Chris left first. Then Mike, eventually. Josh wasn’t making enough sense for them to stay back with you. Mike tried to get you to leave too, but you needed a minute. You needed a minute to be alone with your boyfriend who had you believing he was brutally murdered, and that you would be too.

It stung. In a weird way, you understood. His sister’s were actually dead because of the prank last year. But you weren’t involved. Neither were Chris and Sam. In all your years of living, you’d never felt so panicked as you did tonight. The ‘prank’ wasn’t funny—it was horrifying, and it distracted from whatever had actually taken Jess.

You sat in silence on the floor next to where the guys had tied him up, drawing lines in the dust on the floor. You didn’t really know what to say, but as angry and hurt as you were, you didn’t want him to be alone.