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“It wasn’t that hard of a question,” Becca says.
Oh, but it is. It doesn’t take into account the way I had treated Vivian.
“No,” I say. “It wasn’t the same.”
“I think we’re past lying to each other, Em,” Becca says. “I knowwhat happened right before the three of them disappeared. I was in the cabin next to Dogwood, remember? The windows were open. I heard every word.”
My heart falters in my chest, skipping like a scratched record.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You painted the cabin door. And put the birds inside. And you’ve been watching me.”
Becca jerks the bottle from my hands. I’ve been officially cut off.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Someone’s been toying with me ever since I got here,” I say. “At first, I thought it was all in my head. But it’s not. It’s really happening. And you’ve been doing it.”
“I didn’t write on your door,” Becca replies with a huff. “I have absolutely zero reason to mess with your head.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because it’s the truth. I’m not judging you for what you told Vivian that night. In fact, I wish I’d said some of it myself. She definitely had it coming.”
I stand, feeling shockingly unbalanced. I look to the bottle still gripped in Becca’s hand. Only a third of the whiskey is left. I have no idea how much of that is my doing.
“Just stay away from me for the rest of the summer.” I start to walk away, trying hard to stay upright as I call over my shoulder, “And as for what I said to Vivian that night, it wasn’t what it sounded like.”
Only it was. Most of it. All that Becca’s missing is context.
What she actually overheard that night.
Why it happened.
And how it was so much worse than she could ever imagine.
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO
“Where’s Viv?” I asked Natalie, who merely shrugged in response.
Allison did the same. “I don’t know.”
“She was just here.”
“And now she’s not,” Natalie said. “She probably went back to the cabin.”
But Vivian wasn’t in Dogwood, either, which we discovered when we returned a few minutes later.
“I’m going to look for her,” I announced.
“Maybe she doesn’t want to be found,” Natalie said as she scratched at a new round of mosquito bites.
I went anyway, heading to the latrine, which was the only logical place I thought she could be. When I tried the door, I found it locked. Strange. Especially at that late hour. I took a walk around the side of the building, pulled along by curiosity. When I reached the gap in the planks, I heard the sound of running water coming from inside.
The shower.
Humming just beneath it was another noise.
Moaning.