A String of Secrets

Chapter 5

The moment I stood by my front door waiting on Elias to pick me up, the truth of the situation hit me and I realized just how insane this was.

After I counted the extra cash Dad and Keith gave me for the night, I received another text message. Elias was outside. I said goodbye to Dana, double-checked that she had my location on her phone in case something went extremely wrong, and left the apartment, approaching the sleek and shiny black car that was parked in the front.

I got in, shut the door, put on my seat belt then turned to Elias who was also dressed formally. He was wearing a dark suit and tie, complete with a matching jacket and an expensive watch on his left wrist.

"Nice car," I said to break the silence that stretched.

Elias didn't respond. His eyes looked over my navy blue dress like the way he looked at his books and his work, seeming to capture and study every detail. My mouth dried, and I looked towards the window, wishing that there was some way to get over this awkwardness.

"Thanks," he finally said as he put the car in drive and got on the road. "Your dress is nice."

I blinked in shock, but said thanks as calmly as possible. Elias Manson, the man who's hated me from freshman year, gave me a compliment that didn't have a hidden insult. Today must be a better day than I think, I thought to myself.

"Though I do feel like it'd be better if it was a lighter blue. Didn't expect you to pick an overused color. Navy's a bit overrated," he said with a small shrug.

This motherfuc-

Deep breath, Mari.

"I noticed that your dress shirt is a bit wrinkled." I pointed out. "I guess we both messed up tonight."

I heard him inhale slowly through his nose, and I bit my lip to contain my satisfied grin. When it fell silent again, I finally said what was bugging me. "You mentioned secrets yesterday. Do they have anything to do with what we're about to do?"

I watched him closely after asking, hoping that I could pick something up from him. If he was hiding something severe, he was doing a fantastic job with hiding it.

"I saw Alex the day he was murdered."

My heart rate spiked, and I felt a light, but sharp burst of panic. "How? He was missing for a full week."

"Exactly. I saw him earlier in the day, and his body was found that night. He looked normal, and I just thought he was finally found or was returning home. I didn't think anything of it, but when he saw that I noticed him, he pulled me aside and told me he saw the masked killer. He looked terrified, and looking back on it, I was certain that he was being watched from the way he was shaking."

I exhaled softly and swallowed once, still watching him for any sort of shift in his eyes. Nothing. I couldn't believe it. He saw Alex the day he died, saw that he was scared and didn't say a single word about it.

"This is very important information, Manson." I muttered, doing my best to conceal my anger. "Why is this a secret and how come you haven't said anything to the police about it?"

His eyes softened, and I noticed that his grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Because," he started. "Alex made me promise not to say anything about it. Begged me to promise him."

I fell silent, and my heart sank at the idea of my best friend being so afraid for his life. I looked towards the window and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes.

"You don't believe me," he said quietly.

"I don't know. I just- If he was in danger, why wouldn't he tell me or Dana? Or his family? Or the police? This is all so fucking insane."