Fortune Favors the Bold

23

Kalani sat on one side of the table that appeared to have shrunken significantly since their initial arrival. Now, they all sat much closer to one another. Two extra seats remained empty and Kalani wondered how long it had been since she'd come into the cafeteria. Had she stayed away ever since Not-Castiel's death?

Were those two chairs meant for him and Chidi?

Nobody spoke. Instead, they only glanced up at one another to make sure nobody seemed any more suspicious than the other.

It didn't process easily in Kalani's mind. How could one of the two people she'd trusted with her life and secrets be the one to violently murder all the others? It made her wonder just how much she thought she knew them... how well she truly knew everybody.

Tamara was the one to finally break the silence with an aggravated sigh, planting her palms against the table with enough force to echo the contact's sound around the cafeteria. Assad and Kalani looked up to meet her wide eyes. "This isn't right," she breathed.

"It was never right," Kalani answered.

But the girl simply continued because they'd always known the truth of fact her friend had articulated. "We're not killers. I know it. None of us are capable of doing something like that." She turned to Assad, "I've known you all of my life and you'd never hurt anybody. Hell, you even fought a man who broke a cat's foot with his bike."

Assad chuckled at the reminder, dropping his head forward to mask the smile that built with the memory.

Kalani watched him. He looked so innocent now. The boy that sat in front of her truly appeared like someone who would never do the terrible things they'd witnessed in their time in the building. She imagined him stomping angrily toward a man in his youth to defend a limping kitten on the side of a dirt road.

No, they would have been in Filarko.

Filarko was paved.

Then Ellie's voice kept her in check, reminding her that one of the two people in front of her was likely responsible for the death of Not-Castiel, Mason, Aurora, and the others. Her eyes slowly slipped over to Tamara in thought, pondering on the possibility of her best friend being a vicious, stone-hearted murderer who hid her identity beneath a kind smile and motherly attitude.

Was she even a mother?

Tamara turned to her with that same smile, extending her hand to motion toward the girl. "I trust you, Kalani. Like, I really trust you. Not to mention, there's plenty of proof that you could never be the person we're all worried about now. You're pure."

She's confident.

When her gaze slipped away, Kalani's eyes caught on Assad's. He was looking at her through his eyelashes, the ghost of a find smile tugging at his lips. There was a wholeness in his eyes that she credited to something more than only the dilation of his pupils in his eyes.

She turned away when Tamara's voice came again, not sparing much thought to Assad's expression because her thoughts were already overwhelmed with worries as to who would kill who next. The poor girl wasn't aware of how Assad was looking at her with the same sparkle in his eyes that brightened the eyes of an artist who admired their favorite piece. She had become more to him than he ever could have imagined.

"Maybe I'm too hopeful or maybe I'm just stupid but I don't think either one of us is the killer," Tamara sighed, dropping back against her seat with full confidence.

Assad raised an eyebrow. "We're the only ones alive."

"You think we're being killed by... a ghost?" Kalani asked.