Both women looked at me in shock. Lavender scooted the opposite direction, fumbling with the keys as Sybil raised a brow and cocked her head.
“Excuse me? What did you just say to me?”
My eyes rolled as I groaned. “Oh give it up already! All you ever fucking do is bitch, moan, and complain! I’m so goddamn sick and tired of it! Hell, I’m sick of you!” Sybil gawked at my raised voice. “Sure, she may be weird, but at least Crissa wasn’t such a raging bitch!” Lavender made a face. “And as for this whole fucking situation—” I swung my pointer finger around in a circle. “We’re only here, trying to fucking survive because ofyou! You’re the one who was always bullying Crissa. Always calling her names, kicking her when she’s down, doing everything you can to ruin her life. I mean that whole seven minutes in heaven shit? Who does that?”
“Hey…guys?—”
“Not now, Lavender,” Sybil hissed. Her eyes darted back to me like daggers. “Go ahead, blame me for all of this, but you forget something, Montey.”
“Guys.”
“Not now, Lavender.” I turned to Sybil. “What?”
She glared at me, crossing her arms. “None of this would have ever happened ifyoudidn’t choose me over her. And not once did you ever stop me from doing what I did. Even that night in the basement. You let it happen. All of it. So as far as blame goes, I think it’s fair to say this is really all your fault.” Thunder erupted outside as we sat in silence, seething at one another.
“Guys—”
“What!” Sybil and I shouted in unison, both staring at Lavender, holding the key ring.
Her nostrils flared as a tear fell from her eyes. “It’s not here,” she whispered, dropping her head in defeat.
Sybil shot forward, pressing her palms against the floor. “What did you just say?”
“It’s not here…the key…it’s gone.” Lavender fought back her emotions.
“Well, where is it? You said Tawny always kept one on that ring. Where is it?” Sybil began to panic.
“I…I don’t know…I’m sorry.” Her head fell forward into her hands as she cried quietly.
Sybil groaned and sat back. “Well, we’re fucked.”
“Not necessarily.” They both slowly looked at me. “If we can find something to pick the lock, I can get the gate open. But then once we get through, we’ll need to break the glass on the exterior doors.”
“Well,” Sybil sighed. “That shouldn’t be too hard. We can grab one of the fire extinguishers on our way out. But as far as picking the lock, I got nothing.” I looked at Lavender and she shook her head.
Fuck.
“Then the only other option... is to return to Big Top.” Both of them looked at me in horror. “ I know—but think about it. Crissa and her rats are here, in the mall, looking for us. And she hasn’t found us yet, which means she’s not in the pizzeria.” Their faces remained blank. “Don’t you see? If she’s not there, we can use the keys we have to escape. The gate is already unlocked, and once we’re inside, it’s a straight shot.”
“But,” Lavender whispered, “what about Token and Ryder? We can’t just leave them behind.”
“Like hell we can’t.” We both shot a death glare at Sybil. “I’m just saying, but at this point, it should be every man for themselves. Or woman in this case. Five moving targets is harder than a group of three and two moving together.”
Now that’s a real fucked up thing to say.
My head turned and I looked back to Lavender, offering her a gentle smile. “I’m sure the twins are fine. They’re probably hiding back in Big Top, which means if we exit that way, we can regroup with them on our way out.” I gently placed my hand over hers. “No one’s going to die, okay?” Lavender wiped her eyes and smiled back, nodding her head. “Alright let’s?—”
We all froze, hearing a nearby squeak.
“Quick, get down,” I whispered to them both. They ducked down, crawling over to my sides as we clung to the back of the counter. I placed my finger over my lips and silently shooshed them
Shit! If the rat finds us, we’re fucked!
The sounds of tiny feet crawling around the counter filled the air as the rat scampered around. The three of us practically held our breaths, our hearts racing as we waited.
The rat scuttled around the counter, chattering to itself. Movement caught my gaze as I watched Sybil slowly reach her arm to grab a small box. Lavender and I both shook our heads, quietly telling her no, but she ignored us, moving it closer while slowly turning around. She lifted the box and in one quick motion, she slammed it upside down over the rat, closing it inside. The small creature screamed and made all sorts of noises, clawing at the cardboard box. “Gotcha!”
“Sybil, what the hell?” I whispered loudly.
