Never Have I Ever

Chapter 29 The Darkest Place in the World

Emma peered into the tiny opening. “Gabby!”

The rocks must have shifted when she fell, walling her inside. She stepped back and blinked into the darkness. “Laurel? Charlotte?” No one answered.

Another weak cough emerged from inside the cave. Emma tried 911, but her phone refused to dial out.

The temperature had dropped at least ten degrees since Emma had descended into the gulch, but sweat ran down her face and back. She assessed the opening again. There was a space in the rocks just wide enough for a body to slip through. She could do it. She had to. She was the one who’d shoved Gabby off the cliff. Even though Gabby had killed Sutton, Emma wasn’t a killer, too. She had to make this right.

“I’m coming, Gabby,” she called.

She dropped her backpack to the ground and rolled up her sleeves. Taking a deep breath, she hoisted herself up to the small hole and wriggled through. The inside of the space smelled musky, like an animal. The rocks felt slick and cold on her skin. Her shoulders bent inward, her arms out in front, feeling the way. Her hip bones ground against the sides of the tiny tunnel as she moved forward a few feet.

“Gabby?” she called. Her voice sounded so loud inside the cave. “Gabby?” she tried again. But Gabby didn’t answer. Had she passed out? Had she had another seizure? Was she dead?

Tiny pebbles fell on her head with even the slightest provocation as she squirmed forward. Dust clogged her lungs. At one point, she glanced over her shoulder and could barely see the tiny crack she’d slithered through.

I crawled along with her, the small, confined space feeling like a coffin with the lid closed.

“Gabby?” Emma cried again. Her knees banged on a rock. Her shoulders squeezed through two tightly compacted boulders, and she emerged into a wider pocket inside the cave where she could almost stand. “Gabs?” Still no response. Where had she gone? Had Emma’s ears played tricks on her?

Suddenly, a loud boom filled the air. Dust whipped across her face and up her nose. A loud whooshing sound roared in her ears. Pebbles pelted Emma’s back and head and ran down her shirt. It’s an avalanche, she thought, covering her head and flattening herself to the bottom of the tunnel.

The noises continued for a few moments more. When they petered out, Emma carefully raised her head and looked around. Dirt swirled everywhere. She squinted in the direction she’d come. The hole she’d climbed through was gone. She was walled in.

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

Panic rose in Emma’s chest. “Help!” she screamed, but her voice didn’t seem to carry, bouncing off the close, thick walls. “Help!” she cried again, but it was no use. No one called out from the other side. Why weren’t Sutton’s friends back by now? Why didn’t they hear her?

She looked into the wider opening again, pricking up her ears for another one of Gabby’s moans. “Gabby?” she whispered, looking right and left. Her heart pounded so loudly in her head she feared its vibrations might cause another landslide. Her eyes began to play tricks on her, forming shapes she knew weren’t there. A chair. A seated figure. A tennis racket propped up against the rocks. Her head spun; she had to be losing oxygen in the sealed space.

And then a cold, strong hand grasped Emma’s wrist.

Emma screamed out. She tried to wrench free, but the hand wouldn’t let go. The flicker of a dim flashlight illuminated the lower half of a girl’s face. “G-Gabby?” Emma stammered.

The figure in front of her smiled. But those weren’t Gabby’s lips. Emma drew in a breath. Was that . . . ?

“Hi, Sutton,” said the girl, followed by a maniacal giggle. “Glad you could drop in.”

The dank air chilled the back of Emma’s neck. Her free hand dug into dirt and rocks to steady herself. “Lili?” her voice quivered. “W-what are you doing here?” Hadn’t they left her at the Super Stop station? Hadn’t she refused to come?

“Come on, Sutton.” Lili cackled. “You know the answer to that, don’t you?”

The words sliced through Emma’s chest. All at once, she understood what was going on: Gabby and Lili’s fight, Gabby’s fall, Lili’s moans inside this cave, even the walls crumbling down around Emma—all of it had been orchestrated by Gabby and Lili as a way to get Emma in here alone. They weren’t mad at each other. Gabby wasn’t hurt. The Twitter Twins knew Emma would crawl into this cave to rescue the girl she’d thought she’d pushed—because she wasn’t Sutton, because she would feel terrible about what she’d done. And now, they had her right where they wanted her. They had warned Emma, hadn’t they? Countless times, countless ways. Keep being Sutton. Say nothing. Stop sleuthing. I mean it. Or you’re next.

She’d fallen right into their trap.

“Please.” The word spilled from Emma’s lips. Her body bucked and her head spun; she thought she might throw up. “Can’t we talk about this?”

“What’s there to talk about?” Lili asked in a low voice.

“Please let me go,” Emma begged, trying to pull away. Lili gripped her tightly. “I screwed up, Lili. I’m sorry. But I won’t do it again. I promise.”

Lili made a tsk noise with her tongue. “I warned you, Sutton. But you didn’t listen.” She shifted on the rocks, edging closer to Emma. With a swift, violent motion, Lili grabbed Emma by Sutton’s necklace, just as she’d done that night in Charlotte’s kitchen. Emma kicked with all her might, banging her knee on the rocks over her head, feeling blood run over her shin. She tried to scream, but Lili had clapped a hand over her mouth, and it only came out as a muffled gurgle. Lili pulled at the necklace, stretching the chain tight against Emma’s throat. Emma began to cough, flailing her arms and legs, thrashing with all her might. Lili pulled harder, the chain cutting into Emma’s skin.

“Please!” Emma croaked, barely having enough air to cry out. Her lungs screamed, and she desperately tried to inhale. Lili giggled.

Suddenly, there was a prick of pain at the side of Emma’s neck, and the necklace broke free. The heavy locket released from the chain and dropped down the front of Emma’s shirt, landing in the waistband of her jeans. Lili’s eyes blazed. Her teeth were bared in a crocodile smile. A vein stood out on her forehead, and she leered at Emma with hatred and vengeance. It was the face of a killer. Sutton’s killer . . . and hers, too.

I wanted Emma to run. I wanted her to fight. But instead, I steeled myself for the worst. Suddenly, the strange snapping sensation I always got when I was about to relive a memory whipped through me like a freight train. I saw bright, whirling lights. Widened eyes. A girl on a gurney. The word EMERGENCY glowing in red on top of a porte cochere. My nose tickled with the scent of antiseptic and sickness. My ears tingled with the sounds of moans—maybe my own.

And just like that, I fell headfirst into another memory. . . .