“Damn,” Beth muttered, hoping she was okay. She might be batshit crazy, but the thought of anything permanently damaging happening to her made Beth sick to her stomach, especially since she’d been the one to push her.
“What happened?” Michael asked. “You’re bloody, Beth.”
Beth hadn’t realized her face was scratched up so badly until she dragged her hand across her cheek, and it came back pink. Halley had made contact quite a few times while they were under the water, but she had hardly felt it at the time. Now that her adrenaline was starting to die down, she was sure it would all come back to her.
Sheriff Bill Jones ran up, flashlight in hand, before Beth could answer Michael. He snaked his way through the fence. “You kids all right?” he shouted, straightening his glasses and running his spread hand across his mustache.
“No, we need an ambulance.” Beth tried to keep her voice calm. “And Halley’s still in the creek somewhere.”
“Calm down,” Sheriff Jones recommended, though he didn’t sound too calm himself. This wasn’t the sort of thing that happened in his jurisdiction. “You say there’s still a girl in the water?”
“Yes, I think so.” Beth looked over her shoulder the direction that Halley had disappeared. “We think she poisoned Ryan, and when I got here, she was holding him under. I fought her off, but… she slipped… and….”
“Okay, okay,” the sheriff interrupted, and Beth was glad for it. She didn’t think she could finish that sentence. He took his radio off of his belt and stepped away. Beth heard the words “ambulance” and “additional units.”
“Should I go look for her?” Michael asked, taking a few steps toward the creek.
“No, no, you kids let us handle it,” Sheriff Jones said, grabbing Michael’s shoulder and pulling him back. “It seems you’ve had enough adventures for one night.” The lights were drawing a crowd, and he turned again to insist that everyone stay on the other side of the fence.
“That’s my daughter!” Beth heard her dad’s voice, and it seemed Sheriff Jones wasn’t going to be able to keep Richard Monroe on the other side of the barrier.
“I’m okay, Dad!” she shouted, unwilling to move away from Ryan even long enough to prove it to him. “I’m fine!” She hoped that was accurate. She knew she’d recover physically from what had transpired that night, but it would take a long time to shake free of the images already starting to replay in her mind. Once again, she prayed Halley was all right.
Sirens blared in the distance, and Beth hoped that at least one of them was an ambulance. The sheriff was busy keeping the crowds back, and Michael spotted Lexy, still holding the evidence of Halley’s first indiscretion of the night in her hand. Michael ran off to her side, leaving Beth and Ryan relatively alone again.
“Beth,” he said quietly, and she looked down to see his eyes were closed. His heart wasn’t pounding quite so hard now, and he was breathing normally.
“Ryan, it’s okay. You’re going to be fine.”
“I know,” he said, opening is eyes just a bit. “I just… thank you, Beth. Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you.” She readjusted, sitting back onto the ground and swinging her legs out to the side. “All of this time, you’ve been trying to tell me to believe in myself, and I wouldn’t listen. I was turning into a monster myself.” Tears sprung to her eyes as she pondered the idea that she and Halley might not be that different after all.
“I don’t think you could ever do anything like this,” he said, his eyes wide now, as he puzzled over exactly what Halley had done.
“No, but… it makes you wonder. What could’ve possibly happened to make her act that way?”
“I don’t know. We might never know,” Ryan replied. “I thought she was different…. I guess I was right.” He snickered, and Beth couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, even though her eyes were still brimming with tears. “I wish I just would’ve told you how I felt to begin with. Then, maybe you wouldn’t have been out searching for something different, and I wouldn’t have felt all alone.”
“I’m so sorry I made you feel that way, Ryan. You are my best friend. You have always been there for me. Always. And I promise you, I will never, ever go off and leave you again. Ever.”
A slow smile spread across his face as his eyes grew heavy again. “Good. But I’m pretty sure my mom is never going to let me leave my room again, so… you might be spending a lot of time in your room, too, if you’re not going to leave me behind.”
“That’s fine with me. After this… I might never want to leave.”
He laughed, and Beth could see EMTs hurrying in their direction. “Ryan, they’re probably going to separate us—temporarily--in a minute, but I feel like I have to say this now or I might not be brave enough to say it later.”
His eyes were open again, searching her face. “What’s that?”
“Like I said, you’ll always be my best friend. And I hope what I’m about to say doesn’t ruin that. But… seeing you with Halley made me realize, you mean more to me than that, Ryan. I may just be a punk kid who doesn’t know much of anything about life—but I’m pretty sure I love you.”
A broad smile spread across Ryan’s face. His hand was shaking as he slowly raised it to her cheek. “I don’t know much either, Beth Monroe, but I’m certain that I love you, too. And if I don’t make it, I’ll die a happy man.”
She shoved him playfully in the arm. “Don’t even talk that way. You’re going to be fine. Here come the paramedics now.”
He tipped his head back slightly and then returned his gaze to her. “Darn. Just when I was about to demand some mouth to mouth.”
Beth could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. “Later,” she promised. She gave his hand a squeeze as the paramedics moved in on both of them, and even though she knew she’d have to recount what had happened a million more times and likely wouldn’t see Ryan for several hours, knowing he was going to be all right and that she had everything she needed now was enough.
They took Ryan away on a stretcher a few minutes later. The paramedics treated Beth’s wounds, and by the time one of the EMTs escorted her to the sheriff, her clothes were beginning to dry. A helicopter buzzed overhead, the searchlight crawling over the creek bed, and off in the distance, Halley could hear hounds as dozens of flashlights searched for Halley.
“Miss Monroe, we’re going to have to take you down to the sheriff’s station to get a report, but you’re not in any trouble. I have the evidence and enough witness statements to let me know what this Halley Night girl was up to. I don’t understand what would make a girl….” He stopped himself. “At any rate, your dad can come with you, and we’ll get this over as soon as we can, okay?”
“Okay, Sheriff Jones,” Halley said, locking eyes with her dad who gave her a reassuring nod. Shane was standing next to her dad, and even he looked relieved that Beth was okay. “But you should know, her name isn’t really Halley Night. It’s Hannah Day, and she’s Phoebe Day’s niece.”
“You don’t say?” The sheriff considered that information and made a quick note. “Hannah Day?” he repeated. “That name sounds familiar.”
“Does the name Brock Hill sound familiar, sir?” Beth asked, taking a deep breath.
He stopped writing and looked up at her, color draining from his face. “I see.”
Beth realized she didn’t need to say anything else, and she let the sheriff lead her to his squad car as her dad sent Shane home to let their mom know what was going on. Shane grabbed ahold of Beth’s shoulder, and she turned, shocked when he pulled her in for a quick hug before hurrying off.
In the back of the squad car, Beth held her dad’s hand, suddenly feeling more like a little girl than she had in years but glad to have him with her. Familiar faces stared her direction—some popular, some not so popular. Sammy was there, looking worried. Michael had his arm around Lexy. Andi and Brittany waved, and Beth waved back, knowing now who her real friends were. She knew somewhere across town, near the hospital, Ryan was thinking of her, and that made everything she’d done worth it all. She couldn’t imagine what might’ve happened if she hadn’t gone after him. If she would’ve lost Ryan, she knew she would’ve lost part of herself. Maybe that’s what had made Halley break—maybe she hadn’t killed Brock. Maybe losing him made her lose herself. Or maybe she had killed him, too. Beth might not ever know, but it didn’t feel right to judge Halley under the circumstances. Something horrific must’ve happened to make such a pretty girl turn into such a horrible monster.