It was the next morning, and I woke up and I got a message on my phone from Brooke.
Brooke: Dad approvals of you.
I smile and I text back.
'That's good. I was getting tired of sneaking around all day.'
I then got dressed and ready for school. I walked downstairs.
"I going to school."
Dad: No, you ain't.
I stopped and looked at my parents sitting at the table.
"What's wrong?"
Mom: When were you going to tell us?
"About?"
Dad: You getting messages from the killer.
I went wide eyed.
"What do you mean? I'm not-"
Mom: Save it. We went through your phone. We know everything.
"I... I wasn't."
Dad: Why?
I looked down.
Mom: We're waiting.
"Because he threatens to kill you the person I told. He literally said that he will slit their eyelids in half so that they can't blink when he stabs them in the face."
They went wide eyed.
Dad: We need to go to the police.
"Wait what? No. No, police. He probably does not know that you know. Just keep quiet and do not mention this again. Please."
Mom: Alright. We won't.
"Thank you. I going to school."
I then exit the house and I was expecting a call from the killer, but I never got one. I sighed in relief. He does not know. I then went to school, and I was in Study Hall with Emma, Brooke, and Audrey and we were planning a party for Kieran's birthday.
Emma: So, the three of you guys can come to Kieran's party tonight, right? Right?
Audrey: Oh, uh, yeah, sure.
Brooke: Guest list is devised. Texts sent.
Brooke gets a message, and she looks.
Brooke: Look, another RSVP.
Teacher: It's called Study Hall for a reason.
"Sorry."
Audrey: What do you guys think of that Stavo dude? He seems kind of off.
Brooke: That is putting it mildly. I think he is a total weirdo. Plus, he has this whole fanboy thing with the Lakewood Eight. He's kind of obsessed with us, actually.
Audrey gets up.
"Where you going?"
Audrey: Restroom. I'll be right back.
Brooke: I gotta hand it to you, Em. Having a party behind your mother's back? Who are you and what have you done with Emma Duval?
Emma: I don't know. I just felt like it was time for me to start being a normal teenager, I guess?
The school alarm goes off.
Teacher: Everyone, leave your belongings right where they are. Proceed out the door, quickly.
I grabbed my phone and walked with Brooke and Emma. Eventually the firefighters came and went in and said there was no fire. Everyone went back to their rooms as class ended and I was with Brooke as she drew on her sketch pad. School ended and I went home to get dressed for the party and afterwards Brooke picked me up and we went to Emma's home, and we knocked. Emma answered.
"We're here."
We then went inside.
Noah: Hey!
Brooke: Hey! Well, if it isn't Emma's co-conspirator.
Emma: Oh, so sweet of you, but you didn't have to bring anything.
Brooke: Oh, we didn't. It was, um... It was on the porch.
Noah: Whoa. Whoever did knows their tequila. That's extra anejo. Like, super aged, super expensive. It's, like, three hundred bucks a pop.
Emma looks at an envelope with a card inside.
Emma: "A pricey birthday bottle from south of the border. Shots are on me. Jake."
Brooke: Well, that's one way to tell everyone you're back from Mexico.
Brooke throws the card in the trash.
Brooke He's such an attention whοre. I need a drink. Who's, uh... Who's bartending?
Noah: That would be me.
Emma: I actually left the cups in the car. Will you go get them?
Noah: Uh, sure.
"What was that about?"
Emma: Something almost happened with Eli, but I just want to have fun tonight. I don't want it to be a thing.
Brooke: Details, now.
Emma: There are no details, really, because nothing actually happened.
Brooke: That's not a thing. You wouldn't have brought it up to me if it was nothing. It was something.
Emma: Yeah, you're right. It was. It was something. Um... We were hanging that banner and he fell, and then, he, like, grabbed me, and I think he wanted to kiss me.
"Oh, shit."
Brooke: Did you want him to kiss you?
Emma: I'm... I'm with Kieran. It's Kieran's birthday.
Brooke: That's not answering my question, Emma. You cannot be starting something with...
Noah: Hey, I couldn't find the cups.
Emma: I-I found them.
Noah: Great. What can I make you?
Brooke: What's this?
Emma: Oh, it's mine. It's vodka and...
Brooke: I'll take it.
She drinks it.
After a while people arrived for the party. Riley and Noah were talking when Zoe butted in. I was dancing with Brooke as Audrey yelled.
Audrey: Yo! Kieran alert! Coming up the driveway!
I turned off the lights as we all waited, and the doorbell rang.
Emma: Come in!
Keiran came in.
All of us: Surprise!
Audrey: Happy birthday!
Me and Brooke drink our tequila. Audrey then looked at us.
Audrey: Why did you invite Stavo? I thought he creeped you out.
Brooke: He does and I didn't. But I don't know. Maybe he's harmless. I guess it is a party.
Noah: Hey, that tequila tasted weird, right?
Zoe: And it smelled pretty bad, too.
"Good, I'm not only one."
Brooke: Well, you know, God knows what it is. It's coming from Jake.
Audrey: Did you just say "Jake"?
"Yeah, why?"
That's when Brooke went over to the sink and puked as I went up to the bathroom and puked in the toilet. Afterwards I went downstairs and heard my friends talking.
