Page 43 of Psycho

Declan was busy adjusting himself while I let Will in. Will wore a heavy jacket over his blazer, his brown hair coiffed to the side. His jaw was freshly shaven, and he looked ridiculously good. “Am I interrupting something?” Will asked, tossing me a grin after he glanced at Declan.

“Hey,” I spoke with a shrug once the door was closed, “I offered Declan a quickie, but he didn’t want you standing out in the hallway all by your lonesome.” I plopped down on my bed, giving both brothers a chuckle. Declan stared at me like I was crazy, while Will seemed amused.

Oh, this little Thanksgiving break might be more fun than I thought. A nice reprieve from the constant worrying on campus. The Briggs home must have high tech security or something, right? No Ray popping up out of nowhere, like some long-forgotten daisy.

“I could always step outside again,” Will offered.

“No, that’s okay. You’re here now. If there’s a quickie, you’ll just get to watch.” Oops. There I went, talking without a filter. My mind was still in the gutter, obviously. Life and death situations made me a horny freak. What could I say?

Declan let out a nervous chuckle, while Will still grinned. “I know why you want to prolong this. You’re nervous about going to our house. It’s okay, Ash, I promise you it’s not nearly as intimidating as it seems. The last guest that was in our house was…well, I was going to make a joke, but then I remembered it was Sabrina.”

Right. That was a sobering sentence if ever there was one.

Will coughed as Declan put on clothes. He turned to the dorm door, running a hand down it. I was at his side the next instant as he asked, “Still getting notes taped to the door?”

“No,” I said. “With Sawyer down and out, the place has been quiet.” Will and I each looked at each other at that, because we both knew that didn’t necessarily mean it was over. This could very well be the calm before the storm—and the storm might not even involve other students. It might just involve Ray.

The storm might not even come for Declan; it might come full-force for me.

Will’s voice lowered into a bare whisper, “And you haven’t heard anything from…” He trailed off, not wanting to say my ex’s name. Couldn’t blame him there.

“No,” I whispered back. “He’s been quiet, too.” Which I found odd. So insanely odd. A psycho like him usually didn’t wait too long, but then again, he’d watched me practically my entire time at Hillcrest. Maybe, after getting off on that technicality, he’d learned a bit of patience.

Declan was in the process of sliding on a shirt. “What are you two whispering about over there?”

“Nothing important,” Will said, sounding very believable. “Just making some bets on who’s going to eat the most turkey.” A small fib that came to him easily, and quickly too. The little lie made me look up at him with a quizzical expression on my face. Will noticed that I stared, and his hazel eyes met mine, unabashed.

Had I ever heard Will lie before? He was…very, very believable. Huh.

“Oh, come on,” Declan said from the other side of the room, oblivious to the staring contest happening between Will and I. “We all know the one here with the biggest gut is Ash. No contest.”

Okay, that comment made me tear my gaze away from Will and stare at Declan with an open mouth.

Declan was practically tripping over his own feet to rush to my side and say, “I was kidding. You’re too skinny. Eat as much turkey as you want.” And then he gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek, our earlier passion but a memory thanks to Will’s sudden presence.

“Grab your bags,” Will said. “Time to head out.” Though he spoke to both of us, his hazel stare lingered on me, making me feel…confused. I didn’t particularly like the fact that he’d lied so easily, but I knew it was a stupid thing to think about. After all, I’d lied to them all about Ray, and that was something huge. It probably meant nothing. Just me overthinking things. It’s what I did.

I grabbed my backpack, Declan swung his bag around his shoulders, and soon enough we were leaving. As we rode the elevator down, I checked my phone and found that Travis had already responded, though I didn’t expect anything less when it came to him. If I told him to jump, he’d quickly reply with how high?

Travis was going to look for Sabrina’s other diary. I didn’t know why, but I felt like I needed to see it, to read it, to know, without a doubt, what happened to her. This mystery surrounding her death, her possible suicide, made me question things again, and I didn’t like it. I wanted to be sure. I wanted to know if someone else in her life had been her killer, or if she’d really been so depressed she hung herself and no one had been there to keep her from doing it.

That…that was a depressing thought. I used to think I’d always have Kelsey there for me, if I ever spiraled that low, but now? Now I couldn’t help but wonder. It’d been almost a month since I talked to her.

How long was I going to let what happened step in between our friendship? We’d been friends for years, ever since elementary. The rift between us wouldn’t last forever, but it would last a bit longer. At least until Ray was out of the picture. When I was finally safe.

We filed in Will’s car in the turnaround and we were off. I sat in the backseat, watching as the scenery rolled by. The weather had gotten noticeably cooler these past few weeks, though we hadn’t had snow yet. This area, from what I understood, didn’t get much snow. The weather was usually temperate here.

Though Will and Declan kept up conversation, I was too lost in my own head. Me, finally being safe from Ray. That would only happen if Ray was dead, because it was clear the police couldn’t do shit to him. And in order for Ray to be dead, someone had to make the final blow, because that asshole would never string a rope around his neck and kill himself. No, Ray wasn’t that kind of person. He’d kill other people, but not himself.

No, in order for Ray to die, someone had to kill him.

I suspected Travis was a bit like Ray in that aspect, and with the conversations he had with his older brother, it was impossible not to imagine him doing it. Travis, taking the bloody lead and ending Ray once and for all. In all honesty, I would love that.

Eh, both love and hate it. Love it because it would remove Ray from the picture, and hate it because then I’d know for sure Travis was just another psychopath I was letting into my bed.

Frankly, if someone had to do it, it should be me. I was the one who brought Ray here. I was the reason Will was attacked. Everything was because of me, so I should be the one to end it. Ray had tried to mold me into him, make me just like him.

If he wanted a killer, he’d get a killer.

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