This is unedited because you guys haven't gotten one in a while.
Chapter Two: The Noose
Wthyr POV
I woke up to a blood curdling scream. Albany was lying next to me, shirtless and breathing calmly. I was sure that the scream would wake him but he just mumbled that he would be up in five minutes. I laughed as I crawled out of bed to look for the source of the scream. A group of people were gathering outside of Grace and Kat's room. There was a dagger slammed into the door. Kat was sliding out in her little robe with Grace behind her. There was a dagger in the door and all they did was stare at it.
"What the f*ck is going on?" Kristen asks.
Lavi POV
I whispered to Arabella to keep what we found a secret. A hangman's noose I found around my neck. I didn't want to freak anyone out. We'd tell later. I pulled out a pill and popped it into my mouth. Maybe the noose was a warning. A warning. My hand shook as I took another pill.
"Callum," I say, going up to my friend.
I needed to pay off the dealer now. Before his warning became reality.
Viola POV
I was hurrying to the lecture hall to talk to my journalism professor when I was stopped in my tracks. There was a hangman's noose hanging from the tree. A hangman's noose.
"Professor Lang!" I call as I hurry into her office.
"Yes?" she remarked, her graying hair practically an afro around her tiny oval face.
"There's... a... noose... on the tree!" I gasp, out of breath.
She looks at me and steps to the window, looking at the tree.
"Oh my," she said. "Viola, sit down."
I sit.
"Listen, every year I get a student coming into my office talking about noose. A dagger. I wonder if it's a prank. Now, I get that Aotidae is your house, but your house members... They have a rep for doing things like this. Usually, it's more high tech but this may be symbolic. I have an internship opening at my newspaper and there would be a lot of opportunities to get a full time job. A front page. Now, if you can write an expose about what these hangman's nooses mean..." she said, staring at me, hinting that I should find out for her.
Yes. I was going to write an expose about this.
Kristen POV
Albany showed up and yanked the dagger out, made a call, and told everyone to clear out. We had classes to get to. Practices... Everything. I was confused but I hurried to class with Leo on my mind. there were couples everywhere and then there weren't couples everywhere. It just got a little crazy. I mean, I could see Anastasia and Ian talking and walking, looking adorable. I looked at Dante and Rebecca heading into the library, the little geeks they are... Albany checking out Wthyr's bike. Edwin comforting Kat about the dagger. Where was my knight in shining armor? Leo is supposed to be mine. He's supposed to be mine. Mine. He likes me. I know it. I rolled my eyes as a cop hurried up to me. What now?
"Hi, I'm Officer Louis," a bald man said.
"Hi..." I say, cautiously.
"Are you Kristen Lopez? Panthera?" he asked.
"Yeah," I say as he pulls a pad out of his leather jacket.
"Could you answer some questions for me?" he asked. "You were in the library the night that Amanda Van--?"
"Whoa!" I say, not wanting the blame. "I was there, but I left pretty quickly. Can't you just pull the tapes?"
"Unfortunately, the taping stopped and it only filmed the second floor. It stopped and not everyone was not accounted for in the library. Now, we saw that you had your phone. A pink one?" he said.
"Oh, the cell. Well, those were only for Cabo. We all gave them to Kat after the trip because she would have them shipped back since we all were too lazy to pack so we just had the staff do it. The bags got held up at the airport," I say, repeating what I've been told.
This was starting to annoy me. A lot of people didn't like Amanda when she got shoved down the stairs. A lot of them are friends with the Rosemonts, who are popular and extremely influential. So, why were they concentrating on students when we were off in Cabo? It was a little annoying. Very annoying.
Lily POV
Benvenuto didn't are and it is so annoying. So annoying. I am like the bottle, you need a twelve-step program to get over me and he didn't even seem addicted! I am so frustrated. I just kept running, hoping to clear my mind when I heard a voice screaming my name.
Dmitriv. Jeez, just the boy I want to see. Not.
"Hey," he said. "Look, I'll say this now before you run off. Benvenuto misses you. He wants you back."
I roll my eyes. Finally. A sign he wants me.
"Look, I don't know if I can forgive him. He hurt my sister. He hurt me. Grace is my twin, it's literally womb to tomb for us. I can't let it go," I say.
He smirks, "Okay."
"Why are you smiling?" I scoff.
"Because... your thong has been sticking out of your running shorts," he snickers.
"Shut up!" I snap, hitting him on the arm.
I run off, spotting Hugo looking depressed with a flask. He's sitting in his car. The area I run is pretty secluded, so why am I not shocked?
"You know, if you shouldn't drink too much," I say, sticking my head into the open window.
He chuckles, "Sh*t. I don't care. My liver will survive. Hopefully. Anyways, what do you want Lily?"
"Unlock the door, I'm getting in," I say, walking to the other side.
I watch as Dmitriv drives off.
"So, he's missing Anastasia. You're missing Grace. Benvenuto had better be missing me," I scoff.
Hugo laughs, "Wow. Why are you pissed at Benvenuto anyways? He was just giving me advice."
