The Secrets Buried With Us | COMPLETE

Part 4| The truth about the liars

Nova's POV
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HOURS, the room was dead silent. I had lost all sense of time, but I was certain our 24 hours had almost passed.

We had spent most of our time arguing, trying to ease someone into owning up for their actions so that the wrongfully accused would see the light of day again. We had given up quickly, however, as exhaustion overcame us and it became almost impossible to breathe. My body felt tired and worn out and I knew our time was running out. I couldn't spend the remaining time of my life arguing with the people around me.

I felt like screaming, felt the rage coursing through my veins. A blazing fire of anger and bitterness burned up inside me, but exhaustion seemed to extinguish the flame. The tips of my finger were a weird bluish colour and I felt so dizzy that I had to lie down to stop the room from spinning around me.

The bright lights didn't help my arduous l headache, Blaire was asleep in the far corner of the room, facing the wall. She had cried until her eyes were dry and red until Ace had finally stopped yelling at her to shut up. Even in her sleep, I could hear her faint sniffling. I didn't sleep at all, but how could I?

There was the risk of another sleepwalking episode, and I wasn't sure I could sleep knowing the situation that would await me when I woke up. I nudged Callum with my shoulder, and his head slowly turned until we were face to face. His lips had the same bluish tint my fingers did.

The bags under his eyes were deeper and more prominent now. "Something about Ace makes me feel suspicious. For someone who's about to die, he's taking it quite well, don't you think? " I whispered and Callum shrugged nonchalantly, leaning his head back against the wall.

Being in the room with these people was strangely awkward. When we weren't fighting, we ignored each other and the room stayed quiet for hours, except for Blaire who would break out into tears now and then, which caused Ace to start yelling a string of bad words at her.

"Gee, I don't know Nova. I'm not really in the mood to start betting on possible murderers right now," he replied, letting out a dry laugh. We sat there in uncomfortable silence for a while. Nobody seemed to be in the mood for anything. It was depressing knowing that we were going to die. Of course, I knew I wasn't going to live forever, but I never expected that my time on Earth would come to an end so suddenly.

"I can hear you. I'm not deaf," Ace suddenly spoke up. His green eyes were cold and he glared at me with an ugly scowl on his face. He tried to play it off as strong and confident, but even he had his flame of bitterness extinguished.

"I know what you're thinking Astrid. You think you know me so well. You choose to believe all the things you've heard about me, and now I'm the bad guy." I was at a loss for words. For the second time that day, Ace was right. I didn't know anything about him, and I didn't know anything about anyone else in the room. We were acquaintances at most. I laughed bitterly, the sound surprising me.

"Don't you dare start playing the victim now, Ace. We're all going to die whether you like it or not," I snapped, my words coming out in short breaths. Time was slipping away before we knew it. My chest felt like someone was sitting on it, pushing all the air out of my lungs. Ace's eyes narrowed into slits. He opened his mouth to reply, but Blaire cut him off unexpectedly.

"You are the bad guy, Ace," Blaire said, her voice hollow and her backs still facing us. "And so am I, and Nova, and Callum. We've all made some questionable decisions, and now we are going to have to deal with it."

We all looked at each other. Nobody was mad anymore. There were no tears left to shed. We had all accepted our fate and the fact that we all had secrets. Someone had made the unreasonable decision to kill Nick. Maybe it was Ace.

His need to support himself and get protection from the Silver Legion might have been enough to get him to give in and kill Nick. Or maybe it was Blaire, the girl that everyone thought was the most innocent and quiet girl ever. Maybe it was Callum, his depression had possibly become too much for him to handle anymore.

Perhaps it was even me. I wasn't sure I even trusted myself when I was asleep. Maybe it was all of us. It didn't matter anymore. Our time was coming to an end, and this was inevitable. No matter what, the real murder was going to die in that room and so was I.

We didn't have enough breath to share any heartfelt last words. There was no final goodbye, no hugs, no sudden feeling of friendship. One might think that being trapped in a room with people would bring us together, but it almost drew us apart.

We saw all the ugly sides of each other, the dark and selfish things we were willing to do just to save ourselves. The last thing I could think of was Nick. What would he think of all of this right now? How could he have known that one of his friends would be the reason for his death?

The answer was clear: he couldn't. A loud timer sound went off inside the room, counting down the seconds until our death. I looked around the room one last time before I lied down on the ground.

"Our secrets will follow us to the grave," I whispered under my breath, as I felt my vision darken and felt my last breath leave me. I closed my eyes.

"Our secrets follow us to the grave," I heard Blaire, Ace, and Callum repeat as the world faded to black for the last time.