DIAMONDS ❀ SCREAM

8 | FLASHES

      Ava sat in the back of Audrey's car, her palms laid still on her thighs as she watched the car slowly stop near the abandoned hospital. Her nerves were out of control and her heart pounded in her ears. The awkward tension that hovered around her created a barrier between the front two seats in the car, and the back. Ava shut her eyes, wishing she declined Emma's request to find out what the killings had to do with Nina and Riley; wishing that she had been hunting serial killers with anyone else, but Audrey Jensen. While Emma and Audrey stepped out of the car, Ava barely moved. She could feel the beads of sweat drip down her neck as fear enticed her.

"Are you coming?" Emma knocked on the window, causing her to jump. She pushed her hair back out of her face and pulled it into a ponytail before eventually stepping out of the car.

"This place is huge." Ava whispered, her arms tightening against the camera she held tightly against her body. The three walked slowly into the dark room, each walking close against the suspiciously sticky wall. Finding themselves in a narrow hall, sharp breaths echoed around the room, lines of light emitting for each girl.

"Maybe we should split up." Audrey teased, earning a glare from each girl.

Ava allowed the camera to dangle against her wrist as she fiddled with the chain around her neck. Audrey scared her, the thought of the girl running away for the trio while they searched for a murderer sent chills through her spine. Swallowing thickly, she removed her grip on the necklace and walked along silently, deciding against speaking up toward the taller girl.

"Hey, that's not even remotely funny." Emma scoffed and lightly hit her, pulling the flashlight away from her hands.

"Just a thought."

"It's not funny."

"I'm just messing with you."

"This way." Ava broke the two bickering and picked up her camera, snapping a picture of the dark room in front of them. She let her lips curl up at the room being illuminated by the flash of her camera. A sigh of relief slipping from her mouth as she noticed no lingering figure.

"What the hell are you doing?" Audrey whispered harshly as the three stepped into another one of the empty rooms. Ava turned towards her, her camera wrapped tightly around her wrist, held by a thin strap. Ignoring the obnoxious flash, she snapped another picture, aggravating Audrey even more.

"What?"

"The camera?"

"It's called evidence." She whispered, quickly flashing her camera towards the two girls.

"That's why I brought a video camera." Audrey argued, ignoring Emma's protests to stop them from arguing. Ava raised an eyebrow at her, leaning her camera against her hip as she stared Audrey down.

"Audrey, the sheriff thinks you're unstable. Emma said he recommended you to a counsellor, you really think he'll believe whatever you say with you waving your camera around screaming profanities at him?"

"Shut up," Audrey huffed, ignoring Ava. "Emma, if Tyler did send you that yearbook, we're following a dead man's trail."

"Great," Emma murmured, moving towards another dark room. "Or a live man's trap."

"What are you two talking about?" Ava questioned. "What yearbook?"

"Who's to say a woman couldn't torture and kill just as well as a man?" Audrey ignored her.

"Well, it was a man's voice that called me." Emma mumbled, shining a light down the long hall.

"A voice like this?" A automatic male voice echoed around the empty hospital, making Emma jump and inch closer towards Ava.