I’ve got to get out of this room. Now that Chelsea knows I’m onto her, I’m not safe here. I don’t want to end up like Brandon and Kayla—I can’t. I go over to the door and turn the knob, but the wall of books we built in front of it keeps it from opening.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Chelsea slips in front of me and puts her hand on the door, holding it closed. “Seriously, what are you doing? It’s not safe down there.”

“I want to go.” I kick some of the books away. “Let me go.”

“Brooke, you’re being crazy! You don’t seriously think I killed Brandon and Kayla, do you?”

“I don’t know.” I push a few more books out of my path. “I just need to get out of here. I have to use the bathroom.”

I try to reach for the doorknob again, but Chelsea is blocking it with her body. I raise my eyes to look at her round face, her black hair with the pale tips that I helped her bleach in the bathroom at her house, and her brown eyes that suddenly look like pools of blackness in the dim light of Shane’s bedroom.

“Chelsea,” I say firmly. “Step aside. Now.”

Her gaze zeroes in on my face. “No. You’re not leaving.”

Chelsea had been searching the room for a weapon, but she didn’t need to search. She had a knife on her all along. The same knife she used to kill Brandon and Kayla. The same knife she’ll use to kill me.

Except when I look down at her hands, they are empty. Where is the knife? Did she stash it somewhere?

“Chelsea…”

“You need to stay here, Brooke. You can’t leave.”

No, I’m not going to end up like Brandon and Kayla. If I can get past her and escape this room, Tim and Shane will help me. And I’ve got an advantage over the other two she’s killed—I know what she’s capable of. And I know from cheerleading practice what her weaknesses are.

I draw back my sneaker and kick her as hard as I can square in the shin, right where she always gets splints when we run. Chelsea crumbles to the floor, moaning as she clutches her leg. “You bitch!” she cries.

I grab the doorknob again and this time I’m able to get the door open a few inches. I say a little thanks for all the hours I spent keeping my weight down to fit into my cheerleading uniform, and I squeeze my body through the tiny gap between the door and the door frame.

“Brooke!” she shrieks.