That corpse under the tarp was the same gauze-wrapped nightmare from Granny's shack—no question. But how'd it teleport to the village entrance in a matter of hours? "Ryan, that's the zombie granny's handiwork!" I hissed, my voice barely above a whisper. "She must've known we snooped in her corpse condo. But why ditch her science project here?"
Ryan frowned, shaking his head. "Didn't see her leave the shack last night. I was parked at the entrance, eyes peeled. Nothing."
Before I could press, a local cop waved Ryan over, leaving me with Tim, who sidled up like a ghost himself. He leaned in, his voice low and grim. "This body's done for—refinement failed. Look at the eyes." I squinted at the corpse's face, its eyeballs shriveled like raisins in a microwave. "The essence is drained," Tim said. "Useless to her now."
I raised an eyebrow, half-impressed, half-skeptical. "You're like the CSI of zombies, huh? So, what, Granny tossed it because it's past its expiration date? Can we stop her?"
Tim's face tightened, his Taoist cool cracking. "Not my jurisdiction. My sect's all about saving souls, not busting corpse-crafters. Granny hasn't hurt anyone—yet—so I can't just go Buffy on her. Rules are rules."
I snorted. "Rules? We're in Zombieland, and you're worried about paperwork?" But his logic held—barely. Granny was creepy, but she hadn't technically thrown a punch.
Then, a voice in the crowd muttered, "Jasper Reed got what he deserved." My heart stopped. Ryan, Tim, and I spun like we'd been zapped by a taser. Our wild guess was right—the shack's corpse was Jasper. The tech whiz, Lila's maybe-boyfriend, was now a failed zombie experiment. Our Hollow Vale trip was a bust: no Lila, no Jasper, just a dead end with extra creep sauce.
Back in the city that night, Ryan dropped a bombshell as we pored over case files in his dingy precinct office. "Lila's not just Mike's girlfriend—she was Jasper's girl, too. Villagers saw them together the night before he vanished, five days ago."
I nearly choked on my coffee. "Five days? That's when the game went full Jigsaw on us—Mike's death, Lila's rooftop stunt, the whole shebang. So, Lila was two-timing Mike with Jasper?"
Ryan flipped through a report, his brow furrowed. "Here's the kicker: villagers ID'd Lila from photos, no doubt. But Lila told us she was with Mike that night, playing the game. Someone's lying—either her or the entire village."
I leaned back, my brain doing cartwheels. "Hold up. Same Lila? No twin sister or doppelgänger nonsense?" The plot was twistier than a soap opera season finale.
Ryan shook his head, tossing a photo of Lila on the desk. "Cops showed this to ten villagers. All said it's her with Jasper. No mix-ups."
Tim, slouched in a corner, sighed. "Guess we don't need to raid Granny's shack again. Jasper's body's here, not there." He paused, then added, "But Lila's still out there, and she's tied to this mess."
A wild theory hit me like a rogue dodgeball. "Guys, what if Lila's not Lila? Like, she's got a secret identity—some mastermind playing us all. Maybe she's not the victim she's pretending to be."
Ryan's eyes widened, and Tim nodded slowly, like I'd cracked a code. "It's possible," Ryan said. "When Lila showed up at the precinct, she said she was Mike's girlfriend, there to ID his body. We took her ID, asked standard questions, and bought it. But if she faked her identity, we missed it. Rookie mistake."
I paced, my mind racing. "Faked ID's one thing, but why? What's her beef with Emily, Mike, or the studio? She's not just killing for kicks—she's got a plan. And those ghosts I keep seeing? No way she's pulling that off alone. I'm stressed, not stupid."
Tim rubbed his temples. "The game's supernatural, no question. Lila might be human, but she's got help—maybe Jasper, maybe Granny, maybe whatever's powering the game."
Ryan's phone buzzed, and he stepped away to take the call. When he returned, his face was a mix of shock and grim determination. "Jasper's file just came through. Tech prodigy, full ride to State Tech's IT program. And get this—his college sweetheart was his partner in crime. They were inseparable."
My jaw hit the floor. "Lila went to State Tech? With Jasper? So, they cooked up the game together?" I spun to Ryan. "Can we dig into Lila's real identity? College records, anything?"
Ryan grimaced, shaking his head. "Nada. They were ghosts on campus—no shared leases, no selfies, no paper trail. Just whispers of a girlfriend who stuck with Jasper through graduation."
I slumped in my chair, the pieces clicking but not locking. "Okay, theory time: Jasper and Lila built the game, roped Ethan in as the frontman developer. Ethan takes the fall, but the game's real brains are Jasper and Lila. Explains why we can't trace it beyond the studio. But why kill everyone? And why's Jasper a zombie now?"
Tim stood, slinging his satchel over his shoulder. "Your logic's solid, Jake. Lila and Jasper as the masterminds tracks. But Jasper's corpse bugs me. Refinement's no joke—Granny's not tossing bodies for fun. I'm going back to her shack tonight. She'll have a new corpse to replace Jasper, and I need to know who—or what—it is."
I grabbed his arm. "You're going now? Alone? Dude, that's how horror movie sidekicks get axed!"
Tim smirked, unperturbed. "I've got my ways. I'll call if I find anything." He was out the door before I could argue, leaving Ryan and me staring at a pile of reports.
Ryan flipped through a file, his brow creasing. "Weird thing—Mike's college was nowhere near State Tech. No overlap with Jasper or Lila's orbit. So how'd Lila hook up with him?"
I rubbed my eyes, exhaustion hitting like a freight train. The game was Lila and Jasper's brainchild, a digital death trap with a supernatural kick. But why the body count? Why the ghosts? And if Lila was the puppet master, where was she hiding—and what was her next move? The precinct's fluorescent lights buzzed, mocking my foggy brain. One thing was clear: the game wasn't over, and we were still pawns on its board.