Bryonie zoned out.
She wasn’t really sure whether she believed him. It almost didn’t matter.
What mattered to Bryonie was that she loved him. And in this moment Finn loved her as well.
More than anyone else had.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Blood was rolling out of Taylor’s nose. Her hair was torn about. Her eyes, swollen.
Leah stood above her, looking down at the mess she’d created. Never had she thought it would come to this. Never did she think she would see Taylor’s blood on her hands. And yet here it was.
“I’m sorry,” Taylor pleaded. “I’m really, truly sorry.”
“Shut up,” Leah snarled. “You don’t deserve to speak.”
Taylor tried to sit up. She winced in agony. “Leah, you don’t understand. He came on to me, okay. That much is true. I wasn’t even going to do anything. But he knew how to get to me.”
Taylor was on her knees now.
She looked like she might even stand up.
Leah rushed over and kicked her in the gut.
Taylor fell again.
“OOOUUUCH,” Taylor screamed.
Leah stared at her fiercely. “You know, I know that isn’t true.”
“What – what isn’t?”
“That he came onto you and it wasn’t other way round.”
Exhausted, Taylor rolled onto her back. “That’s what happened.”
“You forget I know you. You forget I’m your best friend. I know who you are as a fucking person. I know how you think. I know what you think about me.”
Taylor looked up at her. “What do I think about you?”
“I’m just your little pawn. For you to play any way you like.”
Taylor sat up again. The guilt was bleeding off her face. “I’m really sorry. You can beat me up. You can call me names. You can hate me, if it makes you feel better.”
Leah shook her head. “My Dad isn’t like your Dad. He doesn’t fuck with his daughter’s friends.”
Taylor blinked. “Oh yes he does.”
Even as the words were out, Taylor was flinching. She knew a hit was coming.
She knew a hit was deserved.
Leah saved it. “I’m never going to trust you ever again.”
“I guess I had it coming.”
“Yes. You did.”
Leah turned to go. She needed to find Bryonie. Tell her how sorry she was for accusing her before. The bad girl had been found out. Her wicked lies were undone. And now Leah just had to get away.
To a place where it made sense again.
“Wait,” Taylor said as Leah walked around the side of the pool. “Wait, Leah.”
Leah stopped.
But didn’t turn.
“I’m fucked up, alright,” Taylor said. “I’m everything you think I am and more. Just … just look what I did before. Look how much our friendship means to me…”
Leah shifted slightly.
She saw there was something at the bottom of the pool.
“That’s it,” Taylor said. “You’re staring right at her.”
“Her?” Leah replied.
“It’s Melissa. Or … Agent something something. I forget. I just know that … I shot her. She’s dead. You can see her.”
Leah crouched.
Taylor was not lying.
There was someone else in the pool as well.
“Things got out of hand,” Taylor said. “She was blackmailing me. Made me come here. Kept threatening to tell you about what happened between me and your dad. I couldn’t handle it, Leah. You’re too fucking important to me.”
Leah shuddered. “Stay the fuck away from me.”
She walked on towards the elevator.
Before she pressed the button she could see that it was already coming up.
Leah took a step back. Inhaled.
Hopefully it would be Bryonie.
She could use a hug right now.
Ding.
The doors opened. And low and behold it was not Bryonie.
It was a large black box wrapped in silver ribbon.
“What the fuck?” Leah gasped.
She stepped inside the elevator, approaching the box. There was a label attached. Leah pulled it up.
In her peripherals she could see Taylor staggering over.
“What does it say?” she called out.
Leah looked at it a second time. “Open me…”
The box began to rumble.
Back and forth. Back and forth.
It toppled over the edge.
The elevator doors would not close.
“Holy shit,” Taylor exclaimed. “Is someone inside there?”
“I don’t have time for these games,” Leah muttered.
And then…
A voice.
“Taylor? Is that you?”
A voice buried inside the package.
“Who is there?” Taylor called back, putting her arms around the box.
“Help me,” came the muffled reply.
Taylor turned to Leah. “Let’s get this done.”
Leah conceded. “Okay.”
They rolled the package out from the elevator. Then they went to work on the ribbons.
A minute later the box came apart.
Lying in the centre was a young woman with handcuffs around her wrists and ankles.
It was one of Lucielle’s friends. One of Taylor’s friends.
One of Leah’s.
Vanessa Whitetip.
She was bruised and bloodied.
“Oh my God,” she squealed. “Oh my God it’s you!”
“What happened?” Taylor asked, fiddling with the cuffs.
“I was kidnapped. Me. Penelope. Lucille.”
“Wait,” Leah exclaimed. “Lucille and Penelope are here?”
Vanessa shook her head. “He killed them. He’s gonna kill me too. He’s gonna kill all of us.”
“Who are you talking about?” Taylor asked.
Vanessa stared back at them, petrified.
And then out of the darkness of the stairs a tall, lumbering figure emerged.
