Page 21 of Blades of Obsession

He’s going to hurt my dad if he runs. “Wait, no, don’t do this. I’ll be with him. Please,” I blurt out, desperate.

“Okay,” John says simply. “Stay for lunch, I have someone I want you to meet.” My dad and I pass a surprised lookto each other. I was sure it would take more begging than that, and from the looks of it, so did he.

A maid meets me outside the office and guides me down a long hallway. We stop at a door near the end, and she opens it, stepping aside for me to enter. The room has an earthy, garden-like vibe, filled with plants and moody dark green decor.

A redhead girl sits on the bed, about my age, dressed casually in ripped jeans and an oversized dark green tee. There’s something about her that feels… enchanting.

She reminds me of Ariel, and no, not just because of the hair color.

She looks up from her phone, her face lighting up when she sees me. “Wow, you’re hot!”

I blink, caught off guard. “Oh my God, uh, thanks? You too.” She waves me over, and I sit on the bed, moving a stuffed animal to the side. There must be at least two dozen of them scattered throughout the room. I think it’s cute.

“I’m Frankie. So, you go to Crestview, right? My dad just texted me a little about you.”

I nod. “I’m a freshman there. Amelia.”

“Me too. How do you know my dad? You don’t look like you belong here. You look too good and nice.”

“My dad brought me here. Because I’m… kind of trapped in a situation with this guy your dad knows and so far have no way out of it.”

Frankie raises an eyebrow. “What’s the guy’s name? Maybe I can help.”

“You’re so nice, but I don’t think you can help. His name is, uh, Blade.”

“Wow. A girl like you does not belong with a guy like him.”

“What’s wrong with him?” A knot of anxiety twists in my stomach. Please don’t say he’s an ax murderer or something.

“He’s insufferable.”

“Insufferable how?”

She shrugs. “He just is. Always trying to get on my damn nerves. What’s your dad’s name?”

“Harvey Ellis.”

“Harvey with the beer gut? Ew, I hate him.”

I chuckle, mainly because most people have that reaction after getting to know my dad. “Well, what’s it like being John’s daughter? He doesn’t seem all too peachy either.”

“No clue. I barely come here. I was just here to pick up some of my stuff and he asked me to stay for lunch.” She reaches over to grab her phone. “Hey, we should totally hang out some time at school. I’ll give you my number.”

“I’d like that.”

Chapter 9

Blade

The sickening sound of a skull cracking fills the air, an echo that seems to go on forever. With the noise, the lifeless body of a woman crumples to the ground, her limbs twisted in an unnatural angle.

That brings my body count to twenty one.

I glance down at my forearm, the tattoo of a gravestone staring back at me. Inside the gravestone are twenty tally marks, each representing a life I’ve taken. After today, I’ll have to add two more. The tattoo is getting filled, but it doesn’t feel like I’m running out of room on my skin, it feels like I’m running out of room in my soul.

During my sophomore year, tattoos became one of my fleeting obsessions, when I started getting deep into killing. The gravestone tattoo was my first one.

I got bored of getting them after seventeen pieces of ink, most of them wrapping around my arms, chest, back, and right hand. Then there’s a blackout line tattoo about a half-inch thick that circles around my left thigh. I’ve been told it looks like a garter for men. Whatever that means.

---