Mrs. Windsor’s blood turned to ice. She shook her head as she walked away from the group. She couldn’t believe how cruel her own flesh and blood had turned out to be. As she walked across the damp grass, she wondered if she made the right decision in helping her daughter bury Russell Lewis all those years ago. If she had turned her daughter in and gotten her the help she so obviously needed, she wouldn’t be in this living nightmare right now.
As her heart mmed against her chest, Mrs. Windsor knelt down and checked to make sure that Richard was still breathing.
But her heart stopped breathing altogether when the man opened his
eyes.
A scream formed on Mrs. Windsor’s lips, but Richard sat up and managed to quiet her down before she could give them away.
“Don’t you want this all to end? Don’t you want your daughter to get the help she needs?” Richard whispered, afraid if he took her down by force, he would attract the attention of the others.
Mrs. Windsor stayed frozen, her face pale and her expression one of surprise, but she didn’t say anything or even move a muscle.
Under the protection of the apple tree, Olivia, Ava, and Aiden sat up, clearly not unconscious. Olivia brushed off the dirt on her shirt, and Ava shook her head, dispelling a few leaves that had gotten caught in her hair.
“How…how are you not all unconscious?” Mrs. Windsor whispered, her eyes wide.
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<b>Chapter </b><b>201 </b>
Olivia and <b>Ava </b>looked at each other and shared a small smile.
“Kelly thought that she was ying us,” Ava said, and a mischievous grin crossed her face. “But we were actually ying her.”
“You see, Kelly had reacted too calmly after hearing that Ava and I had lied to her when we first met her<i>,</i>” Olivia exined. “<b>This </b>made Awa and I suspicious. We began to text back and forth when we were sitting and waiting for you and Chloe to exit the house.”
“My sister had included Richard and I in a group message to let us <b>in </b>on their suspiciousness,” Aiden exined.
“When Kelly offered us all mints, we knew that she had tampered <b>with </b>them. It was too random,” Ava said. “So, we only pretended to eat <b>the </b>mints, and Olivia texted the group to follow her lead when the time came. When she began to pass out, we all knew it was just an act.<i>” </i>She turned to her friend. “Great performance, by the way.”
Olivia blushed but smiled. “Thank you.”
Richard took rope out of the backpack he had been carrying and began to tie Mrs. Windsor’s hands behind her back just in case. But the older woman wasn’t even putting up a fight. “I had my suspicions from the beginning, actually. Before we left Kelly’s apartment, I noticed that a knife was missing from the wooden block in the kitchen that was there when we first got to her apartment. I knew that Kelly was nning something nefarious as soon as she agreed to take us to her uncle’s vige.” Olivia, Ava, and Aiden looked at him with respect.
“Wait…if Kelly took a knife, and she knew that she was going to see Chloe. Do you think Kelly agreed to help out Chloe just so she would get a chance to kill her for revenge?” Olivia theorized.
Ava’s eyes widened with realization, and she nodded. “I bet you’re
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right”
This new information seemed to jolt Mrs. Windsor out of her shock “No! You must save my daughter, please! I know she’s done some horrible things, but she’s my baby. You have to save her.
Olivia looked down at the woman with hatred. “Are you kidding? After everything that Chloe has put me through, why would I try to save her? If you had gotten the help your daughter needs, you could have spared a lot of death and destruction. But you were too protective over your family’s status. You make me sick.”
After shaking her head in disgust, Olivia took Richard to the side. “Do you remember the n I texted you about?” she whispered
Immediately, Richard understood and quietly crept towards the pond.
Meanwhile, at the pond, Kelly had be even more calm, but there was something brewing in her eyes. Her right palm was caked with dried blood. She looked toward the center of the pond, and excitement shed across her face. “Do you hear that? I think Rusell is calling for me! I think he’s alive in the water.” Her eyes filled with tears. “He’s telling me how cold he is<i>.</i><i>” </i>
“You’re even crazier than me,” Chloe muttered. She picked up a peach and held it out to Kelly. “Here, maybe you should eat something. I can’t have you fainting. Then, I’d have to deal with another unconscious body.”
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