Betrayed in Blood

Chapter Eight

As usual, Camilla had her loyal right-hand man to help her with plotting her crimes and doing the dirty work. Zach Wembley, her 19-year-old secret boyfriend, was the perfect man to clean up the messes she left behind. He was a druggie that had gotten expelled from Edwardsville High School two years before when Camilla was a freshman.

They met when Zach approached her after she murdered a girl in her grade, Leah Willows, who was running for class president along with Camilla. He didn't catch her in the act, but in the days that followed, as her disappearance was investigated, he became suspicious and stalked her. After a few days of it, he found enough evidence to confront Camilla, but he offered to help her get away with her crimes. It took several trust exercises for her to become comfortable enough to depend on him, but he eventually proved to be trustworthy. After several months of working together, they both developed feelings for each other and eventually confessed.

Since then, they dated in secret. Camilla dated a few other students at her school just to keep her peers occupied, but they were all staged. She was in love with Zach, not just because he helped her commit her crimes, but because he was the only person who truly understood who she was, and he loved her regardless.

When it came to plotting, Camilla was in charge, and any segments of her plans that were unstable, Zach would assist her with. This time, however, she was cornered by two witnesses and the police. Her evidence was left behind where it couldn't be tampered with. She was at a complete loss.

"I don't know what the plan is anymore, Zach," Camilla whispered, exasperated. "Everything's so messed up now."

"Hey, don't worry about it, babe," he said in a soothing tone. "We'll figure something out. Let's just go through the plan and figure out what's changed and what to do about it."

She steadied her breathing and began, "Well, her body is in the same place as before. The knife and gloves are there, plus Amy and Tiffany's phones, so that's something extra that you can salvage if you want."

"Sounds great," Zach replied, "but the original plan was for me to break into the school at night. What if the police are there?"

"That's what I'm worried about. I'm not sure when they'll investigate or if they already have. They searched my house around an hour ago, and I'm guessing they did a quick search at the school before they got here. Considering Amanda's confirmed to be missing now, they're sure to have a more detailed investigation either tonight or tomorrow."

"I doubt they'll do it tomorrow," he interrupted on the other line. "They need to keep the school going, so they're probably going to be there tonight. If they were going to do it tomorrow, there would be lots of police cars and it would be obvious."

"Yeah, it'll be obvious once I get there. How am I supposed to know before then?"

"Look, I don't know. I can go down there now if you want, but I'll have to be stealthy."

Camilla bit her lip, unsure of his plan. If the police were in investigating when he went there, he could risk getting caught, and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if he got arrested as a result of her carelessness. Regardless, she knew she didn't have any other choice.

They were already walking on thin ice anyway.

"Alright," Camilla concluded, "you should go tonight."

"Got it. Now, before I get ready, who're the witnesses again? I know they're Tiffany and Amy, but what are their last names?"

"Tiffany Stewart and Amy Gardener," Camilla answered, knowing that he was taking up the task of cyberstalking them as they spoke. "Don't bother looking for Tiffany. Her parents are protective, so she doesn't have any social media. Amy does, though."

"Do you know where they live?"

"I know where Tiffany lives. I think she's on your map."

Zach was silent for a moment-which Camilla assumed was because he was looking on his map that contained everyone's address he ever discovered in Edwardsville-before he confirms, "Yeah, she is. Convenient."

He's quiet again. "Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, just in case you want to kill them off."

"I can't, though!" Camilla exclaimed, forgetting to keep her voice down. She calmed herself down before continuing in a hushed voice, "That's the problem. I missed my chance to kill them off, and now I have two people that will be testifying against me. And it'll be too suspicious for them to die off now that they've reported me, especially Amy."

"Didn't you say that Tiffany was mortified, though?" Zach asked.

"She was, but I still can't take her out. It's way too risky considering she's the only supposed witness who hasn't spoken up yet."

"Do you think she'll be at school tomorrow?"

"Definitely not. Amy probably won't be either and, all things considered, I'd rather stay home too."

"Then if she stays at home and you attend school, the police won't be able to pin Tiffany's death on you. I'll kill her, make it look like a suicide-since you said she was scarred anyway-and the blame can't be put on you."

Camilla soaked in the plan, and a sly smirk planted on her face. It was perfect.

"Plus," Zach added, "you could make it look like Amy did it if she's absent tomorrow. I mean, I'll still make it look like a suicide, but the police know that murders can be posed as suicides. Amy could become a suspect, and they might think she's just blaming it on you to divert them from assuming it's her."

"Yes," Camilla responded without a hint of hesitation. "That's so perfect, babe! Yes, yes, yes! You're such a genius, I love you so much!"

"I know, I know." He chuckled on the other end of the phone, and Camilla giggled back.

Suddenly, her laughter turned dark and menacing as she continued, "Looks like we're back in business. My reputation might be hurt for a few weeks, but after this, everyone's going to turn away from me and accuse Amy.

"And I can't wait to watch her suffer."