Page 96 of Rage

Jenny stands before me, her face a mask of cold determination.The overhead light bulb glints off the barrel of a gun, pointed directly at my face.Her finger rests on the trigger, steady and sure.

“Don’t make a sound,” Jenny hisses, her eyes glittering with malice.“Or I’ll blow your pretty little head off right here.”

My heart pounds in my chest, blood rushing in my ears.I open my mouth, but no words come out.Jenny’s lips curl into a cruel smile as she steps forward, forcing me back into the room.

“That’s right,” she purrs.“Nice and quiet.We wouldn’t want to wake your friends, would we?”

The door clicks shut behind her with a finality that sends ice through my veins.I’m trapped, staring down the barrel of a gun, with my sleeping friends just feet away.

twenty-two

Meadow

My mind races as Jenny advances, the gun unwavering.A thousand questions flood my thoughts, but one rises above the rest: why?

As if reading my mind, Jenny’s lips curl into a bitter smile.“You’re wondering why I’m doing this, aren’t you?”she whispers, her voice dripping with venom.“Why sweet, unassuming Nurse Jenny would point a gun at the beloved Dr.Beckham?”

She takes another step forward, forcing me back until my back is pressed against the door.

“It’s quite simple, really,” Jenny continues, her eyes glinting with a mixture of pain and madness.“You took everything from me.You and your biker friends.”

Confusion must show on my face because Jenny lets out a soft, mirthless laugh.“Oh, you didn’t know?Of course you didn’t.No one knew.That was the point.”

She reaches into her pocket with her free hand, pulling out a small, worn photograph.In the dim light, I can just make out two figures—Jenny, looking younger and carefree, wrapped in the arms of a man whose face I know all too well.

Peterson.

“We were in love,” Jenny says, her voice taking on a dreamy quality.“Have been for years.It started back when I was just a CNA, starry-eyed and impressionable.He saw something in me, nurtured my potential.We kept it secret, of course.The thrill of sneaking around only made it more exciting.”

My stomach churns as the implications sink in.All those times Peterson had terrorized women, Jenny had known.Had she helped him?Covered for him?

“It wasn’t always easy,” Jenny continues, oblivious to my horror.“Sometimes his… proclivities… were hard to stomach.But I loved him, even though he had a wife.I would have done anything for him.”

Her face hardens, eyes flashing with renewed anger.“And then you came along.You and your MC buddies.You took him from me.Tortured him.Killed him.”

The gun trembles slightly in her hand, and for a moment I think I see a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.But it’s gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by cold determination.

“I’ve spent weeks planning this,” Jenny says.“Waiting for the perfect moment.And now here we are, you and all your little friends, isolated and vulnerable.By the time anyone realizes what’s happened, it’ll be too late.”

My mind races, desperately searching for a way out of this nightmare but not wanting her to start shooting and randomly hurting one of the women still sleeping.

As if sensing my thoughts, Jenny’s grip on the gun tightens.“Don’t even think about it,” she snarls.“One wrong move and I start shooting.How many do you think I can take out before someone stops me?”

* * *

Mason

The roar of my bike cuts through the night, a familiar comfort as I speed down the empty highway.Meadow’s absence gnaws at me, an ache I can’t shake.I need her.Now.

Headlights flash in my mirrors.I tense, hand tightening on the throttle.But it’s just Ronny and Christopher, their bikes falling into formation behind me.A grin tugs at my lips despite myself.Looks like I’m not the only lovesick fool tonight.

We don’t speak as we ride, the rumble of engines saying everything.The cabin looms ahead, dark and silent.My heart races as I kill the engine, gravel crunching under my boots.

“You two are pathetic,” I mutter, but there’s no heat in it.

Ronny snorts.“Says the man who rode out here in the middle of the night.”

Christopher just shakes his head, already heading for the door.“Shut up and let’s go see our women.”

---