Deceitful (Rules of Deception 1)

Tentatively, I ascended the staircase. The fluffy carpet softened my steps and I noted it would make sneaking out of the house to meet Summers or Alec easier. With Linda and Ronald keeping such a close watch while I was in hospital, I hadn’t gotten the chance to communicate with either of them.

At the top of the stairs, I was greeted by a long corridor with three doors on either side. Madison’s door was on the right, but which door? Devon’s room was beside mine, that much I could remember. I glanced over my shoulder at Ronald and Linda, who followed on my heels. They watched me like I was a toddler about to take her first steps. I was touched by their constant monitoring, but it opened endless possibilities for me to slip up.

Thankfully, Ronald chose that moment to take pity on me—or maybe he just couldn’t stand the waiting anymore—and opened the door in the middle. The room was much bigger than any of the ones I’d had back with my mother, and it was spotlessly clean and smelled fresh and faintly flowery.

A vase with white roses waited on the desk beside the bed; the same white roses that decorated the pattern of the blankets and the two large photos hanging on either side of the bed. They must have been Madison’s favorite flower. A huge black and white cat lay curled on the pillow—Fluffy. His eyes opened to watch me wearily. I walked over to him but as I got close enough to touch him, he jumped off the bed with a hiss, bristling. He scuttled out of the room as if the devil was after him.

A tingling started in my toes and traveled up my ankles. I pressed my legs together, turning away, hoping they hadn’t seen the panic on my face. The tingling disappeared as fast as it had come.

Ronald and Linda hovered in the doorway, watching me anxiously. Would Fluffy’s reaction make them suspicious? Linda let out a nervous laugh. “He hasn’t been himself since you left. I bet if you open his can tonight, you’ll be his favorite person again.”

“He smells the hospital on you. He’ll come around soon,” Ronald added.

I touched the soft rose petals. They felt like velvet. “They’re beautiful. Thank you,” I whispered. That raised a smile from both of them as though I’d given them a beautiful present just by acknowledging their gift.

“We’re having chicken casserole for dinner,” Linda said. I could feel her and Ronald’s eyes on me, waiting for a reaction. What did they expect? Was chicken casserole a cue for something important? Their faces fell.

“Your favorite food, remember?” Linda asked.

“Sorry, yes I remember. I’m just tired.” It wasn’t even a lie. Pretending to be someone else 24/7 was already more tiring than I’d expected. Linda came toward me and kissed my cheek. “Get some rest. We’ll be downstairs if you need anything.” With one last look, they closed the door.

My legs quivered, forcing me to plop down on the bed. The mattress was much softer than the one I was used to at the FEA, and it smelled like roses. Linda probably bought rose-scented softener just for Madison—for me. I longed to change back to my own body, to feel the pressure lifted off my shoulders, but I knew that wasn’t an option.

My eyes fell on a smattering of photos in a framed collage on the wall over the bed. I got on my knees to get a closer look. The photos showed Madison with her family, on the beach, with Devon on swings. Several of them showed Madison with another girl. Ana—her best friend.

I dragged myself toward the desk and sank into the chair. Madison’s laptop looked brand new and took almost no time to load. After logging into the FEA homepage, I clicked on the file to access my e-mails. Three were new. One from Holly with a smiley face and lots of exclamation points in the subject line, one from Major titled important, and the last was from Alec, without any subject heading at all.

I opened Alec’s first.

Tess—Keep your guard up. Anyone could be the killer. See you tomorrow. Remember—we don’t know each other. Alec

Couldn’t he have said a few nice words? So typical.

I clicked on Major’s e-mail, which managed to be even shorter.

Meeting @ Summers’ house. Tomorrow 11 p.m. sharp. Expect status update.

Major never bothered with pleasantries. And what did he mean by “status update”? Did he think I’d found any clues already? I hadn’t even started searching—not really. Though I was already sure neither Devon nor Ronald had anything to do with the murders.

I opened Holly’s e-mail last, but it was several pages long and I only skimmed through it.

I miss you so much . . . How’s it going?? . . . Headquarters is boring without you . . . Everyone seems to be busy with something, except for me! . . . Louis is filling in for Summers but Variation training with him is even less fun . . . Kate is as mean as ever . . . Stay safe!