A Descent into Darkness

Thinking Things Through

Veronica, Syed and I are at Veronica's house, discussing how to raise the issue of Liza with Rachel, when my phone rings. I pull it out and see it's Rachel. I stare at the call display, wondering what to do.

"Who is it?" Veronica asks. I turn it around to show her and Syed.

"Well, answer it, otherwise she may know somethings wrong," says Syed.

I swipe accept call, clenching my fists to try and keep my bloodlust in check. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nate!" she sounds like she's falling apart. "Nate, I'm so sorry about Liza. It's all my fault, I'm sorry!"

I'm completely take aback. I had not expected her to accept responsibility so quickly and completely unprompted. Suddenly, my anger toward Rachel is feeling a bit less sustainable. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"Listen, you deserve to hear this in person. Where are you now? I'll come to you and tell you everything. Then, whatever you choose to do after that I'll accept."

I look down at the knife in my hand, pretty sure she wouldn't be saying that if she knew what I was thinking right now. Though I will admit, this may prove convenient "I'm at Veronica's right now with her and Syed. Come join us. Anything you want to say to me, you say to all three of us."

"Okay, I'll be right there," she hangs up.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Veronica looks shocked. "You want to turn my house into a murder scene? My parents are gonna be home from work in like four hours!"

"No, you don't get it, I figured it out," I tell her. "You heard her. She's guilty. So she's dead. But it's not going to be a murder scene. It's going to be an accidental overdose scene. And we don't have to do it in here, it can be in the backyard if you like. I'd say the front too, but we can't rule out the possibility those cops are just watching us from out of sight there."

"What are you thinking?" Syed asks. "Keeping in mind that you just duly reminded us we may have cops right outside?

I look from one of them to the other. "Think about it. This bitch nearly killed Liza twice, and who knows how many other people it's happened to. What's more poetic than a drug dealer dying from her own product?"

"You're going to overdose her," Veronica realizes, as if it weren't obvious.

I nod. "We'll make it look like she did it. No questions we can't answer, no lengthy investigation, just the guilt finally got to her. Then we call 911, screaming in terror, but its too late to save her."

"What do you think she's going to say to you?" Syed asks. "Think she's going to confess anything?"

"It seemed like she kind of already did," I observe. "If she were smart, she'd go to the police, rather than come to me."

But still, I must admit, I'm feeling a bit of doubt over my plan. I had expected her to be completely unrepentant, and try to avoid all responsibility, but that seems a far cry from what she's doing. Still, not enough doubt to make me back out of the plan. That girl's still going to die.

"Wait a minute," Syed suddenly adds. "You're operating under the assumption she is actually bringing the drugs here. What if she doesn't have any on her?"

His words once again bring the emotional heat of the moment plan crashing back to reality. But Rachel's on her way, and we may never get another chance with the potential to be so clean.

"You guys have sleeping pills upstairs, right Vee?" I ask my friend who nods. "If Rachel brings her own, we use those on her. If not, the story is she went to the bathroom after confessing and downed them out of guilt."

I detect for a moment a flash of discomfort onthe faces of my two friends. It's like my ability to rapidly adjust my plansfor murder is making them a bit uneasy. But it lasts only a second, and theyboth agree that it's actually a pretty good plan. Now we just have to wait.