Whispers of the Dead

IV

"I have," she tried. "I mean... it was just a stupid guess, I think, to see if you would say something."

"And why the fuck would you want to know that? Its not as if you care about me. You knew for sure what happened, Amethyst. Don't hide it. How?"

Then her eyes grew big.

"Wait... you know things you are not supposed to know. And so does So Very."

Amethyst blinked confusedly, and then caught up on what she was implying.

"What? No! I'm not behind that."

Katie began to rise.

"Wait, please. It's really not me."

"It's too much of a coincidence, Amy," Katie said sarcastically. She looked down on her, so Amethyst stood up too. She smoothed her hair and took a breath. Could she just tell her the truth?

And then she understood she could use this. Hope was right. Maybe he deserved to be ruined. And if Katie worked with her...

"Okay," she said. She wasn't going to take credit for Hope's work. She didn't want to make the impression of being heartless, and Hope started this herself. And she had the feeling Hope would be delighted to work with Katie, to have so many details. She would also be delighted to be seen as the mind of the blog. So she said, "It's not me, but the creator of it told me this."

Katie placed her hands on her hips.

"Then who's this creator? Someone I know? Who in this school could possibly be mean enough to ruin everyone's..."

"It's Hope."

"Hope? Wait, you mean Hope Manning? Your roommate?" Katie's eyes widened once more. She sagged down on the bench. Amethyst did the same.

"Yes."

"I knew she was mean, but..." Katie shook her head. "And she tells you everything? How does she even know these things?"

"She doesn't, usually. I mostly read them on the blog. To be honest, I read them before they come out by hacking her computer and then trying to delete them, but it doesn't always work."

She had hoped Katie wouldn't notice she hadn't answered her second question, but the girl was smarter than she appeared. Honestly, she didn't appear like anything, so everything Amethyst got to know about her was a surprise. Katie raised her eyebrows.

"That's very... noble of you." Amethyst didn't know why she cringed after these words. Maybe because they were spoken so flatly, or maybe because they would always hit a sensitive spot.

"Why don't you just expose her, then?" Katie asked, in that same monotone voice.

"Because if I do, she wont stop. And then she won't confide in me anymore, and there is going to be even more gossip."

"Why does she confide in you anyway?"

"I don't know." It was the truth. Amethyst hadn't the slightest idea why Hope told her these things, why she trusted her, especially because she trusted no one else. Then why Amethyst? Because she had a gift, too? Knowing Hope, that would have been a reason not to tell her anything. Hope should have seen them as rivals, but she didn't. Amethyst thought about it every day, but Hope was unfathomable.

"So how does she know it?" Katie asked again, tapping effortlessly into the conversation and thereby Amethyst's fears.

"I can't say that. Maybe she will tell you herself."

Katie's blond brows furrowed. "Well, I'm not going to talk to her so she can reveal my secrets."

Would she cooperate? If not, Amethyst had revealed Hope's secret for nothing and then everything would go to hell. She clearly hadn't this thought through very well. She had nothing to convince Katie with she shouldn't tell everyone. She could threaten to expose her secret, but then it would be out in a way that would be mere rumors that would help nothing. And then they couldn't use it again on Hope's blog, because everyone would know it was just gossip. Nobody ever mistook the things that appeared on So Very as less than the truth. Not since that one time, almost in the start of sophomore year when Hope had first gotten the idea of the blog. Hope wrote that this one girl, a newcomer too, was dealing drugs. Another girl, whose dad worked at the school, asked him if that was true, but he had said she didn't have a criminal record, and that it was just gossip. Not a week later the girl in question got arrested for dealing drugs. There were a lot of people who still thought it was a coincidence. So Very was fairly new – Hope had waited a year, in fear that people would think that the mind behind it was indeed a freshman and now letting them think the same thing. That was what she said, but Amethyst knew she just hadn't had the idea before – and many people were still skeptical. But then she posted about this girl being in love with a guy who was not her boyfriend, something no one could know looking at how affectionate she was with her boyfriend, and two weeks later she broke up with him, confessing her love for the other boy. It went on and on. People thought the one behind this had people who worked for him or her, scattered throughout the whole school. But there were so many things no one could know. Suicidal thoughts. Divorces in families no one had told anyone about. People being gay – Amethyst had been relieved she had come out as bisexual already and could have done it how she wanted it, and then she had felt bad about being relieved. In the beginning, it was horrible. No one felt safe anymore. Amethyst tried to stop Hope once she told her – proudly – it was her, and they got to a compromise. Hope would only do it once a month, and in return, Amethyst would tell her the stories of the dead so she would become even more famous by posting them, the unsolved murder mysteries etcetera. It had been a win-win for Amethyst, since many ghosts wanted their stories told, and this was the perfect way to do it. People were already questioning were Hope got the things she wrote about from, and theories about murders wouldn't change that. Besides, the stories couldn't be proven. But now Amethyst felt like she was cooperating in Hope's work.

She sighed.

"That's the point. I was thinking... I could ask her to expose Mr. Johnson."

Katie startled visibly.

"No. No way. He would kill me. And how do I know she won't post anything about me?"

Amethyst went to take her hands again, but stopped herself on time.

"Think about it, Katie. It would ruin his life. Isn't that what he deserves? And I will personally make sure you won't get mentioned at all. We keep it general."

She could see Katie was thinking about it.

"You giving us details would help. It's like testifying, but not in court, and without him knowing it's you, and with the guarantee it's going to do something. Hope doesn't need proof. She could write complete bullshit, and everyone would still believe it."

Katie's shoulders went up and down when she sighed. She got hold of her ponytail, pulled it over one shoulder and began playing with it absently. Amethyst had never noticed how pretty she was, not in a hot way, but beautiful.

"Why does she do it?" she asked suddenly. "Is she... a psychopath or something? Is she dangerous?"

Amethyst wouldn't be honest if she said she hadn't asked that question herself. Not to Hope, of course.

"I don't think so," she said finally. She thought it was the truth, but it was the one thing she wasn't sure of. She had heard about people like that faking emotions. And Hope surely enjoyed seeing others suffer.

"Then why?"

She had tried to ask Hope before, and she had only answered vaguely, with a smile, as if it was all a big joke.

"I think... she finds the world is fucked up, and that we shouldn't try to make it better. We should just give people what they deserve, them making the world this horrible place. Not exactly her words, but close. I think she's also bored."

That last part didn't make her previous statement sound very true. But Katie surprised her by saying, "Okay. I will work with you."