‘No, it’s okay. I take flowers there for Denni sometimes,’ said Eliza. ‘And before you ask, that symbol was there before these girls were even born. Legend says it was on the tree even before Ted Barclay.’
She pulled open a drawer in the desk and took out Denni’s phone. She plugged it into the charger still attached to the wall and they waited for it to turn on. ‘What do you want to see?’
‘Her messages with Madison. If Denni was getting better . . . Madison came out with this new rhyme about a Hungry Man ritual and she was the first person to find Denni’s body . . . maybe she really wanted to cement this new part of the Hungry Man legend.’
‘You think Madison talked Denni into killing herself?’
‘I just want to see her messages . . .’
Eliza sat down on the bed, feeling faint. ‘When Denni died, Madison was desperate to come into this room. She begged me, but it just didn’t seem right. It was all still so raw. I found her in here, the morning of the funeral. I chased her out.’ Sudden anger came into her voice, and her hands clenched into claws. ‘Do you think she was looking for Denni’s phone?’
‘It’s possible,’ said Gabriella. The phone had charged up enough to turn on, and she opened Denni’s Facebook Messenger app. There were dozens of unread messages to scroll through. ‘Ah . . .’ She showed Eliza the screen. ‘See this message thread? It only says “Facebook User”. I think that means the other person has blocked her. That has to be Madison.’ She kept scrolling and gave a sad grunt. ‘Oh no.’
Eliza took the phone from Gabriella and read the messages:
Facebook User: I’ll be right behind you. I’ll make sure we find your body before it gets gross xx
Denni King: I can’t believe we’re actually doing this. I’m starting to feel a bit sad now.
Facebook User: I’ll meet you out the front of your house and we’ll talk about it. Bring the stuff, I’ll help you carry it up there. xx
Denni King: Alright. See u soon xxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxox
There was a bizarre sound in Eliza’s ears. She didn’t realise she was crying until she could taste the tears on her lips. And that sound was coming from her, a high keening like a dying bird.
Pitiful.
She would never be pitiful again.
I have permission to be the strongest woman there ever was.
‘Eliza . . . I’m so sorry . . .’
I have permission to kill.
‘I’m gonna kill her.’ Eliza stood and walked to the door.
‘No, Eliza – we can get Madison for this. This is proof. These messages can be —’
‘That won’t bring Denni back!’ shouted Eliza.
She was almost out the front door, each step a promise of death.
Gabriella dashed in front of her, blocking the door. ‘No. Eliza, you can’t. If you hurt Madison, you’ll get blamed for the other girls, too.’
‘She deserves to die!’
Eliza tried to push past, but Gabriella knocked her away. ‘No, Eliza.’
Eliza raised her fists. ‘Move, Gabriella.’
‘No.’
Eliza punched, but Gabriella grabbed her wrist and the next moment Eliza was face-first on the ground, Gabriella on top of her. ‘Eliza, calm down —’
Now the true emotion came. Gabriella eased off her, but Eliza remained on the ground, thrashing first and then curling into a ball. ‘Denni! Denni, no! No, no, no . . .’
Gabriella pulled her up into her arms. ‘It’s okay. Shhh. It’s okay.’
Eliza buried her head into Gabriella’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry . . . I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry . . .’
CHAPTER 36
MURPHY
Murphy locked his bedroom door and rested Butch’s laptop on his knees. He opened the USB drive.
My father raped my mum . . .
Jasmine’s words still rolled through his mind.
He played the second video.
Jasmine appeared in front of the camera in Madison’s room. It was a recent video: her hair was dyed black, pulled back in a ponytail. When she spoke, her voice trembled.
‘The first time I saw Mum crying, I was eight years old. It would’ve been after midnight and she was in the bathroom on her knees, her head on the edge of the tub. I remember her smell: like cooking and perfume.
‘I asked what was wrong, and she turned to me and smiled. “Nothing, baby. I’m just praying.”
‘I kneeled down with her and asked if I could pray too. She hugged me close and told me I could, but only for a little bit and then I had to go back to bed. She showed me how to pray to God, and told me that if I asked him to, Jesus would come live in my heart forever. Then I asked her whether Jesus lived in her heart, and she said he still did but she didn’t like to think about him too much, because there was someone in her life that she couldn’t forgive. She wouldn’t tell me who.
‘Five years later, when I turned thirteen, she did. It was only a few months after that that she died.’
Jasmine chewed the inside of her cheek.
‘But she told me something, that last week. She warned me what would happen if Dad found out, so I promised I’d take care of it. And the only way to make that happen was to do something drastic.
‘Dad . . . I need you to know. I’m doing this for the right reasons. You’ll see. I promise you’ll understand. When I come back, I’ll explain everything.’
Murphy felt he was coming apart at the edges.
‘For everyone else . . . secrets can destroy you. If you have your Mum and Dad close by, give them a hug. You never know when they might be taken away from you. And if you have a son or a daughter . . . sometimes it’s our job to protect you . . . or your memory.’
He heard a creak on a floorboard outside his door, saw the shadow of movement under the door.
He leapt up and flung the door open. Butch was creeping back down the corridor.
‘You were listening!’ shouted Murphy.
Butch flinched. ‘I was worried, I was coming to check on you, and then I heard Jasmine’s voice. Were those old videos on your phone or something?’
Murphy hadn’t shared the videos with him yet. He still hadn’t even been able to bring himself to tell Butch that Madison had planned it all. And the longer he waited, the worse it became.
‘Why didn’t you knock?’
‘Honestly . . . I didn’t think you wanted me to see you crying again.’
Butch came in and sat on the bed. The two brothers were silent for a few moments.
Then Murphy’s phone buzzed. An unknown number was calling him.
‘Yeah?’ he answered.
‘Murphy. It’s Constable Cavanagh. Con told me to call you. He thought you might want to . . . look, get online right now. Madison is streaming live, and it’s . . . it’s massive.’
Murphy opened the laptop and Butch leaned over his shoulder. He opened the MMMMadisonMason page. He began the livestream from the start.
‘I have a confession to make, and I need everyone to listen closely.’ Madison sat on her bed in her usual spot. Her mascara had bled, almost too well – artificially well. Her lips were red as blood. She looked straight down the camera.