Two Can Play At That Game

7.

 "Brooklyn? What's wrong?" Asked a worried-looking Serena.

But Brooklyn couldn't seem to move. This was exactly why she had been so paranoid the past week. Somebody knew what happened and they were going to use it against her. The person was planning on taking her life. Or sabotaging her and her family's reputation.

Elena sauntered over with an equally worried expression on her face. She glanced down at Brooklyn's phone and took such a sharp intake of breath that she started to cough.

Serena pried the phone out of Brooklyn's hands and skimmed through the message, her lips mouthing the words as her eyes passed them. She looked up at Brooklyn in horror. "What does this mean?" she asked, her voice low and grave.

"I-I don't-" Brooklyn mumbled as she tried to make sense of the situation. She felt like the walls were closing and that the temperature was starting to rise, despite the blizzard raging outside. She shook her head and closed her eyes, chewing on her bottom lip. She tasted some of the lipstick she put on prior to the party.

"Well text them back!" Elena exclaimed, snatching the phone from Serena.

Brooklyn was still frozen in place as Serena snapped her fingers in front of her eyes. "Brooke, this isn't the time to freeze. We need you," she practically begged, her voice thick with desperation. "Please."

The swishing noise of the text going through echoed through the room. Other than that, the it was dead silent.

Blinking a few times, Brooklyn willed herself to shake out of it. Serena was right, her friends needed her. "Where's Lacie?" she choked out, squaring her shoulders. Fake it until you make it, she repeated to herself in her head.

"Right here," Lacie answered, coming forwards. "Did everybody check their phones? I got the same messages." She held up her phone and toyed with it in her hand.

Serena and Elena both slid their phones out of their pockets and looked. Their expressions both were solemn. "I got it," Serena practically whispered. Elena just nodded.

Brooklyn's phone vibrated in her hand. "It's him," she gasped, looking up. As fast as she could, she unlocked her phone and looked through the message.

Elena had asked them who they were and how they knew about Diana.

I WAS THERE THAT NIGHT -X

"What?" Brooklyn asked, mainly to herself. She looked up at her friends. "Nobody knew where we were going, right?"

"I didn't tell anybody, I swear on my life," Serena quickly replied, holding her hands up.

Elena shook her head. "I didn't either."

"Yeah, same," Lacie added.

Brooklyn narrowed her eyes but decided to go with it. She knew that she had to put all her trust in her friends otherwise this X person would easily be able to tear them apart. "Okay," she said, looking down at her phone. "I didn't see anyone on the road with us."

Serena swallowed. "It was pitch black. Somebody could've been driving with their lights off and they could've kept their distance," she offered. She looking accusingly at Elena. "The car isn't the most inconspicuous vehicle."

"Okay, well, there weren't any other cars we could have taken," Elena fired back, crossing her arms defensively.

Lacie came closer so they were standing in a circle. "You were driving that night," she pointed out to Elena. "You should've seen if anybody was following us!"

Brooklyn raised her hand up, signalling for them all to stand down. "Stop!" she all but shouted. Her friends flinched, but kept quiet. "If we're going to accuse each other of messing up, this person will get what they want," she explained in the most firm tone she could manage. "We'll just play along with whoever this is and hopefully we can pay them off or something."