Only Forever

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jason refused to leave me alone for any length of time. He ordered anything he needed online for delivery, and we became two hermits living in my house. He put all the house renovations to his parents’ home on hold since he couldn’t be there to check on the progress, and he continued to work from my place since he already had brought over his laptop earlier. Even all our groceries were ordered for delivery, because he wasn’t leaving me alone for a second.

Jason hired a security company to watch the house at all times. I didn’t protest when he told me, and I was actually appreciative of it. It gave me peace of mind to know that no one could approach the house without us knowing about it beforehand.

I was on tenterhooks waiting for something to happen, for the other shoe to drop. Thankfully, a week passed without incident. But I was still on guard. It would be foolish to think that this had passed, that whoever had sent me the letters had lost interest in me. If they were watching me, they knew that not only did I have Jason with me, but we had security outside.

Jason tried to act naturally, but I saw the way he tensed whenever he heard a sound. He routinely walked around the house, checking all the locks and making sure no one had somehow entered without being seen.

It was a Thursday and we were both finishing up with our work. Jason had suggested getting Thai food for dinner, one of our go-to’s, and we had a cozy dinner in the living room while watching a movie.

“I feel too lazy to clean up,” I complained, snuggling into the crook of Jason’s arm as we sat on the couch. My limbs felt heavy and I wondered if the one glass of wine I had with dinner was affecting me.

Jason rested his head on top of mine. “No need to clean up,” he said. “We can always leave it till morning.”

His voice sounded funny, like his words were slurred, but I was too tired to comment. My eyes drifted closed, my body feeling heavy, as if it were being weighted down.

I don’t know how long had passed, but I was suddenly conscious and was desperately trying to open my eyes. It felt like they were glued shut, and I struggled to lift my lids. I started to become aware of the hard floor underneath me, which confused me, because last I remember, I had fallen asleep on the couch with Jason.

I was relieved when I was finally able to open my eyes, but not much changed because darkness surrounded me. It was pitch black and I couldn’t make out a thing. My arms were aching, and I tried to reach up one hand to massage the pain away when I realized I couldn’t move them. It suddenly dawned on me that my hands were tied behind my back, and my feet by my ankles. I was lying on the floor, bound and helpless. Panic set in, and I squinted my eyes, trying to figure out where I was. My eyes started to adjust to the darkness, and I saw that I was on the floor of my living room. All the lights were off and the drapes were drawn.

My heart beat fast, fear running through me. Who had tied me up? The letter writer? How could I have not woken up while it was happening? Most importantly, where was Jason?

I tried to sit up, but I had a tough time with my hands and feet bound. I grunted as I pushed myself against the couch, using it to brace myself up into a sitting position. That’s when I saw Jason sprawled on the couch. His feet and hands were also bound with rope, and he was unconscious.

“Jason!” I whispered as loudly as I dared. No one else seemed to be in the room, but I was sure the person who had tied us up was nearby. I was afraid to alert them to the fact that I had woken up.

Jason didn’t stir, and I was afraid to say his name any louder. I pushed against the couch, bracing my feet on the floor to lift myself until I was sitting on the couch. I put my back to him, and used my hands behind me to shake him awake.

“I’m surprised he’s still out and you’re awake. He must have eaten more than you.”

My head shot up at the sound of the voice coming from across the room. It was a voice I hadn’t heard for a long time, but I recognized it instantly. Shock wasn’t a strong enough of a word to describe my reaction.

Shelby walked over to the lamp beside the couch, switching it on. She turned to me with a menacing smile that made my stomach turn. What the hell was happening? Could I be dreaming?

Her smiled widened at my confused expression. “I bet you didn’t guess it was me. You probably thought I was weak to do anything.”

“Shelby,” I croaked, feeling like I was in a stupor. “What are you doing?”

Shelby laughed, the sound ugly and harsh. “What do you think? I hate to be clichéd, but I’m getting revenge.”

I heard Jason moan, and he shifted on the couch. My heart hammered in my chest. I desperately wanted Jason to wake up, for him to help me figure out what the hell was going on.

“Looks like Prince Charming is waking up,” Shelby snarled. “Can’t wait for him to join the party.”

Jason’s eyes opened, squinting against the light of the lamp next to him. He tried to sit up, and then made a sound of confusion when he couldn’t.

“Jason,” I said urgently, trying to get him to understand the situation as quickly as possible. “We’re both tied up. I think we’ve been drugged.”