He was holding a chainsaw in both hands.
A rubber shark mask over his head.
Vanessa almost jumped out of her skin. “HIM!!!”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The last few moments of a life are seldom wonderful. Of course, a person’s fate is different for everyone. Leah could see it crossing their eyes. Vanessa’s overwhelming terror. Her cheeks going red. Her attempts to stand and run even though she couldn’t. Even Taylor was screaming. She didn’t want to die. Even she, wanted a bright and wondrous future. They all did.
Leah saw things slow. The killer shark waved his chainsaw at him, the grating engine within deafening their ears.
There was a moment he waited. As if daring them to run.
Vanessa went left.
Taylor went right.
Leah took a few steps backwards.
The killer looked at each of them, his head swaying back and forth. Then he saw Taylor had reached the elevator. She was smashing the buttons in attempt to close the doors.
The killer charged at her, ramming his chainsaw in between.
Leah took a few more steps back.
Through a haze of sparks flying about everywhere. And wires falling all over the place.
Leah heard Taylor scream.
“The gun, Leah! Get the gun!”
Leah stared back, confused.
“It’s in the POOL!”
Her eyes shifted to the dark waters below. Something silver glinted.
Leah looked back to the killer. His chainsaw was embedded in the arch over the elevator. He couldn’t get it out.
And now he was looking at her.
“Leah!” Taylor screamed. “For fuck’s sake!”
Leah looked back to the gun in the pool. She took a deep breath and dove into the water.
Once there, she couldn’t see much. It was all a darkened blur. Yet somehow, she was
able to make out certain outlines. She could see how far down she was going. She was almost at the floor.
Splash.
Something hit the water at the other end of the pool. Leah couldn’t look yet. She had to find the weapon.
Her fingers scratched along the rough surface. She’d have to go up for air soon. Even if she couldn’t find it. She needed to go back up to breathe.
Oh fuck…
Murmurs and vibrations echoed from Leah’s mouth. She was touching someone’s face. Their hair. Their neck. A dead person.
She cowered in horror and shot herself back up to the surface.
The killer was standing at the opposite edge of the pool.
Directly below him was Vanessa who underneath the surface. Struggling with her handcuffs. Struggling to breathe.
The killer looked over towards Leah.
As if daring her to do something.
Daring her to make the first move.
“Shit,” Leah gasped.
She took in another deep breath and swam to the other side of the pool where Vanessa was falling. Another huge splash was made before she reached her. The killer was in the pool with them.
Leah looked down and saw Vanessa trying to reach for her. But she just kept getting further and further away. Leah needed to come up for air.
Just a little more.
Just a little further.
If she could just –
The shark’s body appeared beside Vanessa.
Leah stopped herself dead and whirled around. Swimming back to the other side. Swimming for her life.
She took in a deep breath of air.
And then saw Taylor standing by the edge of the pool.
“Where’s the gun?” she demanded.
Leah shook her head, aghast.
There was a plop in the water. Vanessa’s body burst upwards. Leah could hear her choking.
Then she saw the shark was coming for her.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”
Leah swam away, nearing the edge.
She looked back with enough time to see what Taylor was doing.
She had wires from the elevator in her hands.
Taylor stared back, just as the shark caught up to Leah, morphing into his human form.
“Hello,” Darien said, with a fading smile.
Behind him, Leah saw Vanessa splashing around, free of her handcuffs.
Darien had bitten through them.
He had saved her.
Then Taylor’s voice rang out, oblivious. “I’m sorry,” she said.
“WAIT!!!” Leah screamed.
The wires fell in, and light filled up the pool.
Final Part
DARKNESS
CHAPTER ONE
The ship drifted through the water. The sky remained frozen and black. Each of them were there, in their own merry worlds. I could hear them all. See them all. And yet as our destination loomed near. None of them knew what was coming.
Today is a different day. Not much sun. Hardly any moon. Just a blur of grey clouds. The grass we walked on was wet. It was a darker shade of green.
I must have been dreaming. Thinking about something else. Because before I knew it, it was happening. Right before all our very eyes.
Penelope Stringer. Born April 15th 1995. Died December 2nd 2016. She is survived by her mother Gwen, her father Arnold and her brother Neil.
Lucille Dodd. Born December 2nd 1995. Died December 2nd 2016. She is survived by her mother Brenda, her father Gavin, her sisters Angel and Clara, and her brother Nathan.
Vanessa Whitetip. Born March 12th 1996. Died December 2nd 2016. She is survived by her mother Maria and her brother Joey.
Leah Irving. Born May 5th 1994. Died December 2nd 2016. She is survived by her mother Sally, her father Clifford, and her sister Daphne.
All of them are survived by many friends and family. They each shared a special bond with one another. Today is a dark day for the people in their lives. The people who remembered them.
I opened the door of my car and stepped out into the road.
I walked across slowly, my eyes settled on the field ahead.
