Chapter 23 #2
The sound pierces my eardrums and I want to press my hands on each side of my head to drown the noise, but instead I remain locked on what’s unfolding. The merciless actions causing Bethan more harm and pain than I’ve ever seen someone withstand.
It’s torture.
“My enemies? What are you even talking about? I don’t have enemies.”
Not anymore.
There was only one person in the world whom I considered to be a real enemy to me, but he hasn’t been alive in a year.
Aidan quirks a brow in my direction.
“No?” he dares. “What about this bitch who threatened to kick you out of Kappa after Cerys dropped out, huh? How did she put it? Ah, yes, she said she would put your ass on the streets if you ever mentioned Cerys’ name in the house again.”
Bethan’s face, reddened by the pain, constricts with a hint of shame. Tears spring from the corners of her eyes while she looks at Cerys.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers to her old friend.
Aidan’s expression darkens as he grabs her by the neck.
Bethan’s eyes go wide, her hands flying up to undo Aidan’s fingers, but it’s useless.
With strength I didn’t know he had, Aidan lifts Bethan by the neck, forcing her to her feet, even though she’s clearly struggling to stand with her injured thigh.
The blush under her skin intensifies with the lack of oxygen.
“Or what about the time you made it against the rules for anyone to talk to Mabel because you said she was a liar? It lasted two weeks.”
Has he been keeping track of every bad interaction I had during those horrible months, while I relied on his friendship to finish my days in Westbrook?
If he did so with the intention of avenging me, then Theta should’ve been filled with more people than the ones he chose tonight, because I’m sure there were more, especially since there were people here whom I barely recognized.
“Stop,” I tell him, seeing how the lack of oxygen transforms Bethan’s face transforms from a shade of red to a purple hue, the fear in her eyes.
He’s going to kill her with his bare hands.
“I believe you owe Mabel an apology, not Cerys,” he corrects her through gritted teeth. “She wasn’t strong enough to stick around and withstand the hate that was directed at Mabel. The hate you kept spreading in your sorority.”
Bethan moves her lips, but no sound comes out.
“She can’t breathe, stop it!” I yell, my voice pleading.
Fortunately, Aidan seems to listen to my request and weakens his hold. A second later, he releases her neck, letting his hand swing by his side. Bethan bends over, coughing and gagging as she tries to recover her breath. The purple tint under her skin starts to fade as she gasps for air.
“I want her to apologize to you.”
“I’m sorry, Mabel,” she rasps in a barely audible tone.
Aidan slaps her with the back of his hand.
“Say it like you mean it, bitch.”
“I’m so sorry. I let everyone control me and didn’t think about how it would affect you,” she sobs. “I regret it all. If I had the opportunity, I would go back and make better choices. I swear. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I tell her.
I don’t care about an apology.
I’ve built a better life away from all the Greek Row nonsense. What happened in Kappa was horrible, but insignificant compared to what’s happened tonight. Besides, forced regret does nothing for me.
“Hmm,” he muses, moving his knife around. “Did that sound honest to any of you?”
“Yes!” I rush to say abruptly, fearing what will happen if I don’t appear to be satisfied by Bethan’s apology.
Blood flows in my veins so fast I begin to feel lightheaded.
He wrinkles his nose and then presses his lips into a toothless smile.
“You’re too kind, Mabel,” he praises. “However, you’ve never been a particularly great actress. I can see right through that lie. But don’t worry. You won’t have to pretend for much longer. After all, I promised I would take care of your enemies.”
Aidan plunges his knife in Bethan’s lower abdomen. He grabs the hilt and guts her like a fish. Entrails, thick and gooey, fall to her feet. Her intestines slush and gurgle in the air as they slip to the floorboards.
Carmen scoots away from the danger zone, brown eyes wide with disgust and terror as some of Bethan’s entrails stick to her dress. Cerys shrieks in horror at the sight of her former friend being brutally gutted. Her shoulders curve as she gags, vomiting over the boxes around her.
The blend of scents is pungent and nauseating. The metallic smell of blood mixed with the acid from Cerys’ vomit stings my eyes. I press the back of my hand to my face, covering my mouth and nose.
