I looked away from Drella’s body and back at River and Jason.
Jason looked green, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he took in the sight before him and realized he had accidentally and unintentionally gotten Drella murdered.
River didn’t seem accusatory towards Jason, just shocked at the sight before him. He looked sick and horrified and shocked and out-of-it, but he seemed to be holding it together.
He made both of us step back, before turning to look at us. “Look, guys, I need to pee, okay? I’ll meet you guys back near the exit at the food court. It’s almost seven and that’s when the mall normally opens, meaning people are gonna show up and get us out of this hellhole soon. Until then, we wait it out by the food court. Here, Jason, take this. Defend Raine if you need to.”
He lobbed a glittering silver blade at Jason, who caught the hilt easily and stared at the weapon in horror. “Where the hell did you get a knife from?”
River rubbed the back of his neck. “I grabbed some from the kitchen and camping store earlier. I only got two, and I’m keeping one with me for protection.”
“Are you sure you wanna go alone?” I asked uncertainly.
River blew out a breath. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry. We can’t all go together. Remember what I said, back to the doors near the food court. I’ll be back.”
He disappeared quickly, taking long strides and fingering the knife in his pocket that he would use for protection if he needed to.
Jason wrapped his long, tanned fingers around my upper arm and started pulling me back towards the food court. I had no fight left in me to argue, and allowed him to pull me along towards—hopefully—salvation.
“I can’t believe River had a knife this whole time,” Jason muttered disbelievingly, staring with an accusatory glare at the knife in his hands.
“Yeah,” I replied quietly, though my mind was on other things.
Like the fact River had a knife, not just that he’d had it since this whole thing begun.
A bad feeling swirled in my stomach, as I began to imagine the worst about River. About how maybe he didn’t really need to use the bathroom, and was in fact leading us towards our deaths. He had a knife the whole time. Sure, when he held it up it had looked relatively clean, but maybe he had washed it after killing everyone. Maybe he was luring us towards the food court so that he and his accomplice could kill us—if he had one. Maybe we were walking into a trap.
“Jason—” I whispered, and he looked at me.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go,” I replied. “I mean, River’s story seems kinda sketchy. What if we’re just walking into a death trap?”
His eyes roamed around as he considered this new option. “You don’t think…” he whispered, whipping his head around and staring at me.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to think anymore.”
He looked around. “Okay. Come on.”
He grabbed my hand and started leading me towards the food court, and I looked at him incredulously. Was he seriously not even going to acknowledge my thought? Was he seriously going to lead us back to the food court, anyway? Why wasn’t he listening to me after I had given him a perfectly plausible explanation?
When the food court came into view, he picked his pace up to a jog and gestured for me to jump over one of the fast food counters. With confusion, I did as he asked and hopped over the marble, before crouching down. Jason followed suit, before leaning into me and whispering, “If River really is going to try something, we’ll know as soon as he comes here. We’ve got a perfect view straight there, and if he goes to do something, we’ll be able to see him do it.”
I nodded at his quick thinking and kept my head ducked down, brows furrowed as I listened intently for any sounds. It was silent around, except for the whirring of the freezers coming from the restaurants and the sound of Jason and my mingled breathing.
Jason and I stayed closely packed together, and I could feel body heat radiating off of him in waves, warming my sides. His hand lingered near mine, our fingers nearly touching, and it took everything in me not to grab his hand and draw comfort from him. I really needed his comfort right now.
In the distance I heard the constant thrumming of footsteps, like the ticking of a clock, and I slowly raised my head to look over the bench. From here, River wouldn’t be able to see me unless he looked behind himself, as we were stationed right next to the entrance.
I swallowed as he walked in, clutching the knife tightly as he glanced around with creased eyebrows, searching for us. “Raine?” he asked. “Jason?”
Jason leant in closer, and I saw he had pulled out a knife. For some reason, he had a smile on his face, the corners of his plump pink lips pulling up.
The breath left my lungs, and I licked my lips as I turned around to look at River, who looked highly confused at our absence.