Brooke: I haven't eaten a thing tonight. My bet is, it's Jake's tequila.
Gustavo: Score one for the blonde. Back in Phoenix, it was a thing to go to the desert and trip on Ayahuasca. Did it myself once. It had the same pungent smell as that tequila. Made you hurl, too. I think we might have been dosed.
I entered.
"I feel better now."
Emma: Even Jake wouldn't do that.
Brooke: Wouldn't he? His behavior has been less than stellar, lately.
Noah: "Ayahuasca. Used as a spiritual medicine in ceremonies among the indigenous peoples of Amazonian Peru."
Gustavo: Yeah. So, if that's what it is, the puking should stop soon. It's fairly harmless.
Noah: "Individuals often feel they gain access to higher dimensions and make contact with spiritual guides." What does that mean?
Gustavo: It means we start hallucinating.
"I beg your pardon?"
Gustavo: Or not. It affects everyone differently. Some people feel wired. Others get tired and pass out. Me? I got super relaxed. No inhibitions. It all depends on what's buried inside you. It brings that truth to the surface.
Emma: You seem to know a lot about a drug that you only did one time.
Gustavo: Suspicion. Paranoia. Ayahuasca can do that, too.
Audrey: Look, if we're all about to start hallucinating, we need to keep everyone inside this house. We need to be safe.
"Agreed."
Emma: Yes. I will go get everyone who is outside yakking in my front yard.
Gustavo: I can give you a hand.
Audrey: No, no, no! I will give her a hand. Come on.
After a while I felt dizzy, and I hit the ground. I woke up and the room was foggy. I then heard footsteps and I saw him... My grandpa. He looks down at me.
"Grandpa?"
Billy: First time taking a shot?
He holds out his hand and I take it and I notice his body and it was like when he first died.
"Let me guess you are..."
Billy: hallucination? Yeah.
"Am I?"
Billy: Don't worry. You're not dead.
"That reassuring."
Billy: Y/N, I know you do not want to admit it but there is another killer out there. How long will it take until he murders you or Brooke... or your parents?
"...Grandpa... about what happened to you..."
Billy: I know. It's not your fault. You know it isn't. What I did I did to protect you.
I hug him as he gladly accepts it. I then wake up and a tear goes down my face. Everyone left as me, and my friends were questioned by Sheriff Acosta.
Sheriff Acosta: So, you're telling me that you all got together for a big party, but someone, who wasn't here, dosed you? That's your story?
Emma: It's not a story. It's what happened. Whatever we were on, I was almost stabbed. Okay? That happened. If my dad hadn't shown up, I would have died!
Sheriff Acosta: Did you see the person that attacked her? Did anyone in this room see Emma get attacked?
Kieran: I passed out early. When I woke up, the cops were here.
Miguel: I didn't even realize she was outside.
Noah: I heard her screaming, but I didn't actually see her, or anyone else.
Brooke: Em, I saw a lot of weird stuff tonight, too. It felt really real at the time, but it was just the Ayahuasca, or whatever he put in that stuff. Yet another night ruined by Jake Fitzgerald.
Sheriff Acosta: Wait, Jake Fitzgerald was here? Tonight?
Brooke: He's the one who put the doped-up tequila on the doorstep. He even signed his name to the card.
Audrey: Look, if Emma says that someone wearing a Brandon James mask attacked her, then someone wearing a Brandon James mask attacked her!
Sheriff Acosta: Really? Any idea who?
"Isn't that your job? To investigate a crime?"
Audrey: Maybe you should ask your son! He's the one who seems to enjoy drawing her covered in blood.
Eventually we were let go and I went home, and I went to sleep. It was the next morning and my parents drove me to school. I was walking with Brooke as the bell rang and me and her went to the auditorium. We sat next to Gustavo.
Brooke: Hey.
Gustavo: Hey.
Brooke: I, um... I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for freaking out on you last night. You were... actually a really good guide. I would have been totally screwed without you.
Gustavo: Yeah, it got pretty intense. Yeah. Maybe the three of us should hang out again... sometime.
Brooke: Maybe.
Gustavo: Cool.
"Cool."
Brooke: I can't believe I have to be in this freaking Lady of the Lake assembly. After, uh... After, you know, hallucinating all night.
Gustavo: Well, if anyone can handle it, it's you.
"Knock em dead."
Brooke kisses me.
"Good luck."
Brooke: I'll see ya.
After a while the announcer came on stage.
Woman: And that's why it gives me great pleasure to announce the five finalists that will compete in the up-and-coming Lady of the Lake Pageant. As I call out your names, please come to the stage.
Brooke: Andrea Conway.
Brooke: Hey, you got this.
Zoe nods.
Brooke: Jamie Blumhardt. Jennifer Gutierrez. Zoe Vaughn. And last but not least, our final contestant... Brooke Maddox.
I clapped and she went up.
Woman: And there you have it. The five lovely finalists to compete for the title: "Lady of the Lake."
We all clapped when blood fell on Brooke and Jake's dead body fell to the ground. We all got up in shock. Brooke screams as I stare in shock. Jake has been dead this entire time...