"He told you to cheat on my sister," I said flatly. "I think I can hate him. Feel like sharing some of that?"
"No," he says. "No... I need booze. I need a lot of it. I just spent my Christmas break listening to my Mother whine about how I almost married some girl she found a little annoying. My father say that I should've covered my tracks better-I think I may have a few half siblings from the way that my Dad talks about infidelity. Oh, and Grace won't even give me the time of day. I love her, Lily."
I look at him. My heart kind of broke for him. He looked pathetic.
"Hugo, you cheated. It's safe to say game over for you," I say, getting out of the car. "Call a cab before you leave."
"Wait!" he shouts. "Wait... Help me. Help me get my girlfriend back."
I turn and look into his eyes.
"Oh my God, you're really sorry."
"Yes!" he shouts. "I f*cking screwed up! I wish I never got drunk and had sex with Amanda. I really do but hell, I did. I did and I have been paying for it ever since. If you can get her to give me a second chance, I can promise you that I won't ever hurt her again."
I sighed. I knew he loved Grace since I met him. He had her in his lap, arms wrapped tightly around her, it's how it's always been. But I didn't know if Grace wanted him.
"Look, Grace found a dagger in her door this morning," I said. "Maybe you can talk to her about that."
Hugo looked at me shocked, "What?"
Kat POV
I got back to the house and examined the dagger hole in the door. Was it meant for me or Grace? Grace. I knew she thought it was for her. Was it for me? A knock at the door broke my concentration. It was a cop. Jeez, were they ever going to learn that a Panthera did not hurt Amanda?
"Ms. Nguyen, I understand that your staff packed up all the cell phones you gave out to your friends for a vacation. We'll need them," he said.
"Officer Louis, the bags got held up at the airport since everything has to be checked for swine flu ro whatever. Look, I know you want to know who shoved Amanda VanderVelden down the stairs at the library, but you should know that Hugo Faber's best friends are an Italian guy and a Russian guy. Maybe you check, I don't know, a mob..." I snap.
I had other things on my mind.
"Aww... don't you know," a voice chuckles, "Pantheras are like mobsters. Piss us off and we'll have you whacked."
"Leo!" I say.
He was back.
"Talk to him about this crap," I say. "He's a senior. He annoys me... I'm going back to the knife in my door..."
I walk off. I had a dagger on my mind and I wanted to figure it out. Edwin went crazy about me going crazy. Then it hit me, Leo was back.
"Whoa, wait... Ashley!" I shout, practically tackling Leo.
The officer was gone and Leo looked at me like I was crazy.
"How is Ashley?" I ask.
"She's at her house with her family. I had to get back to school. Look, she's not doing too well so she's going to be back in a week or so if the police haven't gotten any leads. I am guessing that Amanda's attacker is still on the loose?" Leo asks, a smirk on his face.
"Absolutely. So tell me, do you know if Kristen is going to be your girlfriend or if you're going to be a good wittle boy and stay with Ashley?" I ask.
"What's it to you?" he asks.
I giggle, "Because Callum is out there talking up Kristen..."
Kristen POV
"What do you want?" I had scoffed before he had explained about Wthyr.
"I need to talk to her," he says, almost begging.
"Why? Look Callum, you have Lavi. Wthyr is in love with Albany. Why are you so obsessed with her?" I snap.
He just sighs as Leo comes storming out at him. He's back!
"What the f*ck are you doing?" Leo screams at Callum, shoving him. "It's not enough you're f*cking up my little sister's life you are trying to cheat on her, too?"
I was shocked. He thought that Callum was flirting with me? Well, he's jealous then! Yes! I try to hold back a smile.
"What? No..." Callum scoffs.
"Hey," I say, noticing a bunch of weirdos looking at us.
They're the kind that stalk Pantheras hoping awesomeness would rub off on them.
"Stalkers, let's go inside..." I say.
That was a bad idea, Leo dragged Callum off into the office.
Callum POV
The truth is an interesting thing. It can help or hinder. In Leo's case, it does both.
"Leo, I'm not dating your sister," I say flatly.
"Oh, you're dealing for her and that's it? Right. I got a background check. Yeah. Drugs are everywhere! You stay away from her--!" he begins to shout.
"I'm not dealing. Lavi is addicted though. Look, I follow her around because my ex girlfriend was like her. She had a pill for every second of the day and she tanked. She crashed. Rock bottom. I don't want to see a nice girl get in trouble. I stop her when I can and I occasionally pay off a dealer for her," I say. "Look, you should have her checked into rehab."
Leo stared at me, "Don't tell me what to do."
"Leo, she pops a pill every time I see her. You see her. With meals. Sh*t, I think she thinks they're mints!" I yell. "News flash, she's a f*cking addict and as a former drug dealer, let me tell you that the dealers will keep selling. They know she's loaded- your family is rich- and she will be used. Look, she owes a guy like a thousand bucks but I don't think she has it."
I walk out of the office, which resembles a dungeon with it's grey walls and iron all over. Creepy.