Bethan’s body thumps to the ground. A choked noise comes from my throat as her lifeless eyes stare at nothing, empty pupils framed by burst capillaries.
Aidan wipes the blade on his clothes and turns to look at me with a triumphant grin.
“Her apology wasn’t very sincere, was it?” he comments, resting a hand on his hip. “Oh, sweetie, don’t cry.”
I want to recoil as Aidan steps toward me. He extends a gloved hand to my face, caressing my cheeks with the bloody leather. Almost like he doesn’t even realize that he’s smearing Bethan’s blood over my skin.
“I didn’t want this. I never wanted to live this nightmare,” I mumble to him.
His eyebrows twitch with a hint of confusion.
“You’re just not seeing the big picture, Mabs,” he insists, letting go of my face to walk around the attic as he speaks.
“Just imagine how big this will be once we come out as the survivors of a homicidal freak. It will make national news, and that’s when the studios will hit us up, wanting to buy our movie rights.
Of course, we could negotiate the directing and scriptwriting roles.
No offense, but you were always a better writer than a director.
Sometimes your artistic vision lacked depth. ”
Oh my God. Is this asshole fucking for real?
“Who will believe that?” I question.
Aidan shakes his head, lifting his knife again as if to prove a point.
“Everyone! I have it all planned. It took me about a year to figure out the logistics, but I created the perfect plan. Or should I say the perfect crime?” He laughs at his own joke, looming his knife over both Carmen and Cerys, but without hurting either of them.
“With the rest of them dead, everyone will believe our version of the events. Just imagine it, the two of us together like we’ve always wanted.
Being the iconic couple of horror. We’ll be legends, Mabel.
As a gift, not only am I getting rid of all your enemies, but I’m also turning you into a star. ”
My chin trembles with disbelief.
Ay, Dios mío. He’s fucking insane if he believes that’s ever going to happen. Does he truly believe I would love him after he tortured and terrorized my loved ones? After killing them?
“Do you really think I would let you get away with killing my sister and my best friend?” I rebuke him, the tears in my voice making it sound thicker and choked. “You don’t know me at all if you think that’s what I would do.”
Aidan purses his lips together, deep in thought for a minute, and then he shrugs nonchalantly.
“Well, I’m open to some slight plot changes. Many good slashers have a group of people who survive. Five is a good number of survivors.”
I look at Carmen and Cerys, counting how many people he’s referring to.
There’s one missing.
“Five?” I ask.
Steps echo on the floor below us and my muscles clench into stone. His partner. Aidan’s hand wraps around my arm, pulling me with him to the middle of the attic where I have a wide view of the hatch.
“My partner has to survive, don’t you think?” he whispers in my ear, the words brushing my lobe.
Someone begins to climb the attic steps, and I hold my breath, waiting for the reveal to come. Who else did I get wrong in this? Familiar dark hair makes an appearance through the hatch, followed by the adorable puppy eyes I’m so fond of.
My heart plummets to my feet as a sob drags out of me painfully, leaving my throat sore and my chest aching.
Did he truly fool me? Has he been working with Aidan all along?
Danny hoists his body up into the attic, and I see the blood soaking his shirt. A big gash spreads across the side of his torso, the torn fabric glued to the gnarly open wound. He trips clumsily and wraps an arm over his abdomen to apply pressure to the wound.
“Danny,” I whisper faintly, my heart splintering into a million pieces.
Someone else comes up the ladder behind him, someone who hooks the head of an axe on the curve of his neck, not quite hurting him, but establishing that they will if he does anything stupid.
He’s not Cupid.
The wave of relief barely lasts a split second.
If Danny isn’t the accomplice, then who is it?
There’s only two people left unaccounted for: Ollie and Sophia.
The second Cupid walks out of Danny’s shadow and uses a hand to push the mask away from their features.
I feel Aidan’s smile in the curve of my neck.
“Don’t you love a shocking killer reveal?” he muses.
My lips part in utter disbelief when I recognize the face behind the mask. The person I fought off in the kitchen wasn’t Ollie. Nor Sophia.
“What the fuck?” I mutter in shock.
The last person I was expecting stands next to Danny, holding the axe that cut off Seth’s head.
“Why don’t you say hi to my partner, Elodie?”