Try Not to Die

Chapter Nine

Keira West

I wake up to my head on someone's lap. I must've fallen asleep. I look up to see Alex smiling softly at me.

"What time is it?" I ask tiredly.

"About 6:00am." He responds.

"Great." I mutter sarcastically, sitting up.

"Wanna come to the kitchen and grab some food with me?" He asks.

"What if the killer is out there?" I ask.

"Everyone is sleeping.  We'll be fine."

I eye him skeptically.  "How can I know you're telling the truth?"

He shrugs.  "You don't.  Do you trust me?" He asks me. 

Do I trust Alex?

Yes. I do.

"I do." I say honestly. I trust Alex Ryder.

I follow him to kitchen and grab some food and drinks with Alex. Wait a second, we can use these drinks.

"I have an idea." I whisper to Alex, careful not to wake anyone up.

"What is it?" He whispers back.

"Get everyone drunk. And then maybe we can get some answers." I say smiling.

"And deal with 8 moody teenagers suffering a hangover the next morning?" He says skeptically. I nod.

"Okay, fine. But I'm staying sober."

"So am I." I agree, grabbing some beer.

We return to the main room and almost everyone is awake by now, stretching and yawning to get themselves more awake.

"Why do we have beer?" Sarah asks.

"Because that's what we got. Unless you want to go to the kitchen by yourself and get something else, beer is what you'll have." Alex responds smoothly, passing out the beer.

A chorus of lazy groans fill the room and Colton pops off the cap of his beer and takes a sip.

                                    ******

After about an hour, we have 8 drunk teens in the vicinity. 

Alex is questioning Dylan and I'm talking to Summer. 

"How did you feel when your boyfriend broke up with you?" I inquire to a drunken Summer.

She giggles.  "I felt angry.  I wanted to kill someone.  But don't worry, I'm so much better now.  I figured out how to deal with it."

Suspicious.

"Out of all the people here, who do you think you're closest to?" I ask.  She pauses for a moment before answering.

"Carter."

I bite my lip and nod.  Onto the next person. 

Alex goes to Colton and I move to Sarah. She stares at me.

"I know what you're trying to do." She says.

"What am I trying to do?" I ask.

"You want answers to the murderings. But I'm sober and you won't be getting answers." She says, gesturing to her filled beer bottle.

Before I can respond, she speaks again. "I'm not the killer, I promise you that. But don't try to get me drunk again, or I will kill you."

I uneasily edge away from her. Ever since her sister had gone missing, she's been mysterious. Another possible suspect.

Alex has now moved on to Hailey and I make my way towards Carter. Carter offers me a goofy smile.

"Keira, want to hear something silly?" He asks.

"Sure." I say, smiling at his uplifting tone.

"It's a secret, so you can't tell." He warns, sounding like a nine year old.

"Okay. I won't tell." I say, chuckling at him.

"Promise?" He asks.

"Promise." I confirm.

He holds out his pinky and I interlock mine with his. He smiles before removing his finger.

"Okay. I cut the electricity wires!" He whispers, before erupting into a fit of giggles.

"Well, bye!" He says, walking off and leaving me stunned.

AND NOW YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT CARTER WAS HIDING

QotC: how do you like the story so far?

thanks for 12 reads! I've been getting a lot of reads on chapter four for some reason though