Page 115 of Deadly Secrets

“You bitch!” She lunged at me and grabbed me by my hair before I had a chance to stand. I found myself pinned against the wall, my face colliding with one of the picture frames hanging there. In response, I instinctively elbowed her in the face. The blow made her gasp and release my hair, giving me a moment to catch my breath. She stumbled backward, her nose bleeding. Lizzie shook her head and brought her fingers to her nose to check if it was broken. I took the opening to run to the kitchen area, but she jumped on my back, and we fell backward. Swiftly, she positioned her forearm against my throat, applying pressure while her legs encircled my waist as her feet exerted pressure on my pelvis. Her right elbow nestled beneath my chin, and her left hand gripped the back of my neck. Desperately, I attempted to pry her hands away, but I couldn’t free myself from her hold. I was choking. I couldn’t draw a single breath into my constricted lungs, and with each passing second, the burning sensation only intensified.

It was said that your life flashed before your eyes in the moments before death. That you could watch your days unfold like a movie reel, both the highs and lows, the good and the bad ones. But for me, all I could see were five things: my parents clapping for me from the audience after my debut piano recital, Zayn’s devastating smile as we cooked together, Noah kissing me good morning every time I spent the night with him, Ander whispering “I love you” when he believed I was sleeping in his arms, and the scalpel that Elizabeth fucking Price had dropped on the floor next to James’s now dead body.

* * *

I’m not fucking dying today!

Lizzie had me in a pretty tight hold, but I lucked out with the best jujitsu teacher around. He had taught me the rear naked choke, and I was about to show off what I had learned. I was determined to survive.

I reached behind my head with both my hands until I could scrape the back of my neck and was able to get ahold of Lizzie’s hand.

“I’ll break your neck like a toothpick!” Lizzie screamed.

As soon as I had full hold of her left arm and pushed it away, she responded by squeezing tighter with her right arm, but I didn’t care. She was just where I wanted her without realizing it. I wriggled and squirmed until I had enough space to give her a headbutt right on the nose. This time, her nose bled as she screamed in pain. I pushed myself forward and crawled toward James.

“You’re gonna regret that, bitch!” she yelled.

My face felt all sticky and gross with blood and sweat mixed, and my heart beat like crazy. Every move I made was like dragging myself through mud, but I kept going. It was like being in a nightmare you can’t wake up from, just trying to get away any way I could.

Lizzie gripped my hair again and pulled me backward.

“Get the fuck away from me!” I shouted.

I spun around, my fist connecting with her cheek with a solid thump.

“Ahh!” Lizzie shrieked.

An intense pain shot from my knuckles to my elbow, but I couldn’t let the pain cloud my mind. I had to survive.

As I straightened up, I caught sight of a vase on the nearby table. Without a second thought, I grabbed it. I swung it with all the force I could muster.

Lizzie saw me coming and covered her face and head with her arms. The vase collided with her left arm, shattering on impact.

She soon retaliated.

A swift kick to my stomach knocked the wind out of me as I fell backward. I gasped for breath, feeling the rage boiling inside me. Lizzie pinned me down and clasped her hands around my throat.

“You’re like a fucking cockroach that never dies. Just. Fucking. Die.” She continued strangling me, her fingers pressing into my soft flesh with a terrifying determination while I struggled for air.

My hand swept across the surface of the floor, fingers searching until they brushed against the cool metal handle of the scalpel. Grasping it tightly, I quickly move my arm, plunging the sharp blade into the side of Lizzie’s throat. Reacting instinctively, Lizzie yanked the scalpel out, tossed it away, and immediately gripped her neck with both hands, trying desperately to stem the flow of blood that poured through her fingers.

The air was filled with the thick, metallic scent of spilled blood.

A look of shock and realization flashed across her face as her pupils expanded in fear and disbelief.

She knew it.

I knew it.

There was no way to undo what I’d just done.

Her body hit the floor as I pushed her off me.

I went into survival mode and knew that it had come down to either me or her making it out of here alive. There was no other way out, but the feeling of victory and relief quickly shifted to guilt once I realized I had taken not just one but two lives.

Sitting on the floor, I cradled her lifeless body in my arms as I rocked back and forth.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Tears streamed down my face like a river, mixing with James’s and Lizzie’s blood. I couldn’t recall ever crying this intensely before, but I’d kept my emotions locked away for far too long. At that moment, I wasn’t entirely sure to whom I was offering my apologies. After all, Lizzie and James were responsible for my parents’ deaths. However, one part of me mourned the loss of my college best friend—the countless nights we spent chatting about everything and nothing, the wild parties where we danced until dawn, and the girl who never judged me when I confessed to her that I was in love with three different guys.

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