Skylar: After killing Justice   I learn two things about Mr Paps’ wife and it’s this: she’s an obsessed cat lover. There are four newborns assaulting the breasts of an orange skewbald cat. The cat I saw through the window gives a shrill cry when Mrs Paps kicks it away from me. I spot another two down the hall, playing tug of war with a woollen cardigan. The second thing is this: Mrs Paps is a hoarder. An assortment of milk tins are scattered across the dining table and I’m pretty sure if I pop one lid open, my nose will be assaulted by a months’ worth of stench. There are two dispensers; one broken down, the other functioning with a spluttering whirr akin to a hacking cough. As Mrs Paps tries in vain to clear a spot on the brown couch, my feet catch on a pogo stick and I almost go down hard if not for the coffee table.   “Sorry, dear. If I knew you were coming this early in the morning, I would’ve…” She trails off, her gaze wandering off to

Skylar: After killing Justice   “I want to leave.” I rise up, but the look she gives me cements me in place.   “Sit down, please.” Her smile is thin and flat. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go just yet. I need to ask you a few more questions.”   The sound of a car door slamming with a thud filter through the window. She checks her wristwatch, frowning. “Got somewhere to be?” I sound more confident than I feel. My slippery palms are the only telltale of my nervousness.   “It can wait.” Again, that stupid plastic smile. I resist the urge to lurch forward and wipe it off her face. Suddenly the office walls feel like they’re moving closer, making it much too small for me to be in here.   “I came here to help a friend out not get detained.”   She leans forward, eyes digging into my skull. “See, I find that hard to believe. Why don’t you calm down and let’s talk?

Thana: After Killing Justice   They send me a load of texts telling me to meet them at the community library, ordering me to be there before noon. Don’t be late, Ava texts emphatically in caps. Instead of feeling annoyed that my Saturday morning was going to be spent at a library I didn’t even know existed, I’m glad. I’m being summoned. It’s good to feel like I belong. My phone isn’t a black nothingness anymore. But there’s a dark voice whispering to me that it won’t last for long, not with how much I’m keeping from them. I’m not the kind of girl to hoard away her secrets. Most people know them before I can even confess.   If Ava and Skylar know what I know, they won’t look at me the same way. My murky past must stay in the dark, my real reason for wanting to get back at Justice along with it. The invitation staring back at me on my phone inspires me with a new sense of valiance I haven’t felt before. So I go in search of Nabil and when I do

Thana: After killing Justice I don’t ask what Skylar means when she says this. My eyes are fixated on the blackened screen of Justice’s phone, my thoughts whirlpooling: Ava has had this since Friday. Could she have gone through it? Does she know my secret? Did Justice ever delete our chats like she erased the very existence of me? I jut my head to the phone. “Have you gone through it? Found anything?” “Nope. I can’t seem to get past Justice’s stupid password,” she says in defeat. “I’ve tried her birthday. Mine. Victor’s. I even tried Patience is a dead cow, something Justice loved to say all the time and nothing. It’s like I don’t even know her anymore.” Her eyes have gone glassy and I want to ask: If you cared so much about Justice, why make that plan? Why hate her for some meagre title like Head girl? There’s got to be more than Ava’s letting on

Thana: After killing Justice     Now, looking at his stunned expression, darting eyes searching for an escape from us, I’m pondering over what this means for him, for us. My brother is an exceptional artist with words that are meant to make you, not break you. I can’t imagine those fingers that have deftly moved with a pencil on a page, wrap around a knife and stab a girl seven times. Twice in the throat without remorse and three times in the chest without a second thought.   “What are you staring at?” Skylar snarls. “You’ve got some nerve looking at us after what you did.”   Nabil blanks and takes a step back. “W-what are you talking about?” he stutters. He’s rehearsed somehow because he looks stoic and confused like he just can’t place his finger on why Skylar is fuming. If she were a cartoon, I can only perceive the amount of smoke billowing out of her ears and nose. “Did you think you’d get away with it?