Swarms of people had gathered. The press were there too. Everything was on film.
I stood at the fence outside, resting my gloved hands on the gate.
I could see each of their coffins. They were all closed. Out of respect for Lucille I supposed. I doubted they retrieved much of her.
There was a priest there of some kind. He was reading a sermon. Once he was finished, one by one several of the girls’ chosen family members stepped up to the platform to read a eulogy. I listened to their words carefully. I listened for truth. I listened for understanding.
Did anyone know why they had to die, the way they did?
Did anyone know what really happened that night?
Their backs to me, I stretched my hands out.
And I smiled.
CHAPTER TWO
The last time Taylor had been in a place like this, she’d been sitting on the other side of the glass. Her father had been inside about a year at that point. The constant calls incoming from the prison. The letters they received in the mail. She was there to tell him to stop. To never contact them again.
Seeing her again was all he wanted. He didn’t care about the circumstance. Taylor remembered throwing up before she went in. Probably just nerves. Probably just nerves and not terror. There was no support for her that day. No one to talk her out of it. No shoulder for her to cry on.
Just him.
And his words.
“Hello?” Kieran said tapping on the glass. “Earth to Taylor. Are you listening to me?”
Taylor straightened up. “I’m sorry. You were saying?”
“I came straight here from the funeral. They were having an after-thing but I wasn’t invited.”
“Who was there?”
“It was a pretty big turnout. A lot of people crying. A couple of people from Vanessa’s family or whatever approached me and said they were going to make it hard for you in here.”
Taylor sighed. “What about Erin? Was she there?”
Kieran nodded. “Aye. She was.”
“Did you pass on my message to her?”
He shook his head. “She didn’t want to talk to me.”
“Well, how hard did you try?”
“None of them wanted me there in the first place. I’m lucky I didn’t get into a fight someone. They all blame you for this.”
Taylor smashed her fist on the table. “Blame me? Are they out of their fucking minds?”
“Well, you did kill Vanessa and Leah, didn’t you?”
“Fuck you,” Taylor squealed. “Fuck you for saying that.”
“But you did it?”
“We were being attacked. By a deranged shark shifting lunatic. He had a fucking chainsaw.”
“But not when you put the wires in the pool.”
“He was eating them! He was tearing them apart! I wasn’t just protecting myself, I was putting them out their misery. It was the right thing to do. I mean … for fuck’s sake. They were my friends.”
Kieran leaned back in his chair. He sighed. “I believe you, babe.”
“Well thank you. You should talk to the others. So they can see some bleeding reason.”
“There’s … there’s some funny talk going around.”
Taylor squinted. “What about?”
“Couple things. I keep hearing that maybe you were working with the shark shifter. That you were the one who shot the paranormal agent.”
“Who is saying that? Who?”
“No one.”
“Someone is saying it,” Taylor growled. “Tell me who it is. Is it Bryonie?”
Kieran shook his head. “I don’t know. Though. She’s been saying some other things about you.”
“Like what?”
“That you and Leah’s Dad had an affair. It’s not true is it?”
“No! That’s – what the fuck?”
&nbs
p; “Yeah. No one really believes her about that. Some people think she was the one who slept with him or something. But who knows what the truth is.”
“Bryonie’s a little bitch. I bet she’s still dating that Finn freak.”
Kieran shrugged. “I didn’t see him with her at the funeral.”
“Who was she with?”
“Her parents. She sat close to Leah’s family.”
Taylor stroked her lip. “I’ve got to get the fuck out of here.”
“Have you had your bail set?”
“Yes. They want 100k.”
“Are you parents fronting it up?”
Taylor scowled. “You mean is my poor unemployed mother going to front it up?”
“Oh. Yeah, sorry.”
“What about you? Can you talk to your folks?”
Kieran shifted uneasily. “What’s the point in it?”
“In what?”
“Paying all this money just so you can be out before your trial. What’s the point in it?”
“Have you any fucking idea what prison is like? Douchebag?”
Kieran swallowed. “I’m … they won’t give it to me. Not for you.”
“Why not?”
“Well, you’re not really part of my family. We’ve just been seeing each other.”
“So?”
“So … we don’t know if this is a long term thing. If you get found guilty you could be in here for –”
Taylor slammed down the phone.
She turned herself away.
She thought she might hear his muffled calls to her pick it up again. That he would bang on the glass. Tell her he loved her.
But by the time Taylor stood up and looked back, he was no longer there.
As if he never had been.
CHAPTER THREE
“I can’t keep going like this. I just can’t. Everywhere I look, I see his face. It’s like he’s inside me. I’ll never get over him. He might not have been great, but he’s the only guy who really loved me. I’m broken. I’m finished. I’m so alone. I can’t keep going.”
“What did he say to you?”
“His exact words…? ‘You’re so fat I don’t even feel sorry for you anymore.’”
Cruisin' With Sharks (Paranormal Mysteries #1) Page 12
