Page 57 of Stutter

“Take me. Get me into the bell tower.” I rush. “We don’t have much time.” I look at my girl. “Can you go with us, or do you need to sit down?”

“Fuck that. We don’t leave her. The person that dropped Ri screamed Raven’s name. We’re not leaving her alone.” Jonas whispers harshly.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

“What the fuck happened?” Damon rushes out when he sees us leaving and going toward the back, where the abandoned chapel connected to the building stands in almost beautiful ruins. Vines crawl up the side of it, and if I weren’t more preoccupied in finding out what’s up in the belfry, I’d want to dig into the ghosts Rayne-Moore keeps hidden.

Jonas quickly explains everything as he finds a boarded up opening and tugs it three times.

“Wait.” I say, noticing the faint boot print when he moves it. “Fuck. This is a crime scene. Let me take a picture but everyone be fuckingcareful.” I hiss. “Look where you’re going and don’t contaminate anything. Let your feet slide when you step so the bottom of your shoes can’t be identified.”

One silent nod from everyone and I take the picture with my phone, and we ascend the concrete, spiral staircase. Nobody touches the railing, and we take great fucking care to not step where there’s drops of blood. Whether it’s Riordan’s or the perpetrator’s I’m not sure, but as we get closer to the actual steeple, the blood leads to the arched window that looks over the entirety of the campus.

“George.” Jonas whines and I look at him with an arched brow as Raven rubs his back, shaking her head at me, letting me know now is not the time.

The place is a mess, and I pull my phone out, snapping picture after picture. Old crates are scattered about, turned over, and it’s dusty, but there doesn’t seem to be much else in here. The blood on the ground is littered but looking at the mess, it’s sufficient to say, “They fought.”

Jonas looks around and says, “Good.”

“Didn’t you want him gone? He’s a Prescott, isn’t he?” I ask.

Raven shakes her head, pulling her mittens off.Tyler was the one that hurt me. I needed Chase gone to get to him.

“But he had plans on hurting you, Riordan, I mean, didn’t he? He set the house on fire with you inside, Raven.”

She grimaces at my use of her name, but this is entirely serious. Damon stays quiet in the corner, looking at it all and Jonas won’t stop staring at the gargoyle with the rope around its neck as we hear sirens in the distance.

“We should go, get away from here and reconvene at a later time.” I say, pulling Raven to me and slipping her mittens back on quickly.

________

We make it down the stairs in time, having to hide behind one of the rotten pews while cops pull away the loose plywood where the entrance to the belfry is, taking pictures exactly where I did. We stay crouched, walking on haunches as Jonas leads us out. I should not have ran those three miles this morning. My thighs are practically quivering by the time we make it out, past the garden full of weathered statues and we make it into a graveyard leading toward the woods.

When I stand to my full height, Raven doubles over and grabs her leg, rubbing it harshly, pain etched on her face. She shivers and simply says, “Hurts,” before Jonas squats before her and she climbs onto his back.

“I’m taking her home.”

“Was admin ever made aware she moved off campus?” I ask.

Raven shakes her head.

“Jonas you’re going to need to take her to her dorm. They’re going to come asking questions.”

“How do you know?”

“Because there were probably over three dozen witnesses that heard what they think isRiordancrying out her name before being forced off.” He looks like he’s about to argue, but I shake my head at him and his mouth shuts. “Listen to me andtrustme – they’re going to come looking for her to ask her questions. It’s not the first incident between them.”

“You make it sound like it’s her fault this happened.” He growls.

“No, what they’re going to do is try to ask her what happened so they can get a better idea on if this was a suicide or not. It will be better if you’re there with her to answer. Do not let them interrogate her alone and do not, for the life of you, let them know she doesn’t live on campus. You give them as little as they need to know.”

He nods, taking my words into consideration. “Okay. There’s just one problem. Her dorm is empty but her bed and the furniture the school provides. It doesn’t look lived in and that’s fucking weird for a college student that’s been here for months.”

“Damon, is the house in your name?”

He nods.

I say the next words without thinking. “Take her to Damon’s.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “When they find you, because they will, they’ll find a way to corner you when you least expect it, tell them you took her to her former psychiatrist’s home immediately. You do not give them more, and don’t give them less.” I look at Raven with grief for the next words about to leave my lips. “In the state of Massachusetts, her case is well known. They’ll chalk it off as her… having an episode. And they’ll believe that and shouldn’t bother you anymore.”

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