Page 101 of Grave Matter

“No!” I yell, trying to hold on to Lauren. “No, I’m not going to be alone with you people. You’re murderers!”

“You’re overreacting, Sydney,” Everly says in her calm voice. “It’s okay, everyone here knows that you’re prone to such things.”

I shake my head in confusion. “What do you mean everyone here knows?” I stare at Lauren. “What did they tell you?”

She just stares at me, blinking.

“They know you’ve been through a lot,” Everly says, coming closer. She looks at Lauren and gestures with her head for her to go. Lauren looks torn. “It’s okay, Lauren. You’re a good friend. But clearly she didn’t see Clayton in the tree. None of that makes any logical sense. If you don’t believe us, we have logs of the seaplane. We have his flight information from Vancouver back to Montana. We would be happy to show you, but first we have to deal with poor Sydney.” She pouts at me.

“Fuck you!” I yelp and try to run at her, but Michael jumps in front of me and with a quick maneuver wrenches my arms behind my back.

“Everyone out!” Michael bellows. “David, escort them all to their rooms.”

David tries, but it’s like herding cats, none of the students want to go anywhere.

“Don’t leave me alone with them,” I plead.

“That’s enough Sydney,” Everly snaps. She looks at everyone. “As you can see, she’s in need of treatment and TLC. Please, go back to your rooms. We’re just going to check her over in the nurse’s office. We’ll release her when we’re done.”

“Now!” Michael barks, and that’s enough for everyone to jump and then start slowly shuffling out of the room.

“You need to calm down,” Everly says, turning her back to everyone as she brings out a needle from her coat and jabs it in my arm. “There. Now we can take you to get your rabies shot. You’re due for your last one.”

I feel the shot almost immediately. The room starts to swim and my knees buckle. It’s only then that I notice Michael’s dark shirt has been splattered with blood.

“You’re going to be okay,” Everly says as the world starts to get fuzzy. “You’re having an episode. But don’t worry, Nurse Everly is going to make it all better.”

CHAPTER 25

My mind keeps slippingin and out of reality. One minute, I’m floating in darkness, an eternal void, and the next, I’m being dragged down the stairs, Everly on one side of me, Michael on the other. I can hear the students asking if I’m going to be okay. I can hear them asking each other if I really am crazy. One of them mentions that I tried to attack Everly and I’ll probably be reprimanded, maybe sent home.

But I’m not taken to the nurse’s office. Suddenly, the door is opening, the shutters gone, and I’m brought outside into the cool night air. The mist is damp against my skin, and I try to breathe, try to think of what I need to do.

I need to be free of them. Yes. I need to escape.

They start pulling me toward the lab.

I dig my heels in best I can, but it’s a pathetic attempt.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I hear Kincaid roar.

My heart skips a beat.

He’s here, he’s here.

I try to lift my head to look at him, but I can only stare at the muddy ground where his black combat boots come into view.

Is that…blood splattered on them?

Fear twists into me like a knife.

I remember that Kincaid lied to me about Clayton.

Oh god, what has he done?

“You’re a little late, doctor,” Michael says coldly. “She’s breaking.”

“She’s fine,” Kincaid says, and he steps forward to grab me, but Michael blocks him.

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