My stomach turns with excitement as the boat pulls up to the rocks. I can see the huge, French-style mansion. My fiance climbs off before turning around to help me up, We are here for a romantic getaway. He rented us a room in this beautiful room in this manor located on an island. My birthday is in less than a week so this is a great way to spend it. We walk up the steep, gravely driveway as we make our way towards the house. I pull on the brass knockers and swing open the door. The hallway is shiny marble surrounded by ornate columns. We walk up the long staircase to our rooms. I plop down on the bed.
"I can't wait to meet the other guests! I hope they are friendly," I tell Greyson as he unpacks our bags.
He just gives me a funny look. I walk over and help him sort out things. As I am making our bed I hear the dinner bell. I quickly change into a dress before we make our way downstairs with my arm linked in his.
My heart stops as we reach the dining room. Filling six of the eight chairs are people who I surely do not get along with. They all seem equally as surprised to see me here too. Greyson guides me to my seat before sitting in his own.
"Wow Eva, I would have never guessed you could afford to stay in a place like this. Especially seeing how your grades were senior year," Knox Holland, my high school tormentor, sneers.
"It's because she's engaged to a doctor, which I still can't believe. I wouldn't want to spend my life with a jealous crybaby," My ex-boyfriend who cheated on me with multiple people comments.
Leona Pierce, my fiance's ex-girlfriend who attacked me twice, laughs way too loud at this comment. I roll my eyes as Greyson fixes our plates.
"Ladies do not roll their eyes! They also don't put their grubby elbows on the table," my old nanny, who enjoyed beating me with her walking stick as a small child, scoffs.
I look directly across the table to see my ex-best friend that tried to drown me after his boyfriend confessed his love for me. Sitting next to him is my old next door neighbor who used to try to do "science experiments" on me. Neither of them has anything to say, but they do glance at me from time to time. We begin our meal which would have been lovely if the topic of conversation hadn't stayed on everyone's mutual disliking for me.
Greyson squeezes my hand to which I smile at him, grateful that he is here with me. We quickly jerk our heads when we heard a gasp for air. I turn in time to see Knox fall out of her chair. We all gather around her as she begins to turn blue. Greyson tries the Heimlich maneuver before checking her pulse. He pronounces her dead 15 seconds later. He instructs us all to leave immediately while he tends to the body.
Nana Jean, my neighbor, and I all run up to our respective rooms. I hide under the blankets as I always do when I'm shaken up. I just watched the girl who dumped food on me, humiliated me, got me beat up, and stole from me die. My stomach turns as I think about what I just saw. Grayson enters the room sometime later and washes up before laying down to comfort me.
The next morning we go down for breakfast but I stay in my pajamas. Grayson and I sit in the window sill. Across from us our exes sit silently at the island in the kitchen. I wonder if they are together now but I can't even find the voice to ask. My neighbor I leaning against the counter near the fridge while drinking something he blended. No one wants to be in the dining room, and I don't blame them. The view of the shore calms me down. My old best friend walks into the kitchen looking paler than ever. He walks over to my fiance with an air of urgency before he leans down to speak to him.
"I knocked on the old lady's door to tell her breakfast was ready. She didn't answer so I went in and uh- I think you should go check her out," he whispers even though I can hear him since I'm sitting next to Grayson.
My stomach turns as he dashes out the kitchen. I set my food down before laying my head on the cold window. Grayson re-enters the kitchen looking a bit dejected. Everyone stares at him with curiosity and panic. I brace myself for what's coming. Then in the professional way that he does he informed us that Nana Jean passed away at 10:45 last night from cardiac arrest, but it was caused intentionally by someone just like the poisoning last night. I get straight up and walk to my room. I'm pacing the floor when Grayson comes in. He sits on the bed before asking me whats on my mind.
"Well for one, two people are dead so far. That is really sketchy. I feel uncomfortable in a house with people who hate me while people are dying rapidly and now you tell me there is a murderer here?" I shout.
"Who do you think it is?" He asks calmly.
