Page 195 of Deviant

Soon our time will also come, and it will be our mangled bodies Henry must dispose of.

We watch as Henry opens the iron gate and wheels Andy’s body away into the forest to parts unknown. But as I watch him disappear into the forest, I realize that he didn’t lock the iron gate behind him. Either intentionally or lapse in judgment, Elias and I have an opportunity to leave this nightmare behind.

“Do you see that? The gate is open, Elias. Henry forgot to lock it or maybe he wants us to make a run for it. Elias… do you hear me… the gate is open.”

“Then go. Run. I’m too exhausted to care.”

My brows furrow as he turns around and heads back to the mansion. I stand there at the iron gate, and just stare at the large forest in front of me. Freedom is within arm’s reach and yet it feels like it couldn’t be further away.

I could run. I could take Henry’s silent gift and just run as far and as fast as I can away from here. Away from The Scourge. Away from Blackwater Falls. Away from all this suffering.

But not without Elias.

Never without Elias.

If death is his console, then I’ll join him.

For there is no life worth living without him by my side.

I would face a hundredScourgesfor one more day with him.

Having made peace with that, I turn around to head back to the mansion only to come face to face with a crazed-eyed Ruby, who is currently drenched from top to bottom with Andy’s blood.

If David’s and Mackenzie’s game included a saw, I shudder to think what weaponry Ruby had to use.

“You’re a fucking plague, you know that?”

“Excuse me?” I ask, taken aback by the hatred I see swimming in her eyes.

“Everything you touch goes to shit. First Nora. Then Harper. Even Andy, because of you, his blood is on my hands.”

“That’s not true. I had nothing to do with Harper or Andy’s deaths.”

Her eyes blaze with a possessed intensity, flickering like wild flames ready to consume everything in their path. And right now, the only thing in her way is me.

“I see you left out Nora’s name in that list. Does that mean you’re to blame for her death?”

I thin my lips, refusing to answer her question.

“You fucking bitch! I knew Nora couldn’t have died from and overdose. She wouldn’t mess with drugs, let alone fentanyl. Which means you must have killed her!”

This time, it’s not the crazed look in her eyes that gives me pause, but the large knife she’s pointing in my direction.

“See? I knew you were no good. But somehow you always manage to fool everyone that comes in contact with you. You fooled Nora. Tricked her into choosing you over me. You tricked Harper. And now you want pull Abbie into your treacherous web, too. Well, I won’t let you do it! IfThe Scourgerefuses to end you, then I’ll gladly do it for them.”

My heart pounds in my chest as Ruby lunges at me, the glint of the large knife slicing through the air. I duck just in time, my fingers brushing the cold iron of the gate as we grapple, herbreath hot and ragged against my neck. With a sudden burst of adrenaline, I twist and shove her head against the unforgiving metal, and she stumbles back, dazed. I don’t waste a second—I sprint across the yard, the dead grass tearing beneath my sneakers. But just as help seems within reach, I feel her weight crashing onto my back, dragging me to the ground with a visceral thud. In a desperate roll, the knife slips into my grasp. And as panic and instinct collide, I plunge it into her chest, the world fading into a chilling silence, save for the gurgling noises that she makes… followed by her last gasps for air.

I’m so in shock that I don’t move Ruby’s body off me, still reeling from the last few seconds.

But as I look at her face, her eyes still wide open, staring at me, I let out a loud wail before pushing her off me.

“What have I done?” I hold my knees to my chest as I begin to rock back and forth, just staring at Ruby’s lifeless body.

I bite into my cheek, grappling with how I can go from one moment, on the verge of reclaiming my freedom, to the next, ending Ruby’s life. Nora’s death might have been an accident… but this…

I meant to kill her. I needed to kill her. Iwantedto kill her.

It was either her or me.

---