💀 One crown. Five contestants. One fair competition. Or not. 💀
Delta Heights School, an all girls boarding school has just gotten spine-chilling. A harmless blackmail turns deadly when one of the five contestants for the Ms. Delta crown, an annual...
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She opened her eyes. Desks and shelves danced in front of her. She shut her eyes and opened them again; the same results. And now beakers and tripod stands had joined in. She tried one more and when she opened her eyes, things began to settle.
“Are you okay?”
Miley turned, and to her astonishment, saw Vicky sitting on the floor a few feet away from her. She then noticed that they were both bound by their wrists and ankles in what was most likely a storeroom in the abandoned science lab. Vicky had a red bruise on her face and her eyes were red and puffy. Her clothes were dirty and she looked tired. Miley herself felt a swelling forming on her face where she had been hit. It was surely going to leave a scar.
“What happened? Why are we here?” Miley asked, alarmed.
“Maya…”
“Maya? What does Maya have to do with this?” Miley pressured.
“It was her. She brought us here and tied us up. She murdered my best friend…” Vicky’s voice trailed and tears rolled down cheeks as she wept.
Miley’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach and she suddenly became numb. Maya? There was no way. But as much as she wanted to believe it, Vicky’s bruises and their binds stared at her right in the face. She couldn’t believe it. She had blindly trusted her even though she had lied about her whereabouts. She had deceived Miley and made it seem like she wanted justice for the deaths of the girls, when she had actually been the one who murdered them. And Miley had allowed her to trick her into helping her get the video that could prove that she was the culprit… The video!
Anger and regret surged in Miley and she hit her head against the wall as guilt added to them. She had declared that Maya be the one to check on the video and now she had certainly deleted all the evidence that could pin her as the murderer. And Miley too had stupidly helped her escape by engaging the fire alarm.
“You can’t believe it, right? I couldn’t too. She murdered all those people, including my best friend.”
“She really had me fooled. I should have seen it when she came up with such an elaborate plan to get the video. I should have known that she was only going to use me as a way to get the video and delete it. I was so stupid. I didn’t stop to think, I just believed everything that fell from her mouth. I thought she genuinely cared but I was wrong.” Miley sighed in frustration, then peered at Vicky. “How did you end up here though? Did you know about the murders all along?”
“I just found out when I unintentionally eavesdropped on your conversation with Maya in the clinic. So, I decided to follow you guys go get the video. I wanted to know who was responsible for the deaths so bad that I approached Maya the moment she came out of the security chamber. She promised to show me the video so I followed her here and then she knocked me out. When I woke up I was bound and stuck in this room. She hit me so bad that I wasn’t up to my strong suit when she brought you in and tied you up.”
“You okay now?”
“I guess. At least I can see better now. Although I’m scared what she’s going to do when she gets back.”
“What do you mean? She’s not going to do anything.”
“Miley, we know that she’s a thief and murderer. And she knows that if we escaped we’re going to report all we know. And if she was able to shut the mouth of the others what makes you think she can’t do same to us.” Vicky’s voice dropped to a whisper. “She’s killed before Miley, and she can do it again.” Vicky went back to leaning against the wall and looking up at the mouldy ceiling. “And all this for tickets to win a stupid plastic crown.”
Miley stared up too. Maya, a murderer. This was something she should have seen all along. And now she was going to die without anyone knowing the truth. A very useless death she could have prevented.
“We can’t let her win.” Vicky’s voice cut through her thoughts. “We can’t just sit here and wait for her to kill us off, we have to do something.” As she said this, she began fumbling with her binds. Miley could see the red welts on her wrists which had been formed from her forcing to undo her binds.
Miley watched as Vicky struggled and failed, struggled and failed and struggled again. And when Miley thought she was going to fail again, the knot untied and the binds fell off. The joy on Vicky’s face was unexplainable as she undid the ones on her feet and proceeded to relieve Miley of hers.
The loud sound of movement outside the room had them freezing and they glanced at each other.
“She’s here.” Vicky breathed and as quickly and quietly as she could undid the rest of Miley’s binds. “We have to protect ourselves.”
“How?”
Vicky hurriedly looked around and pointed to a crowbar beside Miley. “There, use that.” And Miley picked it up.
Outside, Maya called out to Miley. “Miley? Miley? I know you’re here. If you can hear me, do – not – trust – Vicky!”
Miley frowned and turned to meet Vicky who also had on a confused expression.
“Vicky is the culprit. She’s the one who stole the tickets; I recognized her from the video. She stole the tickets and also murdered the others. If you’re with her trust me, you must get far away from her, she’s dangerous. She murdered her own best friend Miley, think about what she can do to you.”
Miley’s scared eyes shifted at Vicky who shook her head. “Don’t believe her.” She mouthed. “She’s trying to lure you out by lying to you.” She pointed to the bruises on her face and wrists. “She did this to me Miley, don’t make her to do worse to you.”
Miley bit her lips, torn between believing someone she had almost considered as a friend and someone who had lost her best friend. She could hear her blood pumping in her ears and her mouth became dry as she strived to make a decision. She couldn’t think and the seconds just went by, each one bringing her closer to her death. Sweat rolled down her face and fell onto the crowbar in her hands. She stared at it for the longest time till she felt a hand on her shoulders.
“Miley,” Vicky blew out. “it’s going to be all right.”
She relaxed and nodded, then held up the crowbar, poised to attack.
The footsteps drew closer till they were right outside the door.
“When she walks in, don’t think, just swing, okay?” Vicky’s voice was almost inaudible.
Standing behind the door, Miley nodded and readied herself. The handle of the door slowly turned and even more slowly the door opened. First a foot, followed by another, then Maya was standing before them her eyes wide at what she saw.
“Now!” Vicky exclaimed and before Maya could react Miley flung the crowbar in her direction with all her strength and struck her head. Arms flailing, Maya lost her footing and hit the ground. Slowly, a pool of blood formed underneath her head as she stared into space.
