Page 9 of Mutual Prey

The principal of the high school, Harvey Williams, agrees. “Whenever we had a problem—smoking in the bathroom, fire alarms going off—it was always him. And very shortly before the crime, he changed; he became violent. He stopped going to school, and we heard that he’d gotten into some fistfights. Something tragic was bound to happen. I’ll always regret notexpelling him.”

The most recent article is from just three days ago. “FINN AUSTEN: ASTLEY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT’S MURDER CONVICTION OVERTURNED.”

My stomach doing somersaults, I click on it.

New DNA evidence has surfaced in the murder case of Astley High School star athlete Ray Campbell. Finn Austen had been convicted largely on the testimony of a fellow student, Cass Henley, who placed him at the scene. But a single blond hair, collected at the time but never tested, was recently run through updated DNA analysis and traced to an unidentified female. Citing the new evidence, a judge vacated Finn’s conviction, and prosecutors declined to retry the case.

Finn Austen is set to be released in two days. Sources close to him say he’s told friends he plans to return to Astley. “I have some unfinished business there,” he reportedly said.

Two days. I check the date on the article, then the numbers that glow on the bottom right of my computer screen. Two days. That’s today.

I don’t know why I’m suddenly a nervous wreck. This isn’t news to me; Mr. Campbell told me about it earlier. After the initial panic, I started to feel kind of excited about it. Thrilled, even. But maybe it’s all the lugging around of that 200 pound body, or maybe, it’s the fact that I’m tired and that this Chow mein is starting to make me…

What the hell. Goddammit!

He put something in the Chow mein, didn’t he?

The realization has me hurling the carton to the far end of the room. I stand up, stumbling around in search of a knife, a gun—anything. But I don’t manage to struggle long against the effects of the drug. I barely make it to my bed, locking the door behind me, though I know that’s pointless. A locked door certainly never stopped me.

I sink onto my mattress, closer to swearing than I’ve ever been in years. If I’m going to die, then at least it’s going to be on Hermes sheets.

That’s my last thought before I pass out.

4

“Hey, sexy.”

I flash my blue eyes at him, and he takes a step back, shaking out a hand like he’s been burned. “Damn. Who invited the ice queen to the party? Why did you come, princess, if you weren’t going to put out?”

I push past him, entering the backyard with its thumping bass that makes my head hurt. “I have no idea what any of the words you’ve just uttered mean. Let me through, brute.”

“How about a kiss, hmm? Down there?”

“I preferred it when we were strangers.” I sigh, wondering why I came here, to this party full of drunk idiots with raging hormones.

“Aww, come on, sexy. Give it a kiss.”

I roll my eyes, feeling pretty damn bored of the stumbling guy who’s currently cornering me against a wall.

“You’re so dirty,” I tell him, “that if you tried to clean that useless appendage of yours in the sewage system, you’d soil the sewage. I don’t kiss filth.”

“Huh.” He blinks in confusion, putting his arms down to let me pass as a shout of laughter sounds out behind him.

“Sick burn!” guffaws another guy. “Here, have a beer, Cassie.”

“It’s Cass, not Cassie. And I don’t drink. Especially notthat. But thanks.” I add that last word as an afterthought. I guess the guy currently trying to wrap his arm around me thinks he’s saved me from Loser Number One. But I’ve never needed to be saved, and that’s not about to change now.

I’m aware most of these fools are from my high school, but I’ve never taken the time to learn their names. As far as I’m concerned, these rich Astley manbabies don’t contribute a thing to society, and I’m not about to waste a single second of my time on them.

I came here for only one thing.

Okay—maybe two. Truthfully, three.

It’s hard to admit any of the reasons but the first one to myself.

I want to hear exactly what they’re saying about the Dark Devil. That’s what people have been calling the serial killer who’s been going around offing Devil Employees. The town of Astley is terrified, and though these high schoolers are far too stupid to think they’re anything but invincible, the great majority of them have parents that work at Devil.

I want to know what they’re saying. And what better place than a party full of boozed-up idiots to hear the unfiltered truth?