"So what happened?" Brandon asked.
We were sitting in my living room--Brandon, Eden, and I--discussing what had happened the last few hours. Once I found Haven, she ran away from me. That girl was a mess. Despite my better instinct, I called the police, and they found her not too far away. From what I'd heard so far, she was covered in blood and looked as though she had been severely abused while she was away.
When I gave them the rundown of Dasiy, Damien's notecards, and Haven's return, they both looked just as surprised as I did. None of this was good and we all knew it.
"So you really think Damien's the killer?" Eden asked. "Because you're gay?"
"This person killed Clary, too," Brandon said. "If that's all this was about, what does that mean? That Clary was just collateral damage?"
It seemed like a logical explanation, but it was one that I couldn't really say out loud. If this was true, and I was really being targeted for my sexuality, Clary dying was just another way to tear me down. If that was true, who was next?
"I just don't get it," Eden said. "Damien was never religious. Ever. So he all of a sudden got an interest? He must have learned it from someone, but who?"
My brain was turning to mush trying to figure it all out. One thing I knew for sure was that whatever this was for, something big was coming. I could feel it.
***
The next day at school, I made the decision that I'd been dreading since this all began. When I found Matt walking in the hallway, I caught up to him, grabbing his arm lightly. "Hey," I said, and he turned around to face me.
"Oh, look who it is," Matt said. "Now you decide to talk to me."
The words stung, but it was perfectly understandable. "I'm sorry," I said. "Trust me when I say that. There's just been so much going on. So much that you could never understand. But there's something that I have to tell you, and I'm pretty sure you're not going to like it."
Matt just shrugged. "Okay."
I opened my mouth to speak, but instead grabbed his hand and led him to the library, which was pretty vacant for the most part. There were only like two people in there. Perfect. I brought him over to the chairs and sat him down.
"Are you about to tell me something or am I about to get laid?" Matt asked jokingly. "I don't think the school library's the most appropriate place."
I was pretty sure I blushed, but that wasn't what I was here for. "The Fear Games have started again." I said it so bluntly I almost wondered if I would have to repeat myself.
"The Fear Games?" Matt asked, his face draining of all color. "What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I mean," I said. "The same Fear Games that Rachel and her friends dealt with last year. Well, not exactly. The Games have changed, but only a little. There's a different killer. Or two, I don't really know right now. There's likely two, considering I've seen two in one place at one time, but,.." My voice started to trail. "Look, that's the whole reason I've been so distant. I don't want you to get hurt. Someone already killed Clary. Once the police realize that the Fear Games are starting again, everything's going to get worse, I can promise you that."
"Hey," Matt said, reaching out to touch my hand. "It's okay. You know you could have told me, right? We could have been working on this together."
"No, you don't understand," I said. "It's not that simple. If you're pulled into this, everything changes. And I mean everything. You know how Clary blew up? That could be you and it could be much worse than that next time."
"Don't you get it?" Matt asked. "I'm already involved."
And that's when he kissed me. It was so abrupt, so quick, that for a second I wasn't sure if it even happened. His lips brushed against mine, and for the first time in forever, it was just he and I, no one else. The warmth of his lips pressing against mine was so gentle and so sweet, and when he pulled away, I couldn't speak.
"I'm already involved because I care about you," Matt whispered. "I'll help you no matter what."
My phone buzzed in my pocket and my heart stopped. No, I thought. It can't be them.
I pulled it out to see who the message was from and sighed with relief. It was from Eden.
You won't believe who's back at school today. Come to the cafeteria.
"Come with me," I said to Matt. He followed me out of the library all the way to the cafeteria where I found Eden and Brandon standing together, with Peter and Luke not too far away. They were all watching the same thing, and my eyes immediately fell on it.
It was Haven. She was all dressed up in skinny jeans, a cute tank top, and was wearing a few bracelets on her wrists. Her hair was curled and flowing beautifully, as if she hadn't just been missing her as long as she was. I had a feeling that Haven would come back, but not as fast as she did. But it wasn't just that that shocked me. It was who she was standing next to.
Rachel.
Eden met my eyes. "Josh," she said.
"Is that...Rachel?" I asked. Blood boiled beneath my skin. Haven and Rachel were friends? What the hell was going on here?
"They're all buddy-buddy now," Brandon said. "And people can't keep their eyes off of them."
