Rule 23 - Domino

"Almost there!" Chitra said brightly. This last week, Ruth, Grace, Beth, and Chitra had absorbed me into their friend group and it had been a blast at work. While they were all ride operators or lifeguards, in Ruth"s case, they couldn"t move out of their zones much, but during their breaks or back at camp, I"d been invited every night to hang out with them. We watched movies on the beach, hung out by the campfires, and played dumb girl games. I"d never really done any of that stuff before, and it was kind of fun.

Everyone but Mattias, including myself, was struggling with the hike. When it was pointed out that we all were on our feet at work all day, he laughed.

"Well, one day, if your daddy can be as rich as mine was, he can die and leave you millions and millions of dollars so that all you have to do is sit at a desk and make sure the family business doesn"t get sued." Mattias brushed his long, perfectly wavy hair back and flashed the group a smile. Mitchell swatted his boyfriend and called him a prick, while everyone else added other curse words to Mitchell"s.

"See, that"s why I like you." Grace fell back, looping her arm through mine. "You"re not like them. I would have never known you were their sister if I hadn"t been told."

"Same here," Marisol said from behind us. I wasn"t entirely sure why she came to things like this. She still lived at home but she came to camp nearly every night to drink, smoke, and hang out with everyone, despite acting sour the whole time.

I looked down, and the familiar guilt of how my lineage fell over me like a weighted blanket. I stopped talking and focused on stretching my limits, moving up in the pack to be further from my sister.Georgie trotted along beside me, eager to be leaving camp.

Finally, we made it to the campsite and collapsed and tossed our things down.

"Who"s sharing what tents?" Andrew asked. He and Blane had gone ahead to prepare the zipline and get wood for the fire tonight.

Ruth answered him for us."The girls are all staying in one. I don"t know what you guys are doing."

"Oh, come on, there"s room for more in there." Blane gave her a suggestive look, and she shook her head.

"Not a chance. It"s a five-person tent and there are five of us. Oh wait..." She counted, and her face fell. I looked around and slowly we all began to count and realize that there were six women.

"We"ve got room for another," Koi"s voice boomed from the trees, and we all turned to watch him and Swayze seemingly return to the site with logs piled in their arms.

"There we go. I guess, just pick a lady for the night and—" Blane laughed.

"Oh, I have someone in mind." Swayze"s gaze swung to me, and I looked away quickly. "What do you think, Koi? We'll even take in Georgie."

The tension was high as we all stared around the area. The idea of sharing a tent with those two made my heart go a little faster.

Ruth threw up her hands. "Worst case, I"ll boot myself out of the tent. Let"s put up the tents while there"s still light and then go back and party!" She let out a howl at the end, and everyone joined in. We unpacked, and within the hour, everyone but Blane and Koi were on the other side of the river. Mitchell put on music, Andrew pulled out various bottles of liquor and beer, and everyone was having a good time. Everyone but me.

I was very much aware and on edge with Swayze and Koi having joined the party.

"Hey, it"s okay. They"re not going to do anything with an audience." Beth, seeming to read my mind, came over to the tree I was leaning against, hanging with Georgie. She reached out, brushing my hair back. "I love your hair."

"Why are they here?" I murmured, moving away and hiding my question behind my red cup of vodka and lemonade.

"Blane needed help with the other side of the zipline. Catching people. Seriously, I"ve already talked to them and told them not to be pricks about you turning them down."

"What did they say?" I pushed. She rolled her eyes and reached for my hand.

"They are just alpha holes. Ignore them and come have fun. Chitra and Andrew are getting everything ready. Do you want to be the first one to go?" She tugged me along to the edge of the cliff.

"Hey! You getting in line, babe?" Chitra played with her septum piercing. "It"s almost ready."

I shook my head vehemently as I peered over the edge. While I couldn"t see the rushing water all that well, I could hear and feel its effects on the air.

"How are you sure it won"t fail? What if I get stuck halfway?" I stepped away so I couldn"t see below.

"This particular zipline can pull people back. So if you get stuck, we"ll just bring you back and try again." Chitra showed me the mechanics of the zipline. "And this is totally safe. It"s the expensive gear from the park. It"s not going to just snap."

"What, you think we"d let you drown?" Grace laughed.

We swiveled to face her. She licked her lips nervously and took a large gulp of her drink. Ruth rolled her eyes and looked around the party.

"We"re good to go! Who"s going first? Line up!"

Everyone looked at each other nervously. Swayze and I locked eyes and my heart sped up. What we"d done together... what I"d allowed him to do, to touch, was still fresh in my mind. The look of hunger on his face told me it was on his as well.

I didn"t want to send those messages to both men, but I couldn"t do what they wanted. Reflexively, I ran my hand along the tattoos that came to mind when I thought of them.

Faithful to my freedom

The idea of not being free, of being captive and trapped in someone"s hold, was terrifying.

Breaking eye contact, I started to raise my hand, but Swayze stepped forward.

"I"ll go."

"Yay, I"ll let the boys know you"re coming down," Chitra chirped as Swayze went to her. As she and Blane helped him into the harness, Beth came to stand with me.

"You can tell she's still totally not over him."

"Who?" I looked over at my friend. She had her nose pierced in three different places and it made me want to try a nose piercing myself.

"Ruth. She slept with Swayze last summer and when he didn't want to pursue anything, she lost it. She slept with Koi to try to make him jealous, but that second rejection just made everything worse. That"s why she doesn"t want you talking to them."

I thought about it. It had been Ruth who was insistent that I tell them to go away. I hadn"t told them that I"d kissed them both and had a moment with Swayze on the Ferris wheel, but rumors had been going around and I was a terrible secret keeper.

Well, except that one. I"d take that to the grave.

Swayze was equipped with a harness and helmet and then clipped to the ropes.

"Are you ready?" Ruth asked. The smile as she talked to him made me... angry. Was she trying to get him back in bed?

Chitra pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Swayze is on his way in 3,2,1!"

Andrew shoved him into the pitch black and Swayze let out a scream that got further and further away until we heard cheering and laughter from the other side. Relief washed over the group, and everyone lined up to take their turn. Swayze appeared twenty minutes later coming through the trees, having run back, grinning ear to ear.

Ruth moved to stand behind me so that she could talk to Swayze. Chitra decided to go right before me and handed the walkie-talkie to Andrew, who was more than just a little buzzed. She glanced at me nervously.

"I"ll let Koi and Blane know you"re next. Make sure she"s safe." She looked at Ruth, who nodded absentmindedly.

Chitra went down with a scream, and as I was stepping up, Swayze put his arm around my waist and pulled me from the line. "Can we talk?"

"Right now?" I looked back, but Ruth was already stepping into the harness. She was my size, so it probably didn"t matter who was going down.

Swayze pulled me into the trees."I know you said we can only be friends, but I can"t. I think there"s something here. I like you."

"Hey, guys?" Andrew"s worried voice pulled our attention. Everyone hurried to the edge of the cliff and looked at Andrew expectantly. "Her scream cut off."

The weight of his words made us go quiet.

"Pull it back," Mitchell ordered.

"What?"

"Pull the fucking zipline back!" Mitchell screamed.

Andrew fumbled to do so, and we all watched the line in complete silence as it retracted. Time seemed to have slowed as we waited in the darkness to see what the issue was, and then, the hook appeared, with Ruth still attached to it.

No one breathed until she reached the cliff. Her body was completely dead-weight and spinning in lazy, slow circles, and when her body turned toward us— A scream ran out.

A knife was stuck firmly in her stomach.

Ruth was dead.