Bad Girls Don't Die (28 page)

“You look terrible,” she croaked.

I didn’t answer. I just reached into my pocket for the heart.

She didn’t flinch, but she also didn’t come any closer.

“Going somewhere?” she asked.

“Maybe.”

“Are you going to find Megan?”

“Maybe.”

Her eyes flashed green for a millisecond. “I wager I can beat you there.”

I shrugged.

“Actually,” I said, “you might want to stick around here.”

She made a rude sound and grimaced as she stretched her neck to one side. “And why is that?”

“Just to make sure nothing happens to your doll.”

That got her attention. “What
about
my doll?” she demanded.

“Nothing specific,” I said. “I just wouldn’t leave her on her own, if I were you.”

She shook her head, her nostrils flaring. I held the heart in front of me like you’d hold a cross up to a vampire.

“You don’t even know where she is,” Kasey said. “I hid her.”

“I found her last night,” I said.

Kasey exhaled slowly.

“That’s how I know that her right thumb has a chip on the fingernail,” I said, trying desperately to remember details from Shara’s photos in my dream. “And her eyes are dark green, but when she’s mad, they glow.”

Kasey’s threatening face had turned fearful.

“And most of her hair is cut off, but there’s one big piece that hangs over her ear.”

“Stop!” Kasey cried.

“But you should go,” I said. “Go to the parade. Go back to city hall.”

She backed away from me and shook her head.

“You can’t stay away forever,” she said.

“Maybe I’ll just hide in the bushes and wait for you to leave,” I said.

“Get out,”
she growled.

She followed a few feet away as I went down the stairs. As I put my hand on the doorknob, she made an exaggerated sigh.

“I hope I don’t have to do anything terrible while you’re gone,” she said. “I hope I don’t decide to punish your sister.”

I looked up at her.

“The way I punished Shara.”

My confusion must have shown on my face.

“Go on, Alexis,” she said, her voice light. “Your sister
probably
won’t be dead when you get back.”

I said a quick prayer to whoever might be listening, and then I slammed the door closed behind me and ran.

T
HE HOMECOMING PARADE
was already under way. Only a few floats were left in the school parking lot, waiting their turn to join the long, snaking line that twisted through the blocks ahead.

I followed the parade route, weaving through the spectators lined up along the sidewalks. The farther I went forward, the thicker the crowd got.

Maybe I should have thought to put on a little concealer before I left the house, because the looks being tossed in my direction made it clear that I wasn’t blending in. Combine my raccoon face and my limping, dragging stride . . .

Kiss that Homecoming Queen crown good-bye, Alexis.

I tried to ignore the shocked looks coming from every direction, even tossing out a few smiles to make people think I was okay.
Yeah, of course I know what I look like. It’s the new style. The entire Doom Squad is going to show up looking like this in about ten minutes. It’s a theme. We have a float.

The problem was that, depending on the cheerleading float’s position in the parade, I didn’t know if it would be faster to follow the line or to cut across town and meet the parade head-on. It could be a difference of ten minutes—ten minutes I couldn’t spare.

Scanning the path before me, I saw a clump of black T-shirts and steel-toed boots up ahead.

The Doom Squad! They might be annoying, but their need to constantly talk smack made them hyper-aware of everything going on in the school. They were like a gaggle of small-town old ladies. I made a beeline for them.

They were camped out in front of an abandoned storefront. Lydia hovered on the fringes like a watchdog.

“Lyd!” I said. “Have you seen the cheerleaders’ float?”

She swung to look at me, and her jaw dropped. “Whoa, Alexis, what’s wrong with your face?”

“Forget it. I just need to find Megan.” By now the whole group was staring at me.

“Why do you even care about her?” Lydia asked. “She’s a total drone.”

“Please,”
I said. I took a step back. “Anybody? Anyone?”

Lydia sighed. “Listen, it sort of hurts your image for you to be seen with her, you know.” She glanced behind her. “People are talking already. About lunch yesterday . . . ? And Carter Blume? I mean, what’s up with
that
whole thing . . . ?”

I backed away, looking at all the faces behind her. A couple of people seemed mildly concerned, but most of them were watching me with curiosity.

“Bye,” I said numbly.
Bye forever.

I would just have to take my chances following the line of floats and pray that I found Megan fast enough to save my sister.

I hurried away, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in my temples.

“Hey, wait up.”

It was a freshman girl with long black hair. She glanced back at the Doom Squad, who were glaring at us, and rolled her eyes. “Lydia’s a jerk. That float’s right at the front. It’s like the fourth one.”

I nodded. “Oh. Okay, cool. Thanks . . .”

“Taylor. Taylor Derry.”

“Thanks, Taylor.” Why was that name familiar? “Sorry, I have to go.”

“But, like, are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, her eyes lingering on my face.

I nodded, and as I looked at her, it hit me—

She was on the list.

“Listen, Taylor,” I said. “Do you know my sister? Kasey Warren?”

She nodded vaguely. “She’s a year behind me, right?”

“Yeah. This sounds crazy, but . . . go home. Lock the door. If she comes to your house, don’t let her in. Whatever you do.”

Taylor swallowed hard. “That
does
sound crazy.”

“Yeah, but . . .” I tried to think what I would have done if someone said those things to me. “Please. I’ll explain later.”

She shrugged. “I mean, I’ll have to miss this
awesome
parade, but . . .” She smiled.

“I seriously have to go. Just please . . . go home. And be careful. And thank you.”

“No problem.” She flashed me a peace sign and walked away.

One less target for Sarah.

I broke off from the parade route and cut through the deserted downtown. All the shops had signs in their windows that said CLOSED FOR PARADE.

