Page 88 of Camera Stays On

Asher stiffened.

“What tape?” he demanded.

Sawyer laughed dryly. “You know the one. Our first found footage. The one you told me to burn. You don’t think I actually did that, do you? Not with how you always looked at her.” He flicked his gaze to me. “Now I know why.”

“What tape?” Tugging on Asher’s arm, I had an inkling of what Sawyer was referring to, but the very thought that I was right was horrifying. I wanted him to be lying. There was no way they’d recorded what I think they did.

“Do you remember our first kiss, Purdy?” Sawyer turned to me abruptly.

I nodded slowly. “We were all at the movies, and then Ash and I left for a little bit. While we were gone, we made our own little movie. It’s almost foreshadowing, now that I think about it, me as director—and you as the villain.” He finished by looking at Asher. “Leave now and I’ll hand-deliver that fucking video to the police.”

No one but the three of us understood what was going on. I dropped Ash’s hand and stepped away from him. It was too warm in this room, and in my wedding gown. I was going to faint if I didn’t cool down. I began to fan myself while trying to remain an active participant in this.

“I have dirt on all of you, actually. Which is why you agreed to come. So, maybe let’s sit back down and have a good meal.”

“Okay, I’m done with this shit.” Darius lunged forward, tackling Sawyer to the ground, pushing him out of the way of the door. “You’re not going to keep playing with our lives like this!”

Darius rolled on top of him and grabbed his shoulders. Raising him up, he slammed him down, Sawyer’s head bouncing off the floor. It hadn’t been hard enough to knock him out. Darius began punching him in the face, and Sawyer fought back, eventually shoving Darius off and switching spots. They continued to roll, until finally, Darius managed to get the gun from Sawyer. He scurried back and pulled the trigger, aiming at Sawyer and—

Click.

Click. Click. Click.

Darius tossed the gun down and swore as Sawyer stood, a bloodied smile returning to his face.

“Nice try, asshole.” Sawyer sauntered over to the gun and picked it back up. With a chuckle, he tossed it onto the table and crouched down, lifting his pant leg. My heart sank as my gaze zeroed in on the gun strapped to his calf. Pulling it from its holster, he pointed it at Darius, and then slowly panned to the rest of us.

“I’m bored with this. We need to keep this movie going. Get up.” He motioned with the new gun.

“Are you going to shoot me?” Darius’s Adam’s apple bobbed as true fear struck him. Every eye was on Sawyer, waiting to see what he was going to do.

“No, but you might want to run.”

Chapter 38

Andi

SAWYER LIFTED HIS arm in the air and fired three rounds. I screamed and fled, knocking over furniture and set pieces in the process. “Andi!” Asher screamed, scrambling to grab me as I tripped over my dress, falling on my injured thigh. I bit my lip to stop from screaming, shoved myself back up, and rushed through the house with him as best as I could, heading toward the nearest exit. We ran out of the wing that hosted the set and rushed to the front door—only to find ropes of thick chains wrapped across the door, with a large padlock attached. Asher spun around and pointed to the right.

“There’s another door!” Together, everyone who’d been at dinner ran door to door, only to find them locked. Soon, we realized all exits had been chained, nailed, or sealed in some way that made it difficult or impossible to open. We then started trying windows, only to find the same thing—sealed.

“Move back, I’ll break the glass!” Mick shouted, stretching and bracing himself to run at one of the taller windows. Ash shook his head.

“It’s pointless. They’re bulletproof.” Everyone paused to look at Asher. Why would he know that? He shrugged. “The original owners were mafia. I told you that.” He looked at me. “They weren’t taking any chances. Sawyer must have locked them from the outside somehow.”

We stood on the second floor, scared and unsure of what to do next. Somehow, Sawyer had trapped us all inside without any of us seeing it.

“Doesn’t really matter anyway.” Juliet crossed her arms and sniffled. “It’s dark now. Trying to navigate through those trees... It’s a minefield.”

There was a long pause as her words sank in. She wasn’t talking figuratively.

“Did you set the traps?” Darius accused.

“Some. Not the one that got Gavin,” she said defensively.

“What about the one Bea set off?” I demanded. She sniffled again and shrugged.

“Hard to say. I set a lot of traps. Could have been one of mine. I didn’t know...” Her eyes moved to her feet, then back up to look at us all individually. “I didn’t know he was going to do what he did to Gavin—at dinner. If I did, I would have tried to stop him.”