I Killed Jason Hargrove

Chapter 17: There'll Be More Than One Funeral This Month

~Tyler~

I pressed harder on the accelerator, the engine vibrating as the scenery around us morphed into blurs.

Jordan was sitting next to me, letting out low curses, mostly to himself about how he never should've let Julia go. His phone had Julia's location pulled up, her phone pinging one spot on the bad side of town. I pushed the gas pedal even harder.

Just minutes earlier a text was sent through Julia's phone to me. It was a picture of a hand lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the street. The picture never showed who it was connected to, but it was unmistakably Julia's. Her grandmother's small, golden bracelet glittered prominently on her wrist. The picture was immediately followed by a phone call from her phone. I answered the call only to be met with the sound of tires. And then total and complete silence. There was no sign of Julia. We didn't even know if she was alive.

"Turn right," Jordan said. I veered to the right, diving for the exit at the last minute. We sped down the highway ramp and back into the local roads, our speed never once wavering.

A couple minutes later, we were rounding the corner into a dark and desolate street. The only thing visible was the empty street in front of us that was caught in the headlights.

Then Julia's body came into view.

"Tyler!"

"Holy-" I hit the brakes and jerked the car to the side. It spun a little, but ultimately stayed in my control as we passed by Julia. A couple more spins and the car slowed to a stop. Jordan was out of the car in the blink of an eye.

He ran to his sister's body. She stayed still, completely rigid and pale as he gathered her into his arms. A long gash in the side of her head glistened in the blue light, dripping blood that seeped through her hair and pooled onto the ground. Her arm was bent at a strange angle, her ribs most definitely broken as her stomach seemed to cave in. Blood covered her clothes and crawled across the ground, soaking my shoes.

She looked dead.

My head spun and I pushed the thought away. I couldn't think like that. Not now.

My eyes landed on Julia's phone which was still connected in the call with mine. I bent down to pick it up but froze halfway. There, on the ground, beneath the phone was a little red card, one that I had become to accustomed with these past few days. Gulping, I gently picked it up. Jordan saw my movements and narrowed his eyes.

I flipped the card open, reading the fancy golden letters.

Tyler,

Your lips slipped, so did my foot on the gas pedal. Next time, it might be my finger on the trigger.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

-Secret Keeper

My heart rate spiked. I re-read the note and swallowed. Jordan motioned towards me and I handed him the note.

This was bad. This was really bad.

Somehow, Secret Keeper knew that I had told the others what had really happened. And, just as she had threatened, she took action. She acted on her threat to possibly push us into our graves early. And this time, she was giving one last chance to obey her before she kicked us off the board.