To Tell An Altswood Lie (The Altswood Saga #3)

Chapter 10 - Labyrinth

Chapter 10 - Labyrinth

"We must be the only people rolling up to school on a Saturday," Annabelle groaned, undoing her seatbelt.

"We must be the only people meddling with a murder investigation," Gabriel retorted. The engine went silent, and we were left to stare out at the school through the car windows.

I was the first to move.

"Come on," I enthused. "The day is young."

"It's not even noon yet," Jules groaned, though he followed my lead. The sound of four car doors slamming shut echoed through the empty street. "Didn't you two climb the gate yesterday? If we have to do that again, I'm going home."

I shot Jules the evil eye, but he wasn't the only one with reservations.

"You were almost caught yesterday," Annabelle added.

"Almost being the key word," Gabriel said. "It's risky being here, but we're on a time limit. The longer we go without answers, the sooner the ticking bomb goes off in me and Luca's faces."

That convinced them.

"Onward," Jules sighed.

We approached the gate with determination, ready to battle the giant steel structure again. Then, I prodded the gate, and it creaked open.

There was something eery about the way the gate had been pulled shut but not quite—something ominous about the complete lack of noise and then the moaning echo of its hinges slicing through the tangible quiet.

"What do you know?" I remarked. "It's already open today."

"Must be a sign," Gabriel said, breezing through.

We moved in a huddle, approaching the gym like we were a group of wary penguins. I kept looking over my shoulder, eyeing that open gate every few seconds. I didn't know what I was expecting, but the fact that no one appeared and nothing was out of the ordinary made me more nervous than less.

Somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard the crow of a raven.

We crept along the side of the large gym building and rounded the corner, coming to a simple patch of grass held within the school perimeter. There was a small swing door in the fence here, one that I imagined would have been kept open five years ago, before two serial killers laid Altswood to waste.

Now, it was padlocked for the weekend.

"Welp, here we are," Jules said.

Gabriel cleared his throat. "I expected something—"

"—more?" I finished.

I spun on my heel slowly, looking from the gym's exterior wall to the fence. There was enough space between the two boundaries for Gabriel, Annabelle, and Jules to lie down on the ground in a line, and that was about it.

"I expected something new," Gabriel clarified. "In our years at Altswood, we've been behind here plenty of times. It looks the same as usual."

Annabelle crouched down, narrowing her eyes as if she could turn on a sixth sense. "Ah," she said, "if only we could time travel."

Jules eyed her strange position. "Are you sure that's not what you're trying to do right now?"

"No, I'm just tired."

I joined her in half-crouching on the ground, using the position to help me think.

"What's unique about this little blob of land?" I asked. "Why not use someone's house, or the abandoned lighthouse, or an isolated strip of the beach?"