Pleasant Dreams
Page 8
When the shot rang through the condo, it was me who reacted. Without thinking about it, I threw the pewter candlestick I had been holding at the mirror and relished the sound of breaking glass. Then, as fast as I could, I grabbed the largest piece I could find and ran at Jared.
He dodged my strike and grabbed hold of my arm, twisting me into a choke hold. I saw Spencer’s body sprawled across the floor and began to cry. “Not much good to you now, huh?”
“You won’t get away with this,” I vowed.
He laughed before licking my ear, the action sending shivers of disgust down my spine. “I don’t plan on it. You and I,” he pointed the gun he was holding at my chest, “we’re going down together. We can both see Jessica in hell!”
He turned me and smashed my face into his with the hand that was holding the gun. The cold metal bit at my skin and his blood filled my mouth. I tried to fight by bringing up my knee as hard as I could between his legs, but he was quicker than me and deflected me easily. This was it. This was how I was going to die.
“Get your hands off of my sister you sick freak!”
Jared began to scream incoherently and I pushed away from him and rushed to Spencer’s side. After a quick check, I was relieved to find him breathing. The gunshot had hit him in his shoulder… he was safe.
I turned my attention back to Jessica just in time to see her descend onto Jared. His eyes bugged even bigger than before and veins began to pop out on his forehead. His body began to shake and he fell to his knees. “I loved y…” he began, but blood began to spill from his nose and he fell face first onto the dining room floor.
Jessica turned and smiled sadly at me before looking down at Spencer. With a tender smile she motioned to the two of us and gave me her oh too familiar thumbs up. Tears mixed with the laughter that small action caused me. Then, almost as if she had never been there at all, Jessica left.