To Tell An Altswood Lie (The Altswood Saga #3)

Chapter 14 - Trespass

Chapter 14 - Trespass

Monday morning came with a heatwave. Even the birds, who were usually a symphony during school hours when everyone was trying to concentrate in their classrooms, were hiding away in the shelter of the trees. The school gardens were blissfully silent.

And I was sitting in plain view, on a bench, tapping my feet impatiently.

"Where the hell are you?" I muttered, checking my phone.

The bell had rung five minutes ago. I had said goodbye to Annabelle in the hallway, walked towards my classroom, then backtracked when no one was watching, slipping out of the school and into the gardens. The less people that realised I was absent, the better. That way, when we were done, we could simply slip back like we were never gone.

"Be careful," Annabelle had warned quietly, when we were lingering by the lockers before the bell. She knew that it was best if she and Jules stayed in school. It would look less suspicious if only two of us were missing rather than all four.

"When am I not?" I had joked. I was trying to brighten the very illegal aspect of what we were planning to do. Annabelle was not buying it.

"I'm serious." Annabelle rubbed her eyes, clearing grit in the corners. "I'll do whatever I can to help you solve this thing, I swear, but I need to know that you realise there's a line somewhere. Even if we haven't reached the line yet, it exists."

The problem was, even if I was constantly looking out for the line, how would I know when I had crossed it? I wanted to clear my name and I wanted to unmask a killer, but how far was too far? Today we were breaking into someone's house. Tomorrow, would we be willing to tie Douglas to a chair and point a knife at his throat until he talked?

I didn't voice any of this to Annabelle. I only nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I got you."

Annabelle examined my face for a long second. She could see something was still bothering me. When she placed her hands on her hips wordlessly, I caved.

"I feel like I don't know what I'm doing anymore," I admitted in a rush. "Even if we couldn't save all the people that died under Rebekah and Joshua, we almost knew what we were dealing with, you know?"

"You did your best," Annabelle sighed. "Luca, you can't expect yourself to keep up with every killer that hits Altswood." She paused then, grimacing at what she had just said, grimacing at how normal it had become for Altswood to host a killer at large.

"Still," I sighed. "I don't like it. I don't like what this killer is doing. The rules have changed and now I don't know how to play."

"We'll work it out," Annabelle promised. "Even if I want to shit myself from fear everyday, we will. I'm not going to let you and Gabriel get locked up for a crime you didn't commit, and no one else is going to die."

I threw my arms around her shoulders, overcome with sudden emotion as I squished my head against her arm. "I'm so glad we're best friends."

Annabelle snorted, but she sounded like the sentimental sap was getting to her as well.

"Alright, come on, people are staring."

After that, she had to go to class, and I steeled myself to look like I had every right to march out of the school hallway.

In present time, I opened my text messages, and started composing an angry draft.

"You bumbling egg," I muttered, reciting my words as I tapped them in, "I said, 9AM on the dot, and now it's 9:06AM, please work on your time management issues—"