"Well, enjoy prison, Saige," Elias says from behind me.
"Maybe…he's still alive. We should call an ambulance!"
"Oh, good, there's Nolan," Dax says as Nolan steps out into the yard. "Hey, Nolan! Is the dude Saige pushed off the balcony still alive?"
The way he speaks—his intonation, everything about it—is so casual and dismissive, it's chilling. It feels like I'm dreaming,and then I almost convince myself I am. But then Dax grabs my shoulder and squeezes, grinning at me.
That feels real. Hauntingly real.
I wait, horrified, while Nolan approaches Miles's body, placing two fingers to his neck.
After a few excruciatingly long seconds, he looks up at us, shaking his head before dragging his thumb across his throat.
"That means no, Ripley. He's dead," Dax says.
"Well…what do we do now?"
"We?" Elias repeats, incredulous. "Wedon't do anything. I'm going to call the police."
"Well…but you were here. It was self-defense; he lost his shit! I didn't do anything!"
"You killed Nolan's fish, Saige," Dax says. "That's really sick. What did he ever do to you?"
I shake my head, tears running down my cheeks. "I didn't do that. I didn't do any of this."
"Except for the murder," Elias says.
He turns, heading back into his bedroom, and pulls his phone from his pocket. Dax follows, sitting across from him on the bed.
"It was an accident!" I shout, following them inside.
"Manslaughter, then."
"It was self-defense! Elias…please. You have to tell them."
"Except that I already defended you…unfortunately. You were fine."
"He was a bad person," I say, more for my own benefit than for theirs. "He was going to kill my dog with a fire poker. He was goingto hurt me, too."
"Police won't care."
No.
This isn't my fault. This is Miles's fault. It's Elias's fault. If he weren't such a sadistic asshole, this guy never would have targeted me. It was all just to get some kind of revenge on my stepbrother.
"Elias, please! Please, help me."
"She isn't wrong," Dax says as Nolan appears in the doorway. "Hewasa bad person. And, you know…karma and all that."
The look they exchange tells me there is a lot more to what happened between Elias and Miles than I know, but I can't care about that right now.
I sink to the floor. "I followed him in here to helpyou. I should have known better…" I blink, thick tears rolling down each of my cheeks. "I know what happened the last time I tried to help you. I should have hit you with my fucking car!"
"What are you talking about? Is she hysterical now?"
"Shut your mouth, Saige…" Elias warns.
"Why?" I ask through tears. "What's the point? You were right. The world is shit, everyone has disappointed me, and I wish you had let me go over the ledge, too. At least when I'm in prison, I won't ever have to see your fucking face again. At least Arcadia is okay." I pause, choking on a sob and wiping my nose with the back of my hand. "I'm sorry about your fish, Nolan."
