Adventures of a Graveyard Girl (21 page)

Logan laughed again, "Would you believe that I have made one mistake in my whole life and that I've been paying for it ever since?"

"A mistake? What mistake?" Ariel asked.

As I quietly crept forward, glad for the cheers and screams above me, covering up any noise I was making, I started to wonder what on earth I was planning to do once I did come up behind Logan. Should I jump him? I was guessing he had a gun or something trained on Ariel, although I couldn't see it. What else could I do? I couldn't just let him shoot her or stab her or whatever he was planning to do. Maybe then if Ariel helped me, we could wrestle him to the ground. There wasn't much time to plan this all out, unfortunately.

Logan kept laughing, so it almost sounded like a joke, but he was deadly serious, "I got Madison Brown pregnant in junior high."

"What?" Ariel asked. I could tell she was completely floored from the way her voice rose an octave, "Madison had a baby? Are you serious?"

If I hadn't been so focused on trying to save Ariel, I would have frozen in my tracks. Madison had a baby? My blood turned cold. Lana. She was the spitting image of Madison. Logan wouldn't try to kill her too, would he?

"She had her right before freshman year. Her sister, Lana, is her daughter. Nobody knew. Except Julia. Madison told her. Told her that I was the dad. Nobody else knew who the father was, not even Madison's parents. I made Madison promise not to tell. Then, all of a sudden, Madison wanted to tell Lana the truth about everything. She wanted to tell her that she was her mother and that I was her father," Logan said. "My parents couldn't find out. The school couldn't find out. Nobody could find out. I worked so hard to get where I am. I was a pimple-faced kid with braces and glasses at the start of junior high. I was flattered Madison Brown even wanted to be more than friends. I was stupid to make the mistake I did. I've been smarter ever since, but I just keep paying for it. It had to go away, so I killed Madsion."

I thought about little Lana, the poor girl. I hoped she never found out who her father was and I wasn't normally an advocate for that sort of thing. I mean, I think you should always have access to that sort of information. Like, if I was adopted, I'd want to know. In this case, though, that sweet little girl who just lost her sister/mom didn't deserve to know that her dad did it. It could mess a little kid up. Too bad in the real world, when this all got out, she'd probably be on CNN or some other talk show with her grandparents. I really hoped her grandparents got her out of town when it happened instead. That would really be the best thing for her.

"Why did you kill Julia then?" Ariel asked. Her plan to stall for time was working so far.

Logan laughed again. It was a really creepy laugh, "Well, for starters, Julia knew I killed Madison. She helped me do it. We planned it together."

"What?" Ariel was shocked again.

I knew it! Well, I had thought for a second at least that Julia's involvement in Madison's murder made sense. She had acted really strange the day she talked to me. Julia would have been my prime suspect, had she not been killed too. Logan had thrown me off that scent, by killing her.

"Julia wanted Madison dead for different reasons. The whole thing was Julia's idea, actually. She'd get the Pep Club presidency and get even with Madison for taking everything she wanted away from her. Julia would get back her high school status. Madison really did a number on Julia's reputation. Maybe there was more to it. I didn't care. Once Julia suggested it to me, I was in. Like I said, I needed Madison gone too," Logan said.

"So you both did it?" Ariel asked. She was having a hard time with the concept.

It made a lot of sense to me, though. Popularity was worth a lot to some people. I mean, in high school, your status was everything.

"Yeah, it was so easy. We hid in the bathroom during the Homecoming Dance and waited," Logan said.

"But what if we hadn't gone to the bathroom?" Ariel asked. "Or even that bathroom?"

"According to Julia, it was a sure thing. Madison had the smallest bladder and she preferred that particular bathroom because less people used it, which made it less disgusting or some OCD thing like that, so Julia said that Madison was sure to show up," Logan said. "And, it was likely to be for the most part deserted since it was out of the way."

"But what if someone found you?" Ariel asked.

