Page 35 of Monster's Mystery

We glanced around to see if anyone was paying us attention—they weren’t—and ducked behind a grassy knoll featuring a prominent Moai.

Aiden held me close, nuzzling against my neck. “Are you warm enough? Do you need me to add any thickness to your scarf?”

“I’m fine. It isn’t that cold here. It’s just this drizzling rain that’s a bit annoying.” I wiped at my cheeks ineffectually. “No matter how much I brush the droplets away, more gather.”

“Maybe kissing them away will work,” Aiden murmured, peppering kisses across my cheeks and over my nose. “Hmm. Let me try that again.”

I giggled at the light touches. “You’re so silly. I love it.”

“I loveyou,” Aiden said softly, and kissed me deeply.

My head spun more the longer the kiss lasted, his tongue stroking mine sensually, our breath mingling between us.

“Oh. Sorry,” said a new voice, and we jumped, startled.

“Chuck!” I exclaimed, annoyed at first. But then I looked at him more closely. “Are you okay?”

Aiden remained silent, but somehow managed to tug me closer to his body. Chuck didn’t seem to notice.

His shoulders slumped and he sat down on the grass, running his fingers through the long strands. “It’s been a hell of a year, and today’s only the second day.”

“What happened? Is one of your roommates among the missing students?” I asked.

“Two,” he muttered glumly. “Your friend Hazel was the first, wasn’t she?”

I nodded. “I wish I understood what’s going on. Then we could stop it. When did your roommates disappear?”

“The first was two days ago, the second one today.” He sighed. “I barely got to say hi.”

“Did you arrive with everyone else, or the day before?” I asked.

“I saw Hazel, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Chuck said. “I was... I was actually hoping to talk to Richard that evening, but I saw their fight. He was such an asshole to her that I decided I didn’t want to try to talk to him.” He buried his face on his knees. “And then I didn’t get the chance to try again.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I pulled out of Aiden’s embrace and knelt beside Chuck. When I got closer, I realized he was crying quietly. I rubbed his back. “What did you want to talk to him about? I don’t mean to pry, but my friends and I are trying to figure out what happened that night, and whyhewas killed, but the other students are only being kidnapped.”

“And returned in one piece,” Aiden added.

“Minus their memories,” I corrected.

“Important distinction,” Chuck snarked weakly. “Well, I wanted to talk to him about... About him and me. Not sure if you knew, but we were kinda hooking up around exam time before summer started.”

“No!” I gasped. “Really?”

“Yeah, well, I found out he was using me. Or something. I don’t know.” He blew out a long breath. “It’s not like we’d set boundaries or anything, you know? He can hardly cheat on me if we weren’t a ‘something’ to begin with, right?”

“You’re allowed to feel like he betrayed your trust,” I said softly. “Communication can be difficult.”

“Exactly. Anyway, I broke whatever we had off before we went home for the summer. And then I had months to think about it, and what I wanted. And I wanted to talk to him and find out if he had thought about me at all, and if he maybe wanted to give us another chance.” Chuck stared off in the distance moodily. “I wasn’t in love with him or anything. He was a decent lay. More could have developed if we had given it a chance, you know?”

“And you didn’t get a chance to find out.” I didn’t phrase it as a question, and Chuck seemed to understand that.

“I don’t believe the rumor that Hazel killed him, for what it’s worth,” Chuck said suddenly. He focused on me. “That’s not her style. Maybe tie him up somewhere in his underwear for the teachers to find him or something. But not murder.”

I snorted a laugh. “I don’t think she’d dothateither. She’s not very confrontational. I probably wouldn’t have even heard about the fight if everything else afterward hadn’t also happened.”

“I hope she’s found.”

“Thanks. I’m doing my best.”

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