Adrift → Ace; Nancy Drew [2]

ii. the mystery of the drowned girl

THE MYSTERY OF THE DROWNED GIRL
CHAPTER TWO

Nancy grunted as she wheeled a scarecrow, twice her height and width, across the field. She stopped a couple of feet beyond the identical scarecrow that Bess was decorating. She brushed her hands onto her jeans to wipe off the dust and dirt before stopping to look at her friends. "Thanks so much for pitching in, you guys." She waved her hands toward the miles of cornfields that surrounded them. There was still a world of work left to do before the place was ready. Exhausting, but a pleasant distraction from the admissions email she was awaiting from Columbia. Feels really weird to be hosting the Town Carnival this year."

Olivia met Nancy's eyes as she frowned. "Why would that feel weird?" She shielded her eyes from the weak autumn sun that glared down them but kept her gaze on Nancy expectantly.

Nancy raised her eyebrows, almost offended by the blatant ignorance of Olivia's question when she had been present through the entire ordeal involving her family. "Maybe because the person who usually hosted the Town Carnival was a monster?" she spat, harsher than she intended. She sighed and raked her hand through her hair apologetically. "Sorry. I just feel wrong taking Everret's place after all the lives he ruined."

"Well, your family of origin has been hosting the Town Carnival since the 1800s so sometimes it's okay to give the people what they want," George shrugged in an attempt to lift her friend's spirits.

Nick nodded, placing a box of dream catchers he and Bess had been designing on the ground. "Plus, it's the year all the carnival proceeds go to Everetts victims so you can feel good about that."

Nodding along, Bess adjusted the material on one of the scarecrows as she spoke. "Yeah, and with no mysteries to solve and no supernatural entity to be hunting down, it must be keeping your mind off Columbia." Regret filled her chest the instant she saw the forced smile on Nancy's face.

"It was." The redhead's voice was shaky as she turned around with a basket of decorations and began to walk toward the corn maze.

"I'm sorry." Bess grimaced, watching her friend walk away.

"For what?" Olivia questioned obliviously again, immediately eliciting a sigh from Ace.

He seemed almost surprised by the noise he had let out– like he hadn't meant for anyone to hear his slight frustration with the questions Olivia had been asking. "Nancy's just stressed about her college application."

"I mean she gets in or she doesn't." Olivia shrugged.

"Yeah, but it's a big deal to her-" Ace could barely finish his sentence before a bloodcurdling scream erupted from the maze.

"Nancy!" Nick gasped, concern dripping with the name. He led the group as they sprinted toward the entrance of green. They hurried past what was supposed to be a scary sign saying "TURN BACK NOW", and although to the decorators it was nothing but mere entertainment for the guest of the carnival, right now they felt quite desperate to turn back.

Silky red hair sparkled under the sunlight, and Bess sighed with relief to see Nancy was standing safely. However, the moment she had reached her friend and her eyes landed on what she was staring at with wide glassy eyes, a shriek left her lips.

"Holy-" Nick cut himself off, unable to find the words to speak as he took in the dead body that lay before them. The man had taken down a few stalks of corn as he had fallen to his death. His body lay limp and still, and most terrifying of all was the empty hole in his chest.

"Is that..." George trailed, eyes watering from not having blinked for so long.

"His heart," Ace confirmed, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead. Instinctively, he snaked his hand around Olivia's waist and glanced at her to check that she was okay. He frowned to see her standing with her arms folded across her chest and eyes gazing at the dead body like it didn't faze her. Her eyes were blank and empty, and her breathing seemed normal and steady. Almost disturbed, Ace withdrew his arm from her waist and was even more disappointed when she didn't react to that either.