Kiss and Tell(40)

It happened in a frozen web of terror. Tenley clambered upward, scraping and clawing at the snow, too numb to feel it anymore. Emerson slipped, bumping into her side, making her flashlight falter. The beam swept to their left and there was a flash of waves—seething and openmouthed—before Tenley yanked it back.

“Sydney!” Tenley tried again, but the frost was on her lips and clamping down her tongue. It turned her words into ice. Sydney stretched her arms out over empty black air. Finally, Tenley’s voice came. It cracked through her icy lips and shattered the air.

It happened in screams.

Emerson slipped again, but Tenley flung herself toward Sydney, rock tearing through her jeans. “We’re here, Sydney!” Her fingers grasped at Sydney’s sweater, but it was icy on the rocks, and Tenley couldn’t get a good grip. They both slid along the edge of the cliff.

“Hold on!” Emerson jumped onto the rock, colliding with Tenley. The impact sent all three of them tumbling away from the edge. They landed tangled together in a snowdrift. Emerson was on top of Tenley’s injured leg, making it throb all over again.

“How did you guys get here?” Sydney panted. “The bridge is closed off!” She groaned as she pulled her arm out from under Tenley’s back.

Tenley tried to stand up, but her leg gave way. She collapsed back into the snow, pain knifing through her. Gritting her teeth, she tried again. This time her leg held. “Tim stole his dad’s boat to take us. It was—we almost—” She tried to shake the image out of her head: waves dwarfing the boat, tossing it on massive palms. “But we made it.”

“Tim’s waiting in the boat,” Emerson added. She groaned as she stood up. There was a long scrape on her forehead. Her blood mixed with snowflakes, staining her skin pink. “We just have to climb back down, and we can all get out of here.”

“The darer—it’s Calum,” Sydney gasped. Her face was so pale that she might have blended into the snow, if it weren’t for the purple of her lips.

Tenley flinched. “We know. We sent Josh to tell the police before we left.”

“I thought you were him—Calum,” Sydney whimpered. “I thought he was going to—”

“Going to what?”

The low voice scraped against Tenley. Calum emerged from the snow, curls drenched in white, feet climbing steadily up the rocks. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, but he showed no signs of cold. In fact, he looked perfectly at peace, as if he’d simply gone out for a nighttime stroll. “I told you I’d catch you, Sydney. I just didn’t realize I’d get all three of you at once.” His teeth glowed under the beam of his flashlight when he smiled. “Happy belated birthday to me.”

“There’s three of us, Calum,” Sydney hissed. “And one of you. What do you think you’re going to do?”

Calum’s hand disappeared into the pocket of his pants. It returned holding a slim knife. Silently, Calum unsheathed it, making the silver glint against the snow. “I brought this with me. If I’ve learned anything from the movies, it’s that every villain needs a good backup plan.” He cocked his head to the side. “Though, am I really the villain here? Or is it actually the slut?” His eyes lingered on Emerson. “Or perhaps the bitch?” His gaze traveled to Tenley and she grimaced involuntarily. “Or, the worst culprit of all.” His eyes locked on Sydney. “The liar.”

He lifted the knife, his eyes never leaving Sydney’s face. “Stop him!” Tenley screamed. She switched off her flashlight. Emerson dove for Calum’s flashlight at the same time. One-two: the lights snuffed out.

Calum lunged for Tenley, and she kicked hard with her good leg. His dark form buckled, and something slipped from his grip, landing softly in the snow. The knife. She dove for it, but his arms were longer, and he clutched it first. Tenley could hear him panting as he lunged at Sydney, the silver blade slicing through the air.

“No!” Tenley launched herself at him from behind. She landed on his back, clinging on like a piggyback ride as she gouged at his eyes. “Drop the knife!” she ordered. She could feel skin tearing away beneath her nails. Calum arched his back with a scream, bucking her off instead.

Emerson ran at him before Tenley even hit the snow. The knife swiped at Emerson’s arm as she shoved Calum hard, sending him stumbling backward. Sydney came from the side, punching him in the face with a grunt. Tenley scrambled back to her feet. Her injured leg protested, but adrenaline surged through her, numbing the pain. Separate, Calum had been able to hurt them. But together, they were stronger. They were powerful.

