I Killed Jason Hargrove

Chapter 16: Keep Your Mouth Shut

Dear Julia Kleizmick,

People always thought you were sweet and innocent. I never believed it. I suppose I was right.

After all, sweet and innocent children don't aid and abet in their brother's murder.

Keep your mouth shut. Or you might just end up in a jail cell for your extracurricular activities...

-Secret Keeper

~Julia~

As I walked through the aisles, my mind wandered back to our earlier conversation. The magnitude of it all made my head spin.

Jason was alive. My brother was alive.

And I didn't kill him.

I know Jordan was the one who pushed him, but I was the one who suggested that we hang out in the woods in the first place. If it weren't for me, we never would've been in the woods. We never would've left him there either. I was the one who told Jordan to leave him and run. I left my own brother for dead. And then I kept it a secret. What kind of sister did that make me?

But now, he's not dead. I was happy that he was still alive. My brother was back from the dead. But the dead always carry secrets and destruction. So what secrets drove him to his fake grave? And what type of destruction was he going to bring back with him?

I didn't want to know the answer. Jason was risky and reckless sometimes, but for something to make him fake his own death... it had to be big. But I had a feeling we were going to find out exactly what it was in the near future. Especially because Secret Keeper already knows.

I have no doubt about it. Secret Keeper knew exactly what was going on with Jason and she used it for her own twisted game. In a way, Jason was as much our key to Secret Keeper as Secret Keeper was to Jason. Unlock one of their mysteries, you unlock them all.

But that scared me even more. What mysteries was Secret Keeper hiding. What could drive someone to take the risk of blackmailing some of the most powerful teens in the world?

And she had done it so well. Secret Keeper had been manipulating us the entire time. She held the cards of the deck while we didn't even know the deck existed. Or the fact that we were minor cards on the table. The two's and three's in a game of War.

I shivered. The thought of someone I didn't even know having that much power over me was enough to keep me up at night. It was probably why I was now shifting through the dingy store in the far end of town, looking for shampoo that I definitely didn't need. If I was being honest, I hated this shampoo more than even mom did. But the things that came with the shampoo made it worth it.

And I intended to get as much as I could before Secret Keeper stepped in. She already knows what I do here, that was evident from the first note she had ever sent me. It wasn't going to be long before she got infuriated and took this away from me.

Shaking my head, I grabbed a random shampoo bottle and made my way to the counter. A woman in her mid-twenties sat behind the counter, eyes wide and filled with an untamed energy despite the time of night. She was definitely on something. I wouldn't be surprised.

I placed the shampoo onto the counter and she started to cash it in. My fingers tapped on the metal to the same rhythm as the flickering tube light overhead.

"You want the extra?" she asked me as she placed the shampoo in a cheap plastic bag.

I didn't speak as I handed her a wad of cash much larger than what should ever be payed for shampoo. She nodded and took the cash, stuffing most of it in her pockets before slipping something into the plastic bag and handing it to me.

I mumbled a small, "Have a nice night," before heading out. The door opened with a loud creak. I stepped out onto the cracked sidewalk. The street was completely dark, not a living creature in sight, the darkness swallowing me up with it. No street lamps hung over the sidewalk. All of them were broken. That did nothing to settle the growing unease in my stomach.

The gravel crunched under my shoes, echoing against the brick walls of tightly shut stores. Dread filled me, the feeling growing stronger with every passing second. I lowered my head and walked faster.

Then I heard it. More gravel crunching behind me. Other footsteps. I quickened my pace and the footsteps moved faster with me. Uneasiness fluttered through my stomach like butterflies. I had to get out of here.

Still, I slowed to properly hear the footsteps behind me. I slid my hand into my purse, fingers wrapping around the can of the spray. I felt around for the nozzle. The footsteps were still following me.

In one swift movement I turned around and raised the pepper spray up threateningly. But there was no one there. I stared at the empty space behind me. Darkness stared back.

I released a deep breath as I placed the pepper spray back into my purse, but never letting go of it. Keeping an eye over my shoulder, I turned back around only to be met with sudden jarring blue headlights.

A car.

I raised a hand to block the blinding light of the headlights. It was too late when I realized the lights were nearing me at a much too fast pace.

And then my feet were out from under me.

I hit something hard and metal, crushing my bones and knocking the wind out of me. I was sailing through the air, spinning into oblivion, but I couldn't tell. I was merely floating in a black and empty void. And then I crashed into the ground.

I felt my bones break as I landed on the gravel, bouncing once before my body settled on the cold ground that pierced holes through my skin. Finally, my vision settled. A few feet away were back tires. Only then did it strike me.

Someone ran me over.

I tried to move my arms, only to be met with a jabbing pain in my side. My ribs were broken. My head swam as I just tried to lift it up. It fell back to the ground. I coughed, a liquid spilling out of my mouth.

Blood.

There was blood everywhere. Blood spurting out of my mouth, dripping through my hair, spilling down my arms, puddling the black ground. There was too much.

A car door opened as a black shoe stepped out. It made it's way toward me. I tried to force my head up, to look into my attacker's face, but I couldn't. Every time I lifted my head, I blacked out and ended up collapsing back onto the ground.

The black shoes approached me. My vision blurred as they reached down and picked up my phone. They snapped a picture before dialing a number and setting it back down. I briefly read the caller ID.

Tyler.

A gloved hand placed a dark red card with swirly golden letters under the phone. I tried to reach out to the phone, to say anything, when Tyler's voice rang out, calling my name. But I couldn't. I couldn't do anything but stare at the phone as my vision blurred over, making it look more like a mirage of lights.

The shoes walked back to the car and got in, the door slamming shut. The car disappeared into the darkness, leaving me helpless and bleeding in the middle of the street.

Everything went black.

Tyler: Why do I have to do it? It's Julia's chapter.

Author: Cause Julia got run over by a car.

Tyler: ...Please vote.