Seething Red

CW: Themes of death and guilt

Jessa Westergart has agreed to meet with the Macallen twins, Lance and Seth, at their house after school. Lance and Seth let their mother Christina, as well as their aunt and uncle Wendy and Richard, know that Jessa is coming over and they’re getting ready to tell her the truth. Christina wishes them the best of luck with the conversation with Jessa, no matter how she’ll feel afterward. They know that her anger will be justified.

Lance and Seth are up in their room, doing their homework, when Christina’s voice calls out to them, “Lance, Seth, just wanna let you know that Jessa’s here!”

“Let’s go,” Seth tells Lance as they leave their room and head downstairs. They approached Jessa during lunchtime, asking her to come over to their place after school so that they could talk about something urgent. Jessa initially had plans to meet with her friends Cynthia, Rebecca, and Stella but decided it could wait. Meeting with the Macallen twins is just as important.

Christina opens the door for Jessa and shakes hands with her. “Nice to meet you, Jessa. I’m Mrs. Macallen.”

“Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Macallen.” Jessa smiles, then she shakes hands with Wendy and Richard. “Hey, guys.” She grins at Lance and Seth, unaware of the bad news they’ll deliver.

“Come with us upstairs,” Lance says.

She follows them up to their room, and Seth shuts the door after them. Jessa sits on the bed, and Lance and Seth take deep breaths, bracing themselves for how this whole conversation will go.

“Are you guys… Okay?” she asks, looking a little baffled.

“No… No, we’re not.” Lance shakes his head.

“Wh-what’s going on?” Jessa asks. “Did something happen, guys?”

“Yes, something bad happened,” Seth replies, “and you already know about it. We’ll give you a hint… It has to do with Kaitlynn.”

“What…” Then she gasps. “Oh, my God… Do you guys know something about what happened to her? Is this why I’m here?”

“Y-yes.” Lance takes a few more deep breaths as he tries to fight the urge to pace around the room to ease his nerves. “Jessa, I… I want you to know… I am r-responsible…”

Seth finishes the sentence for him, “Lance is somewhat responsible for what happened to Kaitlynn. Vincent was the one who killed her that night. He just… You know, happened to get Lance involved in covering up for him after the fact.”

“Whew.” Lance whispers as he begins pacing around the room. “What Seth said.”

Jessa is still baffled, and it hasn’t sunken in for her yet. “I don’t understand. Are you guys trying to say that Vincent is guilty of all this? And you guys knew all about it, all along?!”

“That’s precisely what we’re saying,” Seth replies as Lance continues pacing.

His pacing is apparently annoying to Jessa. “Jesus, stop pacing around for one minute and face me like a real man!” she demands. Lance immediately stops, standing still. “Is what Seth said true? Do you really know that Vincent was 100% responsible for what happened to Kaitlynn?”

“It’s true, Jessa. He killed her. Let’s start at the beginning.” Lance begins to tell Jessa the whole dark truth, and Seth is there to corroborate everything. After he finishes telling Jessa everything, he says, “And that’s everything I have to say about that. He approached me from out of nowhere, Jessa. I didn’t even know who he was, and I didn’t even know who Kaitlynn was, either. To be fair, you never did tell us how she looked, so I couldn’t have known that it was her body behind me in Rousseau’s Honda. It was until we saw her face on TV when they reported her missing, I put two and two together to realize, ‘Hey, this girl looks familiar.’ And that’s when it hit me.”

Jessa shakes her head in disbelief. “So, from that moment on, you knew all along that that was my cousin, yet you proceeded to hide it from me and tell the cops that I didn’t tell you or Seth anything about Kaitlynn?”

“We’re really sorry, Jessa,” Seth says softly. “It’s been killing Lance inside, and it hasn’t been easy for him to live with everything he’s done. He’s been traumatized since that night. Rousseau just approached him out of the blue as he was leaving your place, and that explains why he was in such a mood for the rest of that week. That’s when I initially thought he was hurt because you said you wanted to be just friends with him. So, we apologize for the drama that we caused you then.”

“This isn’t about us just staying friends at the time,” Jessa snaps. “You knew full well what happened to Kaitlynn when you first saw her missing-person report on TV. So, you guys sat on this secret the whole summer–the whole entire summer for the past three months now, the Lake Haven PD has been trying desperately to find out where Kaitlynn could’ve gone or what could’ve happened to her, and you guys knew all about it and kept it from me. Fucking shame on you!” Her face is red with anger.

“Jessa…” Lance begins.

“Shut up, Lance! Don’t you know you’re going to be charged as an accessory after the fact? You’re going to serve some serious time behind bars. State laws don’t give a damn that you’re just a minor, nor do they care about whether you knew Kaitlynn personally or not… They’ll find you to be just as responsible as Vincent.” She groans as she buries her face on the pillows on the bed. “God, I hate that jackass Rousseau. He’s the one I blame the most for all this. I should’ve known it wouldn’t be too surprising to learn that he’s somehow responsible for this, but of course, he is totally responsible for everything!”