"How is Rachel even here?" I asked. "Wasn't she a senior last year?"
It seemed odd that Rachel would want to come back to school here. And the crazy thing was, she seemed perfectly fine. She was dressed like a total prep, and had her hair curled the same way Haven did. Rachel was also wearing these big hoop earrings, and the two of them laughed at something, completely oblivious to the stares they were garnering.
"You don't think..." I started. But could it be possible?
"What?" Eden asked.
"Remember the night at the graveyard?" I asked. "The night we saw the Masquerade and the Lion? Do you think it's possible that maybe...Haven and Rachel are in on this with Damien?"
"Wait, seriously?" Matt asked. "You think Damien's the killer?"
"And more importantly," Eden said, "you think Rachel would help him? What gives you that idea in the first place? Wasn't she the one who was sitting in a hospital practically drowning in her own misery because of what happened to her?"
Unless Damien offered her a way out. Offered her a chance to redeem herself. Offered her a chance to get better.
When my phone buzzed in my pocket, I knew who it was before I even checked. My friends watched me as I pulled out my phone and read the message out loud.
Tonight's the night. Meet me at St. Paul's at 10 PM. Bring your friends.
There was an address attached to the bottom of the text.
"St. Paul's?" Brandon asked. "What's that?"
"It sounds like a hospital," I said. "Like St. Mary's. But...what the heck is St. Paul's?"
"Whatever it is, they want us to go," Eden said. "Do you think we should tell someone about this? Like the police?"
"Are you kidding?" I asked. "We know what will happen if the police get involved. The killer already threatened a blood bath. We don't need them to go through with it. We go alone and that's it. Anyone who doesn't want to come doesn't need to."
"Josh--" Matt started.
"I'm serious," I said. "I can do this myself if I need to. This is my fight, don't you get it? It's always been my fight." Without even realizing what I was doing, I found myself storming over to the spot where Haven and Rachel stood. When their eyes met mine, Rachel smiled.
"Hey there, Josh," she said. "How's it going?"
"Cut the shit, Rachel," I said. I stepped a little closer to her, expecting that she'd back away. She didn't Haven stood right beside her, arms crossed over her chest, watching me.
"Don't talk to her that way," Haven said.
"Oh, you too," I said angrily. "Let me just break it down for you two. If you have anything to do with what's happening to me and my friends, or what happened to Clary, I swear to whatever God is watching me right now, I will kill you. Don't think I won't."
Rachel's smile fell, but she didn't seem mad. Almost...shocked. "We're all capable of things we never imagined," she whispered to me. "I wouldn't put it past you to kill me if you had the chance."
The staredown only continued for a few more seconds before I backed away. "Just wanted to let you know that before tonight," I said, then walked away, hoping I hadn't just made a huge mistake.
I was pretty sure I heard Rachel whisper, "There's no place like home."
***
Around 8 o'clock that evening, I met up with Eden at her house to pick her up. When she got in my car, I was surprised to see that Matt was with her as well. Although I didn't want him to come, it felt good to have someone there who seemed to care about me, despite the chance of death lurking in the shadows.
Eden sat in the passenger seat and Matt sat in the backseat. As I started to pull out of the driveway, Eden asked, "So where exactly is St. Paul's?"
"It's like a two hour drive," I said. "From what I've seen, it was an old hospital that closed quite a few years ago. That's all I was able to find on it. Google didn't have much information that would be useful."
"So the killer wants us to meet them at an old, vacant hospital?" Matt asked. "That sounds just lovely."
No kidding. What made it even weirder was that the name reminded me a lot of St. Mary's--both Biblical names. Not that it was uncommon, I just found it a bit creepy, especially with what I'd learned about Damien. I wasn't sure who I was expecting when I got to St. Paul's tonight, but part of me was really hoping it wasn't him.
After we picked up Brandon, the ride was silent basically the entire way. My mind was reeling with dozens of thoughts. Was Damien the killer? Were Rachel and Haven actually helping him? What was the motive? If me being gay was the motive, did that mean Damien actually knew? How had the boy I loved turned into something so crazy? If Damien's not the killer, then who is?
When we neared the old hospital, Matt said, "You know, we don't have to do this. We can turn around and go to the police."
"No police," I said. "We can't risk making the killer angrier than they already are."
A few seconds later, my phone buzzed. I handed it to Eden and said, "What does the text say?"
