Cypress Alley

Chapter 23

"How come I have to go and get your phone," Eliza grumbled.

"Because you were the one that sent me there in the first place. So it's your fault I lost it."

"No, it isn't. I'm not the clumsy one."

"Well, you would be if you were in my place. Do you know how terrifying it was to be face to face with the murderer."

She was silent. "But it's your phone," she complained.

"Then why do I feel obliged to find your phone? Get it yourself," I muttered as I turned to leave.

"Wait," she said tentatively. "I mean, I could go, but I'm not allowed to leave my room, remember?"

"That didn't stop you from trying to escape to meet Jane," I rebutted. 

"It Jane-Ro- I mean, that was a different situation, and I got caught, anyway."

"Yeah, OK. Just don't expect me to find you your phone - or do anything else for you - if you won't find mine for me." I turned to leave, despite her desperate protests, and slammed the door shut behind me.

I was tired of having to do everything. I almost lost my life in that Alley: all because she wouldn't go herself, or even accompany me. We'd have been stronger as a team, and she'd be a lot more stable than I was. We might have escaped without any injuries.

Either way, I decided I wouldn't go back. It wasn't worth my life. I flopped onto my bed, pondering the dire future that awaited me without my phone, as I heard a soft knock on my wall. It must have been Eliza. Ignoring it, I got up and left my room, only to find myself facing her.

"What are you doing? You're dead if Ms Hartley sees you."

"I know, but she never comes into my room to check anyway."

"Well, she comes into the corridor, usually. It is her house."

"Oh, please, she's too lazy to get off her butt to come here."

I rolled my eyes. It wouldn't have been my fault - or my problem - if she got in trouble. So why should I have cared?

"And besides," she whispered. "That's not my point."

"Then what is?"

"I mean, she doesn't check if I'm in my room. Like, ever."

I raised my eyebrows. "So, theoretically speaking, you could go to Cypress Alley, you just don't want to."

She grimaced. "I'm just scared of it."

"Well, so am I. And you made me go there once already."

"Yeah, but... it would be easier if you could, you know, come with me, maybe."

"Where?"

"Cypress Alley."

I squinted, unable to tell if she was joking or not. "You want to go...?"

"Well, I don't want to, but we could... and besides, we need to have at least one phone for communication, whether we find mine or not."

I nodded slowly. "So you're suggesting-"

"-that we go together."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'll think about it."

"Oh, come on. This way I can get a look at the crime scene too. You'd just have to help me escape without making a sound."

I thought about it. It would be nice to have my phone back, and it was highly unlikely that the murderer would have returned after being spotted once. "Mmk... I'm in."