"When are you going to do that?" I ask him, nonchalant as anything.
My palms are sweaty, my pulse racing. I know it can't be here and right now because he's not insane enough to blow himself up too.
He caresses my face, "Tonight."
"Yes, Daniel. I gathered. When?"
He sniggers, "Now, if I told you everything, that would hardly be fun, would it?"
"Okay, tell me how you got into the school at least?"
He laughs as though I have said something so incredibly funny. "People are fickle things, don't you think? It was pretty easy to get through all the security the new headmaster put in. Too easy. Almost like they don't care about you."
"Or," I say. 'Find the Traitor'. That's our mission. Maybe enticing Daniel was the plan all along. "Maybe you're supposed to think that."
He looks around the room, arrogant and sure of himself. "If they know who I am, why aren't they coming for me?"
"Because they don't want to terrify a bunch of teenagers, or cause a bunch of trained teenagers to react irrationally." As the words come from me I know they're right. Tonight was about luring Daniel here, and I was used as bait.
"Maybe you're right but I'll be gone in a flash."
"Will you?" I ask. "How?"
"Amelia," He says my name as if he thinks I am the sweetest soul alive. "Why would I tell you anything? You're the last person I'd trust to know about my genius." Stepping away from me, he grins. "Have a nice night, it's your last."
Then before I can blink, he's gone. Disappearing into the shadows the dark room casts, I step forward to follow him but it's as if he has evaporated.
As quick as I can, without raising suspicion amongst my peers, I rush to where Elijah, Vince and Stan stand. Elijah reaches for me immediately.
"He's here." I tell them breathlessly, trying to keep panic out of my voice.
"We know." They say.
"He's going to blow the place up!"
Stan shakes his head, "We disarmed the bomb some time ago."
I feel a wave of nausea hit me. "How did he get in here?"
"One the other students from Queen Elizabeth were found unconscious in their room, their suit and ID gone. They're the same height, build and gender as Daniel." Stan says, simply.
I'm furious, I shake Elijah's arms off me. "Do the teachers not recognise their own students? Are they not spies? Do they not live with them? How can this happen?"
"Amelia," Vince says. "Calm down. We know Daniel is crafty-"
I wheel on Stan, "You said this is the safest place! You said-"
"Amelia, you need to calm down."
"Stop telling me what to do! How to emote! How to react! It took you six months to find me when he took me. Six months! He killed my parents. I have every right not to be calm, every right to react in anger. I deserve answers! How the hell did he get in here and where the hell did he go?"
Stan shrugs, "It's part of a plan-"
"PART OF A PLAN?" I yell, which causes Vince to promptly propel me by my elbow to the back of the room and as far away from everyone as possible. Stan and Elijah stare at us. Worry is etched on Elijah's face and he's bouncing from foot-to-foot, but I don't care.
"Do you want to cause mass panic?" Vince hisses, backing me into a corner.
His whole body towering over me, making push my back against the wall and curl into myself. His face is gazing down, both infuriated and empathetic at the same time. I don't care how Vince feels about this, I'm too angry to care.
"How do you think all these people will react when they find out the boy who tortured you is here and he plans to blow them up?"
"Does anyone care how I feel that he's here?"
Vince's face softens. "Amelia-"
Suddenly, the lack of surprise on any of their faces hit me. Stans words about a plan. Me being used as bait. The teachers looking so alert. This was a setup. This was the operation, and they purposely left me in the dark about it.
The betrayal runs deep into my bones, anger seems to vibrate through me.
"Don't Amelia me. Did you know he was coming here tonight? Why is no one as shocked or outraged as I am?"
Vince doesn't say anything.
"Am I right? Was I being used as bait tonight? Did you know about it?"
Finally, he says, "I'm bait too."
My mind is whirring. "You played best pals with him for the better part of a year and let him torture me to the point I could barely return. You and I are not the same."
"You're angry, I get it."
"No." I hiss. "You don't. Did you and Elijah know he was being lured here tonight?"
There's a beat. "Yes."
"Then you can both go to hell." I spit, and slam past him.
I can't look at Elijah. I'm not allowed to keep secrets from him without him making me feel like I'm Satans wife, but he can do this? He can plan this? He can use me as bait without so much of a warning?
Happy enough to use me but not happy enough to respect me? See how I fair on my own, without help, whilst they judge me with their more senior eyes. Stanley I get, any of the teachers I understand? But Elijah and Vince? This feels like the ultimate betrayal.
I talk only to Stan, "I trust you believe I won't actually die tonight?"
"We know where Daniel is. We planned this."
"Yes. I am aware this was your plan, a little late on the upkeep but it's very clear now. Do you believe I am safe for tonight?"
"Yes."
"Then I want to go to my room."
"Amelia," Elijah says, reaching for me.
I jump back, tears threatening to spool over. "You knew." My voice shakes as I look at him. "You forced me to confront that monster without even a slight hint. You've punished me for weeks for being forced to keep secrets and you knew, all along, about tonight and about their plan."
"I knew but-"
I feel my face is wet from silent tears. "There is no but in this, Elijah. You knew and you didn't tell me. We used to tell each other everything."
He straightens. "Yeah. We did. But some things change."
His words hit me like a tonne of bricks. He didn't not tell me because he thought it was the best option for me. He didn't tell me out of spite of the things I've had to hide from him.
"I guess they do, much like our relationship and now you can pursue Lily guilt free, because I'm out."
I don't wait for Stan to give the all clear, I don't stick around for what Elijah says next. I head out of that room, up the stairs and to my room. I don't care if Daniel is coming for me. I never asked for any of this. I was happy with my dad and my life and my school and my old friends.
This?
This is bullshit.