16 Lies

Chapter 14: Realization

Presents don't really mean much to me. I don't want to sound mawkish, but - it was the realization that I have a great many people in my life who really love me, and who I really love - Gabriel Byrne

I woke up hearing voices and a faint beeping sound. My vision became a little more clear, and there I saw Detective Fields, Hollows, and Heather. I made a small groaning sound and saw Heather rush over to me.

"Jake! Thank God you're ok."

"South. Where's South?"

"Calm down, you were in a fire." Hollows said.

"Don't tell me to calm down. Now, where is South?"

"We don't know." Fields said.

"What the fuck you mean you don't know?"

"South wasn't outside so we have reasons to believe..."

Fields gave me a sympathetic look. Please don't say it.

"We have reason to believe South never made it out of the fire."

Those words hit me. I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that South is dead.

"Heather, you were in there with her, right?" Jake asked.

"Yeah."

"Was she hurt? Did she look like she was far behind?"

"I rolled you out on a cart. South broke her foot from the explosion."

"And she stayed behind?"

"Yeah, she did."

I was trying to think of all the reasons why South was still alive and was somewhere. Then I thought about the murders, and how Heather thinks she's in the middle of it.

"Heather, didn't you say South had a motive for killing Sasha, Adam, and Amy?"

"Yeah."

"What did you say about them?"

"Sasha bullied her, Adam tried to kiss her, and Amy cheated to be better than her."

"Ok, so they all did her wrong. That doesn't explain why she's not here."

"If they all did her wrong, then what did Cole Mildred do to her?" Hollows asked.

Heather and I looked at each other, both looking suspicious.

"Do you 2 know anything?" Fields asked

"Heather, we have to come clean."

"No! My parents will kill me!"

"Is that really worth risking South's chance of survival?"

"If she's even alive."

We all looked at Hollows, giving him death glares.

"Look, if you know the reason why Cole was targeted now would be the best time to come clean." Fields said.

Heather took a deep breath.

"It was 2 years ago, and I did something to South."

*

I woke up with a raging pain in my head. I looked around me and saw I was in a basement. The walls had mold, the ceiling was leaking, and the floors were cracked. I remember this basement. This was the basement from when Jason...

"No. No! Not again! Hey! Let me go! Help me!"

I began to hear my cries for help 2 years ago.