Love & Carnage✗Noah Foster [2]

Chapter Twenty-One// Odd

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"People in mourning get thirsty."

--Brooke Maddox

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I stared down at my phone for a while. Feeling as if I should maybe text Noah... or Emma...? I didn't know. I felt really guilty about slapping him and yelling at him in public. But also, I felt as if he deserved it. And talking to Emma about it... I didn't know about that. Emma was going to tell me not to worry about it, she was going to tell me that she would "get to the bottom of it". I knew her. I knew how she would react. I began to text Noah.

Me:

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

But then... I erased it. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against my headboard. That's when my phone chimed. I opened my eyes and looked down at my phone.

UNKNOWN:

Wanna play a game?

My heart began to speed up and I sat up. Nope, nope. Nope. Not happening. I was not going to play his games anymore.

Me:

Leave me alone.

I then turned my phone off and threw it onto my bed. But then it binged again. And again... and again. I glared at it. I grabbed it and nearly screamed. I was so done.

UNKNOWN:

I promise you won't want to miss this.

Don't ignore me, Arielle.

Your sister looks oh so pretty in her hospital bed.

That's what got my attention. I hadn't visited Katherine yet. She could be in serious danger and I wasn't there to save her. I jumped off of my bed, when my phone rang. I answered it immediately.

"Hello, Arielle." The voice spoke. "Touch her and I'll fucking kill you." I promised. "I know, I know. You're Ms. Toughie." He chuckled. I closed my eyes. "Please... do not touch her."

"If you don't want her to get hurt, you'll do what I want." He said. "Okay, okay. Fine." I whispered. "You're onto the killer, Arielle. Tell me... who do you think it is?" He hummed. I frowned to myself and sat back down. "Wh--what? I do--I don't know." I huffed. "Oh, come on... you know who I am, Arielle. You've got all of the pieces."

"I--I don't. I don't know!" I screamed. "Yes, you do!" He snapped. "I--I don't--"

"You're gonna need to figure out who I am if you want to save your friends." I went to speak again, but he had hung up on me. My eyes widened as I looked down at my phone. "What the fuck!" I screamed. I grabbed my purse that hung on the back of my vanity chair. My phone pinged again.

UNKNOWN:

Fair grounds.

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Yeah, sure, Arielle, go to the empty fairgrounds and walk around. By yourself. I'm sure you won't get murdered. I mean, you were lured here by a murderer, he's probably just waiting to give you a great big hug-- I heard something... thud and I jumped. "Oh, no, no..." I whimpered, walking faster through the grounds. "Hello?!" I called. "Yeah... be that girl, Arielle." I whispered to myself. I continued walking, seeing nothing and nobody. "If you're here, killer person, just come out and get it over with, please!" I called to the air. Nothing. I stopped walking. And looked around. "Come on." I whispered. "COME ON!" I screamed louder. I felt eyes on me... I felt something--someone--

I whipped around, only to be faced with Emma. I screamed loudly. Emma cupped my mouth with her hand quickly. I continued to scream into her hand, staring at her. "Arielle! Calm down! It's just me." I stopped, and Emma pulled her hand from my mouth. "What the hell are you doing here?!" I said in a muted shout. "Me? What are you doing here?" She frowned. "I was.. uh.. I don't know." I shrugged, shaking my head. I had no explanation.

Emma watched me carefully. "I'm looking for Noah. He was supposed to meet this motel clerk named Eddie here... but now I can't find him." I felt my stomach drop. "Emma!" I grabbed her shoulders. "What?"

"Eddie is dead. You were lured here." I told her. "What? No... Noah got a text this morning--"

"There is so dead! Eddie is dead, Emma! He is super dead! Noah could be hurt!" I whipped around, searching. "NOAH!" I screamed out. "NOAH!" Emma copied. We rushed through the fair grounds, calling for Noah. "His car's over there, I thought he was already here!" Emma told me as we ran. "Oh, my God!" I ran my fingers through my hair. I heard a faint yell. I stopped, making Emma adorned themselves with the haunting Brandon James mask. I grabbed Emma's hand. "Uh, Emma..." I stared at the person, who stared right back, making sure to show off their shiny knife. "Run?" I whispered. "Definitely. Definitely run." Emma told. She pulled me along, rushing through the grounds. We hid behind a plastic stand up. Emma and I looked at each other and tried to catch our breaths. I turned and looked through the small peak hole in the stand up. They were right there! I nearly screamed as I ushered for Emma to run again. We both began to run, with me looking back every chance I got. That's when Emma gasped in front of me. I turned my head to see Audrey and Noah in front of us. "Oh, Arielle, thank God!" Noah grabbed me quickly, pulling me into a hug. I was surprised, but hugged him back. "The killer is here!" Emma said in a rush. "Are you okay? I heard you scream!" Noah pulled away from me and stared into my eyes, searching for an answer. I nodded quickly, forcing the tears away. "I'm okay, I'm good."

"Emma, I was wrong. It was all a trap!" Noah looked past me to look at Emma. "I know!" Emma seethed. "We have to get the hell out of here." I whispered. We all backed into each other, as Emma looked behind this new stand up we were behind. There was a sudden shadow that was walking behind in front of the stand up. Coming for us. I backed up instinctively. "We're gonna die." I predicted. But then Kieran popped out in front of Emma. "You guys, what's going on?" He asked in horror at all of us. "Kieran, what are you doing here?!" Emma cried. "I was worried. I followed you." He explained. "That's odd." I watched him cautiously. "Okay, let's do this when we are not running from a killer." Audrey told us, urging for us to follow her. "The killer was here?" Kieran asked, following us. "He might still be. Let's get out of here!" Noah cried, rushing towards the exit, all of us following after him. I looked behind me at Kieran. My mouth slightly ajar. He didn't see him?