Betrayed

Chapter 4

Natalia's POV

Matthew nodded and walked over to the farthest corner of the basketball court. "One, two," he began, and I took off running. Something hit my foot and I turned around to see Hayley shrink into the shadows surrounding the pool. I shivered and ran in the opposite direction as her.

"Here we go," I whispered to myself, crouching down behind the fronds in the darkest corner of the yard. I peered through the plant and I could barely make out Hayley crawling under the boat.

"What a great hiding spot," Andrew said sarcastically, poking his head above the plant. "I hid there last time."

I looked up at him. "There are not a lot of places to hide," I replied.

He pointed at the plastic box against the wall. "You could always hide in there," he replied. A slight smile fell over him and he added, "Never mind, I'm going to hide in there." He walked over, lifted the lid, and climbed inside.

I glanced down at the rocky ground as he closed the lid. "Sixty!" Matthew called, his voice shaking. I strained my eyes and saw him walking towards the pool.

Matthew turned to look at the patio before racing past it towards the boat. "Hi, Raphael," he said. I watched Raphael slide out of the tree. He glanced in my direction, as if feeling my eyes watch him, and I studied the floor.

Seconds ticked by as I waited in the silent darkness for Matthew or Raphael's footsteps to come my way. I would hear Raphael shout, "Found someone!" every few minutes, but I never heard Matthew's echoing cry.

A pine cone cracked under someone's foot, and I instinctively pressed myself against the frond. I peered under the plant and saw the outline of a pair of sneakers. "Is there anyone over here?" Ashley asked, approaching my hiding spot.

I pressed myself against the fronds, feeling the rocks push against my body. Ashley's shoes moved closer, but a thumping sound made her stop in her tracks. "Are you serious?" she asked, and I watched her walk towards the box where Andrew was hiding. She opened the lid and let out a scream when Andrew jumped out.

Everyone turned to see what had made Ashley scream, and I noticed that Matthew wasn't among them. Where is he? I wondered.

"Ashley, are you okay?" Owen asked, bounding over to her.

Ashley turned on him, furious. "Explain to my brother that jumping out of boxes is not funny when there is a killer on the loose!" she yelled.

My eyes lit up in surprise. I had never seen Ashley this angry. Andrew, however, had. He ducked his head and said, "I didn't realize it was you. I was hoping to scare the killer."

Crystal crossed her arms. "Did you think that the killer would be after you?" she asked.

"Yes," Andrew replied, with a glance at Hayley. "She's never seemed to like me."

Hayley took a step towards him. "Are you saying I killed my sister?" she asked.

Andrew held up his hands. "Well, you didn't appear to be that affected by her death," he replied, taking a step backwards.

Hayley screamed with rage and flew towards him, arms outstretched. Andrew ducked just in time, narrowly avoiding her hands meeting his neck. Owen lunged forward, grabbed Hayley, and pulled her away from Andrew. "Hayley," he said, "if you act like this, people will accuse you of killing Olivia." Hayley nodded, but I could tell that she was still seething. She may not be the killer, I thought, but if Andrew is found dead, we know who to blame. The thought of Andrew being killed pained me, and I pushed it out of my mind.