𝙎𝙐𝙉𝙁𝙇𝙊𝙒𝙀𝙍, 𝙇𝙐𝘾𝘼𝙎 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙆𝙀𝙍 (𝙂𝙊𝙊𝙎𝙀𝘽𝙐𝙈𝙋𝙎)

7

"i know we haven't officially met but i'm margot, by the way." margot spoke to leilani who was in the back seat of nora's car as they headed to the location where the "boom of dooms" was.

after leilani lost track of lucas, the only smart place to head was his home. so when she arrived, nora and margot had been rushing out which is how she was in the back of the car now.

they were all panicked but margot still felt like she needed to introduce herself. "i'm leilani." she nodded as she leaned forward. "leilani is your seatbelt on?" nora asked. "yeah, i just stretched it forward a little." she nodded. "good. hold on tight because i'm about to drive fast." nora spoke as she stepped on the gas.

by the time they were arriving, they saw lucas on the edge of the huge cliff which resulted in them getting out as fast as they could to stop him.

"lucas!" leilani called. "lucas! don't do it!" nora said as they stood beside him. "mom. im so good, you know? i don't feel any pain. i feel so good, mom!" he clarified. "lucas. it's the worms. they're messing with you." margot spoke which gained leilani's full attention. "no, no, they're not. they're helping me fulfill his legacy." lucas stated. "okay, lucas. i know how much you wanna be close to your dad right now. but this is not the way." nora shook her head as she tried to talk him out of it. "yes, it is. okay? mom, we're exactly the same. he wanted me to be just like him. we're a team you know? we're father and son. he wanted me to be just like him." leilani looked over to margot who had the same expression. they felt for the boy.

"no, but you're not like him, lucas." nora stated. "don't say that to me." lucas said as she tried to pull off. "no!" leilani called as she reached out for the boy but she was too in shock to actually reach him, luckily nora got in front of the dirt bike to stop him. "mom, get out of my way before i run you over!"

"no, i know you're mixed up and confused right now.." nora started. "i'm so sick of everybody telling me what i am, mom. okay, i'm clear. okay? i'm perfect. and i'm gonna make this run." he said as he revved the engine up, trying to take off.

"stop! lucas!" margot called out of she covered her mouth. leilani rushed to stand behind nora, protecting her for if anything went wrong, especially because she was near the cliff.

"dammit! look at me!" nora yelled over the revving. "your dad didn't do this run because he thought he could make it." nora spoke. lucas scoffed before talking. "what are you talking about?" he asked. "he did it because he knew he couldn't." leilani felt sorrow take over her body as her hands loosened on the older woman's shoulders. but they tightened back up the second lucas revved the engine up once again.

"you're trying to trick me!" lucas stated. "no she's not. listen to her, okay?" margot spoke. lucas looked around at the situation. he noticed margot, his mom, and leilani all had the same expression on their faces.

"he left a note." nora admitted. "no." lucas tried denying the truth. "i didn't want to tell you because i know how much you idolized him. no, and i didn't wanna ruin that for you. but you have to hear the truth." nora said. "no! no." lucas eyes were closed tight. "listen to me, look at me!" nora exclaimed.

"he wanted to die, lucas, and this was his way of doing it." she finally told him. "no.." the boy let out a cry. "no!" he exclaimed once again as got off his dirt bike. they watched as he hunched over and threw up a bunch of worms.

leilani who had still been behind nora closed her eyes as she heard the sound of the worms hit the ground.

as he fell to the ground, they ran over to him. "lucas, i'm so sorry." nora held the boy as he cried.

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"so you're telling me, the things that you guys took from the biddle house are now coming back to bite you in the ass one by one?" justin simplified their story. "yeah, and right now, we think that is what's happening with lucas." isaiah nodded. "and you guys are one hundred percent sure that this is..wait, wait, you," justin pointed to isabella who's eyes widened. "your the goblin-troll-monster thingy that kicked my ass?" he asked. "yeah..basically, and i completely apologize, that literally wasn't me—well it was but wasn't." she smiled at him awkwardly. "oh my god..this is real. this is really real." justin shook his head. "and that's why the game..." justin was going to ask isaiah, but instead he was focused on the cast on isaiah's arm. "and you were cloned? how!?" justin exclaimed. "were you not listening?" james asked. "no, no, i was. but a clock? how is any of this real?" justin ran his hands through his hair stressfully.

"that's exactly what we're trying to figure out." isaiah said. "how long has all of this been going on?" he asked. "since halloween. which is why lucas is the last victim." isaiah informed him. "hopefully..unless you and that other girl took someone from the biddle house. if you did..you're next." james said. "her name is leilani." isabella spoke, making justin furrow his eyebrows. "you know lani?" he pointed at her. "yeah, we have a couple of classes together. she's pretty nice." isabella shrugged. "right, she knows everyone. who am i kidding..oh shit. i totally owe her an apology too." he spoke, throwing his head back. they watched him confusedly.

"so..did you or did you not take anything from the biddle house?" james asked. "right! umm, no. not anything i could think o—shit, the worms." justin realized. "you took some worms too?" james face twisted in disgust. "no, leilani did. for her toad." he clarified. "so should we check on the toad?" isabella asked. "we should check on the toad." isaiah said. "let's check on simon." justin nodded as they stood up from the bench by the school parking lot. "checking on the toad named simon! great!" james called out.

as they entered the parking lot, justin quickly unlocked his car and opened the door.

"hey! i've always wanted to know who owned this jeep! i didn't know it was you!" james smiled happily now that he finally knew who his jeep buddy was. "yeah, it was my dads before he got a honda." justin laughed at his own words. he would never understand why his dad "downgraded" as he liked to call it.

"okay they're gonna ride with me." james spoke and justin nodded. "you guys can follow me." he said as he got into his jeep.

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as leilani and lucas pulled away from their hug, leilani quickly hit his shoulder. "of course something like this goes down the second i tell you to be more careful." she laughed softly. "hey, at least i landed that one off the roof, right?" lucas smiled which resulted in leilani playfully rolling her eyes. "you give me so much anxiety." leilani spoke as she crossed her arms. "i think you're just not used to having someone as cool as me around." he smirked. "you scare me." leilani squinted her eyes and pursed her lips; trying her best not to smile.

"lucas.." the turned back to margot who's eyes were widening. they sort of forgot that she was there. "i think they're taking your mom.." she trailed off. his and leilani's eyes widened at the scene in front of them.

they quickly made their way over to the cops and nora. "what's going on?" lucas asked. "lucas, i'll be okay. don't say anything." nora spoke as she was getting hand cuffs put on her wrists. "what are you doing? she did nothing wrong." lucas asked the cop. "yeah, this isn't right. she helped us!" leilani spoke but the cops only ignored them as he put nora in the back of the car. "you'll be able to see her at the hospital." was all the cop said as he walked over to the driver side and got into the car.

the kids watched as the cops all pulled off one after another, leaving them speechless.

as they stood there, leilani's phone rang in the back of her pocket. she grabbed it and looked at contact name.

justin.

she furrowed her eyebrows as she answered.

"hello?"

"i think simon's dead."

a/n: TRUST THE PROCESS. this is a nice...slow burn book ALRIGHT!?!!? also i rly wanted to write for justin this chapter so sorry u were robbed of the monster worm chase scene 😭❤️ also THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 1.63K READSSSS