by Rachel Leigh
I’m free.
That sums it all up. I’m free, and he can’t hurt me anymore.
The smell of gasoline sweeps through the air as the wind blows. Taking the can from Tommy, I douse the interior and pour it all over Mike Porter’s dead body. “Fry mother fucker,” I whisper into the small space of the car before I draw back. I don’t even look around to see if there are people nearby. I wave for Tommy to get back, and once he does and is at the truck with it running, I pull out a box of matches.
My hands shake as I look down at the matches, but I savor every moment. Feeling as if this brief moment in time is the sole reason that I exist. Everything I’ve been through and the constant up-hill battle has brought me to this point. It’s my destiny to rid this man’s death grip on society.
This is for Blakely.
This is for Mom.
This is for Robin Scott.
This is for every soul this man has burned.
I pull a matchstick from the box. Swiping it across the striker, it ignites and offers me a sense of warmth. The fire inside me burns. I stare at the stranger through the flame then give it a toss. When it’s in mid-air, I whisper, “This is for me.”
Strike a match. Watch em’ burn.
Then I run like hell.
I’m hauling ass through the parking lot when Tommy pulls up beside me with the window down. “Get in now!” he shouts.
He’s leaning over the seat, trying to open the door for me, while the truck is still creeping through the parking lot. I pull it open and jump inside. Burning rubber, he rips out, but I watch in the side mirror as the flames engulf the vehicle. Crimson and burnt orange flickers of light fade into the distance, and I exhale a drawn-out breath.
“He’s really gone,” I say. At least, I think I said it out loud. Adrenaline is still rushing through me, and I’ve never felt this alive in my life.
“Regrets?” Tommy asks, as he leans forward and checks for traffic, before turning onto the main road.
“Not a damn one.” I look at his phone sitting between us. “Did you get ahold of Lars or Marni yet?”
“No, man. No one is answering. I’m sure they’re at the hotel.”
Ten minutes later, we’re pulling into the hotel that I booked for us over three weeks ago. My blood has settled and my heart rate is back to normal. I glance around the parking lot that is packed with cars and don’t see Tommy’s car anywhere.
The stench of chlorine hits me as soon as we walk into the lobby. I head straight to the front desk to get a room number since Lars already checked us in. Dropping my bag to the floor, I reach in my bag pocket and pull out my wallet.
“Good evening. Do you have a reservation?” the young blonde from behind the counter asks.
I slide my ID to her. “Room’s under my name. We’ve already checked in, but I need the room number, and I’d like to add another suite if you have any vacancies.” When I booked the room, I was planning for us to all share one room. At the time, Marni was merely another body taking up space. Now, I plan to devour that body tonight and I don’t need Tommy and Lars as an audience.
Tommy’s standing next to me typing into his phone. “Reach him yet?” I ask.
He shakes his head no.
“Thank you, Mr. Porter.” She hands me back my ID. “I’ve added a suite to your reservation. That will be on the fourth floor as well.” She begins going over check-out, breakfast, blah blah blah, but I cut her off.
“Lars Tyson has already checked in for the original room. Is he here now?”
“No. No one has checked in under this reservation. You’re the first to arrive.”
I look at Tommy, who lifts his head from his phone. “Alright, thank you.” I take the keys.
“That’s not right. Maybe someone else was working when Lars got here earlier,” I say, as I push the elevator button. “Something feels off. Do you feel it?”
With hooded brows, Tommy side-eyes me. “Yeah. Something is definitely off. Marni isn’t answering your phone and Lars’ is going straight to voicemail.”
We step into the elevator, and I press the button for the fourth floor. When the doors slide back open, hurried steps take me to the original suite. The room that they should be in.
The key clicks the door unlocked and I shove it open. “What the hell? Where are they?” My bag slides off my shoulder and hits the floor with a thud. “Gimme that.” I grab Tommy’s phone from his hand.
I tap Lars’ name and then info to go to the map of his location.