Logan shrugged, "Then we'd pretend to be making out in the stall and try again later. Otherwise, once it was done, we'd blend into the crowd. There were hundreds of people at the dance. It was a perfect place to blend in and commit murder. So, we waited and twenty minutes in, you guys walked into the bathroom. It was fate."

"Would you have killed me too?" Ariel wanted to know.

I felt a chill crawl up my spine. I wouldn't have been able to save Ariel. I wouldn't have known until it was too late. I had to save her now. Should I try and wait for the police? Did I just jump him?

Logan continued his story, "Yes, we would have killed you both, collateral damage, but you left in time. We burst out of the stall and confronted Madison. I covered the bathroom door and Julia was supposed to shoot Madison. That was the plan. Julia wanted to do it. We were going to blame it on someone's anti-school spirit, one of the school outcasts, like Seth. He was perfect. People like him practically dressed the part."

"So, Seth had nothing to do with it at all?" Ariel asked.

"No," Logan laughed. "He's perfect, though, right?"

Poor Seth. He was all too perfect to be accused and he might have even been convicted. I couldn't help but be captivated by what Logan was saying. It was horrifying. Yet, I was also multitasking. I had about a minute or two until I would probably have to act. I didn't think the police were going to arrive before Logan tried to kill Ariel. It was up to me. I crept forward. I was almost there.

"So what happened then?" Ariel asked instead of answering Logan's question.

"At the last minute, Julia couldn't do it. So, I did it. I followed through. We got away with it too. Nobody even looked at us for the murder. Madison's death wasn't enough for Julia, though. She was getting the Pep Club presidency, but she wanted more. So, she threatened to expose me as the murderer. She'd claim that she was the innocent victim. Julia wanted things from me. She said I had to date her and do all of these things for her or she would tell people about my daughter, the murder, everything. Julia wanted to be even more popular than she'd been before. I finally got the impression that Julia set me up. I had been stupid. I shouldn't have trusted her. She had it all planned. If anyone found out what we had done, she would make sure that I did the time for it. Julia hadn't been scared to shoot Madison. She had been playing me for a fool. Julia didn't want to be the one to shoot the gun, so that she could point her finger at me, if we were found out. I was smarter in the end, though. We had already given the cops the idea that anti-Pep Club sentiment was the reason for the murder, so I decided to make it the reason for two murders," Logan said.

I couldn't believe the story Logan was weaving, but from what I knew of Julia, I'd believe it of her. They were equally as crazy. The only innocent victims here were Madison and of course, Lana.

"But I didn't know about any of this. I didn't know that either of you killed Madison or that you had a daughter or anything," Ariel said. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"You know now," Logan pointed out.

"But I didn't know five minutes ago," Ariel argued.

I was right behind Logan. Did I wait a little longer? Maybe the police were coming? Did I act? I was scared.

"Well, I have heard rumors that you might have seen me before I killed Madison," Logan said. "Julia was worried that you might have seen something too. Better safe than sorry and all that."

"I didn't," Ariel replied, but all of us could tell she was lying.

"Sure you didn't," Logan said. "But at this point, it doesn't matter, does it? Besides, you fit the pattern now. It works to kill you. It all fell into place. It was meant to be."

"But you don't have to," Ariel pleaded.

"Yes, I do. I helped kill Madison to get rid of one problem. Then Julia started in on me, so I had to get rid of her too. Nobody was going to pull my strings. The whole Pep Club murders gave both of their deaths credibility, like a serial killer had done it. Seth was already arrested once and I'm going to make sure they lock him up for it. He's here, you know. I baited him to come and if I kill you, the investigation will definitely focus on him and his anti-school spirit."

"Wow," Ariel said.

I was having trouble believing it all myself. Logan was insane. Was there something in the water in Palos lately?

"Yeah," Logan said. "You're gonna have to die."

With those words, I knew there were only seconds left to act. The police had not shown up. Neither had Ethan or any of our friends, although I was glad for that. I didn't want to put any more people I cared about in danger.

