Page 58 of Camera Stays On

“Someone locked it from the outside,” Darius pointed out. “Who was it?”

The room grew quiet, minus Bea’s and my soft crying. We all looked around, searching for the guilty party. Who had killed Lux—and had it been intentional, or just a prank gone wrong?

No one spoke up. It could have been any of them.

“If you try to go to the cops, Ash, I’ll tell them it was you,” Sawyer said.

“Me? You have no proof of that. Why would I want her dead?”

“You don’t want me here.” Sawyer nodded, his eyes growing foggy. I’d seen that expression before. He was concocting a new story. “You only agreed so you could get the money. But now that the roofer has been paid, you don’t need me anymore.”

“If that were the case, then why didn’t I just kill you?” Ash shoved his brother back.

“Guilt.” Sawyer scrambled to regain his footing. Ash’s face paled, and his gaze flickered to me. Sawyer didn’t seem to notice. “Because you knew how much this meant to me, and you had what I needed.”

“You’re high, Sawyer,” Ash said. “We are calling the police.”

“Like hell we are,” Sawyer spat and reached behind him, pulling a handgun from his waistband. Cries of panic rang out as we scrambled back, away from the brothers. “Give me your phones. All of you.”

“Sawyer,” Darius tried, but he swung the gun in his direction. Everyone put their hands up, and we stared in icy silence, waiting for him to put the weapon down.

“Phones. Give them to me or go get them. If anyone tries to call for help, I’ll shoot. You’ll bleed out before anyone can get here.”

Slowly, everyone began handing over their cell phones, and Sawyer put them into a nearby bowl.

“Now, we have to dispose of her body.”

“I’m not doing that.” Asher’s voice turned ice cold, and Sawyer turned the gun on him. Nobody moved as they stared each other down.

“You think just because we’re blood I won’t kill you? Grab the body.” Sawyer’s words matched the cold look in his eyes. The click of the safety echoed in the room. He was serious. My gaze swung over to Ash, whose face was just as cold.

“Fuck off.”

“Grab the body, or I’ll fucking shoot you!” Sawyer screamed, his hand with the gun shaking.

“Shoot me then!” Ash roared back.

“No!” I cried as Sawyer raised the gun higher, aimed at Asher’s chest just six feet away. I launched myself at Asher, who, at the same time, jumped at Sawyer. Somehow, our actions caused me to get sandwiched between them. Sawyer’s arm was shoved down and then—

Bang.

I collapsed as my mind went blank. The ringing in my ears and the throbbing, shooting pain coming from my thigh made it hard to focus. I grew dizzy and closed my eyes, only to feel a blinding hot sting. Fresh tears exploded from my eyes as a scream ripped from my throat. I couldn’t hear the scream, and I couldn’t feel the wet on my face. All I could focus on was the wound in my leg.

The gun had gone off.

The realization echoed in my mind as people ran around me, trying to help. A pillow went under my head, my pants were cut off, and someone applied pressure to the wound. My screams turned into panicked breathing, as I tried to fully grasp what was going on.

Finally, I came to and looked around. I was still seeing stars, my body slick with sweat as I tried to keep focus. Everyone was circled around me, except Sawyer. He’d disappeared.

“What’s going on?” I asked, my voice weak. The ringing in my ears was going down. I found Asher near my injured thigh. He looked up at me, his expression filled with terror.

“Sawyer shot you, took our phones, and went somewhere.”

Juliet rolled her eyes. “He said she was going to be fine. It didn’t hit anything major.”

“It hurts,” I croaked.

“Yeah, no shit,” she spat. “It’s a gunshot wound. Are you still going to be able to film?”