Elijah

Sunday, July 28th, 12:03am.

I struggle to keep my mind focused on the others as they talk but I can't stop my thoughts from racing.

"I...I," Olivia begins and something inside of my chest jumps.

Whatever happened to her happened because I helped Derrick.

I want to plug my ears so I don't have to hear whatever she has to say next. Next to me, Paxon turns to look at me as his lips press into a flat line, like he knows what I'm thinking.

"He drugged me," Olivia admits, her voice harsh and fast.

Desperate.

"He had Eli record that video to embarrass me...and...and then he..."

I want to throw up as my stomach twists into several knots. Across the room, Josh's face tightens as he stands. Paxon clears his throat before he speaks, his eyes darting from her to Josh.

"Livy he's not here, you can tell him what happened to you," Paxon encourages her.

She takes a breath at this as she clamps her eyes shut. Her hands ball into fists as she places them in her lap and I can see then that they're shaking. Next to her, Danica puts a hand on her shoulder.

"He threw me off the balcony here, into the lake and I drowned," Olivia says at last.

I can't help but be thrown off by her wording. But I'm not the only one, as Josh shares a questioning look with me.

"What do you mean you 'drowned'?" Josh interrupts, "You're still alive."

A frown quivers on Olivia's lips as she takes a steady breath before she continues.

"Everyone thought I was dead, he had the others load me up and take me out to the woods to bury me," she rasps and I can't help but shiver.

All because of me.

"And I was dead," she continues and I clench my hands at her tone, "but something else inside of me woke up."

What?

"Something that's been with me ever since I first existed."

" 'Woke...up'?" I find myself saying before I can stop myself.

Paxon looks away then, his jaw clenching as he hunches down in his seat. The color has drained from Danica's face as she looks from Olivia to Paxon. Not a single emotion has registered on Olivia's face as she continues talking.

"Something inside woke up...and I came back."

"From the dead," Josh supplies, but she shakes her head at this.

"No, something else took over, and I came back," she explains slowly, like even she doesn't understand what happened to her.

"Like a ghost?" I try and her eyes look to mine.

There's a moment of silence that follows and I'm instantly unsettled by the blank look in her eyes.

"No."

She blinks after she says it, like she's trying to find a way to explain it to us before she gives up.

"But it took over when he tried to kill me again...at the dunes, when he put his hands around my throat and threatened to choke the life out of me-."

"You're a liar!" Mila cries out and I flinch.

Every eye in the room turns to Mila then.

And to the knife in her hand.