40
Violet
I stared at Julian,my mind refusing to process what he'd just told me.
“One of them,” I repeated numbly. “You're saying one of Cal’s friends killed her.”
We were in my room; Julian, Roman, and me. Julian had burst through my door five minutes ago, breathless and urgent, demanding Roman be brought up immediately, and a moment later, my world suddenly tilted on its axis again.
Now Julian stood by the window, his expression grim. Roman had taken the armchair opposite me, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, looking as shell-shocked as I felt.
“The blood on your wall wasn't blood at all,” Julian said, his voice carefully controlled. “It was theatrical stage blood mixed with ferrous sulfate to make it smell realistic. Someone with access to theater supplies made it. Someone who really wanted to scare you.”
My hands were shaking. I clasped them together in my lap. “That doesn't mean—”
“Violet.” Julian crossed to me, crouching down so we were eye level. “Think about it. It’s got to be one of them.”
“Anyone from the theater could’ve taken that blood,” I said, but my voice sounded weak even to my own ears.
“No.” He shook his head. “It had to be someone you told about the investigation. Someone who knew every move you were making. Someone close enough to know when you were vulnerable.”
I stared into space, mind still refusing to process it. “It just… it doesn’t make sense,” I finally said. “It can’t be one of them.”
“I’m sorry, Violet,” Julian said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I know it’s hard to hear. But ithasto be.”
Roman slowly shook his head. “I’m with Violet,” he said. “It just doesn’t make any sense. Calista’s friends absolutely loved her. I never would’ve suspected them in a million years.”
“It has to be someone else,” I added stubbornly, straightening my shoulders.
Julian sighed. “No one else from the theater knew about your investigation into Cal’s death. But you told Jeremiah, Dylan, Cherry, and Ginny about it,” he said. “And the person who’s been stalking you had to know all about it, didn’t they?”
My shoulders slumped. “Right,” I muttered.
“Whoever it is also knew about the time you sneaked into our initiation ritual,” Julian added. “They sent you that message saying they saw you to scare you into stopping your investigation. That’s what they’ve been doing this whole time. Pretending to help but secretly trying to make you stop. Because if you dug deep enough, you’d eventually realize it wasn’t the Club, but actuallythem.”
I let out a weary sigh, my chest tight. “I just can’t believe it. It’s like Roman just said; they all loved Cal. So why would one of them kill her?”
“I don’t know. All I know is one of them has been lying this whole time,” Julian replied, his jaw clenched. “Lying and pretending they didn’t secretly hate your sister.”
Tears sprang to my eyes, and I wiped them with my sleeve. “How are we supposed to figure out which one of them it is?” I asked, voice coming out in a choked whisper.
“I don’t know. But if I had to guess, Ginny would be my number one suspect,” Julian said, rubbing his jaw.
“Why?”
“Well, we know she’s the type of person who’d betray a friend,” he replied.
I lifted a palm. “That was different. She needed that money for her sister,” I said, vehemently shaking my head. “It doesn’t mean she would ever…”
I trailed off as a memory floated back in.
Roman’s brows lifted. “What is it?” he asked.
“I just remembered something,” I said in a small, tremulous voice. “When I told my friends about the stalker throwing blood on my bed, Ginny took me aside afterwards, and she asked if the police knew whether it was real or fake blood.”
Roman frowned. “She could’ve just been asking out of curiosity. It’s a valid question.”
“Or she could’ve been asking to see how close she was to being a suspect,” Julian said in a low voice. He slipped a hand in his pocket and pulled out a phone. When he handed it to me, I realized it wasmyphone. “Call her and ask.”
