The Night it Ended by Katie Garner

Author:Katie Garner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises ULC
Published: 2023-03-27T17:52:43+00:00

22

I need to walk. Clear my head. Get away. Run away.

I run into the lobby, lungs aching to get outside, to inhale the cold, winter air. It’s been another exhausting day. But now, I’ve finished. I’ve finally spoken to all four girls. Tomorrow morning, I’ll talk to Matt. Share with him all I know. Depart on an early morning train. Disappear into nothingness. Gone forever.

Pushing the front door open, I step outside onto the cobblestone pathway. The sky is black and twisting. Wind blows fiercely in my ears, drowning out all other sounds with an angry whoosh.

I need to know.

I have to know.

It’s a terrible idea to confront them by myself. And I did make a promise. I told Matt I’d stay away from Blake and Jeremy. But I can’t. I need to know. I need to ask him to his face.

My shoes crunch through the frozen grass on my way to their house. I don’t need to glance at the trail signs anymore. I know exactly where they live. I’d passed by it each time I’d taken the long walk through the woods to Matt’s guesthouse.

It’s a squatty old cottage, low-ceilinged and stone, with small lead glass windows and a black painted door—a skull with black teeth.

As I get closer, my hands begin to sweat, despite the freezing temperature. I think about what I’ll say:

Jeremy, why did you lie?

How well did you really know Charley?

Did you follow her that night into the woods?

Is that how you found her body out in the middle of fucking nowhere?

Did you push her?

Hurt her?

Kill her?

Did you know that you would?

My eyes grow sharp in the darkness as I follow the too-dim footlights along the narrow path. When I near the cottage, one window on the first floor glows white from a light on inside.

As I step off the path, a twig snaps underfoot. I curl into a ball below the window. Slowly, I raise my head, peek inside. A TV plays the local news, the only light on inside the house. It ignites a snug living room, little tables, and stained beige couches circling the walls.

I edge closer to the windowsill. The news rolls into commercials. Still no sign of Blake or Jeremy. I keep my head low, study the guts of their house. An open beer can rests on a table. Blankets are strewn across the room. Piles of magazines on the coffee table.

Bang.

I jump back, slipping into thorny bushes. My arm flies out to catch myself before falling backward. My bandaged hand bends sideways. I fall on my back, ankle cracking. A splitting pain explodes in the back of my head.

Shit.

Flurries of bats fly overhead. My heart thuds in my chest. I look up to see where the bang had come from. A loose shutter slaps against the side of the house, blown open by a gust of wind. I grab my bag off the ground, ankle sore, hand aching with stinging heat. I’m ready to run when something stops me.

In the flickering glow from the TV, something shiny catches my eye.

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