The sister in the dark

Chapter 35

To be quite honest I'm mainly just upset. Olivia didn't deserve this. She confessed, not because she committed the murders, but for us, because we threw her under the bus. I wish I would have had the bravery to do that, but I don't, and I probably never will. Now it's just Rose and I, alone in this room. This afternoon, Mother and Father are coming to visit us, which is going to give us a lot of explaining to do, but I guess I'm excited. Even though it's been a week since I left home for Stowe, and in that time I have been terrified for my life almost every day.

Rose is scribbling in a page at the back of her diary, reminding me that our story is quite probably coming to an end. Our parents will come and visit, take us home for a week, send us back to school, and we'll just be ordinary schoolgirls again, living with the horror of murder.

A shape appears in the doorway and I lift my chin from my knees.

"Hey Milly."

"Thank you. My Dad just came back. And even though we lost Mum and Hamika along the way, we're happy now, the three of us in the little lodge in the middle of the woods."

Happy. Not an emotion any of us have experienced lately, but that's the end of Milly's story, her happily ever after.

"I'm glad." There's not much else I can say to that.

"Thank you. I'd better be going now. Have fun."

"I'll see you again at some point." I say, but all that is left is a whip of light brown hair as she disappears around the corner.

Now it's just a matter of time until our parents arrive, we go home, and this adventure is over.

I grab a sheet of paper and a pencil, and begin sketching out the people who played a part here.

Evelyn- Main Character

Rose- Main Character

Hirah- Main-ish Character

Milly- Main-ish Character

Charlotte- Villain

Olivia- Villain/ Ally

Amelia- Villain

Emily- Villain

Hamika- Villain

Is that it? Is that everyone who actually matters? And how many of those are now dead? Because I can imagine it's a lot more than it should be. Four of the five 'villains' are dead, one in prison, awaiting trial.

I look over at the sheet of paper again, crossing out all of the villains next to Charlotte, Olivia, Emily and Hamika's names with a sigh. Sure, maybe I've found myself in a murder novel but things like this aren't just black and white. Instead, I draw a little flower next to everyone's names, and close my eyes and send a message to them up in heaven.

"Somebody's here to see you," Matron says, sticking her head into our room. I quickly crumple up the paper and store it under the bed covers.

It's Mother and Stepfather.

I miss them, I miss them more than I could ever say, and now we're all together again. And with one big smile from all of us, my story ends.