Step one of the n wasplete.


    Chapter 133: Survivor


    *Olivia*


    o off


    The moment I entered the house, a strange smell of rotting meat hit me like a p in the face. It took all of my restraint not to gag out loud or put a hand over my mouth. One time, I walked past a factory where they packed meat. Their garbage cans had the worst smell, w of them. Morbid curiosity made me look into the garbage on it was full of expired meat that they couldn’t sell. The horrible Kelly’s apartment reminded me of the meat factory garbage cans.


    “What is that-”


    and


    I cut off Aiden by hitting him on the arm and shaking my head. I knew that he was about to ask what the awful smell was. Thankfully, Robert had enough sense to keep quiet. Kelly’s apartment looked like it belonged to an eighty–year–old woman, not a girl in her twenties. The small apartment had orange shag carpet, cat themed knickknacks, and an old–looking floral couch that Kelly gestured the four of us should sit <ol><li>on. </li></ol>


    She sat in a shabby–looking rocking chair in the corner of the room. “Sorry for all the…old furniture,” Kelly said, her cheeks turning red. “My grandma…left me this apartment. It used to be hers.”


    My stomach dropped


    I made eye contact with Ava, and she widened her eyes. I knew that the same thought was running through her head as mine. Did Kelly’s


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    grandma pass away? Was her body still here? Was that why it smelled like rotting meat in her apartment?


    “Kelly, what happened to your grandmother?” Ava asked hesitantly.


    The young woman hesitated, and my stomach rolled from the stench as I waited for her to answer the question. The longer her silence went on, the more eerie her apartment seemed.


    “Oh, she’s not dead or anything,” Kelly


    assured us after seeing our uneasy looks. “Gran just went to live with my uncle because she needs twenty–four–hour care. My uncle is a home health nurse and wanted to take care of his mom.”


    My shoulders slumped, and Aiden, Ava, Robert, and I breathed a collective sigh of relief.


    Usually, Ava would take over the conversation and questioning, but when I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, she seemed like she was at a loss for words. The smell seemed to be getting to her.


    Thinking on my feet, I said the first thing that popped into my head. “You know, Kelly. That’s really unfair what Chloe did to you.” I gestured to her face. She frowned and nodded. “I’m really good at raising money. Maybe I can help you put together an online ad campaign to help raise money for surgery to help smooth out your scars…if that’s something you wanted to do.”


    She immediately brightened at my offer. A smile spread across her face, making her jagged scars less pronounced.


    “You know, you don’t need the surgery to feel beautiful,” I added. “You’re already beautiful even with your scars.” I paused. “Well, you’re gorgeous because of your scars because it shows people that you are a


    survivor.”


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    Tears formed in Kelly’s eyes, but this time, they were tears of joy. She beamed at me. “Thank you for saying that.”


    “So, you knew Chloe in high school?” I asked gently, trying to steer the conversation in the right direction.


    “We weren’t friends or anything,” she answered and crossed her arms. After I had brought up Chloe, Kelly’s bodynguage waspletely closed off.


    “Were you friends with Russell?” Ava asked.


    I shot her a look. I knew that it was too early to bring Rusell into the conversation, and sure enough, Kelly’s face grew red, and she narrowed her eyes at Ava.


    “I told you I didn’t want to talk about Russell!” Kelly snapped.


    The room was silent for a moment. Honestly, I was unsure of how to proceed.


    “Please, we really just want to find out the truth about what happened to him,” Ava said soothingly. “We are here to find out a way to punish Chloe for her past crimes. We think that she is a danger to herself and others. You could really help us make her get the mental help that she needs.”


    Kelly bit her lip, but it seemed like she was really considering telling us what we wanted to know.


    “Fine, I’ll tell you,” Kelly finally said.


    Yes! I wanted to jump for joy.


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