Apex

24 | jurassic

JULY 11            

DAKOTA

It was nearing two o'clock in the morning when I finally managed to slip outside for some fresh air. The sidewalk outside the hospital was calm and empty, a stark contrast to what was inside.

In true Washington State fashion, rain clouds had crept in to obscure the previously clear night sky. I stared up at the foggy darkness and blinked into the soft drizzle. The rain seemed to summon the fresh and salty scent of the sea further inland. For a moment, I was almost capable of forgetting the horrors of the night and all that remained unsolved.

After my brief physical evaluation, Sheriff Wakeman replaced the doctor to ask me more tedious questions. There wasn't any insightful information that I was willing to provide to her, and she eventually left me alone.

The death of Zachary Healy was the first murder investigation on Friday Island in the last thirty years. Speeding tickets and some DUI charges were more commonplace, not dead bodies. However, everything that was considered to be commonplace changed two months ago. I despised how everything bad that happened on the island linked back to Apex.

Details swam into focus inside my head. The night was beginning to make more sense in some ways, but even less in others. For starters, my mom was the one to tell me that Albert had turned himself in to the police. The guy claimed to have been coerced into killing the orca. I could only assume that Mr. Nakamura or the McGoverns informed her since she certainly hadn't received the information firshand.

Next, there was Maud. Whether she was dead, dying, or going to pull through had yet to be determined. It hurt my head to think about it.

I figured that this was the calm before the storm. The night cast a spell of uncertainty over what had happened, but the sun would rise in a few short hours, and the destruction would be on display for everyone to see. But for now, there was still some darkness left to burn before dawn.

The sliding doors whizzed open behind me, and the McGovern clan walked through. When Allix saw me, she said a few quiet words to her family and joined me on the bench beneath the awning. Droplets of rain rolled off the sloped edge and splattered on the sidewalk.

As we sat in silence for a few minutes, I noticed that Allix was no longer wearing her black jumpsuit and denim jacket. I assumed her parents had brought her clean clothes the way mine had. I also noticed that dark circles were already beginning to form beneath her blue eyes.

"Was I supposed to see it coming?" I eventually asked, a mangled laugh escaping me. "Brenna was supposed to be different from all of the other self-obsessed maniacs in Hollywood, and she's not. She's fucking not."

Allix pursed her lips and twisted a little to face me. "Brenna got backed into a corner. I think I understand why she did what she did, and I want her to know that."

I gaped at her. Her tone said that she was earnest, but she couldn't be.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked. I heard the shock in my voice, and wondered if she could too.

"She was trying to protect herself," Allix explained, her capricious nature making a sudden reappearance. It seemed I was egotistical enough to believe that things would be different after that morning at the beach. That things would be different with me.

"You know what she did to Maud," I said, my voice low and accusatory. "How can you even begin to consider defending her?"

"Because if I was in her shoes, I think I would've done something similar."