“This isn’t Lance’s fault, Jessa,” Seth says. “Lance was only coerced into going along with Rousseau’s orders that night. Whatever Rousseau asked him to do, he did it. He didn’t have a choice, okay?”

“Yeah, Jess, I was scared out of my mind,” Lance says. “Rousseau had me ambushed, just as I was coming out of your house. He didn’t even give me a chance to react to anything at all, and truth be told, I felt very creeped out by Kaitlynn’s dead body behind me in the car. It was just such a nightmare for me that night. I couldn’t even sleep. That explains my behavior at that time. It had nothing to do with you wanting to be just friends with me, and I apologize again if I gave you the impression that that’s what my issue was. I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. I didn’t know who Kaitlynn was at that time.”

“You’ve already said that you didn’t know who she was or what she looked like yet,” Jessa snaps. “And also, you did have a choice: you should’ve demanded that Vincent get you home immediately. You didn’t have to go along with anything stupid that he wanted you to do!”

They understand Jessa’s anger, but Lance wishes she was a little more understanding. “Jessa, I’m sorry, but I just said that I didn’t know what I was supposed to do at that moment. I wasn’t even at the beach with them, so I couldn’t have known…”

“No, of course you couldn’t have known, but you had no reason to lie to the cops by telling them that I didn’t tell you guys anything. You guys made me look bad, not only to them but also to my aunt and uncle. Kaitlynn was their only child, and they blamed me at first for her disappearance just because I let her sneak off to go see him. You guys are the reason that I was grounded for the whole summer while you two had your own little fun, keeping Rousseau’s crime a secret from me. I don’t believe this.” She gets up and starts pacing around now. “Who else knows about this? Just you two? I should hope so.”

“Our mom knows,” Seth replies, “and so do our aunt Wendy and uncle Richard.”

“And our mom’s new boyfriend, Wallace something,” Lance adds. “He works for the Lake Haven Chronicles with our mom.”

Jessa scoffs. “The Lake Haven Chronicles, huh?”

“Yeah, and he and our mom recently went to the station, not too long ago. They turned in an edited version of the recording that our mom made of Rousseau confessing to her about what he did.”

Jessa rolls her eyes. “What do you mean by an ‘edited’ version?”

Seth takes his turn to explain. “Our mom somehow made time to go over to Rousseau’s to confront him about getting Lance involved in his mess. She told us that she secretly recorded the conversation she had with him, including the part where he confesses to the crime and how he got Lance involved. Long story short, our mom recently started seeing a new guy, and it’s about time she had someone in her life for once. His name is Wallace, and he’s agreed to help her–how do I explain this…”

“I guess you can say, he edited the recording.” Lance replies with a shrug.

“Yeah, we’ll go with that for now.” Seth shrugs in agreement. “So, he edited out the part where Rousseau implicates Lance as his little helper. So, the recording that the cops have now is the one where Rousseau only implicates himself, and no one else. So, Lance is in the clear for now, so I don’t think they’ll know if he was Rousseau’s sidekick or anything.”

Jessa shakes her head again in disbelief. “This Wallace guy is supposed to be a stellar Chronicles employee, huh? I don’t buy it. Shame on him for agreeing to go along with this for your mom’s sake and for you guys’ sake. This isn’t fair to me or my family. We’ve yet to have our answers as to what could’ve happened to Kaitlynn.”

Lance sits next to her on the bed, holding her hand. “I really am sorry, Jessa. I know how hurt and disappointed you must be. I hated keeping this from you.”

“I’m more than hurt and disappointed, Lance. I’m very angry that you kept all this from me, and not only that, but you guys lied right to my face on multiple occasions about everything about this case, and you both should be ashamed of yourselves for pretending to be my friends and promising to be there for me during this traumatic experience in my life. Some friends you are.” She puts air quotes around the word “friends.”

“Jessa, please understand that it’s just as traumatic and shocking for us, too,” Seth says. “For Lance, especially. He’s the one who Rousseau happened to approach that night. But then again, of course Rousseau would be stupid enough to involve a random 16-year-old stranger in his messed-up life choices. He could’ve chosen just about anyone else to cover up for him, but no… He just happened to approach Lance. That’s not very fair to us.”

“I know.” Jessa sighs. “This is hard for me to process: the fact that my ex-boyfriend’s older brother is responsible for killing my pregnant cousin on her 20th birthday. And you guys knew all about it all along and didn’t even bother to try coming up with a way to tell me the truth about anything.” She takes a deep breath in an attempt to remain calm. “That’s even harder for me to come to terms with, as my new reality. I thought I had two close friends who could tell me anything, but I guess I was wrong. Wasn’t I, Lance?” She glares at him.

