Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 66

Miriam ended up texting back that it’d be easier to talk in person before class and asked if Vivian was able to get there a bit earlier than usual.

Since her driver — no, make that her *bodyguard* — was already at the house it made things easier; Vivian just told him to drive her to school earlier than normal and they were on their way.

There was some hesitation on Vivian’s part on being in a car again, but it was over within a second and didn’t return. She knew getting in the driver’s seat would be more of an issue, but being able to move past the initial surge of fear of being in a vehicle again was promising.

Then again, it wasn’t like she’d been in a horrific car accident or anything — just a car chase with people carrying guns.

A shudder ran through her at the memory and she pushed it aside as always, choosing to focus on the present instead.

Currently, the present included something important Miriam wanted to talk about. The texts gave Vivian a bit of context but not enough to make a difference; social media was most likely the topic, but other than that there hadn’t been any more available information to glean.

The school came into view and by the time Tyrell had pulled up to the curb Vivian had already spotted her friend waiting on the front steps.

Miriam, seeing the car, was on her feet and moving towards them with a smile. When the girl started moving towards them Tyrell shifted in his seat, and Vivian glanced at him for a second before saying, “That’s my friend, Miriam. She’s … safe.”

The man glanced back at her and nodded, settling back into his seat without a word.

Letting out a small breath, Vivian wondered if he planned on being all tense with everyone who came within a certain distance of her body. God, she hoped not. That sounded like a literal nightmare.

Stepping out of the car, Vivian waved to her friend before turning back to address her bodyguard. “I’ll let you know if there’s a change to my schedule, but pick up is the same as always… Did Gilbert tell you when that is?”

“Yes. Both Mr Morris and Mr Devreaux gave me the details of your day.”

“Okay, good,” she nodded, feeling a bit awkward that she felt the need to check. Of course her father would have made sure the new bodyguard would have her schedule memorized. There was probably a file somewhere with different things both Gilbert and Samuel had noted about her behaviour and preferences. Creepy to think about, but it wouldn’t surprise Vivian if it were true.

“New driver?” Miriam asked, giving the man behind the wheel a small wave. “What happened to Gilbert?” Though she’d never actually met Vivian’s driver, she had been told about him to the point whenever they met up outside the school Miriam would give a wave in acknowledgment.

“He…” Vivian trailed off, unsure how to explain what had happened without causing the other girl to worry. “He hurt his leg and needs to let it heal, so now I have Tyrell.”

Leaning a bit to one side, Miriam stared at the man, who stared back, and nodded in his direction. “He looks scary. Bet he’s secretly a softy.”

Her friend’s assessment had Vivian furrowing her brow. “I’m not sure I follow… but you wanted to talk about something, didn’t you? What was so important it had to be done face-to-face?”

“It’s easier to show you,” she replied as they began walking towards the school building. Miriam had pulled out her phone, thumbing through screens until a specific one came up. Passing the device into Vivian’s hands, she waited in silence for the latter’s reaction.

Vivian looked at the screen and frowned a bit, scrolling a bit as her eyes scanned back and forth. “Uh… this is… me? But I don’t have an account.”

“Yeah. I also got some weird messages from it last night,” Miriam explained as she double tapped the screen and swiped to a new app. “See?”

This was a messaging app tied to the one Vivian had just been viewing. There were a number of conversations in it, but the only one she had any desire to look at was the topmost one — the one she was supposedly having with Miriam.

It started off simple enough, with the fake account’s user letting Miriam know she’d finally decided to sign up to social media, but it didn’t take long before it devolved into whoever it was digging for information while simultaneously flirting. Miriam hadn’t responded to any message once the tone shifted from surface pleasantries, which according to the time stamp was around when she’d sent Vivian that first text.

What was going on?

“I don’t get it,” Vivian muttered as she returned the phone to her friend. “What’s the point of doing any of this?”

“Not sure, but look.” Miriam turned the screen to show a long list of names. “A lot of people from school are on the friend list. If whoever is behind it messages any of them the way they did me…”

Vivian sat on this information for a minute as they wandered the empty halls, their footsteps echoing in the stillness. “So… someone wants to, what, ruin my reputation?”

“Maybe?”

That didn’t make sense to her; what reputation was there to ruin, anyway? Vivian was a loner — well, not so much anymore now that Miriam was around… and Theo sometimes — and didn’t care how other people thought of her so what was the point of going to all this trouble?

“They didn’t even spell my last name right,” she suddenly realized with a small laugh. The name on the account was ‘Vivian St Peter’ and her name was St Peters; they’d missed the ‘s’.

Miriam frowned and checked it herself before letting out a laugh. “I hadn’t even noticed. I wonder if anyone else did?”

“Probably not. It’s not that big a deal, I don’t think. What are they gonna do, anyway? Talk to people while pretending to be me? What’s the worst they could do?”