As I came around the library building I saw the Surrey High marching band and the drum majorettes leading the procession slowly across an intersection a block away. I broke into a sprint and pushed through the thicker mass of spectators to make my way down the lineup.

I saw the eagle’s nest first, looming high over the miniforest of artificial Christmas trees. Stationed all around the edges of the float, cheering and egging the crowd on, were the cheerleaders themselves. At first I didn’t see Megan, and then as I drew nearer I spotted her at the back. She was pumping her arms in the air and shaking her pom-poms just like the rest of the girls, but you could tell her heart wasn’t in it.

“Megan!” I yelled, but my voice didn’t carry over the raucous sounds of the marching band and the cheers of the parade watchers. I pushed farther toward the street, trying to apologize as the people I passed made annoyed exclamations in my wake.

“Megan!” I called again. The float was only a few feet away. One of the cheerleaders noticed me and elbowed the girl next to her. I pointed at Megan, expecting to be ignored.

But the first girl backed out of her spot and made her way toward the rear of the float.

I stepped out into the street and heard the shrill whistle of a police officer.

Megan had seen me now; I gestured for her to come over, and she handed her pom-poms to the girl next to her.

That’s when I saw it, across the street—

A shock of caramel-colored hair.

Kasey.

Three things happened at once—a few feet away from me the police whistle blew loudly; Megan neatly hopped down to street level—

And with the horrible shriek of metal on metal, the cheerleaders’ float creaked to a sudden stop and lurched violently to one side.

It sounded like everyone within a hundred-foot radius immediately started screaming at the top of their lungs. Megan stood frozen in place, staring in horror as the rest of the squad scrambled to keep their footing. A few girls went tumbling down into the street, dragging other girls with them.

I ran to her side as the float stopped moving and everything seemed to settle.

And suddenly I realized where my sister had been the previous night.

“Oh my God,” I said. “Kasey did this.”

Megan turned to me, pale.

The trees and benches and eagle’s nest at the center of the float were starting to fall toward the girls on the ground, some of whom were crying and holding their arms or wrists or ankles. Pepper had her head in her hands.

“We have to help them!” I started to move forward, but Megan gripped my arm.

“Stay back!” she said. “There are plenty of people helping them.”

She was right: the injured girls were already mobbed by spectators helping them to their feet and shielding them from the decorations sliding off the side of the float.

“Kasey’s here!” I said. “I saw her!”

Megan was staring at the wreckage in disbelief. “All of it. All because of me? And your face,” she said. “Is that my fault too?”

“What?” Oh God, she didn’t even know. “Megan, no! It’s
not
your mom.”

She looked like she didn’t know whether to believe me.

“She locked you outside. She saved your life. A hundred years ago, this girl who lived in my house fell out of the tree and died. All the girls from town were chasing her. And now she’s trying to get revenge by killing all of their daughters and granddaughters. It’s so many people, Megan. Pepper and Mimi, that freshman Taylor, the librarian—me. Kasey. Our mom.”

Megan’s eyes were suddenly blazing. It made me think of the moment in the hallway when she stood up for Emily Rosen. “How many people?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “The girls all grew up and got married—so the names are different. But there are dozens, Megan . . . And she wants to kill them all.

“So—the thing is—I’ll explain later, but I need your necklace.”

She glanced at the girls on the ground, then pulled me away and quickened her pace. “No, explain now, on the way to your house.”

“What? No!” Oh,
hell
no. Megan was not coming back with me. “She’s still after you.”

“You want my necklace?” Megan asked. “You’re getting
me
with it.”

I shook my head and sighed. I was having a hard time keeping up with her. “Fine.”

She slowed a little to accommodate me, but after one block I couldn’t even speak. My half-strangled throat begged for mercy, but I kept going.

“Oh, look!” Megan cried, pointing up ahead.

I looked and saw a green Prius parallel parking.

Carter.

Lovely.

“He can give us a ride!” she said, grabbing my hand and sprinting.

“No,” I said. “Wait!”

But she’d already waved him down, and I couldn’t manage to say anything else.

When we got to the car, I had to bend over and put my hands on my knees. I thought I was going to throw up. It was just as well. I didn’t want to have to look at Carter’s face.

“Can you give us a ride?” Megan asked.

“. . . Aren’t you supposed to be on a float or something?”

“Yes or no? It’s an emergency!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Get in.”

Then I felt his hand on my back. “Alexis, is everything okay?”

I looked up at him and he jumped backward.

Oh, right. The black eyes.

“Who did this to you?” he whispered.

“I’m okay,” I said. “Let’s go.”

The urge to throw up had subsided. I climbed into the backseat as Carter went around and got into the driver’s seat.

“You have to go to the police,” Carter said.

“It’s not like that,” Megan replied. “Take us to Alexis’s house.”

“What’s at your house?” Carter demanded.

“Please,” I said. “Let it go for now.”

“It’s a long story,” Megan said, looking out the window.

“Is it safe?”

Does it look safe?
I wanted to ask.

“This isn’t high school melodrama b.s.,” he said. “I’m seriously worried about you.”

“You’re right.” I looked at the rearview mirror and saw the concern in his eyes. Little flecks of amber glittered among the blue. “But I can’t explain right now.” We reached Whitley Street. “Just stop in front of the driveway,” Megan said. Carter obeyed, then jumped out of the car to open my door for me. “Listen, if anything happens . . .” I said, “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“If anything
happens
?” he repeated. “That’s insane.”

Yeah, it was.

“Alexis, yesterday . . . what you did. I know you’re trying to protect me, but I don’t need protecting.”

Megan was waiting for me halfway up the front path. I started to walk away, but Carter took hold of my hand.