Dade’s point of view
A few weeks had passed since everything with Bellie. I hadn’t shown anyone her suicide note; how could I? If I did show them, either one of them, I knew it would blow up in my face. Violet and Maddi already don’t trust me, and if they read the note they’d definitely think I was the murderer. I couldn’t let them think that.
None of us had spoken to each other since that night. If we saw one another, we’d just silently stare. Or maybe we’d just silently, and very awkwardly, just stand there. It was weird not to talk to your best friends. It’s weird that a game separated a group of really close friends. It’s just weird.
I was really shocked to wake up at eight in the morning from my cell phone blaring out some shitty pop song. The only reason I even had it as my ringtone was because Rylie set it. I guess I never changed it back.
“Hello?” My voice came out hoarse.
“Hey.” I heard Maddi speak back.
“Oh, hey, Maddi.” I was surprised to hear her voice.
Why is she calling me?
“So…Violet and I want to hang out. Like…all of us.” She spoke softly.
All three of us. It used to be six.
“Uh, when?”
“Today around twelve?”
“Come over at three.” I said and hung up without waiting for a reply back.
I threw my phone down, not even caring where it landed, and crashed back down to my bed. I closed my eyes and fell asleep almost instantly. I dreamt of all of us. Rylie, Violet, Maddi, Bellie, Ashlinn, and me. Back when we started the game. It was right before everything went downhill.
A cold gust of air made its way through the small cracks in the old wooden walls. A chill ran up my spine, but I took my sweatshirt off and handed it to Rylie who was shivering. She gave me a small smile and quickly put it on.
“Wow, this place is creepy.” Maddi commented.
“Abandoned houses tend to be creepy, idiot.” Violet rolled her eyes.
“Guys, guys!” Rylie spoke up excitedly. “Shh!” She hushed everyone down, although it was just a silent fight between Maddi and Violet. “Okay, I have a game we should all play.”
Another chill ran up my spine. It wasn’t a cold chill; it was a chill telling me something bad was going to happen. A knot formed in my stomach, and I knew I had to stop the game. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I had to stop it.
“No, let’s just all sit here and talk.” I suggested.
“Games are for little kids anyway.” Violet sighed.
“Come on. Let’s just play it. It’s not a little kid’s game. It’s called Paranoia and-“
“No! I don’t…I don’t think we should.” I spoke hastily.
“I wanna try it.” Bellie pouted.
“Paranoia? Sounds interesting.” Maddi shrugged. “Let’s just give it a try.”
“You guys can, but I’m not going to.” I stood up.
“Where are you going, baby?” Rylie looked up at me.
“I’m just gonna check out the upstairs.”
“I’ll join you.” Violet stood up.
The two of us walked upstairs together. The wood creaked with every move we made, but I’m sure the girls downstairs didn’t notice. We could hear them laughing and talking loudly through the floor.
“They’re so annoying.” Violet sighed once we found what I assumed to be the bedroom.
“Yeah, but you gotta love them.” I gave her a half smile.
“No, I don’t love them.” She sat down on the bed, and I sat next to her.
“Then why do you hang out with them?” I asked, confused.
“Because you hang out with them, and I just want to spend time with you.” Violet looked into my eyes, and before I had a chance to react, her lips were pressed against mine in a perfect kiss.
“Wake up, sleepy head!” I was shot out of my beautiful dream to find Maddi standing over me.
“Oh, God.” I rubbed my eyes. “I over slept.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” Maddi giggled.
“Where’s Violet?”
“You have no good food.” Violet walked in as soon as I finished speaking.
How weird.
“I’m sorry.” I chuckled.
“Nice bed hair.” Violet ruffled my hair.
Maddi and Violet both sat down on my bed. All three of us talked. We talked normally, as if nothing happened this year—nothing bad at least. It was like nothing changed between any of us. Everything was normal and perfect.
All of us seemed to be in really good moods, including Violet. I guessed that we all just needed a break from each other. With everything that was happening at the time, we were all unbelievably stressed and paranoid. A break was the only thing we needed.
“Dade, wanna know what you should do?” Violet spoke. Maddi and her shared a knowing look.
“It’ll be really fun.” Maddi added as though she knew what Violet was going to say.