I saw his breaths begin to come quicker, and his chest rise and fall in a rapid succession as panic set in. He swiveled around in quick circles.
“Guys,” he called, his voice steadily rising in hysteria. “If you’re messing with me, it’s not funny. Get out here right now. Guys?”
It took everything in me not to lurch up and console him. Something about him seemed so vulnerable, and it seemed as if he almost thought the killer had gotten us. But that would mean he wasn’t the killer, right?
If not him, then who?
“Guys!” he called, running hands through his tousled hair and scrubbing his jaw, pacing back and forth. He seemed disbelieving that we had disappeared. “Guys, come on. Please come out. Please.” His voice cracked on the last word, and he sounded destroyed. It broke my heart to hear him sounding so upset.
I couldn’t do it anymore. I stood up with shaky legs, hopping over the counter. I glanced behind me to see Jason staring at me incredulously, his mouth agape. “What are you doing?!” Jason mouthed in horror, looking like he wanted nothing more than to grab me back, pull me over the counter and continue watching River.
But I couldn’t do that. I could tell River honestly thought something had happened, and I couldn’t let him stand there, helpless and heartbroken.
I turned back around and ignored Jason. “River, we’re here,” I called out, and River spun around so quickly I’m surprised he didn’t pull a muscle, or something.
His face was the picture of relief as he ran forwards, scooping me up. “Rai,” he whispered into my hair, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
Deep inside me, almost like an instinct, I knew he wasn’t the killer. I could see it in the relief in his face when he knew we were still alive. I could see it in the despair when he thought he had lost us, the last two left excluding him. He was as clueless as I was about this whole thing, and it made me feel terrible that I had pinned him for even one second.
“What are you doing?” Jason screamed, his voice hoarse as he stood from his hiding spot and jumped over the counter, stalking towards us angrily, his hand clenched around the hilt of the knife.
I broke away from River and spun around to face Jason, who looked irate that I had given up so easily. But I couldn’t stay there and let River think we were killed when we were perfectly alive and breathing. “Jason, he’s not the killer,” I explained, my voice conveying my relief.
Jason shook his head. “You’re wrong. It explains everything. Don’t you see, Raine?”
I shrunk back, swallowing past a lump in my throat. Something about Jason seemed frayed, almost as if he had lost it and gone crazy. His face was feverish, his eyes wide and his jaw clenched. His whole body trembled, and he held the knife tightly, a sneer upturning his lips.
“Jason…” I whispered, my eyes wide at the sudden change within the boy.
He shook his head, pointing the blade at me dangerously. Despite myself, I shrunk back into River, who was tight as a bow beside me, every muscle in him tight and rigid as he watched Jason suspiciously.
“Don’t trust him,” Jason hissed, his green eyes flashing like metal. “He’ll betray you. You’ve got it wrong. You’ve got it wrong!”
I gasped and stepped back, standing tightly next to River. He separated from me, pulling the knife out of his pocket. “Jason, calm down,” River said serenely, his voice low and dangerous, a warning tone telling Jason to let whatever he thought go and gain control of himself again.
“No!” Jason screamed, his voice echoing throughout the room, making me jolt. “No, you’re a killer!”
My eyes were wide, my breathing frantic and sharp as I glanced between the two barring boys. I couldn’t believe it; I struggled to believe this was happening. What was happening right now?
“Jason, stop,” River said, putting his hands up. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You’re lying! That’s all you want to do. You want to kill us. The ultimate betrayal, right? But I’m not gonna let that happen!”
“Jason, stop,” I whispered, aghast.
He waved the knife at me, and my nails dug in to River’s soft skin as my grip tightened on his forearm. He was waving the knife carelessly, as if he was perfectly comfortable with swinging around with a potentially dangerous weapon.
“You can’t let him suck you into his web of lies, Raine. I see the way you look at him, and the way he looks at you. But he only wants to kill you.”
He turned to River with venomous green eyes that were burning intensely. “But I won’t let that happen,” he snarled.
Then, with a low, animalistic growl, and knife outstretched, he lunged for River.
~ * ~
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