Jason managed to sit up despite his bound hands and feet. His eyes scanned the room, quickly accessing what was happening. When he laid his eyes on Shelby, his eyes narrowed.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he said, his voice sharp. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but untie us.”

Shelby smiled, but I could see the rage in her eyes. “Whatever game we’re playing, we’re playing it to the end,” she spat out. “And I guarantee both of you are going to lose.”

“Shelby,” I said, trying to make my voice calm and gentle. Getting her upset wasn’t going to help our situation. “I don’t know what’s going on, but please, let’s just talk about it.”

Shelby shook her head, her expression icy. “It’s too late to talk about it. Years too late. You always treated me like I was second-best. Chloe always came first, even though she was in Florida. I was with you almost every day, we ate lunch together, studied together. Slept over each other’s houses. But the second Chloe showed up, it was like I didn’t exist.”

I was confused. What the hell was Shelby talking about? Shelby and I had gotten close during college, and I had considered her one of my best friends. It was no secret that Chloe was also my best friend, and had been since middle school. I couldn’t recall ever treating Shelby badly or ditching her for Chloe. It was impossible that all this was over jealousy of a friendship.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “I never treated you like you didn’t exist. And what does this have to do with us being tied up now?”

Shelby sneered. “Every time Chloe came into town, you would spend all your time with her, and I was forgotten about.”

I didn’t know how to argue with Shelby. She made no sense. Of course, when Chloe would come up to visit from Florida, I would spend time with her. But I often invited Shelby as well, and she usually joined us. I had always thought the three of us got along well.

“Are you the one that’s been writing the letters?” I asked, deciding it was a waste of time arguing about who was better friends with who. It was too juvenile, and I couldn’t believe that was what led to us being drugged and tied up.

Shelby rolled her eyes. “You’re a quick one,” she said sarcastically.

I swallowed, afraid to ask the next question, but needing to hear the answer. “How do you know about what happened?”

Shelby’s harsh laugh made me flinch. “You mean you killing Keith? I saw it happen. I watched you stab him. And then I heard you lie about it.” Shelby’s face contorted into a grotesque mask of rage. “You played the innocent victim when you’re a killer. You make me sick.”

I shook my head slowly, horrified by her words. “What do you mean, you saw it happen? That’s impossible.”

Shelby smirked. “You have no idea how often I was in this house. Keith gave me a key, and I came and went as I pleased.”

I couldn’t be any more confused by Shelby’s words. My voice was shrill from bewilderment and mounting panic. Nothing was making sense. “Why would Keith give you a key? How did you know him?”

“How did I know him?” Shelby spat out, her expression turning bitter. “He was my brother. You killed my only living family, and you have the gall to sit here and ask how the hell I knew him when you were the one who killed him.”

I was too stunned to say anything. My brain couldn’t process the words Shelby had just spoken. I knew Keith had a sister, but he had said they were estranged and hadn’t spoken for almost a decade. He had no one on his side of the family attend their wedding. Suddenly Shelby, who I had known since high school, was Keith’s sister?

Jason had been silent this entire time, letting me lead the conversation, but he spoke up when I was silenced by shock. “How are you his sister? You’ve been over at this house plenty of times in the past, and neither you nor Keith said anything to indicate you two were related.”

Shelby rolled her eyes. “No kidding, Einstein. That was on purpose. We didn’t want anyone to know we were siblings.” Her eyes became unfocused, as if she was looking into the past. “Keith was more like a parent than my brother with the age gap. He’s the one that raised me and made sure I had clothes on my back and food on the table, while our druggie mom was only concerned where her next hit was coming from. My dad…who knows about my dad. I never met the bastard. He was just one of the many slimebags my mom fucked for drug money.”

Shelby’s eyes came into focus again, this time training them on me. “He wanted to give me a normal life, but it was hard. He never got to finish high school, and there’s not much job opportunities for a dropout than can support a family of two. He met an older woman, and she promised to take me in and take care of me if they got married. So he agreed.” Shelby’s mouth twisted. “Except her version of taking care of me was beating me up whenever Keith wasn’t around. He found out about it, and gave her a taste of her own medicine. Except he got a little carried away and she ended up dying. He dumped the body and got rid of the evidence, and it became a missing persons case that never got solved.”

