Things We Fear
Page 9
Heather rounded the corner from the bathroom, saw the guy from behind and recognized the voice as Matt, the man who had been so nice to her. The guy who used her to get to this girl. To do this.
Shaky on her feet, Heather used the wall for support and scanned the room for anything with which to strike him. The knife on the TV stand was small, but she could stick him with it and she could ruin his sick plans. She reached out, but her fingers fumbled over the handle. Her good eye wasn’t what it should be, but she grasped the handle, fought off another wave of dizziness, brought the knife up over her shoulder with both hands and pushed off the wall.
Matt had his boxers halfway down his thighs when he caught the reflection of the girl he thought he’d killed, now coming up behind him. The one-eyed bitch drove his knife into the meat between his neck and his shoulder. He fell backward and into the desk clerk. They fell to the floor together. Another flash of pain ripped through his trapezius muscle.
The girl cried out beneath him. He ignored the pain and spun on her. “You are supposed to be dead.” He wrapped his hands around her throat and squeezed. He watched her eyes bulge and her face begin to change to darker shades. “Now, die like a good girl.”
Knock, knock, knock.
“Emily, dear? Are you awake?”
Emily lifted her head. Matt had his back to her. He was naked and straddling the girl from the tub. The girl’s thrashing arms and legs slowed and then stopped.
“Emily?”
Mary.
Emily’s gaze found the knife buried in Matt’s shoulder. He released his hold on the limp girl and reached for the knife. Emily didn’t need time to think. She flew up onto her feet and slammed her palm into the knife’s handle.
“Arrrrgh.”
“Oh my God, Emily? Emily is everything all right?”
Emily grabbed the handle of the blade and pulled as hard as she could. It came free and nearly sent her on her ass. Matt screamed again. He turned to defend her next attack, raising his forearm up to block the knife, but Emily aimed lower, much lower.
Matt let out a painful moan as she buried the knife just above his dick. The blood flowed over her hands and wrists as his head landed upon her shoulder. He tried to grab at her, but he was too weak. She shoved him down onto his side, then ran and opened the door.
Gil Hersom stood in the hall. Emily collapsed into his arms.
“He’s, he’s in there.” Emily lifted her head and pointed into the room. “There’s another girl…”
Gil moved her back, and looked her in the eyes. “I sent Mary for help,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Come here,” he said. He guided her away from the door and eased her to the carpeted floor. “Stay right here.”
“Where are you going?” She said.
After a moment Gil came back out with a blanket. “Here, dear.” He helped drape the comforter around her shoulders.
“Is the girl okay?”
“I think she’ll be just fine,” Gil said. He got down on bended knee and pulled her to his chest.
She lifted her head and saw a man in a suit and tie, she recognized him from the desk, and two police officers came down the hallway. Mary trailed behind, but pushed ahead when she saw Emily and Gil.
“Oh my, Emily are you all right?” Mary said.
She nodded, and then looked from Mary to Gil and back. “Aaron? Is he okay?”
She watched Mary’s eyes go wet. The old woman shook her head. Emily buried her face into Gil’s shoulder and cried.
* * * * *
Heather woke up in the back of the ambulance. She searched for the girl, Emily, and the crazy bastard who had tried to kill them. She felt fuzzy.
“You’re going to be all right. Your eye needs some help, but we gave you something to help with the pain,” the EMT with the dark-rimmed glasses said.
“The girl? Is she okay?”
“Yes, thanks to you, I think.”
“And the guy…”
“He’s in police custody. You’re safe with us.”
Heather closed her eyes and felt the tears slip down the side of her face. She thought about Shannon’s warning about going to someone’s room. She would never hear the end of it. She wanted to see Jesse, wanted to be in his arms.
Chapter Fifteen
It had been a year since that dreaded summer. Emily finished out her second year at Fairington Elementary School and headed south. Mary and Gil rented her Aaron’s old cottage for half-price. They left it just as Aaron had the summer before.
Emily opened the window that faced the Atlantic and propped her elbows on the sill. She listened to the sounds of summer. The waves crashed on the shore and kids screamed and laughed their way back and forth from the ocean’s frozen touch. Somewhere farther down the beach a radio blasted some rock song she was sure would have won Aaron’s approval. She smiled.
She couldn’t quite see the pier from this spot. She wasn’t sure she was ready to gaze upon it just yet anyway, but she would, probably this afternoon. It was the last place she’d shared with Aaron, right before their psychotic coworker acted out his petty vengeance.
Mary had asked her if she was sure she wanted to take the place. Emily knew this was where she wanted to be. Aaron had picked the spot to face his fears. He stared it in the face each and every day all summer long. She would do the same.
She no longer had the desire to step into the water. She closed her eyes and watched it swallow Aaron. The memory was horrible, but it was there to stay. She accepted it. She knew the face of her fear, her terror. She didn’t need to dress it as a monster. Matt was the monster. They hid behind all kinds of masks and pretty smiles.
Emily Young stepped away from the window and picked up the iPod Aaron left behind. She had a lunch date with the Hersoms and she needed to get dressed. She pushed Play on the device, smiled and nodded her head to the jangly guitars and steady beat of a song about an American girl.
About the Author
Glenn Rolfe is an author, singer, songwriter and all-around fun-loving guy from the haunted woods of New England. His works include Abram’s Bridge, Boom Town and Blood and Rain. He and his wife, Meghan, have three children, Ruby, Ramona and Axl. He is grateful to be loved despite his weirdness.
You can find him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/glenn.theory.
Visit him at www.glennrolfe.com.
Or follow him on Twitter: @grolfehorror.
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One night can—and will—change everything.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Things We Fear
Copyright © 2016 by Glenn Rolfe
ISBN: 978-1-61923-176-4
Edited by Tera Cuskaden
Cover by Scott Carpenter
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: March 2016
www.samhainpublishing.com