“What?” I groaned, admittedly afraid of what they were thinking of.
“You should get us food.” Maddi smiled, and Violet nodded eagerly beside her.
“Fine, fine. I’ll get you whatever I have.”
They both called out ‘thanks’ when I left the room. I ran down the stairs and collected whatever I could find from the kitchen. Violet was right, though, we barely had any food. We had a bunch of boxes of cereal, fruit snacks, and a few random boxes of junk food. I grabbed as much as I could, and ran back upstairs to Maddi and Violet.
When I got up there, both girls were huddled over a piece of paper. My heart stopped when I noticed my drawer open. They found Bellie’s suicide note. I dropped everything in my arms and pulled the paper out of their grip.
“What the fuck is that?” Violet’s eyes were wide and angry. “She had a fucking suicide note, and you didn’t tell us!?”
“Did you finish it?” I asked timidly.
“Of course we fucking finished it! And you love me? What the hell, Dade!?”
“Violet, let me explain…”
“And she thinks you’re the murderer. What she wrote kind makes us think that too, Dade.” Maddi spoke.
“No, I’m not…I wouldn’t kill-“
“You wouldn’t kill anyone?” Maddi cut me off—clearly she was mad too. “You killed Rylie! Who’s to say that you didn’t kill Ashlinn and Victoria? What if you killed Bellie and wrote the note to make it look like a suicide? You were the one who found her.”
“Oh, and you and Rylie were the only two people burying Ashlinn. Everyone else was inside. I think you and her waited out there, pretending to bury her, and put her back inside for us to find, and you two acted like you buried her, but we know what happened.”
“I bet Rylie started feeling guilty, and was gonna tell us, although it was her idea to play the game, so Dade killed her so we wouldn’t know.” Maddi looked furious and scared.
“This all makes sense now.” Violet backed away from me, grabbing Maddi’s hand.
“Guys! You’re being ridiculous! I didn’t murder them!”
“Then why did you hide the note from us!?” Violet screeched. The paranoia had obviously returned.
“Because I didn’t want you to know I’m in love with you.” I spoke truthfully.
Violet looked down before answering. “Come on, Maddi.” She pulled Maddi out of my room quickly.
“Fuck!” I yelled when I heard the front door shut. “Fuck! I’m so fucking stupid!” I yelled at myself.
I punched a hole through my wall and yelled a few more profanities. I was so fucking stupid. I should have hidden the note better, but they also shouldn’t have gone through my drawers.
“Fuck. Now Violet probably hates me.” I covered my face in my hands.
A few days had passed since then, and neither Violet nor Maddi had spoken to me. I tried to call and text them, but neither ever answered. I guessed that Violet was just freaked out by me at this point, and she probably told Maddi to cut all ties with me. I was getting frustrated and scared. I was afraid that one of them was going to call the cops on me; both seemed pretty sure I was the one who killed Ashlinn and Victoria.
“Now I’m screwed.” I spoke loudly to myself. I was staring at my ceiling aimlessly. “The murderer only killed two people. I only killed Rylie. Bellie only killed herself.” I laughed at how stupid I sounded. “I only killed Rylie. Only. As if killing is a normal thing to do. The killing stopped after Bellie killed herself…” My mind started to wander. “And she was the one to find the last note…” I sat up. “Bellie is the murderer! She has to be.” I accused her.
I guess I was going a bit insane from lack of contact from anyone for so long—talking to Violet and Maddi for a day wasn’t enough, and the fact that they thought I was the murderer was driving me up a fucking wall. I called Violet and Maddi, both, and left them the same message.
“Hey! Okay, so I know who the murderer is! It’s so fucking easy! It was Bellie the whole time! I mean, the killing stopped after she died, and she found the last note.” I spoke excitedly. “Oh!” I yelled as I thought of new evidence we could use against Bellie. “And wasn’t Victoria the one harassing Bellie? She was! Oh my God! She killed her! She’s the murderer…call me back!” I hung up and paced around my room, waiting for a call back. It took a few hours, but Maddi called me back.
“Hey, Dade.” She spoke awkwardly when I picked up. “I got your voice mail…you seemed pretty…frantic about it. Are you okay?”
