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Chapter Twenty-Eight
It takes me ages to walk to the top of the cliff. The path is long, winding and full of loose stones that don’t work well with my heels. I slip them off and tentatively pick my way along the jagged track, trying to avoid injury from the sharpest rocks. I’m not entirely sure why Michael asked to meet here. It’s a bit morbid, meeting at the site of Lizzie’s death, but I guess something is fitting in visiting there tonight. I’m leaving, not hanging around till morning to see the fallout. My grandmother sent a car, which I spied as I crossed campus, waiting in the drive. All my things are already loaded up. I’d be lying to myself if I said I was 100% glad to be leaving the place. Despite the horrors my sister had to face here, I have good memories rooted here too. No matter what, I’ve come to care deeply for the guys, and it hurts that things had to turn out this way. I’m assuming that they make it out of the fire unscathed. Dear god, I hope they do. I don’t want anyone’s death on my conscience, least of all theirs.
When I finally get to the top of the cliff, it’s dark, and the wind’s getting up - the cape of my dress is swirling all around me. Michael’s already there waiting for me, sat on one of the giant rocks right on the cliff’s edge with his feet dangling down overlooking the ocean.
“Hey,” I call out softly to him. Despite the wind, my voice carries, and his head whips around. He stares at me for a moment, his face unreadable, before speaking.
“Is it done?” he asks quietly.
“Yeah. Almost. Yeah.” I shake my head to clear it, feeling all kinds of mixed up. Now’s not the time to go soft. Now’s not the time for regrets. “I can’t believe I’ve managed it.”
“You’ve done well.” There’s something odd in his voice. I move over to his rock and lean back against it, facing the land while he looks out to sea. I prefer keeping my feet on firm ground. I stare at his back for a moment thinking how easy it would be to push someone off the edge of the cliff, especially if they were sat unawares like he is. I wonder if that was how Lizzie went then quickly shake my head to clear it again. I need to focus.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course Raven.” He turns to look at me.
“Oh, I think you can call me Charlotte tonight. I’m leaving, so it doesn’t make any difference now... Anyway, I wanted to ask, did you tell anyone who I really am?”
“No. Why would I?” He looks at me, and I can see he’s baffled. Good. I wonder how long it’ll last.
“Well, I just thought, with you and Tilly fucking that you might have told her.” I shrug nonchalantly, but I’m watching him like a hawk. His eyes widen in shock for a moment, but he recovers quickly.
“Wh-What?” He coughs and gives a nervous laugh. “That’s absurd.” He’s lying. The single bead of sweat rolling down his temple is a dead giveaway. It’s so clear to me now, and I feel like it’s that final jigsaw piece falling into place. I had my suspicions, but that single salty droplet just confirmed it. Everything suddenly clicks into place for me. I suspected. But now I know.
“That’s what I thought too when I heard you both last night. Well, obviously I heard Tilly calling out ‘Mikey’, but I figured it was you. I confirmed it this morning when I checked the school roster, and unless she’s sleeping with a girl in year 7 who’s the only Mikey on roll, I’m pretty sure it’s you... cute nickname by the way.”
“I... we...”
Michael rapidly blinks at me, and I swear I can see the gears turning in his head, in a, ‘How the fuck do I get out of this one’, kind of a way. I want to laugh. I really do.
“Okay, another question for you,” I plough on. “For how long? All the way back to year 11?” I know in my gut that I’m right.
“Thanks for that. Your nickname was the final 5 letter key I needed to unlock Lizzie’s last journal entry. It’s safe to say she definitely wasn’t feeling suicidal. Although if she had to listen to you and Tilly going at it like a pair of demented walruses, she might just have changed her mind.” I’m on a roll now, unable to stop my mouth running away from me. It always happens when I’m nervous. The snarkier I get, the more I’m covering my feelings up.
His mouth is just gaping open, flapping like a fish out of water.
“You should see your face!” I tell him, fake laughing like it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I get fully to my feet and stand on firm ground, taking a few steps back from the rock he’s still perched on.
“It would be hilarious if I wasn’t confronting my sister’s rapist and murderer.”
I drop that bomb and let it lie, watching him closely. For a moment I think he’s going to deny it. I see him hesitate, swallow, and then it happens; there’s a shift in him. It’s like the veil of him being that nice guy next door drops and suddenly reveals the narcissistic monster he is under it all. There’s a nasty darkness in his eyes, his nose flares and his lips sneer. He gives me a despotic, ‘Fuck you’, stare, and I know it’s game on.
He slowly gets to his feet - like he hasn’t a care in the world like he wasn’t just accused of two of the worst crimes known to man - and stalks towards me. He thinks he’s the hunter, that I’m his prey, but he’s grossly underestimated me.
“Why wouldn’t you tell Tilly who I am?” I ask him. I gulp like I’m nervous and fiddle with my hands. I want him to think I’m stalling for time. I am stalling for time...just not for the reasons he thinks. I can see it now, how narcissistic he is, and I know I can win if I just play him right.
“Because she’s a fucking cunt. You all are,” he spits. “But at least it’s free pussy. There’s only so much you can take by force before the admins start to investigate.” I’m almost shocked by the vehemence in his voice. Almost. But this guy’s a misogynistic asshole. So, of course, he thinks we’re all worthless.
“So you and Tilly have...an arrangement?” I’m disgusted. “What, you fuck until she needs you to drug and rape someone she doesn’t like?” Fuck, that’s fucked up. He raped my sister at someone else’s command? What kind of fucked-up monsters am I dealing with here? I want to drag Tilly from the burning building just to inflict a whole new world of pain on her right now. I don’t even know where I’d begin. I strongly doubt I’d have enough self-control to walk away with either of them still alive though.
He sneers, confirming I’m right, and I want to punch the smugness right off his face.
“I have to admit, I didn’t expect that,” I say with forced calmness. “I thought the drugging and rape was a nasty coincidence, but Tilly truly has you pussy whipped doesn’t she?” My words have the desired effect of riling him up. He turns a nasty shade of purple and sputters.
“I’m not whipped. She doesn’t control me.”
“Really?” I scoff. “Then why keep my secret? She would’ve had a lot of fun with me this year if she knew who I was.”