Shelby shrugged her shoulders as if she were telling us something innocuous and commonplace. She remained nonchalant as she continued. “Keith didn’t get much money from her after her death, since they were married for such a short time and she never changed her will, but it gave him an idea of how to get us out of poverty. He got married again, this time to this idiot who fell in love with him. He was able to manipulate her, and get her to sign everything over to him. They were married for a while, but then she started getting demanding. Keith controlled all the finances, and she started getting suspicious about how much money they had and how much Keith was bringing in from his job.”

Shelby laughed, shaking her head. “She was so stupid. She didn’t realize for the longest time that Keith was only pretending to have a job. She was the only one bringing in an income, and Keith was controlling it. When she found out, Keith had to kill her. He made it look like an accident and it worked.”

Horror filled me. I wanted to throw up at the ghastly things Shelby was blithely recounting as if she was telling us what she had for dinner.

“Is that why he married my mom?” I asked, anguished at the thought. “But she wasn’t rich. We were comfortable, but we didn’t have a lot of money.”

“Keith said it was better to target people who weren’t rich,” Shelby explained, as if she were speaking to a toddler. “It was too suspicious if a rich wife died, and the husband was still alive. People immediately would think he killed her for the money. It’s easier to cover up the deaths of middle class people.”

I felt sick to my stomach. This couldn’t be real. This had to be a nightmare. And I desperately wanted to wake up.

“How did you drug us?” Jason asked. He shifted closer to me, his leg pushing into mine, as if he was trying to comfort me.

“You guys really make everything so easy.” Shelby said condescendingly. “You guys order from that damn Thai place all the time. The owner’s son actually went to high school with us, and I got a part time job there. After that, it was easy to see when you guys ordered for delivery and to tamper with your food.” She shook her head, looking amused. “You guys are really so easy to fool. Like when I convinced Daphne that you cheated on her with me. I knew when you left to go get food because I was in the house with you, and I heard you tell her you were leaving your phone. From there, I just simply left the house too and then called Daphne and told her all that crap about us. And she fell for it, hook, line and sinker.” Shelby gave him a disgusted look. “I was tired of you always hanging around. You always had to be with her. At least when Chloe was in Florida, I didn’t have to deal with her, but you were always fucking around.”

I didn’t know how much more information I could take about Shelby’s treacherous ways without falling apart. Jason’s eyes narrowed at her explanation.

“You’re sick,” he said with revulsion. “You have to be mentally ill. There’s no other way to explain your insanity.”

Shelby didn’t seem offended by Jason’s words. “Whatever makes you feel better. And you should really be more careful about who you hire. The moron that’s supposed to be watching the house right now fell asleep in his car hours ago and didn’t see me slip in through the backdoor.” Shelby turned to me, grinning. “I lied in my note. I never had to come in through a window. I just pretended by opening it and ripping the screen. You really should have changed your locks. Imagine how surprised I was when my key still worked.”

“So it was you that was in my house before,” I said, although I had already been sure of that from the start of Shelby’s appearance. “Have you been in my house any other time?”

Shelby smiled mischievously. “That’s only for me to know.”

I shuddered at the thought. To think that Shelby could have been in my house anytime without my knowledge shook me to my core. It made me realize that my house wasn’t the safe haven that I thought. I had been so scared of the outside world, but in reality the danger was inside.

“Why did you write Daphne those letters?” Jason asked. I could tell he was trying to control his anger and remain calm. “Was it just to scare her?’

“Scare her?” Shelby’s eyes glinted menacingly. “If I just wanted to scare her, I wouldn’t be here. I’m not playing some game.” Shelby turned to me, her expression almost maniacal as her eyes bored into me. “I was on the stairs. I watched you kill Keith. You took that knife and stabbed him like he was nothing. I should have killed you then and there. But I was scared. Without Keith, I had nothing. I was nothing. If I got in trouble, he wouldn’t be there to help me. So I just ran.” Shelby took a look shudderingly breath, closing her eyes momentarily.

“We could have been sisters,” she said accusingly, opening her eyes. “I was sick and tired of living in an apartment by myself. That’s why I would spend so much time in this house, hiding. When we became close in college, I thought maybe I could somehow move in here with you guys. That we could be a family together.” Her eyes narrowed. “But you and your mother ruined it , ” Shelby sneered. “You guys ruined everything.”