“Yes! I’m perfect! I found out who was killing us this whole time, and now we can be safe, because she’s gone!” I smiled.
“Dade, when was the last time you slept?”
“I don’t know, a day or so ago.” I shrugged.
Maddi paused before speaking again. “Violet and I are on our way to the Safe House. We want you to come.”
My phone beeped. Low battery.
“Are we gonna talk about this? We need to talk about this, Maddi!” I stressed.
“We will, we will.” She reassured me. “Just be there in an hour, okay?”
“Yeah!” I hung up without waiting for a response.
After waiting around for a half an hour, I grabbed my house keys and jogged out of the house. It took me, I guessed, another half an hour to walk to the Safe House. I got there to find Violet and Maddi already standing inside.
“Hey, guys!” I breathed out.
“Dade. We all need to talk.” Maddi said seriously.
“Yeah, I know! About Bellie, right?”
“No, Dade. About you.” Violet said.
“Why?” My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“Because you’re scaring us, Dade! You’re getting all worked up about Bellie. What if it’s not her? What if the murderer is still out there?” Violet answered.
“But the killing stopped for now!” I grew worried. They didn’t believe me.
“Then let’s just enjoy the death-free time we have right now.” Violet rested her hand on my shoulder.
“Why are you guys suddenly being nice? You guys have been ignoring me for days. Why are you guys so nice now!?” I pulled away from Violet’s warm touch.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom. Violet, can you hold my bag?” Maddi handed Violet her bag and walked up the creaking steps.
“Dade, you need to calm the fuck down.” Violet said once Maddi was up the stairs.
“Answer me, Violet.” I demanded.
“Because we’re both worried about you! You know what happened last time you got like this. You killed your own girlfriend. You need to stop getting so worked up.”
“So worked up!? I have a fucking right to be so worked up!” I yelled angrily.
“Calm down!”
“How can I calm down!? You and Maddi went through my drawer and pulled something out of it! I never said you could go through my things! And on top of that, you guys think I’m the murderer!”
“Well you shouldn’t have been hiding it from us anyway!” Violet retorted.
“I didn’t show you for a good reason! How would you feel if I started going through your stuff?”
“Go ahead.”
“How about Maddi’s. Since she’s not here and this is what you would usually do.” I pulled Maddi’s bag out of Violet’s hands before she could react and started going through it.
Tampons.
Pads.
Makeup.
My fingers grazed over a smooth surface.
Pills.
“Pills?” I pulled the bottle out of Maddi’s bag. All angry feelings were flushed out of my body.
“What’s that?” Violet asked.
“Pills. I found them in Maddi’s bag…” I started to read the bottle when I heard Maddi’s voice from above us.
“Why are you going through Maddi’s bag?” She asked in a threateningly low voice.
“Maddi…this is your bag.” Violet said slowly.
“Maddi’s not here right now.” She replied.
“W-what?” I managed to choke out.
Fear took a hold of me, and I grabbed Violet’s arm and pulled her closer to me. Maddi descended from the steps and walked closer to us. Her eyes were dark and glazed over. She looked truly sinful.
“I’m only two people away from winning.” She was inches away from us.
“From winning what?” I asked.
“Paranoia. I got the rest of them. Now it’s time to win. I’m going to win tonight.” Her voice was slow and deep.
I hadn’t realized it, but she blocked us from reaching the door. I wasn’t thinking straight, but I was thinking enough to pull Violet with me up the stairs. Of course, in the middle of running up the stairs, one of them gave out on Violet. Her leg fell through, causing her to be immobile.
“Dade!” Her eyes were wide. “Get me out! Help me!” Maddi was close behind.
I pulled Violet out, her leg was scratched deeply, but we kept moving. I brought her to a random room, and put my back against the door so Maddi couldn’t get in. She wasn’t stronger than me, so it wouldn’t be too much of a problem.
“Violet, your leg.” I breathed out. My heart was pounding so wildly against my chest that I couldn’t hear her response.
A dark shade of blood was running rapidly down her leg. I took off my sweatshirt and threw it towards her so she could tie it around her cuts to stop the bleeding. I still couldn’t hear too well, but I think she said “Thank you”. I felt vibrations lightly on the floor. Maddi was close.
