The Hunt of Altswood High (The Altswood Saga #1)

Chapter 12 - Psyche

Chapter 12 - Psyche

Gasping, I whacked the hand off me without a second thought. My heart was still thumping as I turned, clenched my fist and thumped the figure's temple.

"Ah!" a familiar voice called out.

"Gabriel?" I asked, breathless. I moved closer, making sure it was him. "You scared me!"

He winced. "I would have announced myself but I thought it might startle you."

I moved the hand he had pressed over his temple away to get a look at the bump I made.

"Sorry," I winced, running a finger over a slightly raised scrape. "What are you doing here?"

"I was searching for-" he seemed to stumble over his words slightly, "-the shooter with the police." He paused for a long second, as if struggling to swallow. "We couldn't find anything, so when they re-gathered, your dad asked me to check if you were okay."

Gabriel shifted to match my position, hugging his knees too.

"You hadn't gone home," he said quietly. "It's almost 1 AM, Luca."

I shrugged.

My eyes swiveled up to the sky, away from his face.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly. "With... you know."

"No," he said bluntly. "I didn't want to believe it, not even when Manny admitted it. And now-"

Now he was gone, and judging by his stoic profile, Gabriel was locking away his mourning. Whether it was moral conflict or his priorities, I didn't know.

I didn't think it was in my right to ask.

"There's another killer out there," I whispered instead, settling my eyes on Gabriel.

A muscle in his jaw ticked. "They can't get away with this."

"But it seems like they already have, doesn't it?" I asked. My nails dug into the dirt. "We're completely out of leads. Somehow, they shot someone in the presence of so many police officers, and still got away."

I bit back on a sigh struggling to escape between the gaps of my teeth. "It's hopeless."

"Not hopeless," Gabriel insisted. "What we do know is that they're killing in the chain of the Hunt. We can prevent it. Set traps. Catch them." He nudged me. "Both of us are still in the Hunt, aren't we?"

"I'm beginning to regret it."

We sat in silence. I was perfectly fine with it, but not ten seconds had passed before Gabriel spoke again.

"Do you believe what he said?"

I flicked a bug settling on my leg.

"About being watched all the time?" I said. "My paranoia certainly agrees."

He didn't reply straight away.

"What about you?" I asked.

Gabriel shook his head. "I don't know what to think."

He broke off abruptly, turning away.

"It's okay, you know," I said before I could think too much. "Just because he did terrible things doesn't mean he deserved to die like that. You're allowed to feel remorse, and sadness. You're allowed to mourn him and be mad at him at the same time."

Gabriel kept his face averted.

I stretched out my leg, nudging his foot with my toe. "You're also allowed to shed some waterworks," I said, attempting to lighten up, no matter how inappropriate. "I'm not going to judge your tear ducts. Destroy toxic masculinity."