Page 101 of Camera Stays On

Even after school, my workouts were often filled with sparring with my friends at the gym. I liked violence, craved it even, sometimes. But—I didn’t like this.

Once I made it out of the private wing, I relaxed some, knowing that I would likely hear someone if they were nearby now. I passed by the living room, then paused, going back to stare at the couch. In all the chaos, I’d forgotten Bea had just up and disappeared. Where could she have gone? Stepping into the room, I went to the couch to search for a hint. Maybe she dropped something, or left a clue?

I found nothing in the couch, even after lifting it completely. The only evidence Bea had been here at all was the blood-stained pillow her foot had rested on and a few Ace bandages on the floor. A loud thump came from right above my head, causing me to look up. Seeing no reason why I should stay in this room, I tossed the pillows back onto the couch and headed up the stairs to find the source of the noise.

Halfway up, I wondered if it was a trap. Sawyer had cameras everywhere. He knew exactly where everyone was, and if he was going to try to kill us one by one, heading up here—right into his knife—was easy pickings.

But…could he kill me?

Three months ago, I’d say of course not. We were bound not only by familial bonds, but by Ray’s murder. Now though, all ties had been severed. We’d killed Ray to protect the girl we both loved. Now, he was killing to force her to love him back. Lux and Gavin were innocent. They hadn’t deserved their fates.

I made it to the second level, where all of our bedrooms were. I’d had such grand plans for this floor, I thought solemnly as I opened each door, peered inside, and moved onto the next one. Nothing seemed suspicious until I got to Darius’s room, where I found a window shattered, and the curtains swinging in the breeze. I looked around to see if anyone besides Sawyer via his cameras was watching, then stepped inside and closed the door softly. I’d been told the glass was bulletproof. How’d someone manage to break it?

“Darius?” I whispered as I crept toward the window, knife poised, just in case. Out of all the people still here, Darius felt the least likely to attack me, but I couldn’t trust anyone. The need to survive did things to people. Reaching the window, I wrapped my hands around the towel that had been placed on the lower part of the frame, covering the broken glass. I peered out the open space at an angle, unwilling to stick my head out and get stabbed in the ear or something.

Darius was on the roof, clutching his knees to his chest and rocking slightly. He was still dressed in his wedding attire, albeit now they were wrinkled, as if he’d slept in them. Seeing no one else, I relaxed and climbed out with him. He turned, revealing a ragged face.

“Hey, you okay?” I asked. “How did you manage to break the glass? Are you cut anywhere?”

He snorted. “It’s tempered, not bulletproof. I’m fine. Other than Sawyer and Juliet running around killing everyone.”

I walked over and sat a few feet from him. Peering over the edge, I swallowed. We were at least thirty feet off the ground. I was just close enough to Darius to not have to shout but far enough to not make him feel threatened. He eyed me cautiously, and then his shoulders relaxed.

“Man, I shouldn’t even be here.”

I sat down, keeping my distance, and crossed my legs. His dark, amber eyes watched the hand with the knife, and I closed it, putting it back into my pocket. “Why are you here, Darius?” Curiosity got the best of me.

I didn’t know this man until he’d come on for the movie, but so far he’d been nothing but kind, fun, and easygoing. He, like everyone else, seemed eager to be here. Now though, his spirit was crushed. His straight posture was slumped, and I saw no hint of a smile underneath his exhaustion. When we left this place, he would need to be helped by a professional therapist, I was sure.

We all would.

Someone had mentioned everyone had been pushed to be here for reasons that weren’t because they had experience in film. For me, it was my loyalty to my brother and the desire to watch his dream come true. Maybe a little guilt even, for not telling him that Andi and I had slept together. If I’d known this was his goal, though, I would have reconsidered.

“Blackmail.” Darius huffed. “That sounds dramatic, but truly, that’s what it was. Sawyer and I go way back, and one night at the bar, I had a few too many and confessed that I’d been struggling. He was telling me all about how he had a hard time after his girl left him at the altar, and I told him I was going to therapy.”

He paused, taking a deep breath, as if holding the entire weight on his shoulders.

“Last Christmas, I tried to kill myself. My sister found me, took me to the hospital, and I started getting help.” The last bit of his sentence came out in a choked sob. “I told Sawyer how much talking to someone was helping, because I couldn’t let my work find out. We were bonding, I thought.”

I shook my head. Even before this, there was no bonding with my brother. There was always a motive, a con, something dark lurking inside him. If you told him something private, he’d use it to his advantage later.

“Aren’t you a teacher? Why would it matter if they knew?” I asked, trying to keep him talking. I felt bad for him, crying on the roof, scared for his life. For just a brief moment, it was a man being vulnerable with another man, and I felt so terrible that his conversations with Sawyer about his mental health had failed.

“I work at a Catholic elementary school. I teach the fourth grade. Suicide is a sin, Asher.” He looked at me, his face deadpan.

Oh.

He continued, sniffling and wiping his tears off his cheeks. “Sawyer heard I was looking for a summer job, and he offered me this. I originally said no. I didn’t want to miss my therapy sessions, but then he said if I didn’t help him—”

“He’d tell the school.” I finished his sentence. This wasn’t surprising at all. Sawyer had pulled stunts like this before. He was a spoiled brat to his core.

Darius nodded. “Those kids mean the world to me. They help me just as much as I help them. I don’t want to lose them, man. Or make them think I’m not a good role model. They look up to me.”

Braving my nerves, I unfolded my legs and stood, going over to him. I sat back down and put my arm around him. “It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna figure this out and get away from this fucking place.”

Darius looked up, tears in his eyes. “I don’t know. I can’t kill another person. We shouldn’t have done Lux the way we did. I deserve whatever happens. I don’t deserve to live.” He shoved me back with enough force that my elbows scraped the shingles of the roof.

“Darius!” I screamed and scrambled to stand. Suddenly, as I was reaching for him, I saw someone come from the window and bolt out onto the roof.