“You. WHAT?”

I cringe as Hanna’s clearly enraged voice causes the walls of our small sleeping quarters to tremble. I know she heard me the first time, but I’m also not sure if she wants me to say it to her again so I can hear how stupid we were, or if this is the beginning of a rant.

“Look, it wasn’t supposed to end that way. We were just going to be in and out. No one was supposed to…

“To DIE?!” Hanna throws her arms up in the air, and I take a step back. This is the first time I’ve seen her so mad. Rightful so. Still, I’m worried she’s going to evolve into a werewolf and eat us all.

“Philip wasn’t even going to come until an hour or two ago. He told me if we didn’t bring him, he’d tell you, like the moody, annoying, egotistic reject child he is.” I make sure I make deathly eye contact with him as I say those last words. He only smiles mockingly and goes back to picking bits of dried blood of the little knife he now holds like a medal of valor. He’d always told me he wanted his first kill to be special. But that was supposed to be a joke or something. Not real.

Hanna slumps against the wall rubbing her forehead and muttering to herself. I look over at Riley, who was supposed to be the only other one who snuck into the Bruner’s manor with me. If it had been just the two of us, none of this ever would have happened.

We make a reluctant eye contact. I can see the emotions swimming behind his eyes. Mostly a great frustration, probably directed at anyone but himself. Probably mostly at Philip.

Hanna starts pacing again, arms crossed and chewing her lip.

“Okay tell me what happened again. We need to find out just how bad this is.”

I’m quite sure we’re all going to have our heads lopped off in front of the entire if she hears the story again or not, but I know it help her think better, so I do.

“We were planning to go in through the kitchen window. The cook leaves a pie on the window sill every Sunday to cool, there fore leaving the window open. Then we’d sneak up to Ella’s room, take back your pocket watch, and come back.”

I can see Hanna about to tell me that she asked for the story, not the failed plan, so I continue before she can.

“But, on our way out of Ella’s room, she came in. She was giddy, saying how we’d finally get put away like we should be. Talked about her higher education, how she doesn’t even know how ‘scum like us’ are allowed to live.”

“That higher education isn’t going to do her very well if she’s harried sick feet under.” Riley scoffs. Hanna shoots him a glare. “And so Philip killed her? For being snobby?”

Now it’s my turn to rub my forehead. “If you want to put it that way. She did a little more than be snobby though. She told us that she was going to carve the words ‘street maggot’ into our heads as a method of punishment. That she would laugh at our demise.”

“It’s psychopathic, Hanna!” Riley inserts, “Philip was doing the world a bit of a favour, no matter how awful.”

“I’d like to hear Philip speak for himself.” Hanna says. The three of us all turn to look at him. He’s still cleaning his bloodied knife.

“Her wits were no match for my blade. She was asking to be stabbed, You see. I had to. There was no other way. And aren’t you happy we got your watch back?” He smiles innocently at us as he pulls the golden clock from his coat pocket. It ticks loudly in the silence that follows.