Dying Wish

[21] The Test We Failed

The pipes moaned. I let Alice shower first.

Meanwhile, I sat on the couch to inspect the phone.

The text messages were clear of anything suspicious. Expectedly. Whoever was behind this was cautious. Carefully clinging to the shadows, relaying orders. Leaving a trace via text wasn't like them. That would be too sloppy. I only started there to be thorough. Better fruit was elsewhere. I moved onto the green icon—the call logs. The shooter did say they communicated by phone. The app opened. I forgot to hold my breath.

Although call logs can be deleted, I mean, did you see their little clubhouse? Sloppy was a word well within their vocabulary. As a result, a full list of names and numbers appeared, either in red or white.

I looked for frequent calls.

Abnormal area codes.

Anything I could declare odd.

I continued to swipe. "Probably will be a saved contact. How else would you know to answer her call?" I went on. "Domino's... Domino's... Wow. Dude, for real, how much pizza can you eat?"

Nothing appeared.

Angry, I chucked the phone on the cushion beside me. My heel began to bounce. I knew I wasn't looking for anything labeled "Death Coin Mastermind." For obvious reasons. But there had to be something. Somewhere.

I just— wait. A memory spoke to me.

"He said, they spoke a few days ago. To setup tonight." Which meant I needed to swipe further back. And that's what I did, I swiped until I came across an incoming call on June 30th. I gasped at the name of the contact. The moment my eyes struck the "W".

Squeak-Squeak!

My neck craned up to the sound of twisting shower fixtures. She was done.

I sat back to quell the queasiness rising from my stomach. I looked at the bag at the foot of the couch. I realized right then and there what this what. What I'd stumbled into. And the choice I had to make. Choosing is the easy part. Living with the choice, that's where things get tougher.

Minutes later...

A pink face peeked into my periphery from the stairs. Slow feet thumped further down. A shy voice said, "You can, uh, go shower, so you can put your clothes on. I'm finished now, Gray. I tried to go as fast as possible. What, uh, what are you waiting for? Oh, i-is that the phone? It was a really smart idea to grab it, by the way. Leave it. I'll see what I can find."

"I already looked..."

"'Cc-course you did! You find anything?"

"Uh-huh," I nodded.

"Really? What?" Alice said. "Why are you looking at me like that, Gray?"

"You tell me—" I turned the screen to her— "Alice Westerly." The contact on the phone. This surprised expression popped on her face. Was it an act? She tried to say my name, but I persisted with, "I guess it would make sense. I mean, everything that's been going on around here started exactly when you showed up."

"What?" Alice mumbled.

"The basketball game. The funeral. Tonight. You're always there, aren't you, Alice?"

"He doesn't mean it. He's just hungry. Yeah, that's it."

"I wonder, is this how you get your wish granted?" I continued.

"Maybe, he's tired. He's had a long day, so..."

"You orchestrate attempts on the Death Coin, then swoop in and save it. Hm. Bet God would be pleased with you and your hard work. You're Interim Death, right? Is that the plan for getting bumped up to the real thing? That secret wish of yours..."

Alice's gasp broke the trance. Then she snarled. "If you're accusing me..."

"What, you'd kill me? Guess that would make me right. Makes you a bit of a sore loser, but..."

"Why would I do that?!" She erupted. "Do any of that?! You think, after everything we've been through, I would... Know what, you're right. You're so right... The night of the game— when you had nowhere to go, no friends to stay with, I was right there. The night you were almost shot twice. Yeah, I was there, too. Remember? I saved you. Back at school, I went to tell your club advisors and coaches about you being sick. Guess what, I didn't have to, you're not in anything. You have no real friends! No family! I'm behind that, too, I bet! You figured me out, Gray! I'M THAT GOOD!"

The room fell into utter silence. I know I had one piece of clothing on, but it got so chilly all of a sudden. I, uh, wound up with this lump in my throat. I cleared it away and said, "Tell me how you really feel. I'm going to take my shower, go to bed. That was, uh, wow." As I went to walk past her rigid body, I stopped to add, "I was never accusing you, Alice. Any name can go on a contact in a phone. The number is what matters. And I have yours. I could've checked my phone in my bag to see the numbers were different. I didn't. If you were behind this, you'd never give out your real name. You never would've collected the phone like I asked, either." I chuckled. "Accusing you, Alice, would be an insult. Not just to your intelligence, but to mine, too."

"So why—"

"Probably to divide us," I said. "Whoever's behind this might've guessed we'd eventually get our hands on the phone. Focusing on them gets a lot harder if we're at each other's throats. Looks like they succeeded."

I flung the phone on the couch and grabbed my bag. The hot water soothed my body a ton. On the outside. My innards were in a torrent; it spread a wiggle to my legs and this tightness to my throat and jaw. I fell to my knees. Water pounding the top of my head and neck, I retched. Tomorrow would be better. How much worse could it be, really?

That hope was little help to my sleeplessness. I ended up sitting on the edge of the bed. I extracted the white box from my bag and pinched out Alice's gift. I covered it from the moon with my back. All I could do was think about the ear-lashing I took tonight. I'm not proud of that. Any of it. I killed someone and all I could do was replay her words.

"She sure let me have it, huh?" I said, chuckling. "Guess you brought that on yourself. You wanted answers. You got them." The last of my energy went to putting this gift in the drawer. I went to bed knowing this was far from over. We'd be talking about tonight sooner or later. Alice was too much of a force to delay anything she wanted. Sooner was the safer assumption. I'd face this fact first thing the following morning.

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