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Up ahead, Viv noticed two teenagers who appeared to be searching for something.
“Can I help? What are you looking for?” Viv said as she came closer.
They looked up at her, startled. “Oh,” said the lanky girl. “We’re just playing a game.”
Viv’s pulse throbbed in her neck. “Game?”
“Yeah, it’s like a treasure hunt.”
“Oh, so it’s not a computer game?” Viv asked, trying to be nonchalant.
The girls both stopped moving and took her in. But didn’t answer her.
“Does it look like a computer game?” Lanky girl said and laughed. “Come on, let’s go,” she told her short friend. “We’ll do this later.”
The friend frowned and glanced at Viv. “It was nice of you to offer to help.”
“Sure thing,” she said. As they walked away, dread came over Viv and a prickling sensation ran up her spine. Was the hair on her neck standing at attention? “Wait!”
The girls turned and looked at her.
“I need to tell you something. To warn you.” If these girls were playing the same game as Eliza, they could be heading for trouble. Viv needed to stop them. “Are you playing Bella’s Victorian Grimoire game?”
The girls side-eyed one another. “The what?” one said. “Never heard of it.”
Of course, that’s what Viv herself would say, too, if she met a strange lady in the street asking odd questions.
“Okay, good,” Viv said. “Because you know that young woman, Eliza, who was found murdered a couple of days ago? She was playing the game. And when they found her...she had several objects from the game with her.”
The lanky girl grimaced. The shorter one folded her arms across her body in a protective gesture.
“But if you’re not playing it, no worries.” Viv turned to leave, playing it cool so as not to freak out the girls.
“Wait!” the short girl said. Viv stopped and turned.
“We were playing the game.”
“It’s none of your business what we’re doing,” the lanky girl said. “Come on.” She tugged at her friend. “This lady is creeping me out.”
Viv tried not to smile, hearing herself described as a lady. But the creepy part? That was so not true.
“I’m sorry,” Viv said. “I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just that Eliza has been on my mind. She was murdered, and I don’t want to see that happen to anybody else.”
“Nobody does,” the tall one said. “But we’re just playing a game. Believe me, her murder has nothing to do with the grimoire. That’s stupid.”
They were still standing on the sidewalk, and passersby glimpsed at them.
Viv shrugged. “Maybe, but don’t you think it’s odd that she had objects from the game with her when they found her?”
No reaction.
“I don’t mean to scare you, but please be careful. It’s good that you’re doing the game together. There’s safety in numbers. I live at the B & B. My name is Viv. If you ever want to talk, stop by.” She tried to smile. But it wasn’t in her. Not now.
“Okay,” said the shorter girl. “Thanks, Viv.”
As she walked away, she felt better, having warned them, but she also felt silly. Was she making too much of a game?
No. Her gut told her she wasn’t. The cops had brought it to her attention. They must strongly suspect the game had a part in Eliza’s death. She didn’t care how cool or creepy she appeared to the girls. She’d never be able to live with herself if she hadn’t warned them and then something awful happened to them.
No. She wasn’t caring what two teenagers thought of her. Those days were gone.
Though Viv had to admit, their standoffishness touched a nerve. She was never Miss Popular, even in high school. She stuck to herself, having only a few close friends. And they were oddballs, just like her. She couldn’t have made it through without them, though. A winsome pang moved through her. She needed to check on her old friends soon.