fractures — clue.

v i o l e t  !

It’s just a dead body.

I don’t know if I should bring it up. Seems suspicious, too convenient. I’m not stupid - not like that, anyway. I know that when people are stressed or scared they start pointing fingers and jumping to conclusions and this bathroom is too small, too suffocating- I thought the dark would swallow me whole but my eyes stung as they readjust to LEDs and perhaps this room will do it instead.

Whitney won’t let go of my hand, not since I told her to grab it in the dark. That’s okay. I might fall down the drain if she does, I don’t care that I know she wants to hold Poppy’s too - hell, she can hold my hand if it makes me feel better.

“Why Adam?” I ask, voice hollow. It's just a question. A strange request, Adam of all people. But I can’t stop thinking about Blaine, his empty eyes, rotting cheeks, it’s not just a dead body.

It’s a warning.

v i o l e t  !

Everyone's bickering but I'm not listening, staring at the porcelain in the bath. It's just a dead body, Blaine in the safe. It's just a dead body, Whitney and I in the bathroom with a drop of blood. It's just a dead body, what if Blaine was murdered in the bath? It's just a dead body, what if I'm stuffed in a safe? It's just a dead body, we need to find Adam. It's just a dead body, I'm holding Whitney's hand. It's just a dead body, why isn't Poppy saying anything? It's just a dead body, why did Poppy and Adam lock me in the kitchen?

"Poppy and Adam locked me in the kitchen."

I say it out loud, and I know I shouldn't but I'm still staring blankly at the bathtub imaging Blaine as terrified as I was in the kitchen, hammering his hands on the door down there, begging to be let out.

Then I look up, right into Poppy's eyes, and my hand that held Whitney's wants to tighter but she's gone now, on the other side of the room - what if Poppy had locked Whitney in there instead?

"Poppy and Adam locked me in the kitchen and I want to know why."