Try Not to Die

Chapter Eight

Keira West

Dylan Thompson just kissed me.

And I kissed him back.

The kiss lasts a good amount of time before Alex pulls us away. He must be jealous. I smirk at him, trying to get an emotion out of him. He remains stone-faced.

"Where is Evan?" He asks us.

"He went to explore the house. The dude's convinced that the killer won't go after him." Dylan says, shrugging.

Alex groans.

"I'll go look for him." He says, exiting. Carter, Ashton and Cameron also agree to find him. They split up into pairs and look for Evan.

Alex sighs and sits next to me. 

"What's wrong?" I ask him. 

"So there's this girl I like, but she doesn't like me back.  And chances are I might get killed before I can share my feelings." He says quickly, almost as if he's embarrassed.

"Aww, that's so cute," I say, pinching his cheek, "fight for your life and tell her how you feel."

He blushes.  "Okay, I'll tell her if I survive."

I smile back at him, but deep down inside I'm slightly disappointed.  I wouldn't say that I had a crush on him, but my feelings were definitely growing. 

But it was obvious that the girl he had liked wasn't here.  My hope had faded and dissolved as soon as he had said that.

Whatever, I'm not getting myself involved with guys, especially in this situation.

Alex stares at me. "You have blood all over your shirt." He says. I shrug.

He rips off his sweatshirt (well, not actually rips it off) and gives me it.

"Don't wear bloody clothes." He says.

I smile at him gratefully. Carter and Cameron come back.

"We couldn't find him." They say.

"Don't look." I warn Alex, Carter, Cameron and Colton.  They nod frightfully.

I turn around and take off my shirt and put on the sweatshirt.  I turn around and see the boys turned around except for Carter.

I glare at him.  "What? A hot girl shirtless? How could I say no to that?"  He responds.

"Stop talking." I demand.  He does.

I hear faint footsteps going down the stairs.  Ashton and Dylan burst through the door.

"Evan is dead.  The killer doesn't kill just girls after all." Dylan says. 

"Where?" I inquire.

"The upstairs office." Ashton responds. 

"Let's go." I say.  Everyone follows me and we go to the upstairs office.  Laying there, is Evan's dead body.

He was stabbed in the stomach.  The knife was still there in his stomach.

"Evan?" I whisper defeatedly.

He looks up at me weakly.  He's still alive.

"I'm sorry for everything I did to all of you.  I know who the killer is.  The killer is-"

His eyes roll back in his head and he falls against the floor.  He's dead for real now.

I resist the urge to cry.  Sparkling tears have formed in my eyes.  I ignore it.  I ignore the people around me.

I just witnessed a death.

Adjusting my posture, I sit up straight.  Evan would've wanted us to fight for our life, not sulk at his death.

I pull the bloody knife out of his stomach and close his eyes with my hand. 

A hand grabs mine and helps bring me downstairs to the kitchen again.  I look up to see Ashton, smiling softly at me.

I go to the sink and wash the knife, getting rid of Evan's blood. I feel sick to my stomach.

I feel a presence behind me and I turn around to see Sarah.

"I miss him too." She confesses. "Our families have been friends since we were young. Sadie, Evan and I were like a trio." She says, her eyes brimmed with tears.

I feel horribly guilty. I've spoken to Evan a few times and was his partner in Chemistry in Sophomore year. Why was I so upset when Sarah spent her whole life knowing him?

I shake off my thoughts.  Evan, Lizzy and Emily are deadly.  Are their deaths connected or is it some kind of random decision on who to kill?

I glance down at my injured arm and sigh.  My one goal here is simple.

Try not to die.

Title reference though!

For having this book published for 3 days, #713 in Mystery/Thriller is amazing.

I just want to say that I'm 14 and this is my first novel.  I'm not the best writer out there, but I hope the actually plot is decent for you!

QotC:  Who do you trust more? Summer or Dylan?