Page 142 of Hide And Seek

“That was the other reason,” Gen said in a small voice. “We knew everyone would take it more seriously if one of the other girls died. Because…”

Her voice cracked again, and she buried her face in her hands.

“Because they were from rich families, right?” Rhys said in a low voice. “You were supposedly too drunk to think rationally, but somehow sober enough to calculate which dead child would create the smallest scandal. Which murder you were most likely to get away with.”

Gen’s answer came out ragged and barely audible. “Yes.”

The hairs on the back of my neck rose. The sense of evil I felt from the video was almost physical, as though something cold and unseen had crawled straight out of the screen and begun winding through the room around me.

Rhys cleared his throat roughly. “What happened after you chose her?”

“Noura and Piper went back to their cabin to wake her without disturbing the others, and they grabbed her swimsuit too,” she said between shaky breaths. “They told her they had a surprise for her. They said they were going to help her win the Challenge Game.”

Her voice faltered, and she dragged a trembling hand across her face.

“They made it sound exciting,” she went on. “Like they had some kind of underwater light she could wear on her head, and they were going to swim out into the lake with her so she’d be completely safe the whole time.”

Rhys swore under his breath. “She trusted them.”

Gen nodded. “They took her into the bathroom to change first, and then they walked her down to the lake. By the time they got there, the rest of us were already waiting with copies of the ritual.” She sniffled hard. “Jensen had sent screenshots of the pages to everyone beforehand.”

“Carly didn’t think it was weird that sixteen counselors were standing around the lake in the middle of the night?”

“She did at first. But we told her it was some old Blackpine tradition. A good luck ritual.” Gen’s mouth trembled violently. “And then she got excited again. I think she thought…”

She broke off, tears spilling harder.

“She thought we were including her,” she finally went on. “Like she’d been invited into some special secret club.”

“Jesus Christ,” Rhys muttered.

Gen looked down at the ground again. “After that, Noura and Piper walked into the water and told Carly to follow them in for the swim. Then Jensen, Reid, Sloane, and Sutton went in too.” Her voice had flattened out now, hollow and distant, like she was forcing herself through each word. “The rest of us stayed on the shore chanting the ritual words.”

The camera remained perfectly still.

“Jensen and Reid grabbed Carly’s arms first,” Gen continued. “Then Piper covered her mouth so she couldn’t scream while they forced her under the water. Sloane and Sutton held her legs down so she couldn’t kick free.”

A horrible silence followed.

“What happened after that?” Rhys finally asked in a low voice.

Gen swallowed hard. “As soon as it was over, it was like we all suddenly snapped back into reality. The adrenaline and excitement just disappeared likethat.” She snapped her shaky fingers. “So then we were just standing there staring at thelake, realizing that we’d actually done it. We’d killed a kid. For nothing.”

“And then?”

Gen’s gaze dropped to the ground again. “We knew we were completely fucked if anyone found out what really happened,” she said quietly. “Our lives would’ve been over. Every single one of us.”

Rhys let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “What about Carly’s life?”

Gen visibly flinched. “She… she was already dead,” she murmured. “So at that point it felt too late to think about her anymore. All anyone could think about was protecting themselves.” She dragged the sleeve of her top across her wet cheeks. “Sutton was the one who suggested the pact. She said we all needed to stick to the same story no matter what. That we’d say we were asleep all night and had no idea what happened to Carly. And that nobody could ever tell the truth.Ever.”

“Because if one person talked, you all went down.”

Gen nodded wordlessly.

“And all sixteen of you actually managed to keep that secret all this time,” Rhys said, exhaling slowly. “Jesus Christ. If it wasn’t so unbelievably sick, it’d almost be impressive.”

“It wasn’t easy at first,” Gen said. “We were all terrified we’d slip up. Or maybe someone else in the group might feel guilty and confess.”