The Hanging Tree

f o u r t e e n

WHAT DOES SHE MEAN, YOU'RE THE TRAITOR?" Drew asked Jess, who was still slowly applauding Nancy.

"What, upset you didn't figure it out, Detective Drew?" Jess taunted. "Bad-boy-psychologist over here knew it but he was too much of a wuss to come right out and say it. His dumb little girlfriend had to do it for him."

Nancy looked over at Gunnar, who seemed to still be in too much of an initial shock to say anything.

"You all were so stupid to trust me," Jess grinned maliciously, easily opening her cell door and stepping out. "I was so tired of pretending to know nothing and be a mindless teenager like the rest of you clearly are. Didn't any of you find it the least bit suspicious that I moved to Moonlarkville two days after the last murder? But, then again, Damian had moved here the day before I did, so that made him look like the untrustworthy choice. I used to live up here in the compound, which was incredibly boring. I had to wait like thirty days before I actually got any action. So then I started thinking... what if I became part of the action? Thus, I moved down to the town and became part of the next fated five. Honestly, your trust was so easy to gain. All I had to do was act like a sassy, stuck up teen and get hit in the head with a rock. And then, BOOM!! No one ever suspected poor, almost-comatose Jess Phillips.

"But, I like you guys, probably because you're the first four I've ever gotten to talk to in tones other than threatening - so I'm going to strike you a deal. At the strike of midnight, I'm going to bring you down to the hanging tree, and I'm going to execute you. So you have until then to create an escape plan. And if you make it out of those gates, you're free. I won't run after you and take you back. But know this, they will be guarded, and if we even catch a glimpse of you, you shall be shot on the spot. Especially you, Damian. You killed my father. And you too, Nancy, for putting my mother out of commission.

"Also, part of the deal is that you do not turn me in. If you do, I will see to it that everyone you love and care about will be killed before your eyes - and then I will kill you. That is all. May the odds be ever in your favor, and let the games begin." Jess exited the room, leaving Nancy infuriated that Jess had used quotes from The Hunger Games in her speech, and that she hadn't figured this out sooner. If she had, she might've been able to save them all.

"What time is it now?" Nancy asked the others, who shrugged in response. "Jess!" She yelled.

"WHAT NOW?" Jess shouted through the door in annoyance.

"Can you at least tell us the time?" Drew requested.

"10:45. Any other questions before I leave?" She asked sarcastically.

"Why?" Gunnar's voice was quiet, and Nancy doubted Jess could even hear him through the door, but she did.

"Everybody has things that they do in their free time," Jess replied. "You steal stuff, I kill people. Our after-school activities just happen to be slightly different, that's all."

"Gunnar, she has a very twisted mind," Damian said. "In which she thinks that what she's doing is justice."

"Thanks, Dr. Phil," Gunnar muttered. "Now how about you analyze this situation and tell us how to get out?"

"Actually, Nancy and I have a sort-of half-formed plan," Damian confided, and turned to Nancy. "Go ahead, show them."

Nancy got up off her cot to pull the electric whip out from under. "It all starts with this."

"Where the hell did you get that?" Drew asked, surprised that they had managed to get their hands on a weapon.

"I stole it," Nancy said simply. "No need to go into the gory details."