Lies In The Dark

Just Grab the Bleach and Try Not to Freak Out

Maya

The house was massive. It felt like every hallway stretched on forever, each corner turning into more rooms I was pretty sure we hadn't even stepped foot in. Zyran, Kayden, Colton, and Tessa were with me, trailing through the darkness as we looked for something—anything—to clean up the mess we found ourselves in. The whole place had this eerie, echoey vibe, like the walls were watching us, judging every step we took.

"Fuck this place," Zyran muttered, her voice low but sharp as it cut through the silence. "I swear it's like walking through a fucking maze."

"No shit," Kayden agreed, running a hand through his hair. "Who the fuck has a house this big and doesn't even leave out a damn mop somewhere obvious?"

Colton was quiet, his eyes darting around like he expected something to jump out at us from the shadows at any second. Not that I could blame him—this night had already taken a sharp turn into the kind of horror I'd only ever seen in movies. First Lara's body, and now this. Everything felt surreal. Like any minute, I'd wake up, and this whole thing would've just been some sick dream. But it wasn't.

It was real. And it was fucking terrifying.

"Let's split up," Tessa suggested, her voice more practical than nervous. "We're wasting time just wandering around together. You guys check the upstairs closets, and Zyran and I will hit the pantry and laundry rooms."

"No." I shook my head. "No splitting up. I've seen enough horror movies to know that's how people end up dead." My voice wavered a bit on the last word, and I hated it. I hated how scared I felt, how out of control everything was.

Zyran snorted, a bitter smile creeping onto her face. "Don't worry, Maya. If a serial killer jumps out at us, we can take 'em."

Kayden let out a sharp laugh that sounded more like a cough. "I'm with Maya. We stick together. Strength in numbers and all that shit."

Tessa rolled her eyes but didn't argue, adjusting the strap of her tank top as she turned the corner with us. "Fine, but can we at least hurry up? The longer we're gone, the more paranoid they'll get back there. And I don't wanna be the one to explain why we couldn't even find a fucking broom."

We kept walking, and I couldn't help but let my mind drift back to the group waiting for us. There were cracks forming, obvious and deep, and they'd only gotten worse as the night wore on. I mean, we weren't exactly perfect before this. Far from it.

Mel, Emma, and Poppy were the real clique. The three of them had this bond that no one else in the group could quite touch. They were inseparable, the "power trio," as they liked to call themselves, and while they'd never been outright rude about it, there was an unspoken hierarchy. They looked out for each other first, always.

And then there were the rest of us—scattered pairs or singles, orbiting around them but never really on the same level. Like Zyran and I? We'd been friends for years, ever since we met at summer camp when we were kids. We got each other, in a way that didn't need words. We didn't talk about everything, but we didn't have to. She knew what I was thinking just by looking at me, and vice versa.

Rory and Tessa were another duo, though they were more of an unlikely pair. Tessa was all nerves and soft-spoken anxiety, and Rory? Well, she was the opposite—brash, loud, and fearless. But they balanced each other out somehow, an odd sort of friendship that had grown over the years.

Miri? She was a floater. She didn't really attach herself to anyone specifically, drifting in and out of conversations like a ghost. She was quiet, always watching, but never quite part of the inner circle.

And then there were the boys. Kayden and Colton were tight—they'd grown up together, practically brothers. But Jake? Jake was more of a wildcard, floating between groups, his loyalties split between Emma and whoever was closest at the moment.

We were all here, trying to act like one big group of friends, but underneath, there were divisions.

And now, after tonight... I couldn't help but wonder if those divisions would become fault lines. If this whole fucked-up situation would shatter us completely.

"Found something," Kayden called out, breaking me from my thoughts. He was rummaging through a hall closet, pulling out old rags and spray bottles. "It's not much, but it's a start."

I walked over, peering into the closet with him. "Better than nothing."

"Great," Tessa muttered. "Because that's exactly what I wanted to be doing tonight—cleaning up after a fucking murder."

Zyran grabbed one of the bottles and shook her head. "None of us wanted this shit, Tess. But we've gotta handle it."

She was right, of course. We didn't want to deal with any of this. But there was no choice. We were all trapped, whether we liked it or not.

"So, what's the plan?" Colton asked, speaking up for the first time in a while. His voice was quieter than usual, like he didn't quite believe in the words himself.

"We clean up. We get the fuck out. And we don't say a word to anyone," Zyran said, looking each of us in the eye as if daring us to disagree. "This stays between us. If we're lucky, no one will find Lara for a while."

"And what if they do?" Kayden asked, his voice dark. "What if someone finds out?"

"Then we deal with it when it happens," Tessa snapped. "But right now, we don't have time to worry about that."

I sighed, rubbing my temples as the weight of the situation pressed down on me again. "Let's just... find more supplies and get this over with."

We grabbed whatever cleaning products we could find and made our way back toward the others. My stomach churned with anxiety, and I couldn't stop replaying the scene from earlier in my head—the twisted look of Lara's body, the horror on Emma's face, the silence that had followed as we all realised what we were dealing with.

And then there was the question no one had dared to speak aloud, but I knew it was lurking in everyone's minds.

Who did it?

Because someone had. One of us.

We rejoined the others in the main living room, and the tension hit me like a fucking freight train. Everyone was on edge. Emma was pacing the room, biting her nails—a nervous habit she'd picked up years ago. Mel was sitting with her arms crossed, looking annoyed more than anything, while Poppy stood by the window, staring out into the darkness like she was hoping someone would come and save us from this nightmare.

"Found some cleaning supplies," Kayden announced, dropping the bundle on the floor. "Not much, but it'll do."

Emma stopped pacing long enough to glance at the pile. "Good. Let's get this done."

Her voice sounded hollow, like she was barely holding herself together. I could see the exhaustion in her eyes, the way her shoulders slumped under the weight of everything. She was trying to be strong, trying to lead us through this, but I knew she was seconds away from falling apart.

"Are you okay?" I asked her quietly as I walked over to help.

Emma let out a bitter laugh. "Do I look okay, Maya? We just found a fucking dead body. Of course I'm not okay."

I nodded, not pushing any further. What could I say, really? None of us were okay.

As we started cleaning, I couldn't help but glance around the room, watching the others. Everyone was trying to focus on the task at hand, but the tension was palpable. It was like we were all waiting for someone to snap, for the truth to come spilling out.

And that's when it hit me.

The truth might already be right in front of us.

"Fuck this," Zyran muttered under her breath as she scrubbed at the floor. "This is so fucking messed up."

I couldn't argue with that.

The thing was, no one wanted to admit it, but deep down, we were all thinking the same thing: someone in this room had killed Lara.

And the worst part?

We had no idea who.