Kayla’s fingertips dig into the wood. “Esme, we should wait. Come up with a real plan, one we’ve thought about for longer than three minutes, and then we’ll go have a chat with Lillian.”
“We’ll talk ourselves out of it.”
“Maybe we should.”
I stare at her. “Really? You’re the one who wanted to send her a note.”
“A note. Not go out there and find her. I’m not sure if you’ve realized yet, but she’s not exactly a reasonable person. Don’t you think she’ll have something planned for when we do come face to face?”
“Yeah,” I say. “That’s why we need to do it on our terms. We can’t give her time to plan anymore. We’ll be right there, and she’ll be the audience in our show.”
“You need to sleep, Esme, you’re delirious.”
I wish I could, but I’m too wired.
“Keep a lookout for the others. When they go to bed, we’re out of here.”
Kayla sighs, defeated.
Walking to our window, she peeks around the blind. “The light is still on in the multiuse cabin. Everyone around the campfire has either gone to join them or gone to sleep.”
“Ugh, they need to go to bed. Are you coming with me?”
Kayla looks over her shoulder. “Yes, you’re not doing this alone.”
I smile at her even though my stomach does a flip.
What if our going together isn’t a good idea? Should we let Lillian have the two people she wants to hurt alone?
We could be feeding her sick fantasy.
We’re definitely doing that.
* * *
Two hours later, Kayla and I both watch from the main room windows as the rest of the counselors and CITs filter into their cabins to sleep.
“Go,” I whisper as Cora comes toward ours.
We dash into our room and hide behind the door.
I listen, biting my lip as Cora tiptoes into her room and closes the door.
“Now?” Kayla whispers.
“A few more minutes. Wait until she’s in bed.”
Kayla leans back against the wall and looks up at the ceiling. In the silence, I hear her breathing grow faster.
“Okay, let’s do this,” I say when the rustling in Cora’s room stops.
Kayla follows me as we tiptoe out of the cabin.
The room is louder tonight, a few of the girls snoring.
The very second we step onto the porch, my plan feels weak and really stupid. Really, really stupid.
I close the door behind us, wincing as it clicks shut.
Am I going to let that stop me? Nope.
“All right,” I say, zipping up my hoodie. “Let’s go do this thing.”
“Wait,” Kayla says, gripping my wrist. “What if she turns violent?”
“We are so past that. From what we’ve seen, Rebekah hasn’t left her cabin, so Lillian is alone. Two against one. This time we know what we’re walking into and we won’t underestimate her.”
“What if what she wants is to harm us?”
“How much worse can it get?”
I don’t know if I’m getting a fresh dose of adrenaline or of stupidity, but I know we have to do this. Lillian is becoming bolder and it’s only a matter of time before one of the campers sees something or gets caught in her crazy games.
This started with Kayla and me, and it has to end with us.
We step onto the grass and quickly duck around the back of the cabin.
“Where now?” Kayla whispers. “The forest is huge.”
“We start looking at the site of the fire damage.”
Kayla shivers despite it being hot out. “I hate it there.”
“Not my favorite place either.”
“Can we not go through the woods to get there? Let’s walk around the lake.”
I narrow my eyes. “That’s a great idea, if we want to get busted. Andy probably looks out his window periodically.”
We walk along the edge of the forest, just deep enough that we should be hard to spot, especially in the dark with black clothing on.
“I should have texted my parents,” Kayla mutters.
Don’t bite. Don’t respond.
“Really?” I say three seconds later. “We’re not going to die. You don’t have to say goodbye to anyone.”
“Y-you don’t know that.”
“And if you really thought we were going to die tonight you wouldn’t have left the cabin.”
“Can we not argue, Esme?” she snaps.
“Can you be a little less pessimistic, Kayla?”
“You’re arguing with me.”
Yep, and while we’re arguing, you’re not stressing out about Lillian.
I bet she’s somewhere watching us. I want to look for her, but, one, I don’t want to freak Kayla out, and, two, I think Lillian will want to see where we’re going before she reacts.
The feeling of being safe at this particular moment clashes with everything I’ve felt over the past week.
“How do you think Rebekah has been able to keep up this lie the whole time?” Kayla asks.
I shrug, even though she can’t see the movement. “Some people lie as naturally as they breathe. Rebekah thinks she’s on some revenge mission with Lillian. They both hate us for what we did.”
Kayla looks at me. “But this isn’t really Rebekah’s fight, right? How far would she go for someone else’s revenge?”
“We’ll be fine.”
I don’t want to answer her question, or I’ll turn around and hide under my bed.
Kayla whips one arm out. “What was that?”
I look around and bite my lip. “What? I didn’t hear anything. What did you hear?”
“Someone walking.”
My pulse thuds. “Lillian. That’s not surprising. Come on, we’re almost there.”
“You’re not scared?” Kayla asks, her eyes wide.
“Did you really think she wouldn’t show? She’s probably been behind us the whole time.”
Wrong thing to say, Esme.