Try Not to Die

Chapter Twelve

Keira West

The next morning, my spirits sunk after remembering the events of last night.

Dylan had died. Because of me.

Yes, I know that I shouldn't have been kissing him and I did. I allowed myself to grow attached to someone. It was a big mistake.

You shouldn't like become attached because everyone just leaves you. One second they're there and then they're gone.

For the rest of the day, I'm miserable. No one tries to cheer me up, they know that it's impossible to anyway.

I shake off my thoughts.  Alex stares at me, as if what I'm doing was important.  His eyes soften, as if he pities me.  And then it hardens again.

Alex walks over to me and hands me a knife.  I stare up at him in confusion.

"Just in case you're ever attacked."  He says.  I nod calmly.  It's sad that we even have to be prepared for something like this.  I tighten my fingers around the knife and eye the sharp, silver blade. 

"I'm sorry." I say abruptly. 

Alex looks at me with confusion.  "Why are you sorry?" He questions. 

I sigh.  "I shouldn't be acting like this because Dylan died.  I'm causing more trouble for everyone."  I say. 

Alex's expression softens.  "It's not your fault, Keira."  He tells me.

"I know that I couldn't have stopped him from dying, but I'm being a burden about this."

He shakes his head.  "No you're not."

I nod my head.  "Yes I am."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Stubborn."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

"Annoying."

"Crazy."

"Apple."

"S- Did you just call me an apple?"

"Well, you were acting like an apple so I called you one."  I say, shrugging. 

"You're definitely different than most girls, West."  He says, laughing and shaking his head.

"Is that an insult?" I ask, standing up and getting ready to defend myself.  Hey, it's what I do, don't judge me.

"Maybe it is." Alex responds smoothly.

I look around the room. Ashton, Alex, me, Hailey, Sarah, Colton, Carter, Summer and Cameron remain.  I gulp.

One of us here if the murderer.  And if they don't fess up soon, we're all going to be dead. 

No, I can't put anyone's lives at risk.  People can't die if I had the opportunity to save them.

It's a beautiful day to save lives.

I'm sorry, I had to.

"Alex, we need to find the killer."  I whisper.

"Now all of a sudden you're extra determined to find them?" Alex asks, looking amused.

"Yes." I respond.

He laughs but nods.  "Okay."

                                    *******

We've narrowed down the suspects.  Alex is convinced it couldn't be Ashton, so we eliminated him as a suspect.

We both know that ourselves didn't do it.

Hailey is a still a possible suspect, but not likely.  Sarah is also the same as Hailey.

We have a bit more evidence against Summer to use, but there's been no solid proof against her.

Colton has been eliminated because he hasn't been near any of the killings nor acted suspicious.  He's a generally nice guy also.  I still think he should be on the list, but Alex said that he shouldn't.

Carter is our strongest suspect.  But I think that he's just been in the wrong places at the wrong time.  A gut feeling tells me that it's not him. 

He's a suspect just in case.  Against my opinion, but just in case.

Cameron is pretty unknown between us; none of us had spoken to him.  He's a possible suspect but unlikely to be the actual killer. 

"My brain hurts from thinking." I complain.  Alex and I have been working on the suspects for the past hour. 

"One of the killers is a girl, remember?" Alex says. 

I nod.  "She had light hair.  The remaining girls all have light hair." 

Alex sighs.  "How close are we to solving this?"

I shake my head.  "Not even close."

HOLY COW 63 READS?

I feel like just two days ago I was so proud of having 9 reads. 

I know that this story isn't the best, so thank you for bearing with me until now.  Even though these past chapters have only gotten 1-2 reads, it feels great knowing that someone is reading and enjoying this story.

At least I hope they are!

And don't be afraid to comment! I love hearing people's feedback.  Like I legit have written messages to people who have voted on my story or added it to my reading list, haha.

I spent a total of 6 hours in the car for a competition so I was able to update