Chapter Text
"I have to tell you something."
The words fell out of my mouth and the room hushed in expectation. I could see Aubrey, Hero, and Kel staring at me with curious expressions. Their eyes were so innocent, concerned and very kind. I knew they could not even begin to imagine what I was about to say and fear gripped my chest tightly. Nothing would ever be the same after I say these words. Nothing would be the same. Nothing.
I could feel my shaking hands and beating heart and I sought out the only eyes that could understand me. They were blue and widened in horror as understanding dawned on them. Guilt sunk into me. Basil probably didn't want this secret revealed in front of his friends, especially not here, in the hospital, with me being the one to say it. I decided not to mention his part of the story, at least not yet. But as I looked into his eyes I saw the terror, the fear and the pain that had engulfed me for years, and I knew that he would have to stop running away eventually. The painful feelings threatened to consume me but I pushed my horrible memories away and tried to steady my breathing as the tiled floor swam below me.
My friends were still staring at me, and my expression had probably shown the fear I felt, because their smiles had dropped off their faces.
"I... I was the one who... who..."
My voice choked around her name and tears sprang to my eyes, but I forced myself to continue speaking. My voice was quiet and wavering but seemed to fill the entire room and echo back at me. Basil stared at me with haunted eyes and I silently hoped I would never have to see that expression on his face again.
"I killed Mari."
The room fell into complete silence. My friends stared at me, bewildered, and tears started pouring down my face. I did not try to stop them. I simply stood there and stared into nothing. I was too scared to look up and meet whatever expressions might greet me.
"It wasn't his fault."
Basil spoke quietly, shattering the stillness of the room. The atmosphere felt suffocating and I looked up at him slowly. He was scared and tired, his eye bags deep and pronounced and his eyes wide and filling with tears. But his voice had a quiet resolve. My own determination had started to wither away and my voice was failing me, the world becoming faint and far away. My head still ached badly from the fight and I gripped it in my hands, blotting out the harsh hospital lighting.
"It was an accident... I... He pushed her and she fell down the stairs and then I... I suggested that we should make it look like a"- Basil's voice choked off as he sobbed quietly- "a suicide."
My ears were ringing and I thought I might pass out. I had tried to ready myself for this moment, but... to hear the truth said so clearly in front of me, to hear the words that had been haunting me for years from someone else's mouth... it was all too much.
I became dimly aware that my legs had given out and I was laying on cold tiles. Cold, everything was cold, and my body started to shake. The world spun away from me, and just as my last senses dimmed, I felt a sudden warmth on my shoulder; a human hand.