"Hey, Seth," Bailey called, galloping after him, trying to reach him before he got to his car.

"Bailey," he nodded, pausing in unlocking the door.

"Gwen and I are gathering people to see if they want to go to the police station, offer any help."

He nodded, his blond hair falling into his face. "Yeah, okay."

Bailey gave him a smile, thinking his hair wasn't completely blond, but more of a light brunette. "And we're going to bring coffee too if you want to stop by Starbucks and help carry stuff."

Seth nodded. "Yeah, I'm there."

Bailey bit her lip, trying to figure out how to bring up the topic she really came over here to talk about. How was she going to ask why he thought Samantha was still alive?

"I suppose just kind of the way you did."

She'd spoken out loud again, without thinking, without realizing what this could be doing to Seth. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-"

Seth held his hand up, his full pink lips rising in a half hearted smirk that almost, if the situation had been different, caused Bailey's knees to weaken. "Bailey, that's just how you are. I think everyone's used to it by now. Sam and I weren't exactly friends if you know what I mean. Not that I wanted this to happen, but honestly she was kind of a bitch," he informed her.

Bailey blinked at the coldness in his voice. "How could you say that?"

She'd been kidnapped, taken away from her family, her friends, probably locked away in some dark, dank room being tortured. She could be crying out right now for help, only no one could hear her because no one knew where she was. Samantha could be down the street, in someone's basement, she could be...Bailey shook her head, now she couldn't allow her thoughts to head down that path, not if she needed to keep it together if only for Damien and Grayson. Those thoughts only made her feel more ashamed though, after what she'd said to Gale and Matt, how light she had made the situation. Seeing the pain people were feeling had seemed to drive the reality home with Bailey, and now she was scared...for Sam, Gwen, for herself.

"It sucks this happened to her, it's royally fucked up, but I'm not going to lie about how we were such best friends. We hated each other, but as much as I hated her, I know she's going to fight, which could mean she's going to have less time than the other girls actually, but she is still alive. The time he keeps them is getting longer and longer, he's drawing it out. In fact, it's weird, because as killers progress they get more stupid, careless, cocky, but he's getting smarter, more calculating, and it doesn't seem like he's going to crack."

It was disturbing how much Seth seemed to know and Bailey realized that the killer was usually someone no one suspected. Extra careful to not think aloud she wondered if this crazy lunatic killer could be a high school student, if it could be Seth.

"How do you figure all that?" she spoke softly, wishing the quivering in her voice was less noticeable.

Seth's brown eyes twinkled as he smiled at her, letting her know how incredibly unattached he was to the situation. Maybe he was doing it on purpose, to make the hurt less.

Or maybe he was a psychopath.

"Who do you think my brother is?"

She frowned, resisting the urge to flee as he took a step closer.