An Impostor Among Them

Part 16: What an Impostor Would Say

"But we don't have proof it was Red," I reasoned. "He was standing over the body. We thought that was proof. But it could have just been an unlucky circumstance."

"Brown is left-handed. Why is the slice on the left side of your neck if she swung it at you? It wouldn't make sense for her to turn her arm around backward like that to slice," Black pointed out. "The angle lines up with the way your hand would move."

"She could have done it to throw you guys off—Black, you're smart as hell, and she knows that."

"You don't think like that in the heat of the moment," Yellow said.

"Exactly! It's on the left side of his neck because he did it to himself to put suspicion on me!" Brown cried.

"That's exactly what an impostor would say, Yellow," Green growled.

"Why are you throwing the fucking blame back on me now?" Yellow snapped defensively.

"Ground control clearly said there was one impostor. And you kept—no, keep—trying to pin the blame on Yellow, even though we had 'proof' at the time that it was Red," Black said.

"Wait, you're right—it wasn't Red!" I cried. "Red was innocent. Red said it was Green. He wasn't lying about his innocence! It really was Green!"

"Thank you!" Brown sobbed.

"From the very beginning, he tried to get Cyan off with no proof. He's been accusing Yellow to no end—he even tried to make up the idea of an accomplice in that last-ditch attempt to get Yellow voted off," Black snarled.

"As if we needed more proof, he was alone every time something was sabotaged," I hissed.

"Holy shit, Green is the impostor!" Yellow shrieked.

Green stared at us blankly. He seemed eerily calm. "Fine.

I can't deny it anymore; there's too much evidence. You caught me."

"Oh, God, thank you, thank you for believing—"

Green lunged at Brown before she could finish her sentence. She barely had time to react as he slammed her against the wall and wrenched her head to the side. A loud, nauseating crunch split the air. Green leapt back, letting Brown sprawl to the floor, deathly still with her neck skewed at a horrifying angle.

Yellow and I screamed. Green circled around to stand in front of us. "Just because you caught me doesn't mean you're safe," he shouted. His voice sounded distorted, and red glints shone from his eyes.

Yellow, Black, and I all glanced at each other. Then Black locked eyes with me and smiled in a sweet, twisted way.

"Sorry."

Before that could sink in, she drew a knife from her pocket, turned, and plunged it into Yellow's chest. As she yanked her hand back, Yellow staggered backward, his eyes wide in shock. Black stabbed him repeatedly, her rapid hand motions spraying blood against the wall. I screamed and tried to pull her away, but she only turned and hurled me backward.

I slammed against the wall so hard that my breath was knocked away and I briefly felt dizzy. Dazed, I looked up to see Black turn to me, grinning savagely. Its face was splattered with blood; my friend was sprawled motionless on the ground, his uniform soaked in red.

"Sorry, Cy," Black said pleasantly. It bared its teeth in a sickening grin before licking the blood off the knife in one quick swipe. "I love you guys, I really do."

I was totally speechless. Trembling incessantly, I backed away slightly, barely able to breathe. Through my dizziness, I saw Green take a step forward. With an alienlike screeching sound, a vine-like tendril burst from its mouth.

"Say goodnight, Cyan."