“Jessa, come on, you know that we can still be friends,” Lance says. “I hated hurting you like that.”

“BS, Lance,” she snaps as she stands up. “Friends don’t keep things this important from each other, and you know it! Stop trying to justify your actions. You knew what you did wrong, and by state law, you’re just as responsible as Vincent. Hell, you may even get the same sentence as him, but you probably didn’t even think about that now, did you?”

“Jessa, I told you I didn’t even have time to think that night. Okay?” Lance is trying to reason with her. “Rousseau didn’t give me much of a choice to do anything else. I’d ask him so many questions, but he would dodge me every time. He’d give me half answers or say something that wasn’t entirely true. I don’t know… It was just a weird experience for me. I told you that he said his name was ‘Buddy’ and that Kaitlynn was ‘Kay’, like the letter, not short for anything. That’s what he said, Jessa. He wasn’t being very honest about anything.”

“Of course, that’s his nature, Lance!” Jessa booms. “He’s a psychopathic liar who doesn’t take accountability for anything he ever does. Of course he has that mentality of dragging other people down with him whenever he does something wrong. He’s not a responsible person at all. He better turn himself in, or I’ll do it for him…” She glares at the Macallen twins. “And I’ll turn both of you guys in, too. Lance, obviously, you’re the accomplice, and Seth, you knew all about this. You’re covering up for your brother, and that’s not healthy. That’s a red flag for the cops. I’m not afraid to turn you guys in if I have to.”

Lance and Seth exchange glances of fear and worry with each other, hoping to make sure that Jessa isn’t really capable of turning them in. “Jessa, no…” Seth says. “Please, you’re acting irrationally. Lance is capable of turning himself in, if need be. He’s already got lawyers who will represent him and…”

“You better damn well hope you have strong legal representation, Lance,” Jessa says, “or I will turn you in, and I won’t hold anything back. I’ll implicate how your mom, your aunt and uncle, and your mom’s boyfriend all know about this. Assuming that your mom works for the Chronicles, I’ll do everything in my power to get her fired for withholding this important piece of information.”

Lance snaps, “Okay, now that’s taking it too far. Our mom is doing her best to stick by me and help me get through this. Don’t punish her for trying to protect me, Jessa. She doesn’t want this for me, you know.”

“Okay, but you think I wanted my cousin to fall victim to her abusive ex-boyfriend on her birthday, what was supposed to be the most special day in her life, a milestone?”

“Well, you’re the one that agreed to keep her secret about her plans that night,” Seth says. “So, in a way, you’re kind of responsible for letting her go off to see him.”

“And you don’t think I know that?” Jessa raises her voice again. “Geez, keep using that against me, why don’t you? I feel bad enough already. But you two made me feel like the biggest idiot in the world to my aunt and uncle and the cops, thinking that I never told anyone anything about what Kaitlynn was really going through. I told you guys, and you were there for me, offering me advice on how I shouldn’t worry so much about her.” She groans as she gets up, ready to leave. “This was a mistake.”

“What was a mistake?” Lance asks.

“Us, Lance. You and me… We’re done. Okay? I can’t be with someone who’s dishonest with me. You’re as awful as Jake, and I don’t want anything more to do with him, either, for obvious reasons. Don’t talk to me ever again, and don’t even come near me at school. We don’t have a relationship with each other at this point.” She storms out of the room before Lance or Seth can say anything, and they follow her down to the living room as she gets ready to leave.

Christina gives her a warm smile. “Is everything okay, Jessa? Would you like to have a snack?”

“No, thank you, Mrs. Macallen,” Jessa says as politely as she can.

“Are you sure…” Christina asks, but at that moment, Jessa walks out the door without saying another word and slams it behind her. Then she turns to Lance and Seth. “So, how did that go?”

“You heard a lot of the yelling, didn’t you?” Lance asks.

Christina nods in response. “Yes, and I’m really sorry, honey. At least you did the right thing telling her. It’s better that she knows, and it’s best coming from you two.”

“Mom, she’s threatening to turn us in,” Seth says. “All of us, including you, Aunt Wendy, Uncle Richard…”

“Wallace, too,” Lance adds.

Wendy gasps. “She can’t do that, now can she?”

“Well, by law, she is allowed to,” Christina replies. “There’s nothing stopping her, but let’s hope that Vincent confesses to his role. It’s not clear if he’s done so already, but again, I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t, given that he’s not that type of person to turn himself in for a serious crime.”

“It doesn’t really matter anyway.” Lance sighs. “She hates me, Mom. The only real friend I’ve ever made since we first moved here, and she hates me now.”

Christina caresses his hair. “She doesn’t hate you, sweetie. I think she just needs time to process everything. She’s always wanted to know what happened to Kaitlynn, so all this is all coming out as a shock to her.”

Lance is too emotionally exhausted to argue back, saying that Jessa has made it clear that he means nothing to her anymore.