Page 2 of Poisoned Pawns (The Gamemakers Trilogy #1)

Ivy- Saying Goodbye

One week later…

Sitting in the pews of the church with Millie on my left and Everly on my right, we listen to the priest’s sermon about the life lost too soon.

Being suspect number one in Katie’s murder changed everything for me.

After being arrested, they took me to the station where they swabbed under my fingernails and forced me to remove the clothes I was wearing for evidence.

It didn’t take long for my mother to arrive with our family lawyer.

They had nothing solid to hold me.Her killer is still at large, and my money is on Oliver.

My gut tells me he knows something, but apparently, he’s been questioned and he left us after a few dances and doesn’t know what happened after that.

Thankfully, I could still attend the university and remain at the sorority house, but being accused of murder has put a target on my back.

People look at me like I’m the devil even though I came out of this as innocent.

Katie’s parents didn’t believe the accusations and even helped with clearing my name.

They knew how close we were. They knew I’d kill for her, not the other way around.

The secrets our families hide–ones even our brothers know about–is haunting.

Our parents think it’s connected to the past, but I don’t.

How could it be when he is fucking dead?

There were no witnesses years ago, nothing!

It’s like history is beginning to repeat itself.

I just hope they’re wrong, and this was some kind of freak accident.

According to Katie’s autopsy, she wasn’t raped and there was no DNA to trace, but she definitely had sex that night.

I just wish I could remember what the fuck happened.

They took my blood along with Katie’s and ran a drug screen where they found a high dose of Rohypnol, the date rape drug.

Everly was dosed too and woke up in some random room completely naked.

She doesn't remember shit that night either. We’ve been trying to piece it together, but we’ve got nothing.

Millie was no fucking help since she left early and said we were still on the dance floor then.

I just can’t believe Katie is gone. They did a closed casket ceremony because of how brutally beaten she was.

It makes me irate that we were drugged and I couldn’t help her.

I can hear her screams at night, and I don’t know if it's my subconscious trying to tell me something or if I really heard her scream while being under the drug- induced sleep.

Tears pour down my face as Mrs. Andrews barely makes it up to the podium to speak about her daughter.

Both of my friends grab my hands as we listen to Debbie sob for her child.

I never in my life thought we would have to bury our best friend.

A girl we called our sister, who was a part of our everyday life.

There’s nothing we didn’t do without one another.

I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had sex in the same room as one another.

We didn’t give a fuck. All we cared about was having fun and living life on the edge.

Until now. Now, I want to find out who hurt her, who took her from us.

We stand as we watch the casket leave to head outside for her burial.

Pew by pew, family and friends follow behind one another out of the chapel and around the back to lay our girl to rest. Katie’s brothers–Louis, Micheal and Caleb–place her casket down and lower it half way in.

We wait at the very end of the line with our white roses in our hands, not ready to say goodbye to our dearest friend.

“You ready?” Millie sniffles, and I shake my head, looking at Everly.

“Never!” she hiccups. Taking a deep breath, the three of us walk over as tears stream down our faces.

“This is not goodbye, it’s see you later, Katie,” Millie says, then throws her rose over the casket.

“See you later, Kate. Love you always,” Everly chokes out, letting her rose fall from her hand.

“I promise you, I will find out who did this. No one hurts my sister and gets away with it. I love you, Katie. Friends forever,” I whisper, sending the last rose down with her as the casket descends.

We walk away, never looking back as the wind picks up around us and the smell of fresh flowers hits my senses, letting me know she's still with us, even if we can’t see her.

Taking a deep breath, we walk back around the chapel and wait for our parents to stop talking when our phones ping simultaneously. Taking them out, we snap our heads up and look at one another.

“Uh, did you guys get the same text?” Millie asks, lifting her phone to show us what hers says. My eyes widen, and I look at Everly, who swallows thickly.

Unknown:

Be careful who you trust. Not everyone is your friend. This is just the beginning. XOXOCheckmate B*tches

“It’s happening again, isn’t it?” Millie asks, fear riddling her face. I look around, checking to see if anyone looks out of the ordinary, but there's too many people. Katie was loved by so many. It’s hard to figure out if Checkmate is actually here or it's another one of their games.

“I fucking hope not. I’m not sure we will survive it this time,” Everly says.

“We tell no one! We will get through this. Fuck Checkmate. We will find out who hurt our girl and end this once and for all!” I state, and they nod. I don’t tell them that Checkmate is the reason I was arrested. They don’t need to live in fear more than they do already.

“For Katie,” Everly says, and we all repeat it together, vowing to find out who did this and make sure they stay dead this time!

We’re coming, and I can’t wait to have their blood staining my hands.