“I twisted my ankle!” she sobs.
The prey is injured. Wow, she’s made this almost too easy.
I grip the penknife tighter in my right hand. I step closer to Marjorie until my body casts a shadow over her. She’s crying, but then when she sees the knife in my hand, her sobs abruptly stop. She stares up at me, her jaw trembling.
“Nora?” she says. “Why do you have a knife?”
As I take another step closer, the pain in Marjorie’s face dissolves into fear. I can see it in her eyes. She knows what’s about to happen.
I remember the blue eye peeking out from under that sheet in my father’s basement workshop. It was the exact same look.
“Nora?” Her voice is shaky. “What are you doing?”
I grip the handle of the knife so tightly, my fingers start to tingle. Marjorie can’t even move. If she tried to run away, she wouldn’t be able to do it. This is going to be so easy. So easy.Tooeasy.
“Nora,” she whispers.
I stare down at her, my heart pounding so hard now that it’s making me lightheaded. This is the moment I imagined last night when I couldn’t sleep. The look on her face. The weight of the knife in my hand. She looks soscared. But now that I’m here, watching the fear in her eyes, I…
I can’t...
I drop the knife to my side.
“You lose,” I say.
“Oh.” Marjorie lets out a shaky laugh. “You scared me for a minute. I thought maybe you were going to…”
“Don’t be dumb,” I mumble. I look at her swollen ankle. “Can you walk?”
She tries to get up and put weight on her left ankle, but she lets out a wail. “It hurts too much!”
I shove the penknife deep into my pocket. “Here, lean against me while you walk.”
We make it back down the trail the same way we came, with Marjorie leaning heavily against me. As soon as we get back on the main road, I feel a rush of relief. I help her walk the rest of the way to her house and up the steps to her front door. As soon as she is in her house, I can’t get out of there fast enough.
We don’t discuss ever meeting again.
I walk back to my house, my feet dragging with each step. The whole way, I have a sick feeling in my stomach. There’s something I need to do, but I’m scared to do it. It’s time to stop being scared though.
I only hope it’s not too late.
Chapter 34
Present Day
My father’s words hit me like a slap in the face. And it’s not just what he’s saying. Buthowhe says it. He sounds like he means it.
It was you. You killed them.
I glance over at the guard behind me. He could not have heard what my father said. But I still have a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“It wasn’t me,” I say quietly. “I would never…”
“Wouldn’t you?” That amused smile is back on his lips. “You’re my daughter, and you always reminded me so much of myself. Do you remember what you used to do when you were a child? All those animals your mother kept finding dead.” He laughs again. “She used to talk to me all the time about getting you psychological help. Did you know that?”
My jaw tightens. I had blocked out all those conversations my parents used to have about me in thebedroom, when they thought I couldn’t hear them. My mother indeed believed I was quite troubled. “Yes,” I say quietly.
“And look who she was married to all along!” He laughs. “Talk about oblivious. No wonder she killed herself.”