Location Unavailable.
I tap my name and a darkness consumes me as it’s loading. Like my mind is preparing for the same result.
But it’s not. The location pings.
“Dalton? What the actual fuck is my phone doing in Dalton?”
Tommy grabs it back out of my hand. “That’s over an hour away from here and in the direction of Redwood. That can’t be right.”
I grab my bag off the floor. “We’ve gotta go. Wherever she’s headed, I’m ninety-nine percent sure that Lars is with her.”
24
The Welcome to Redwood sign has come and gone. We drove through the town, and we’re headed down the outskirts of a familiar location.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask for the hundredth time. And the response is always the same.
“Just shut up.” Though his response is calloused, his tone is warm.
Lars held me at gunpoint while he made me climb over the seat and switch him spots so that he could drive. The entire ride, I’ve had the pistol pointed at my stomach. I’ve thought of countless ways that I could try and overturn this hostage situation, but in my mind, each one ended with a gunshot to the gut. Needless to say, I’m at his mercy until I’m handed over to the devil himself.
“You don’t have to do this. Tommy and Talon will protect you—I’ll protect you. Zed doesn’t—”
“Shut up.” He repeats again.
“I’m just saying that if you’re scared—”
“God damnit, Marni. Will you just shut the fuck up!” He shouts for the first time during this three-hour drive. Straightening my back, my body tenses up again when we make a turn down the long gravel drive.
“What are we doing at Briarwood?”
Zed’s car is parked out front and he’s leaning against it in a pair of black jeans and a dark gray hoodie that’s pulled over his head. But, what makes my skin crawl is the sinister smirk on his face. It’s unearthly and loaded with intentions that I can’t even fathom.
“Lars, please.” I try one more time. “Just turn around. There’s still time.”
He looks over at me, offering me a brief moment of comfort with his eyes. “Whatever you do, don’t try and fight him. It sends him to a dark place and nothing good ever comes out of it.” He stops the car and hits the unlock button.
When Zed begins strutting over and Lars stays put, my heart jumps, and I struggle to speak. “Aren’t you getting out?” He looks straight ahead. He can’t even look at me now. “You’re a fucking coward!” I shriek when the door opens and Zed grabs hold of me. I wail and my legs kick, trying to hit him, but my eyes are still glued to a mute Lars. “Do you hear me? A coward!”
As soon as I’m out of the vehicle, Zed slams the door shut, without even a word to his friend who drove me here. Lars speeds off, kicking gravel up behind him.
At the top of my lungs I scream, “Come back!” A lump lodges in my throat, and I choke out, “Please come back.” Tears begin falling carelessly down my face as Zed drags me up the driveway to Briarwood.
“Scream as loud as you want. No one can hear you.”
“Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you?”
“This isn’t about you. This is about him.” His grip tightens as we walk up the concrete steps to the dilapidated building. Kicking the door open, he pulls me inside.
It’s just as I remember it; only, this time, a sliver of light from the setting sun shines through the old windows. The smell of burning leaves
still lingers throughout the main entrance, and I’m immediately taken back to that night. The night that it all began.
Talon led me here. He sought me out, tricked me, gave me no choice but to fall for him, and because of that, I’m caged in this house with a psychopathic lion. “Who? Talon?” I have to dig. I need to know what Zed’s endgame here is. He says it’s not about me, but who is trying to hurt through me?
Leading me down the steps to the basement, memories of that night come flooding back. It’s all too familiar. It was only a month ago that I was in the same position with Talon, but it didn't feel like this. With Talon, it was about the thrill of walking into the unknown. With Zed, it’s a fear of walking into a death trap.
No one knows I’m here. No one can save me—except for Lars. It’s apparent he’s not on my side in this. For whatever reason, Zed forced him to deliver me. Even if he didn’t want to, he did it, and he’s just earned a name on my shit list if I make it out of here alive.
If.