“Violet.” I whispered harshly. “Drag over a piece of furniture.” I directed.
It took a while, but we managed to block the door with a long table, while Maddi tried to make her way inside the room. It was all so surreal, and it had just started to kick in when Violet started to cry.
“Dade.” She squeaked out. “I’m really scared.” She said through soft sobs.
“We’ll be okay.” I whispered, and squeezed her hand lightly.
“Dade, Violet.” Maddi called out our names. “I know you’re in there. Just come out. I only want to play a game.” Her voice was sickeningly innocent. With each word her voice became higher.
“Don’t say anything.” I whispered to Violet.
I knew Maddi knew we were in there; it was obvious that we were. I just needed to find a way to get out of the room without getting in contact with Maddi—or whoever she was at that moment. She was the murderer. She was playing with us.
I patted my pockets in search for my cell phone, but I mentally screamed when I realized it was about to die, so I just left it at home.
“Do you have your phone?” I asked quietly.
“I-it’s downstairs.” Violet stuttered, keeping a careful eye on the door.
“Fuck.” I muttered.
There were no windows, so the only way out was through the door. What room didn’t have windows? The wooden and glass table seemed to be pretty strong, but Maddi was making no attempt to open the door. It was scaring me, but I pretended it wasn’t. I had to be stronger for Violet. Stronger than I really was.
“Why isn’t she trying to get inside?” Violet asked as if she was reading my mind.
“I don’t know.” I answered truthfully.
Both of us were silent. There was no noise coming from the other side of the door either, until we heard slow footsteps pass and then come back. I heard water pouring onto the floor.
“Is she peeing?” Violet’s eyebrows furrowed.
The liquid came from under the door, and pooled in a small puddle just underneath the table. The sound of the water smacking the floor trailed off until it was nothing. I assumed she walked down the hall, because then I heard her walking back.
“Fine. If you guys don’t want to come out, then I’ll just have to do this the easy way. I will win this game.”
The liquid started again, but it went down the stairs this time. My eyes widened, and my heart stopped beating when I realized what the liquid was.
“Lighter fluid.” My voice was monotone, yet still filled with panic.
I reached for the table and viciously pulled it out of the way of the door. I finally got it open, and Violet and I ran out of the room. I looked down the stairs and saw that Maddi wasn’t there. I ran down the stairs, trying to be as careful as possible. I was so close to the door when I realized I didn’t hear footsteps behind me.
When I turned around, I saw Violet was being held by Maddi at the top of the stairs. She had a lit match in one hand, and she was holding Violet with the other. Maybe she was stronger than I thought.
“You wouldn’t leave without the love of your life, would you, Dade?” There was that sickly innocent voice of hers.
“Please, Maddi…let us go.” I walked to the bottom step, looking up at them.
“I’m not fucking Maddi!” She screamed and threw down the match.
The flames immediately grew into a big, roaring flame, engulfing the old wood, Maddi, and Violet in it. The fire quickly ran down the stairs, and soon everything was up in flames. Black smoke and burning fire was all I could see. I was panic-stricken, and all I could so was look for Violet. I didn’t even think about leaving the house myself. I just needed to get Violet.
“Violet!” I screamed over the flames that towered over me. “Violet! Are you okay!? Where are you?”
I felt a sharp pain in my arm. When I looked over, I saw blood pouring out of a freshly open wound. Maddi was holding a small knife. She stabbed me.
“Dade!” I heard Violet call out for me.
I couldn’t answer her; I had to protect myself from Maddi. I took out my house keys and stabbed her cheek with them. I didn’t think it’d actually break the skin, but I was proven wrong. I pushed her into the fire, and grabbed Violet once I found her. We headed for the door, but it was stuck.
“Open the door!” She cried out hysterically.
“I’m trying!”
“Try harder!” She was sobbing, and trying to help me open the heavy door.
After a few seconds, it cracked and opened roughly. Violet and I got out. I closed the door mostly all the way and we both ran out to the street, and we watched the house burn. It didn’t take long for firemen to show up to the house.
“Maddi was the murderer.” My voice cracked. I stared at the house in complete and utter shock.
“We were her players.”
(A.N.-This is not the last chapter, guys! There's one more!)