I took a deep breath, steeled my nerves as much as I could, and jumped on Logan's back, screaming. Ariel froze. I could see her wondering if she had just been shot. Logan had not fired the gun, thank goodness, so her shock was misplaced. Logan, had in fact dropped the gun, as I attacked him and was now trying to pull me off of his back as I did what damage I could with my hands, while also holding onto him tightly.

"Get off me!" Logan yelled. "Get off me!"

He didn't know it was me, Kait Lenox, on his back. Good looks wouldn't save him now. I wish I had started on those self defense classes I had been thinking about. I should do that once this was all over. I seemed to be getting into a lot of dangerous scrapes lately. It would be a useful tool to have on my belt. In the meantime, I had Ariel to help me in my fight, if only she'd snap out of her daze.

"Get the gun, Ariel!" I screamed.

I wasn't sure if she heard me or not. Ariel was still standing there like a zombie. I knew she wasn't hurt.

"Ariel! Get the gun!" I yelled again.

Logan was scratching at my arms now with his hands, as well as trying to shake me off. I was going to have some serious scratches once this was all over. That wasn't good. I didn't want scars on my arms.

"Ariel! The gun!" I yelled.

Logan dug into my arms with his nails. I screamed. That really hurt. I knew I was bleeding. I had to hold on. I could not let go. Ariel was still standing there blankly. If I let go, Logan would shoot us both. I could not let go.

"Ariel!" I yelled.

Ariel finally snapped out of it and saw me. Recognition registered on her face. Finally. That was the last thing I saw as Logan shook us both to the ground in some kind of wrestling move. I felt the side of my face hit the pavement. That was going to leave a huge bruise. At least I hadn't landed on my nose. I struggled against Logan. Self defense classes were definitely at the top of my list. I tried to knee Logan in the groin, like they did in all of those movies, but it's harder than it looks when you're also wrestling around and fighting for your life. Logan was on top of me, wrestling with my hands, and I couldn't get the impact I wanted in that area. He groaned, but didn't let go of me. We fought on.

I couldn't see what Ariel was doing, but I could only hope that she had registered the words - gun and get it and was doing just that. There was nothing more I could do about the situation than continue fighting Logan with every reserve of energy that I had left.

He was going to kill me. I could almost see the obituary now -
Kait Lenox, 16, killed by the most popular, good looking senior boy at Palos High died Saturday. She is survived by her father, William Lenox, and her cat, Scarlett. Oh, and she crashed funerals.
And, there better be something in there about Ethan Ripley and the word girlfriend too. Oh, and Ariel better cry at the funeral. It was the least I deserved for trying to save her life even though we were ex-bffs.

I couldn't die. I bit Logan's arm. He screamed. I meant for it to hurt. What was Ariel doing? I couldn't even look for her. All of my energy was on keeping Logan's hands and feet from doing severe damage. He was sweating and his face was contorted with this weird look. It was really kind of creepy, actually. Maybe he wasn't that hot at all. I fought on.

I needed to have a serious talk with Ariel when this was all over about listening. I mean, when I said, "Ariel get the gun!" what did she think I meant, you know? I meant - Ariel, get the gun! I was going to kill her if Logan didn't end up killing us both first.

"Freeze!" I finally heard Ariel yell, like she was in a movie.

Logan didn't freeze, so neither did I. He must not have believed Ariel would shoot the gun. I hoped Ariel did. I didn't want to get shot again, by accident, but I was starting to lose this battle. My arms really hurt from all of the scratches and fighting with Logan. The side of my face was swelling up and I was getting a massive headache. If this all didn't end soon, I was going to be in major trouble.

"Stop or I'll shoot!" Ariel tried again, taking another line from a movie.

Ariel really wasn't good at this stopping our fighting thing. Then again, I wasn't surprised. This wasn't the sort of thing Ariel would normally be doing on a Saturday night. She'd be happier at the mall or on a date or actually watching the football game with the rest of the school. I was the one that had chosen to investigate and pursue this murder case. I might have to rethink that path myself if I made it out of this alive.