Hope is slowly slipping away as Zed shoves me into a chair and begins strapping my hands to the side of it. Giving up my fight, I surrender. At this point, I wish he’d just knock me out so that I don’t feel what's coming.
Zed begins pacing in front of me, brushing his chin with his thumb. “Oh, Little Thorn. What am I going to do with you?”
“Zed,” I say pleadingly, “you can just let me go now. We can forget this ever happened.”
Stopping in front of me, he stoops forward and places both hands over mine as they remain still on the arm of the chair. “You know what I like about this place? No cameras. Everyone has those damn things these days, and it feels like someone is always watching. Lurking, spying, getting off on watching someone when they don’t even know they’re being watched.”
Dipping my head down, I avoid eye contact. “He’ll find me,” I say in a hushed voice.
“Oh, he will find you.” He perks up. “That’s a fact. But not until I’m ready for him to find you.” Pacing in front of me again, he continues, “You see, Talon is probably racking his brain right now trying to figure out where you are. He might even be losing his mind, unable to come up with a logical explanation about how his girl and one of his best friends just disappeared. Talon might be a loose cannon, but he’s smart.” Leaning forward again, he gets right in my face and taps the side of his head with one finger. “But I’m smarter.”
“And what? You plan to kill him when he gets here?” I chuckle, but I don’t find it funny in the least bit.
“Ding Ding Ding.” He chimes. “She’s beginning to catch on.”
My stomach twists and sweat dampens my palms as they grip the arm of the chair. “Talon is one of your best friends. You have that little pact thing with the tattoos. Why would you wanna kill him?” I’m not even sure why I’m asking him any questions at all, something tells me that he is going to give me all the answers, whether I ask for them or not.
Zed grabs an old rusted chair and pulls it over. The sound of the metal scraping across the concrete echoes in my ears. Lifting and twisting the chair around, he sits down on it with his legs straddling the back as he faces me. My legs dangle free, and if I could kick high enough, I could get him right in the face.
“You ever hear of a lady named Rose Monte?” he asks. When I don’t answer, he continues, “Of course you haven’t. No one has, except for Talon. You see, Rose was an agoraphobic. Her body hadn’t seen sunlight in seven years before it was taken out of the house on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Only, she couldn’t feel the warmth of the sun or the cool of the breeze because she was dead as a door knob. Wanna know how she died?”
This time I nod. I don’t wanna know. I have to know. Did Talon kill her? How many people has he killed? First Josh, then his dad. Is Zed about to tell me that he killed this Rose lady, too?”
His eyes widen. Dark, empty, and unapologetic. “Your druggie boyfriend fed her a handful of Methadone then left her to die.”
Oh no. Talon, what have you done?
“Rose Monte was my mom. That is until Talon assisted her in a planned suicide.”
“I’m sure there is more to the story. Talon wouldn’t—”
“There isn’t! And he did!” he shouts, jolting my body upward.
Zed walks away in a fury and I fear that his entire body is filling with a rage that he plans to unleash on me. I wiggle my hands to try and free them, but nothing budges. These damn straps are so tight. There is no way I’m getting them free any time soon. I kick up my legs that are still loose, and it grabs Zed’s attention. He turns around, shooting daggers at me, then eats up the space between us.
“No!” I shout, as he grabs my left leg and holds it against the chair then straps it in. I kick my other leg out and nail him in the crotch, but it has no effect on him as he straps the other one in as well. “Just let me out of here,” I cry out. “Please.”
“Talon says that he had no idea that Rose was planning to take all the pills at once. Even if he didn’t know, he still supplied them to her. It could have been any Tom, Dick, or Harry. But no, it was my best fucking friend. He got caught up in the wrong shit and ran around town, feeding everyone pills because it made him feel less alone.” His voice raises, “in the end, it left me alone and without a mother.”
I try to reason with him. He’s hurting. I get it. “I’m sorry you lost your mom, Zed. I really am.”
