What if I never got the chance to now? She probably thought I hated her. I didn’t. I wasn’t even angry anymore. Kneeling there, I suddenly would have given everything just to be curled up in front of the TV again with her hands running through my hair while I made fun of her shitty rom-coms.

Why had we ever thought this would be a good idea in the first place? Why hadn’t we just stayed in the castle and called the police? Why had we—

“Good,” Kyle said when Noelle was done. I flexed my hands against the rope but found no give. Drip drip drip. After checking the way I was tied, Kyle ordered, “Now, Ashley, I want you to be a good girl and get into the car. Go on.”

Noelle shook her head, trembling as the wind took a hold of her. “No. I’m not leaving them here.”

Through gritted teeth, Kyle said, “Yes, you are.”

Then, in the blink of an eye, he suddenly got to his feet, the knife still in his hand, and charged towards Noelle. He had probably expected Jasper to be too shaken to get up right away, but Jasper scrambled to his feet as soon as Kyle let go of him and sprinted after him. He had almost reached him when Kyle suddenly whirled around.

From where I was kneeling, I couldn’t see what happened.

It was only when Jasper stumbled backward, turning ever so slightly, that I could see it.

Blood.

There was so much blood.

It was on his hands and on his chest, already soaking the white cotton of his shirt, a quickly spreading, ruby-red patch beneath the school emblem, so much darker than the fake blood they used in films.

Over the rushing in my ears I could make out Noelle’s scream, but not a single sound left my mouth. All I could do was stare at Jasper as he stood there, blinking down at the red on his fingers in disbelief.

It was the sound of sirens that startled me into turning my head. Kyle stilled, his face pale in shock as he looked at the quickly approaching police car and the ambulance that was right behind it.

Swearing, he turned on his heel and ran towards Noelle, but before he could get very far, two uniformed officers had already gotten out of the car and jumped him, wrestling him to the ground. While one of them pinned Kyle to the ground, the other made quick work of putting him into handcuffs.

It all went so quickly that I barely had enough time to register what had just happened; one second Kyle was chasing after Noelle, the next he was flat on his stomach in the middle of the car park, his cheek pressed against the asphalt.

He started struggling and screaming Noelle’s name only as the officers hauled him to his feet, but he had no chance of getting anywhere. I could hear the two men saying something, but I wasn’t paying any attention to them.