Page 98 of The Masks She Wore

?“They’re in the room,” she whispered, her fear-filled voice cracking.

?I slammed my pedal to the floor, my knuckles turning white. “Hide,” I ordered. I didn’t need anything else. I didn’t need any names, any information, the fear in her voice was enough.

?“I don’t want to die,” she whimpered.

?“So dramatic,” I cooed, vibrating in quiet rage. “Hide, Princess, I’ll deal with your death later.” She didn’t sound right. I had heard many different versions of Rae, from angry to lustful, but this? Something was very wrong. As much as she liked to play the fearful little girl, she was brave. She faced her fears with a smile on her pretty little lips, this was not her. Not in the slightest.

?“Jack, p-please.” She inhaled sharply. “It w-wasn’t Molly. It wasn’t—I’m scared, please. My h-heart…”

?I heard the steering wheel groan under my grip, my teeth grinding so hard, they should have cracked by now. “Where are you?”

?“An old—”

?“In the fucking church, Rae, where are you?”

?“B-bath—” She gasped, her breath hitching, silence following.

?I waited. The only reason she would have gone silent was if she heard something, I was sure of that.

?She exhaled a sob. “What floor?” I asked when I heard it. “What side of the hall?”

?“Second, right—no, no, uh…” something muffled met my ears. She was hitting her head, trying to remember. Her voice cracked again. “I can’t—I can’t remember—my heart—”

?I heard a door open.

?Rae cried out and then she screamed. “No,no!Wait,please!”

?I slammed my fist into the steering wheel, my heart racing as I heard her scream, the voices of the men drifting through.

?“Ash!”

?Even in a panic, she wouldn’t use my name. Such a good girl. “I’m coming baby.”

?I slid into the cathedral parking lot and slammed the car into park. I slid my mask on, gun already in hand when I got out of the car. I pointed and shot at whoever came near me, whoever tried to stop me. Innocence never crossed my mind, not once.

?People started screaming, streaming around me, trying to avoid me and get out of the building as I stalked through it, seeing nothing but red.

?I killed three more guys going up the stairs, two in the hall, uncaring that my silencer was gone, that someone might call the police. Let them. They were upstairs near Rae, that was guilty enough for me.

?There were doors lining the hall, labeled as offices or study rooms. Only one bathroom. I didn’t even bother checking to see if they had locked it, I didn’t care. I lifted my foot and slammed it into the door, splintering the wood inwards.

?The scene wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before; four men, lots of blood, a girl on the ground barely conscious.

?But it wasmygirl.

?Two of the men turned towards me and I killed them before they could even take a step.

?The third had been going after Rae, but at the noise I was making, he redirected, roaring, taking a step for me as if he had a chance.

?One more bullet.

?The other man was already on the ground beside her, blood gushing from his throat, his eyes wide, unseeing.

?Rae was whimpering, one hand wrapped around a piece of broken glass, blood coating her skin, her dress, splattering across her face.

?She had killed him.

?Rae had killed someone.

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