He doesn’t even look at me. He just turns around and walks into the darkest area of the room, and I lose sight of him. The next thing I know, I hear a loud thud and the repeated sound of metal on cement.
He’s chipping away at the cement floor.
He’s digging.
Holy shit. Is he digging up Josh?
Resting my chin on my chest with my eyes closed, the sounds begin to fade. Like a storm passing, but still striking in the distance.
I’m not sure how much time has passed when I feel him at my side again. My eyes pop open, and I lift my head. “What did you do?” He’s waving something in front of me, but I can’t make out what it is. I lean closer and catch a glimpse: the SD card.
“Remember when you went to hell and back for this card. You even let me dip my fingers inside of you just for answers. What are you willing to do for it now?” He smirks.
I don’t need that card anymore. Little does he know, I had the phone, and I already have my answers.
“Nothing. I don’t want it.”
He perks up. “Oh? You don’t wanna know what your boyfriend has been keeping from you?”
“I already know everything.” I smirk right back at him.
He laughs. “You think you know everything.”
“I do. I already know that Talon killed Josh. So you can shove that card right up your ass.” I snuff my nose in the air and turn my head.
Stepping closer, then even closer—until his legs are level with mine—he climbs on top of me. His knees hit my sides, and we’re face to face. “Naive little Marni.” He tsks. “You don’t know a damn thing.” Leaning over, his mouth hits the lobe of my ear. “Talon didn’t kill Josh. Your daddy did.”
Everything stills. My heart, my breath. Zed’s body and his words. He’s frozen on top of me, waiting for a reaction.
He’s lying.
Laughter erupts from inside me. “Shut the hell up. There is no way that my dad killed Josh, and don’t even try and pin this shit on him.”
“You think I’m joking? That’s cute. But it’s true.” He leans back and his eyes bore into mine. “Sure, Talon wanted to kill him. Josh was peeping through your windows and Talon had a fetish for you. Talon was at Tommy’s that night. Josh parked his car nearby, and they knew exactly where he was. So they walked over there to confront him. They planned on recording Josh as he stood at the end of your driveway with a pair of binoculars. They were gonna tell him that they’d show the entire school if he didn’t stay away from you.”
“Why should I believe anything you say to me?”
“Because I have no
reason to lie.”
He’s right. He has nothing to gain from this. Aside from turning me against Talon—again. “Alright, humor me. What happened next?”
“So the guys were getting a good laugh and just as they switched on the camera and hit record, your dad came flying down the road at full speed and took the fucker out. Hit him and killed him. Instantly.”
Gasping, I begin to squirm again. “Let me up. Please, Zed. I need to get up.” The walls feel like they are closing in around me. Sucking all the air out and smothering me.
He continues to talk, as I buck my knees up. “Tommy and Talon hid behind a bush but kept recording. Your dad got out of the car, took one look at Josh, panicked and got back in and drove off. Never called an ambulance. He never even went home.”
Words that don’t feel like mine escape me. “He was supposed to come home that night. He called and told me that he had a last-minute meeting in Phoenix and he’d be home a couple days later.”
“Later that night, we all got together and came up with the elaborate scheme to get you right where we wanted you. We went to your dad with the video and threatened to hand it over to the police if he didn’t do exactly what we wanted.”
“What did you want?”
“You.” Zed hops off of me and grabs a shovel that’s leaning against the wall. He goes back over to the corner where he was and it sounds like he’s digging up dirt now. There’s the scrape of the shovel and then the drop of dirt onto the cement. He continues talking as he digs. “Your dad handed over his little girl just to keep his reputation and freedom.”
This whole time, it was my dad. I have so many questions that I need answered. Only, I don’t want answers from Zed. I want them from Talon.
There’s a brief pause in digging and the light on Zed’s phone shines from the other end of the eerie basement. “They’re almost here.” He whistles, way too chipper for someone in his position. He’s digging a manmade grave and, deep down, I know that he plans on filling it with another body—Talon’s.