Shelby suddenly moved, swiftly grabbing the lamp and slamming it against Jason’s head. It made a sickening crash against the side of his head, breaking into shards. I screamed as he slumped back onto the couch, unconscious. The light flickered a couple of times, and then went black, pitching the room into darkness again.

I could make out Jason’s still form next to me, and I pushed against him, desperately trying to rouse him awake. I heard Shelby moving in the darkness, and I could see the outline of her, her hands outstretched in front of her as she tried to feel her way around.

“Daphne,” she shrieked. “Don’t think you’re going to get away from me. You’re going to pay for killing Keith.”

I scrabbled against the floor, trying to move away from the couch, but it was difficult since I was bound. I struggled against the rope around my ankles, desperately trying to loosen them. I almost sobbed with relief when I was able to make it loose enough that I could pull my feet out.

I tried to do the same with the rope around my wrists, but unfortunately, Shelby had done a much better job tying them tightly. My hand brushed against something, and I realized it was a piece of the broken lamp.

I picked it up and scrambled to stand. I could make out Shelby’s silhouette in the dark. I concentrated on the shard of the broken lamp in my hand, using the sharp side to desperately saw away at the rope around my wrists. I felt it slice into my flesh as I awkwardly tried to shred the rope, but I was beyond feeling the pain. I just needed to free myself and somehow get myself and Jason out of here. Fleeing was out of the question. There was no way I was leaving Jason.

“Daphne,” Shelby said in a sing-songy voice that sent shivers up my spine. She no longer sounded angry but eerily composed. “Are you trying to hide from me, Daphne? This isn’t the time for games.”

I wanted to sob with relief when the rope gave way and my hands were free. I quickly grabbed a vase on the side table. That, and the lamp shard I still gripped in my hand, were the only weapons I had. I still could make out Shelby’s shape across the room, moving around.

I gripped the vase and lamp shard tightly, my hands sweating. If I could make out Shelby’s figure in the dark because she was moving, maybe she wouldn’t be able to detect me if I stayed still. My only hope was that she would get close enough without her realizing it, and I could hit her in the head with the vase or stab her with the broken lamp piece. My only advantage would be to take her by surprise.

That advantage disappeared when the ceiling light flicked on. Shelby grinned when she saw my shocked expression. She swiftly moved from the light switch on the wall to the couch, where Jason was still lying unconscious. My blood ran cold when I saw she had a knife in her hand, and she held it up to Jason’s neck.

“I’m not sure what you’re planning to do with that vase,” she sneered derisively. “I guess you could try throwing it, but Jason’s throat will be slit before it ever reaches me.” She glanced down at the lamp shard in my other hand which was red from my own blood as I had cut my ropes loose. She laughed, sounding unhinged. “I see you’re resourceful. Good for you."

Jason groaned, coming to, his eyes fluttering open. His eyes went from foggy to super-focused in a matter of seconds as he assessed the situation. I willed him not to move. The knife was dangerously pressed against his neck, and I was terrified any movement would cause him to get cut.

“Shelby, please,” I said, desperation making my voice break. “I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for killing Keith. Please, just let us go and I’ll forget about everything.”

“But I won’t forget,” Shelby hissed. “I’ll never forget!”

Jason suddenly pushed back, making Shelby lose her balance and fall, dropping the knife. He moved towards the knife, but having his hands and feet tied made him clumsy, and he fell short of it, falling to the ground. I dropped everything to try to run for the knife, but before I could get to it, Shelby regained her footing and snatched it from the ground. Before I could scream his name, she plunged the knife into Jason’s chest and out again.

“Jason!” I screamed. I ran to him as fast as I could, fear engulfing me. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t live in a world where he didn’t exist.

Jason groaned and turned his head toward me. Blood was seeping from the chest wound, where the knife had plunged into. Jason’s face had drained of all color

“Jason,” I sobbed, tears running down my face as I collapsed next to him. My mind flashed back to three years ago. Three years ago I had witnessed my mother’s blood all over this same floor. I had seen her lifeless body and begged and sobbed for her not to be dead. Now I was watching the same scenario with another person I loved, and dread filled my body. I was going to lose him, too.

“Daphne,” Jason groaned softly. “It’s okay. I’ll be okay.”

He didn’t realize how unconvincing he was, as his face fell ashen and blood continued to seep down his chest.

“Jason,” I cried. “I love you. Please don’t leave me. Hang on.”

“I—“ Before Jason could complete what he was about to say, his eyes fluttered closed. He was gone.