"Ready for the truth? I told you it was coming. We have one more surprise for the evening. -Noah," Eden read aloud. "This person's very adamant on pretending to be Noah."
"Yes, but why?" I asked. "Ryan did the same thing when he was the killer because he was avenging Noah's death. Why would this person use the same cover? We don't have anything to do with Noah's death. Not even a little bit."
I noticed the hospital before the GPS even told me we were there. It was a big looming building out in the middle of the desert, similar to St. Mary's. One of the big differences was that this place actually looked like a hospital, whereas St. Mary's just looked like a mansion that had been converted into one. I pulled into the parking lot, and the four of us stepped out of the vehicle.
"Well," I said, "what the heck do we do now?"
The text came through immediately, almost as if the person heard my question.
Go inside and find your surprise.
"Should we?" I asked, showing my friends the text.
"Do we really have a choice?" Eden asked.
No. No, we didn't. Not at this point. My friends followed me as we walked up to the hospital. We found a set of doors that was actually opened and walked inside. The building was dark, musky, and a bit run down. We used our phones as a way to light our path as we continued on through. After walking in a few feet, the door behind us slammed shut.
"Hey!" Brandon shouted. He ran back over to the door to try and open it. "We're locked inside!"
"Oh, that's just fantastic," Eden muttered.
"Come on," I said. "We don't have any time to waste. Let's just keep going."
"Where the hell are we even supposed to be going?" Brandon asked. "This place is huge. We're not going to find anything quickly."
A scream rang through the building, echoing off the walls. It was a male scream. My adrenaline kicked in and I started running toward the scream, trying not to trip over any of the shit on the ground. My friends followed behind me. It was close.
But where exactly?
"Hello?" I shouted. "Who's here?"
"I'm here!" the voice said. "Upstairs."
Oh my God, I thought. The voice belonged to Damien.
Without any hesitation, I headed for the stairs, but Eden grabbed my hand. "Josh, wait!" she said. "It could be a trap."
I knew that. I knew there was a very good chance I'd go up there and Damien would hurt me. But I needed to know the truth. Pulling my hand out of hers, I headed up the stairs, and my friends continued after me.
At the top of the staircase, I shouted, "Damien, where are you?"
"In here!" he said again. He was very close.
I went in the direction of his voice, and it didn't take me very long to find him. We stepped into a large room, with white walls, a tiled floor, and no windows. Directly across from us was Damien. He was attached to some type of machine by his arms and legs. In fact, it almost looked like a cross, with his legs put together and his arms stretched out on both sides. Blood dripped from his forehead and his bottom lip.
"Oh my God," I said. "Damien!"
But he wasn't alone. On another machine beside him, in the exact same position, was Luke, the reporter kid. Side by side, the machines were definitely meant to be crossed. On the other side of Damien was an empty machine.
"What the hell is this?" Matt asked.
"Josh!" Damien said, tears streaming down his face. "Oh my God, Josh, you're here. Please, help me! Get me out of this thing!"
"H-how am I supposed to do that?" I asked. "Who's the other machine for?"
Luke was unconscious, I realized, which explained why he hadn't been answering us at all. I ran over to Damien's machine, pulling on stuff to try and get him out. To my shock, the machine turned on, and Damien started screaming.
"What's wrong?" I demanded. "Damien, please talk to me."
I'd never been more scared before in my life. I needed to get him down. I needed to protect him. He was my best friend, and he actually wasn't the killer. I should have been relieved, but for some reason,I wasn't. Not at all.
"The machine," Damien screamed, "don't touch it! It's pulling my limbs!"
And I realized it was true. His arms were stretched just a little further now, looking as through they were ready to pop off. He was completely freaking out, not that I blamed him. I turned around to face my friends.
"What do we do?" I asked.
"I don't even know," Brandon said. He looked just as freaked as I was.
"Eden, Matt," I said, "we need to do something. Any ideas?"
"Not a clue," Eden said through tears. "I can't even watch this."
"Don't worry," a voice said. "You won't have to much watch for much longer."
We all looked toward the door. A gasp escaped my throat when I saw who it was.
"Daisy," I whispered.
There she was, Damien's sister, standing there with her hands on her hips and a big smile on her face. The Lion mask was dropped down at her feet beside her. "Surprise, bitch," she said, grinning from ear to ear. "It's me."