Kristen POV
Leo comes out and I want to say hi but he's too preoccupied. He leaves and grabs his bag, dashing upstairs.
Fine. Don't talk to me. Everyone starts coming back from classes and we are all sitting around. Soon, it's nighttime...
Wthyr POV
I got the call and I knew I had to come back home. Over break, I went back to France and I met up with some friends. I found out something about one particular friend and I got the call today about her. She and Callum do go way back. He had been trying to talk to me about her and this... I glanced at Callum, he'd want to know. He'd want to know. As if I didn't have enough on my mind, Albany comes to me looking completely serious and asking what he means to me. What?
"Albany," I say as I change out of my clothes. "I love you. You know that."
"So, say I got an residency at a hospital in Switzerland..." he said with a smirk.
"What? Albany, I have a lot on my mind so if you're playing 'what if?" right now, don't."
He looks at me and walks up to me, pulling me into a hug.
"What's wrong?" he whispers. "Tell me about it."
Right now, I am so stressed, I don't want to hear it. I keep thinking about my friend and Callum and... I just can't right now. I push him away, put on my robe, and grab my bag of shower stuff to go take a shower. I don't want to be hugged right now. I want to think of what to do.
I take a shower and hurry down the stairs to grab a snack when I hear a weird noise. At first, I think it's a tree brach or something, but when I turn on the living room light so I can see clearly to calm myself down-after all, it couldn't been a tree branch or a monster- when I found out I had every reason to scream.
Grace POV
A lot of screaming happened today. The dagger resulted in screaming. The whole Leo being back thing. We had been drinking for a little bit. Now, there was more screaming. I was going to head downstairs to find out what the hell was going on when Hugo stopped me, looking at me pleadingly.
"What happened?" I ask.
"I think that you're going to want to stay back," he whispered, looking at me with concern and pushing me back into my room. "Edwin, make sure she doesn't see anything! ALbany will be in here in a little bit..."
"What's going on?" I screech, not wanting Hugo to care.
He doesn't get to care. He cheated. No. He doesn't get to care. I want to see, so I'll see.
"Grace!" Edwin called.
I was never so grateful my roommate's boyfriend slept in our room
au naturale. Or so I thought because I only saw Edwin's shirtless half underneath Kat's sheets when I ran out. I dash downstairs to see everyone staring at a body hanging from the tree outside the house. It looked a lot like one of the Wilson Twins. Leo's little sister. But which one? I noticed the bright t-shirt on the body. Lavi. Arabella only wore dark clothing. I screamed and I felt someone yank me into a hug.
"Shh..." a voice hushed.
Hugo. I knew it.
"Hugo... That's... that's..." I stammer.
"I know baby," he said. "I know... Look, go back upstairs. I'll be up with you, okay?"
I try to but my legs are weak. Her lifeless face. The blood. The hangman's noose. My head went to the dagger. What if it meant something like I'd get stabbed instead of hung? I couldn't move.
"I know," he whispered, scooping my into his arms.
My legs dangled but my head stayed nuzzled in his neck. I needed to feel protected. Hugo made me feel that way.
"What's going on?" Kat asks.
"Lavi... she's... she's..." I stammer.
Viola POV
I was sneaking around, but no luck. I saw nothing. I decided to drive back home when I saw that Lavi Wilson was sneaking around. I knew it was her from her bright clothes. Her twin was behind her in dark attire. I decided I wanted to find out what that was about. I park my car and sneak up. It's cold outside, but I know I'll be okay. I hide behind the back of the gates of the Sanitarium and crouch down. I feel my eyelids drooping, but for some reason, I fall asleep. When I wake up, I am freaked, terrified, and just about every other emotion when I find a hangman's noose around my neck.
I get up and hurry to my car when I see flashing lights at the Panthera House where I had parked my car. My car. My car that is surrounded by police cars. What is going on? I see an ambulance. I see a gurney. I covered gurney. Someone died tonight. I take a deep breath, gasping. The noose is still around my neck because I was too terrified to bother to take it off, but I hide it underneath my scarf and zip up my coat.
"Excuse me," a cop says.
"Oh, sorry... I left my car here this afternoon when I was going to take a stroll around campus. I fell asleep on a bench," I lie. "That's the car right there..."
I point to my car.
"We'll have to be given proof," he says.
I unlock the car after fishing the keys out of my coat pocket. I go in and show him my license and registration. All of it. He makes note of the car and everything. I am freaked out because I see some Pantheras looking at me. I gulp. I know that they have a fishy history. How does a house become the most powerful on campus? I get in the car and drive away. I need to get away. But before I do, I ask a question...
"What happened?" I ask, looking around.
"I'm not at liberty to release that information," he says, "but a word of advice: you shouldn't be doing anything alone. This campus is clearly not safe. Eric Gracen. Amanda VanderVelden. Just stay safe."
And with that I left. But when I woke up, everyone was quick to tell me one thing: Lavi Wilson was murdered by hanging. I think about the hangman's noose I stashed under my bed in a box. Is it a warning?
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