McKinley snatched up Sarah's gun and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Phew," he said. "That was a close one, fellow Monster Protectors. I feared for my life." I had no doubt that he was lying.

"Sarah!" I exclaimed her name. I rushed to her side and lifted up her upper body. Her eyes were shut. Her arms were dangling. Strands of her blonde hair fell over her face.

I was horrified when I noticed the small, red puddle that was where Sarah's face had been lying. My first assumption was that she was bleeding from the impact of the book, and when I brushed away some of her hair strands, I could not have been more correct.

A large cut was in the middle of her forehead and spewing out blood. Thankfully, it was bleeding very little. I rolled Sarah onto her back and did a short prayer that she would awaken.

"Is she dead?" Skylar asked. Something told me that she was hoping that Sarah was dead rather than alive.

I placed two fingers on her neck to feel Sarah's pulse. "She is alive," I replied. "Otherwise, you would be charged for murder."

McKinley seemed taken aback by my reply and pointed at himself. "Me? Margie, you have it all wrong. She was going to murder us. I smacked her with the book in defense." He rested a hand on my shoulder. "It is a good thing that you came back when you did."

I pushed his hand off. "I never did leave."

"The heck does that mean?" Enoch questioned. "Us Monster Protectors clearly watched you exiting the mayor's office."

"It means what you think. Yes, I did step out for a minute or two, but I fibbed when I said that I had to use the restroom. That was just an excuse for my plan."

Skylar raised an eyebrow and pretended to not be scared of me. However, the expression on her face made it clear enough that she was positive that I knew. She asked, "You have a plan? This is the first that we have heard about your plan."

The first Monster Protector stroked his beard. "Indulge me, Margie. What is your plan all about?"

"It is against somebody. More than one."

"You mean the people who are not Monster Protectors, right?"

"Nope." I put on a smile. "It is actually against all Monster Protectors. With the exception of me, of course."

The Monster Protectors were more confused than surprised and looked at one another. McKinley did not take his eyes off me and demanded that I explain myself.

"It would be a pleasure," I answered with delight. "As I stated earlier, going to the restroom was an excuse just to leave the office without throwing suspicion. I shut the office door as soon as I was in the hallway and stood quietly next to it. I held onto every word that each of you managed to say out loud. From the moment that I left to when I abandoned my hiding spot for Sarah's sake."

"You overheard everything," Enoch hissed.

"That I did. And it is good that I heard and saw for myself that you all are a bunch of manipulators and lowlifes. You wanted to rule the town of Forlot. It was never yours to begin with."

"Margie—" Skylar started, but I cut her off.

"You were planning to murder my own sister and my boyfriend and possibly whoever else would try to keep me from you. You were afraid that I would open my eyes and see that you are liars and choose my family and friends over the group that I had been looking up to. Well, guess what? You were right."

McKinley desperately wanted to say something, but he was speechless from shock. All the so-called "Monster Protectors" were.

I was satisfied that they were unable to defend themselves and pulled out an object that would make them even more speechless. I showed it to them.

"This is not my phone. This is Margaret's. I borrowed it so that I could record everything that you said."