Jossalyn knew what she had seen. She didn’t want to believe it. She kept trying to come up with some sort of explanation. Some other reason than the one that she knew to be true. Part of her wanted to play dumb. Act like she had never seen it. Like it never happened. Like she didn’t happen to pass by the kitchen door the second the head chef sprinkled some strange white powder from a medicine bottle into the giant bowl emanating a heavenly scent. She didn’t really know what to do. She obviously knew she probably should tell someone. Make sure that not a single guest got a single bite of any of the food being served at this dinner party. She had her suspicions. It had been why she came here in the first place. They were linked the her brother’s murder. She came here to gather evidence, something that could give her some sliver of closure. But she had grown close with the family. Came to love them as she did her own. Surely she had been mistaken. Surely these kindhearted people could not have been the ones to have committed such a violent crime. So she stayed. Became a permanent addition to their family. Or so she thought.

So, there she was, sitting on the floor of a bathroom stall, hugging her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth. She was continuously shaking her head.

“No, no, no,” she kept muttering, hot tears rolling down her cheeks.

She knew she had to make a decision. On one hand, she loved these people, and she would have done anything for them. Now? She wasn’t so sure. Suddenly, it was as if she didn’t know the man standing over the ridiculously expensive stove. The head of the household, the man who had offered her a place to stay, and a father she never had. It was as if she didn’t know the woman perched on the counter beside him, giggling like she was talking to her high school sweethearts. But no, they were poisoning the main course of over 50 guests. She had her heart set on the idea that she was wrong, that these people were not capable of such things as murder. Now, she had other thoughts.

She ran her fingers through her hair and sniffed, wiping her tears with the back of her hands. As much as she didn’t want to, she knew what was going to happen if she stayed in this bathroom, hiding and tucking her tail between her legs.

“Josie?” Speak of the devil. “Are you alright, dear? We are about to start.”

Her world froze. There she was, the woman who had become like a second mother to her, but now all she could think of her as was the woman who probably killed her brother. And was about to kill more. She shakily drew in a breath and steeled herself.

“Yeah, I’m good. Started my period,” she called out in a friendly tone. “Be out in a minute.”

She heard footsteps retreating and the soft sound of heels crossing the threshold of solid, wooden floors to lush, scarlet red carpet. She took a deep breath through her nose, rose up off the bathroom floor and flushed the toilet. She washed her hands and made her way to the dining hall.

She slowly, numbly made her way to her assigned seat, a appetizing looking plate of food already having been placed there. She almost vomited at the sight. She shakily smiled at the man of the hour, and took her seat on his left, his wife sitting across from her at his right. She looked around at all the guests sitting at the table. She looked at their untouched plates. She still had time. There was still a chance to save them. Every noise seemed to be muffled in her ears as the host began a toast. Until she suddenly zoned back in.

“-to our beautiful Josie, and all the joy she has brought into our lives.” the man finished and drank, as did everyone else.

She froze in place. Her heart was contracting with the feeling of hurt and betrayal, but she wasn’t conflicted. She knew what she had to do.