Get Out If You Can

Alison | Hello, Shakespeare

Something's blasting in my eardrums, killing them satisfactorily. Shit, Mom has left Dad's music on loudspeaker again. She just won't have my word that all his songs are shitty, and the proof is our empty bank account. Our? But I'm not part of that 'our' anymore. I couldn't think of something I wanted less.

I'm about to give her a piece of my mind, again. I force my eyes open. Sharp beams of light sting my eyeballs, and I flinch.

"Alison! Oh hell, Alison, you there?"

Well, that is funny. That isn't Mom's voice. I try to discern the face of the figure crouched down on the floor beside me. My vision clears a bit, and I sit up straight, squinting at the person.

They look familiar, though.

"Diego?"

"Oh, man," the person sighs, without confirming their identity, and I feel warm fingers curl around my own limp ones. "Yeah, it's me. You okay?"

I nod, then stand up. "Where am I?"

"Calleja manor?" A redheaded, tall guy walks across the floor and stands next to Diego.

I tilt my head upwards and take in the heavenly ceiling. It's all coming back to me — Calleja manor, Callenfield Bikers — the tower, the tea...the tea.

"What happened to me?" I say, hoisting myself up more firmly on my feet. I'm fully conscious now, but I still can't get it...unless.

"This was a trick, wasn't it?" I half-yell. "You guys got invitations for something and landed up here, didn't you?"

Diego nods. "And we found you, passed out on the couch in that tower." He points to a staircase on one side of the room. He squints as he tries to read the inscription alongside the staircase.

"Antebellum," I say. "I went up there and had some tea — probably spiked."

"You're an idiot," Matt Hastings says. I've only just realized the other three, apart from Diego and I, are here too — Hunter, Matt and Emilie. Oh God, Emilie looks like she just got bitten by a werewolf or something. "Who drinks random stuff without seeing how it was made?"

"Hear yourself speak," Hunter grunts. "Article freaking four hundred and thirty five."

I don't understand what that's supposed to mean, but it makes Matt shut up. Judging from their random familiarity I've probably been knocked out cold for way too long. Matt's right, I am an idiot, but let's just say we won't admit that yet.

"Now that you're awake," a voice booms, and I shake. I feel a hand hold mine. Emilie's.

"We're all in this," she says, the words lightly escaping her lips like she'd rather not say them. "This — this voice — is kinda saying we're the ones who killed Caitlyn."

There's a sharp intake of breath from me, and I would very much like to yell out that that allegation is completely stupid, but the voice goes on.

"Alison Maria Carter," the voice speaks, saying my name like it's a sort of poison. "You are charged with blatant ignorance and disregard. Guilty, too."

She's blabbering shit. There isn't anything I've done to kill Tejada. I never really knew her.

I look around the room for some sort of speaker. I don't find any. I think it would be stupid to even try and look for one. This place is so full of curtains and armchairs, searching for a tiny speaker would take us two lifetimes.

I shut my eyes and assess the situation. We're trapped in a creepy manor with no way out — I don't know if there is some kind of escape route, but no one's come up with any. We've been tricked by someone who thinks we killed Caitlyn.