All the ruckus has finally summoned the others. They stand fifteen feet away, illuminated by the blinding white lights, storm vanishing into the blackness outside as Carl’s body comes into grotesque, sharp relief. The sight is ghastly, but I can’t help but be grateful that we still have access to electricity. Whoever sabotaged the boat must not have had the time or desire to mess with the electrical and plumbing systems too. Lucky us.
Piper has her hand on the light switch. Viv and Rachel stand by the landing, gaping. Trey is on the staircase behind them, and right behind Trey is…
“Carl!”Fiona shoulders past the other girls and flings herself toward her boyfriend.
Ashley looks up, shaking with tears, and then glances down at Carl’s body. Her jaw tightens; she’s made a decision. Before I canmove, Ashley jumps to her feet and sprints toward Fiona, intercepting her, wrapping her arms around the other girl’s torso and swinging her around so she can’t see her boyfriend’s body.
I heave myself up, ignoring my bleeding lip, a murmur of surprise warming my chest.
“Let go,” Fiona wails, flapping against Ashley’s embrace like a wounded bird.
“It’s okay,” Ashley says to her, arms squeezing tightly around Fiona’s shoulders. “You don’t want to look. Fee, don’t look.”
“He needs a doctor!” Fiona cries, still trying to turn around.
But Ashley is surprisingly strong; she keeps a firm grip on Fiona and refuses to let her go. “It’s too late, Fee. It’s too late.”
This is a level of empathy I hadn’t expected; Ashley is not only comforting her rival, but she’s keeping Fiona from seeing the man she loved in such a traumatic way.
“Rachel, help me,” Ashley calls to her sister from around Fiona, who isn’t trying to fight anymore. Fiona’s sagging against Ashley, hyperventilating.
Rachel doesn’t look any better than she did earlier, even with half a night’s sleep, but she rushes forward, studiously avoiding looking at Carl’s body. Together, the twins lead a sobbing Fiona away.
“Take her to her room,” Viv instructs, finally coming alive. She had been standing there frozen, watching everything unfold with a slightly ajar mouth and narrowed eyes. “I’ll check on you shortly.”
After they’ve disappeared downstairs, the rest of us stand in their silent wake for a moment, immobile with indecision.
“This can’t be happening,” Trey finally whispers. He’s moved from the staircase, and I can’t help but note that he must be sharing a room with one of the girls. I hadn’t seen which floor he’d come from.
Trey approaches his friend’s body, leaning over Carl, careful to not get too close. He runs a hand over his mouth, then drags it over his eyes like this is too much to handle. Viv slides over next to him, looking down and grimacing.
“What the hell happened?” she says, but her voice is low and directed solely at Trey.
“It’s like he collapsed or something,” Trey theorizes, examining the body. “It doesn’t look like he was attacked. He told me he was feeling weird, that his chest was hurting, but that doesn’t explain this. A brain aneurysm, maybe?”
“Oh, no.” The words tumble from my mouth as realization throbs through my body.
Viv and Trey look at me, distracted. “What?”
“I-I think I know what this is,” I say, putting a shaking hand to my bleeding lip.
Viv’s eyes laser in on me. “What are you talking about?”
I run a hand through my short hair, feeling the spiky pixie cut rub against my palms. “You guys remember how Carl has been coughing a lot? Wet, rattling cough? And moving weird? Like he’s lethargic?”
“Yeah,” Trey says slowly, straightening and fixing me with his full attention. “Now that you mention it, it did seem like he was getting sick or something.”
“You’ve been with him the most, Trey,” I point out. “When did that begin?”
Trey frowns. “I don’t really remember. After the party, maybe?”
“After you two had your swimming race to shore?”
Trey starts. “Actually, yeah. I think you’re right.”
“Anything happen during that?” I ask, staring down at Carl’s unmoving body.
“What does that matter?” Viv pouts, clearly annoyed at this line of questioning that doesn’t involve her at all.
