Chapter 23: Accident

Chapter 23: Accident

The silence in the car sat heavy. Chyler's eyes remained on the rood, her fingers drumming lightly on the steering wheel as Capri stared ahead at the blinking taillights of the traffic. Her thoughts were spiraling.

"This is crazy," she said, breaking the silence.

"I know but we can't just sit back at the house and wait for this thing to hit," Chyler responded. "It's likely to be you or Caden next. If there is even a sliver of a chance that we can stop it, I'm not taking chances."

"What if we talked to your Captain? Maybe he will put us in protective custody or something." Her voice was filled with urgency.

"He won't, believe me. He will need to have some really solid evidence of what we are talking about before he considers that. Otherwise he will just use you as bait and that's if he believes you." Traffic began to move steadily again and Chyler drove forward. "Right now the only choice we have is try and stop it from happening again."

"I just..." Capri murmured. "I never thought I'd be caught in something like this. I thought monsters stayed in fiction."

"Maybe," Chyler glanced at her. "But the real ones hide behind beautiful smiles and they still kill."

"Why us though? Why specifically us?" The question lingered in the air. "I'm trying to rake my mind but I have no clue."

Chyler stretched her hand across the console and took Capri's. "We will figure it out," she reassured her but inwardly she knew this was beyond even her.

A few minutes later, they tracked Caden down to a rooftop club in the heart of the City. The music and laughter all felt wrong with the horror hanging over their lives. They found him draped over a booth, whiskey in his hand and friends surrounding him in drunken chatter.

Chyler tapped him and stood a step away. The moment Caden recognized her, his face twisted in a condescending look.

"You again?" he slurred and attempted to stand. "What is this, some kind of obsession with me?" he chuckled.

Capri stepped in. "We need to talk. Privately," she added looking around the group.

"Don't you think we have done just about enough with the privacy, wifey?" His friends roared with laughter.

Chyler was losing her patience. "We came to warn you, Caden. Whoever is behind this killings is following a pattern. You might be next. You or Capri. We don't know who they will choose next."

Caden laughed and staggered into the booth. "This is hilarious," he cackled. "First I'm a murderer, now I'm a murder target? Which is it, Chyler? Do pick a lane."

"Look, you don't have to believe us but maybe stop downing so much whiskey and watch your back," Capri said.

Caden raised his glass in a mock salute. "Thanks for the tip, Officer Suspended. And Useless wife."

"Caden, please..." Capri tried, her voice gentler.

He waved her off. "Save it, Capri. I'm not going to spend my life being afraid just because some of our old friends forgot how to stay alive."

Capri wasn't about to say something else but Chyler took her hand and pulled her back. "He is not going to listen. Let's go get you to safety."

"There's no such thing as safe anymore," Capri muttered.

"No, not right now. But we've got to try."

They returned to the mansion. Chyler double-checked every window and door then made sure the security alarm was activated before she curled up beside Capri on a couch. They ate dinner quietly with a movie on that neither of them really followed until they both fell asleep right there, their hands entwined.

★★★

Morning brought a strange kind of peace. The house was untouched and everything had been still and quiet all night. Chyler stood in the kitchen by the window talking to Brye.

"I'm sorry I had to reschedule our drinks date. Capri needed me," she apologized.

"It's fine," he responded. "Honestly, it's hard to party with all this cuckoo crazy going around. I think the best thing for me is to stay far away from your '010 lot because, you all are cursed."

Chyler laughed softly. "You might be right about that."

"Alright. I'll see you later boo. Take care." He threw her phone kisses before he logged off.

"Brye?" Capri asked, joining her with freshly brewed coffee. "I like him. He is fun."

"You don't know the end of it," Chyler smiled. "He is the only person in my life who doesn't make me feel like a failure. Since I met him... best years of my life."

"I love that for you," Capri smiled them kissed her, lingering a moment longer and then leaned her head against her chest. Chyler held her there. "Where do we go from now?"

"We take a minute at a time... stay guarded."

★★★

Days passed. Then a week and another. There were no new deaths. No blood chilling messages on Chyler's phone or anywhere. The police had questioned every name in that class list that had been there but still, the killer hadn't been found.

Tension eased slowly and the narrative shifted. That maybe the deaths weren't connected at all and whoever had sent that message at the memorial had just been playing a sick mind game. The department declared the investigations closed and everyone was free to return to their regular lives.

Chyler couldn't believe it. The sick feeling in her stomach still gnawed deep. It wasn't over until they had the killer behind the bars. But what could she do now? She had no choice but to watch the people scatter and return to their fast progressing lives living her stuck in her puddle once again. Even Capri who was supposed to leave with Caden.

To say their goodbyes, they planned a small get-together which only a few of their classmates attended. The others fled in fear that maybe being close was the reason they were being killed. Drinks and laughter poured to mask the fun and Brye, through Capri's invitation to join them, crashed in like a wave decorated in sass and charm as usual.

"I just want to say," he announced over their second round of drinks. "This girl-on-girl energy? Fire emoji wowies. You two are giving!"

Capri laughed, shaking her head. "Please."

"No really. So what now?" he turned to her with a pout. "You are going to ditch my girl and go back to your Bev' Hills lifestyle, iced coffee and a sus husband?" Chyler winced and Capri looked down. "I won't forgive you for it," Brye added grinning. "And Caden? What's he doing with a lesbian anyway? Are you sure he is straight?"

"He is as straight as they come," Capri said, half laughing.

"Then how about I turn him gay? I could remodel him. Let me try," he insisted and slurped hard on his drink through a straw.

The group erupted in laughter but Chyler and Capri exchanged a glance that said everything they had left unspoken. This could be their last goodbye.

Later that night, Chyler drove a mildly drunk Capri home. The mood was quiet and heavier now that the party was over. They walked inside then upstairs. Neither of them said a word but when Chyler reached for the covers to get into bed, Capri reached for her hand and pulled her into a kiss.

"I know we have a lot to talk about..." she said pulling back a little. "But for tonight, can we just... make love and not talk?"

"Yes," Chyler nodded. "For tonight."

Neither of them held back. Not for fear of the future they were walking into, not for the distance that was likely to follow them. Between them was just the ache of love they would hold onto forever.

Deep into the night, the ringing of a phone jolted them from sleep. Capri sat up in bed, eyes squinting as she answered. "Hello?" Chyler leaned on an elbow watching her. Capri's expression changed almost instantly, her mouth parted, color draining from her face. "What?" she breathed. "Where?"

"What is it?" Chyler asked sitting up in alarm.

"That was Sycamore General," Capri said shakily. "Caden was involved in an accident." A beat passed. "It's bad."