Chapter 4

Her words snapped me fully awake.

I didn't even stop for shoes. I twisted the lock open and shoved the door back.

"Tell me exactly what you mean. What happened to my parents?"

Minnie saw the panic in my eyes, and a strange little smile crossed her innocent face.

"Your parents found out today that you're the other woman. They couldn't stand the shame, so they drank pesticide and killed themselves."

My whole body was shaking. All I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat.

"There's no way they'd—"

The tears came before I could stop them.

Then Quinn let out a low, muffled laugh.

"We all thought it'd be a drag since Queenie couldn't play a murder-mystery party. Turns out she's really getting into character, isn't she?"

That was when it hit me that I'd been played. It was that cursed script again.

I turned to go back to my room.

Minnie grabbed my hand and dragged me out to the living room.

"Queenie, we already set up the memorial for your parents. Go on, light some incense for them."

I looked where she was pointing.

On the table sat a burner with incense sticking out of it. Behind it were framed black-and-white photos of my parents, and off to one side stood two urns.

A mocking smile hung at the corner of Minnie's mouth.

"Friendly warning, don't touch the urns. They're full of Fluffy's poop."

"Oh, right, Fluffy's the name I gave the puppy I brought back this morning. Cute, isn't it?"

Fluffy was the pet name Andrew had given the baby we lost.

I looked at Andrew, standing off to the side.

He said it flatly.

"Just a coincidence."

Minnie shoved me in front of the portraits and pressed down hard on my head.

"Kneel and bow, then light the incense. It's your task in the script."

I raised my hand and brought it down hard across her face.

"Minnie! You brought this on yourself. If you dare joke about my parents, you'd better be ready for the consequences."

She hadn't expected me to hit her. The slap left her stunned.

When she came to, she staggered and threw herself at Andrew.

"Andrew, it hurts so much."

She wept like a broken flower in the rain.

Andrew stared at my red, swollen eyes, his voice cold.

"Queenie, apologize to Minnie."

I pointed at the altar.

"She curses my parents, photoshops their memorial portraits, and you just let her run wild?"

He frowned.

"It's only a part of the game. Don't take it so seriously."

Minnie pouted, tossed the portraits into the trash, opened an urn, and poured the dog feces out over the photos of my parents.

"Fine, I won't play. No need to go hitting people."

I watched my parents' faces get smeared with dog feces, and the tears of injustice still fell.

Quinn shot me a look.

"I told you we shouldn't have brought Queenie along. She just can't take a joke."

Elisa held an ice pack to Minnie's face.

"There's no doctor on the island. Get Minnie to a hospital, quick, before her face is ruined."

Andrew was out of patience entirely.

"Contact the staff now and get a boat ready. We leave immediately."

He looked at me.

"Queenie, we're taking Minnie to the hospital first. You stay here and think hard about what you've done."

"When you understand where you went wrong, I'll come back and take you home."

The four of them took their luggage and drove off toward the dock.

I was left alone in the villa.

That was when the lights overhead went out. The whole villa had lost power.

I took out my phone to use it for light.

There was a message the staff had sent me five minutes earlier.

【Miss Cobb, ending the game early is still charged at the full rate.】

【Please gather your luggage and belongings. All staff are leaving the island along with your group.】

I had covered the entire cost of this trip, which was why the staff messaged me.

But before I could dial for help,

the signal that had only just come back cut out again the moment the staff left the island.

Elsewhere.

After Andrew got Minnie's face treated at the hospital,

to make up for the group's ruined mood over the game, the four of them bought tickets that same day and went off to a beach resort.

Seven days later.

The moment Andrew got off the plane, he called the staff to send someone to the island for Queenie.

On the other end of the line came the staff member's startled cry.

"Mr. Sanchez, are you saying Miss Cobb is still on the island?"

"That day Miss Henson said you'd all left. The whole island's water and power are shut off, and there's no one there."

The phone slipped from Andrew's hand and hit the floor.

The screen cracked.