Chapter 31 #2
Sure enough, the familiarity I’d felt meeting Connor was written all over Carter’s handsome face. Same eyes, nose, and wide smile. Of course, Carter was missing Connor’s dimples, warmth, and soul.
“Do you know how much it hurt to see you with him?” He caught my hand in his free one and squeezed until he’d cut off the blood flow to my fingers.
“Imagining you whoring yourself out to that piece of shit? His cunt of a mother nearly ruined my family, and you picked him over me.” He let out a humorless laugh.
“I kind of snapped on the way home from that party and found out how good it felt to sink my knife into someone.”
“My hand,” I whimpered, and he dropped it. Holding it to my chest, I subtly glanced around the room for anything that could be used as a weapon. On the side table was one of the little pepper sprays the school had given out.
If I can spray him, maybe I can get to the door.
“I’ll admit, things got a little out of control from there,” he said as he stood, creating some distance between us.
“The calm from killing those townies didn’t last, so I started hooking up with Hailey, hoping to distract myself until I could deal with Connor.
Too bad she and Emma were cut from the same annoying-ass cloth. ”
I trembled, my stomach twisting as I remembered Hailey’s guts spilling onto the ground.
“Don’t look at me like that. If you had just picked me, no one would have died.”
“I didn’t—”
“Stop! Just stop. You led me on for the past year.” When I frowned, he got in my face, dragging the tip of his knife along my jaw.
I sank into the couch, the springs digging into my ass and back as I tried to escape getting sliced.
“All the times we hung out—the way you took care of me after Hailey? What else would you call that?”
“Friendship,” I whispered, the air trapped in my lungs unable to get out.
“Friendship? Fuck friendship.” He flicked his wrist, nicking my cheek.
I yelped, my hand going to my face. When I pulled my fingers away, they were covered with blood. Nausea turned my stomach, and there was a very real chance that I would throw up all over Carter before he gutted me. “Please let me go. I’ll do anything.”
Carter loomed over me, appraising the damage done. A sick satisfaction shone in his eyes. “I don’t know if you’re worth it anymore.” He gripped my chin and licked the line of blood dripping down my cheek.
Panic seized my chest as I prepared myself to make a move.
“I would’ve given you the world, but you chose Connor. I don’t think I can get past that.” He shoved my head back in disgust.
“Okay,” I murmured, kicking him in the dick and grabbing the pepper spray. In a stroke of luck, I hit the right button, and a stream of spray hit Carter right in the mouth.
He screamed, stumbling back into the coffee table. The old piece of furniture collapsed under his weight, sending splinters of wood everywhere.
Not wasting a second, I jumped up and ran, but he was right behind me.
Lined up along the window by the kitchen table were our puff-painted, initiation-night champagne bottles.
Grabbing the closest one to me, I swung, cracking Carter upside the head.
He stumbled into the counter, putting his broad body between me and the door to the outside. Cut off, I turned toward the stairs.
Better to get doors between us than die on this shitty-ass linoleum.
I thundered up the steps, thankful for all the late-night stumbles to bed because I was able to navigate the wonky staircase in the dark. Carter, a bit fucked up from the hit, tripped on air and fell face-first.
Gasping for air in the hot, air-conditionless hallway, I darted into my room and slammed the door closed.
I scanned the room for something heavy to create a blockade.
Whether it was adrenaline or the spirit of the Frattic sisters that had come before, I wedged my shoulder against the dresser and managed to shove it in front of the door.
It fell over with a loud crack, my expensive clothes spilling all over the floor.
Carter banged on the door. “Come on, Sarah. Open up. I just want to talk.”
He continued to pound on the door as I searched the room for any weapons. The problem? I was woefully unprepared to defend my own life.
Tears streamed down my face as the door rattled on the hinges. “Leave me alone!” I screamed, my voice shrill.
“Open the fucking door!”
When I’d about given up hope, Carter banged on the wall, knocking my sorority paddle to the floor.
Perfect.
Grabbing it, I backed away toward the window.
After another forceful hit, the wood splintered down the middle. I shrieked, shoving open the window. Rain blew in, soaking my cute pink throw rug. The tornado sirens were still going strong as I took a deep breath and clambered out onto the roof.
I cleared the windowsill, and there was a loud crash. Glancing back, I caught the door breaking in half and Carter’s demonic smile coming through.
Wiping my eyes with the back of my arm, I climbed over the pitch, hoping to get to the other side, where there was a small drop to the roof of the frat’s front porch.
“Gotcha,” Carter yelled, grabbing my foot and pulling me back.
Gripping the top of the peak with my free hand, I kicked back into him, breaking his hold. We slid down the shingles, landing on the flat part of the roof next to my window.
If only I could lock him out here.
“Stay away!” I yelled, shaking my pledge paddle at him.
Lightning flashed, illuminating his deranged stare. Blood trickled from a wound on his forehead down to his busted lipped smile. Tight in his grip was that scary-ass knife.
The wind whipped the rain around us, threatening to knock us down, but I steadied myself, ready to swing.
“I never thought it would come to this,” he said, almost sounding sad.
“It doesn’t have to end like this. You could drop the knife, and we could go back inside.”
Movement between Carter’s legs caught my eye.
“Then you’d tell everyone. No.” He shook his head, his expression becoming thoughtful. “I think I’ll tell everyone I was too late to save you from Connor. I’ll be a hero.”
An arm inched out from the window, followed by a shoulder, and then Connor’s head.
He’s alive!
“No one will believe you,” I said, buying Connor time.
Carter’s laugh was cut short by Connor grabbing his ankle and yanking him toward the window. Unfortunately, Carter stayed standing.
Turning, Carter stomped on Connor’s bloodied arm. Connor howled in pain but didn’t let go.
With Carter’s attention diverted, I stepped closer, raising the paddle in the air.
The tornado sirens finally quieted, leaving us with just the rumble of thunder and pouring rain as a backdrop.
When I was an arm’s length away, I said, “Carter?”
He turned toward me, and I swung my pledge paddle with every ounce of strength in me. It cracked against his cheek, splintering into two pieces. Carter’s head flew to the side, his body following as he stumbled right off the roof.
I rushed to the edge just in time to see him land on his back in the grass next to my car. He was so still that I assumed he was dead.
Good fucking riddance.
“You okay?” Connor said from the window, wincing as he held an injured hand out to me.
Always the gentleman.
“Better than you.” I sat on my ass, holding my face up to the pouring rain. Blood pounded in my ears as I tried to catch my breath.
“What the fuck?” Kat’s husky voice cut through the rain. “Sarah?” she shouted, and there was a stampede of feet on the shitty steps.
“Who broke the door down?” Mona asked as Oliva screamed my name.
Leaning my head over the gutter, I yelled, “Up here.”
Soaked to the bone, I couldn’t find the energy to crawl back inside. So, I sat there, being pelted by icy rain, praying that this was the end.