There were only three of them—two cis guys and a girl, all of them seniors too—and I’d seen Liva walk up to the sports field. I knew I wouldn’t be alone—
I thought I wouldn’t be alone.
Of course, that makes it sound like a far more considered decision than it was; it was anger, mostly. And protectiveness. And being worn down by the pain of a subluxated shoulder.
I should have been smarter.
I shouldn’t have trusted so foolishly.
I thought Liva was a friend. I thought she would have my back. That was the worst thing. When I think about that afternoon, I don’t think about the people who took my punches and then beat me up. I know they are mean-spirited and shortsighted, and I don’t want to give them the pleasure of having hurt me.
But I saw Liva from a distance. I saw her watch when they took my crutches and broke the cuffs off, which somehow hurt more than when they broke my wrist. I saw Liva stand there and stare. I saw her look away. She didn’t do anything.
That was the moment everything shattered. The wounds have healed, but the scars are still there. Perhaps it’s good this is all ending. Perhaps it’s good this’ll be the last time we are together like this, figuring out clues, eating the dinner that Liva laid out, not noticing as the hours slip by. Friendships aren’t meant to last forever, right?
Let me know if there’s anything you need. Physically. Emotionally.
* * *
As the night passes, I keep coming back to that moment. I’ll glance around the room and find Ever staring at me. The moment our eyes meet, they’ll blush and turn away, arms wrapped tightly around their chest.
The game progresses around me, and outside, the sun has set. The shadows in the room have lengthened and the fireplace is burning low. Between the dark corners and the yellow light, it almost looks like a magician’s tower. Next to Ever, Carter and Maddy are sitting around a puzzle box, trying to find more information. There are fragments of paper spread out on one of the tables. Carter’s fingers are wrapped around a mug.
“…from the letters, it’s clear that Councilwoman Yester had been in talks with the Leah Family, one of the ruling families of Gonfalon’s underbelly. Not a family a council member would usually be in contact with. More than that, most of the evidence seems to have been carefully burned to ashes.”
“We really need to open up this chest,” Maddy says.
“Wait, wasn’t the Leah Family behind that disappearance in the library?” Carter asks.
Liva walks toward them carrying a plate of cookies from the kitchen. “Oh yeah! That time when C almost lost his arm because he didn’t pay attention to traps. That was fun!”
Carter scowls. “You have a weird concept of fun.”
“Your arm got sucked into a stone wall. You should’ve seen yourself.” She offers him the plate.
“Also,” Maddy adds softly, “didn’t you say you had everything under control?”
Ever can’t suppress a smile, and Carter rolls his eyes. We’ve all come to learn Maddy’s softest words pack the hardest punch.
“Hey, let’s open this chest, shall we?”
I wander a little closer as Maddy picks up the puzzle box and sets to work trying to open it. It’s a bit of a stereotype, getting the autistic girl to solve the puzzles, but she’s also far better at figuring out the solutions than any of us are. More importantly, she likes it. She chose to be the puzzle solver. And she’s intensely focused, as she shifts the puzzle box back and forth, twisting and turning it.
Her hands tremble. She has her tongue between her teeth and a frown creases her forehead.
Twist.
Click.
The moment the last piece of the box shifts into place and Maddy reaches to open the lid, the fireplace behind her roars to life.
A flash—like lightning.
A crash.
The flames jump from a light simmer, bright enough to add mood to the room, to licking tongues, bright orange and aggressive. Dancing against the glass as if they’re trying to escape.
“Hell no.” Carter pushes back away from the flames—and his mug goes clattering to the ground. Ever yelps and jumps too.
I stare at the fire, mesmerized, my heart rate at least three times the normal speed. I want to step closer, and I want to back away, and between the two I’m frozen. “I—I don’t think it’s supposed to do that.”
It’s an electric fireplace, it should be under control. There’s no way it should be able to burn so…violently.
“You think?” Ever’s voice ranges three octaves in two words. “Someone should cut the power. Liva, find the fuse box!”
The flames grow higher, unreasonably so. They’re crackling, or perhaps that’s the electricity itself.
Carter backs farther away from the fireplace. “What if it explodes?”
It looks possible. The flames are beating against the glass now. The whole room has been turned a terrifying red in its glow, and it’s already starting to become swelteringly hot in here.
“Maddy, get back here.”
Liva stands over the overturned plate of broken cookies, scattered across the floor. They’re mixed with shards of Carter’s mug. She blinks and blinks again. Her hands are trembling, and she’s gone pale. Then she starts to laugh, and she shakes her head. “Screw you, ghosts.” She crunches the cookies under her feet and makes for the hallway.
Over the roaring of the flames, we all hear a door open. A click.
A yelp. “Why are there rats in my cabin?”
Ever scrambles over to help, but I don’t want to know.
Then…
The flames dissipate. The room goes dark. She’s cut the power to the whole cabin, and