"Well my neighbor, Mr. Calvier used to shock me with different voltages of shock pens to see what it would do to me, among other "tests". Jesse tried to drown me once. Damian nearly choked me when I confronted him about cheating, and you were there to pull her off me when Leona tried to beat me with her high heel. So all these people could be murderers yes," I finish breathlessly.
"Oh come on Evie, you're a criminologist. I thought this stuff intrigues you?"
"It does but I just wasn't expecting it. It's different when my boss strolls in with a psycho file," I explain.
He suggests that I lay down for a while and so I do. I feel a bit uneasy anyway. I begin to think about how I'm not only a bit frightened but curious as to why this is happening. Why is it all people who have something against me? I must have been laying down for some time because the clock says I've been here for three hours.
I get up to go find Grayson. I knock on the hallway's bathroom door. It's cracked so I slowly push it open. That's when I see the shaggy brown hair floating in the water of the tub and realize that Jesse is laying face down inside. I burst into the room next door to find Leona has bled out onto the floor. The same sparkly red heel she tried to bludgeon me with when she found out I was engaged to Grayson is lodged in the side of her head. I see Damian laying on the bed so I run over to him. I'm about to shake him when I pause in midair. I can see the marks on his neck and I know that he has been strangled.
Shaking, I make my way down the hallway but I have to do a double take as I pass the bathroom. I notice that it is empty even though there was a body in the tub ten minutes ago. I run downstairs and into the kitchen before skidding to a halt. Laying across the stove is my former tormentor, Mr. Calvier, burnt to a crisp. I scream Grayson's name at the top of my lungs, hoping he's alright. I run right back up the stairs to our room. I quickly pack our bags before tossing them down the stairs. I peek into the room with our expired exes and just as I suspected the bodies are gone.
I dash down the stairs, grabbing out bags without stopping as I rush past. I decide to walk through the kitchen to confirm that the final body is in fact no longer draped across the stove. Outside the kitchen is a small cliff with a winding walkway. I am about to walk down it when something catches my eye. It looks like a body. I drop out bags as I slowly approach the cliff. I look on in disbelief. All 6 of my enemies are splayed out in the shape of a heart.
"Suprise, sweetheart!" Grayson calls from behind me, causing me to jump out of my skin.
"I know how much you love suspense, horror, and murder cases. I mean all you ever read is Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie stories. We watch everything from NCIS to 1000 Ways to Die. When we started dating you were afraid I was going to think you were a psychopath. Anyway, I knew that for your birthday I had to get you involved in a live-action murder mystery. So I did," he admits after I give him a confused look.
"How did you manage to pull all this off?" I ask in disbelief.
"Well, I wrote them all letters similar to the one I sent us. I remembered the ways people died in media that interested you and acted accordingly. I took notes from your favorite book to the serial killers you wrote papers on in your criminology classes. I made sure it happened when you weren't around for dramatic effect. I kind of rushed the last few because you were frightened and I didn't want to scare you. ," he pauses to look at me. Seeing my shocked, silent reaction he continues.
"I poisoned Knox at dinner and slipped a pill to raise your nanny's heart rate then too. Both taken from your mystery books. Damian was strangled, which I'm sure you figured out. Leona was hit with the shoe she attacked you with, Jesse was drowned and Calvier was burned. I went for that sweet irony that I know you love so much. After you found Jesse in the tub and went to the other room he went down the fire escape out here where I positioned him. Then you ran downstairs, giving me a bit of time to position our exes out here as well. When you went to pack our bags it was Clavier's turn. Knox and Nana were placed out here this morning," He sighs as he's finishes explaining his elaborate scheme. "I just wanted you to enjoy your thrilling present, Darling," he admits.
I let out a small, breathy laugh. "Honestly, I did. I cannot believe you went through all this trouble for me. You actually pretended to kill off all the people I hate just because I love murder mysteries. I can't believe you got them all to agree to do this! I'm not going to lie, this is the best birthday present I've ever gotten," I gush as I pull him into a hug, resting my chin on his chest.
"Well, I'm glad you- wait," his eyes become sharper as he looks down at me. His mouth curls up in a smirk. "You think I pretended to kill them?" He asks slowly, in a tone of voice that sends shivers down my spine.
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