Tenley rammed into Calum, her elbow smashing into his cheekbone with a painful crack. The knife swung wildly as he stabbed blindly at the air.

Emerson grabbed Calum’s hair, yanking him backward. “Get the knife!” she yelled. As Sydney dove for the knife, Tenley kicked Calum right in the gut. Once, twice, three times. And then Calum was buckling over and Sydney was screaming, “I got it,” and the knife was above her head, a trophy glinting in the moonlight.

“Not for long,” Calum growled. He tore out of Emerson’s grip. In the darkness he was nothing but a shadow, but Tenley didn’t need to see his face to know the evil that was on it. This was the person responsible for Caitlin’s and Delancey’s deaths. The person who’d made them all fear for their lives again and again.

“Get him!” she howled. They ran at him from all sides, their combined weight enough to knock him off his feet. Tenley felt the slam as Calum collided with the snow. She was on top of him in an instant. She kneed him in the ribs with all her strength. “Stop,” he croaked.

“That’s enough, Tenley!” Tenley heard Sydney’s scream, but she couldn’t pull away. She flung herself at Calum, again and again, pounding, kicking. For their freedom. For their fear.

“Tenley, stop! We’ve got him!”

But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

For Caitlin. For Delancey.

She hit him again. His blood wet her fists, but still she didn’t stop.

“Tenley! Tenley!”

Arms wrenched her back. “It’s okay,” someone was saying. “It’s okay. I’m here now.” The arms were around her, hugging her tight. Voices rang out nearby, loud and shouting, and suddenly light washed over the island, turning night into day.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” The voice was Tim’s. The arms around her were Tim’s. He pulled her away from the police and the firemen, away from Calum, face bloody and battered as a cop dragged him to his feet, away from Sydney collapsing against her dad, and Emerson crying into Josh’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” Tim said again.

Sirens were blaring now, one after another, until the ground vibrated with their song. “Look at me, Tenley.” Tim’s voice was gruff, and she could hear the whisper of his heartbeat through his shirt. Slowly, she tilted her head up. In the flashing lights, Tim’s face glowed red and blue. Gently, he cupped her chin in his hand. “I have you,” he promised. “You’re safe now.”





EPILOGUE


Eight months later


“It is with great pleasure that I stand before this year’s graduating class!” Principal Howard rested her hands on the lectern and stared out at the seniors and their families gathered before her. A soft breeze rustled the trees nearby, dusting the football field with flowers. “I know that for many of you, this has been a year of hardship and loss. But after darkness comes light, and I’d like to think that, for everyone, today is a bright day. You did it! When you leave this field today, you’ll be ready for your future.”

Sydney clasped her hands together, pressing her new ring into her palm. Her parents had given it to her the night before: a thin gold band dotted with tiny diamonds. “A grown-up ring for our grown-up girl,” her dad had said, and Sydney hadn’t even flinched.

Up on the podium, Principal Howard was still talking, but Sydney was only half-listening. She twisted around in her chair. The crowd was filled with people she knew, but it was Winslow itself that caught her attention. She still remembered the first time she saw the school. She’d been in second grade, and the building had seemed almost monstrous in size. She’d been so sure it would eat her alive. But here she was eleven years later, still in one piece.

A familiar name drew her focus back to the podium. “… like to honor the memory of Caitlin Thomas, Patricia Sutton, and Delancey Crane,” Principal Howard said. “All were exemplary students and highly valued members of the student body. So on behalf of the senior class, I’d like to bestow the Thomas, Sutton, and Crane families with honorary degrees. Winslow wouldn’t have been the same place without your daughters.”

Sydney swallowed back tears as Caitlin’s, Tricia’s, and Delancey’s parents went up to accept the honorary degrees. A few rows up, Emerson looked back at her. Her cheeks were wet, but there was a small, determined smile on her face. Sydney smiled back.

Of all the crazy things about this year, in some ways, this was the craziest: Someone could torch your whole existence, leaving only charred remains behind, and, still, new life could grow from the ashes.