Page 157 of Pretty Poisoned

She spits the word back at him as she moves in front of the door. "Sup?! Really?"

"Luca…" I say softly. "That's Heidi's sister."

"Oh, shit," he says. And then he laughs—he fuckinglaughs."Sorry about all of that; I hope she gets better."

"What the fuck is funny about this!?" She pulls a gun from under her sweatshirt and points it right at him. "What is funny about any of this?"

Tears leak from her eyes and her arms shake while she holds the weapon in front of her, her jaw clenched tight. I'm hyper-aware of all of it. I suddenly realize I'm still holding the knife in my right hand—she's so fixated on him that she hasn't noticed yet. I flip the blade and tighten my grip on the handle.

"I'm sorry, I'm just really fucked up right now," he says, covering his mouth to suppress another laugh. "Are you going to kill me or something?"

"Luca…stop…laughing. He's sorry," I tell her. "I'm sorry about what happened to your sister. Please, don't do anything stupid."

"He's not sorry. He's a monster," she says. "Nothinghappenedto her—he did it to her! Youruinedher, and you ruined my family!"

"Okay, just calm down," Luca says. "You're not going to sh—"

But she is going to shoot him. I see the muscles in her hand flex before he can finish his sentence and shove her to the side just as she squeezes the trigger. As the gun goes off, I drive the blade into her stomach with as much force as I can get behind it. I hear the weapon fall to the ground, sliding across the tile. I stab her again, and this time, she slides down the wall of the bathroom onto the floor.

Overcome with rage, I straddle her waist and drive the knife into her chest, over and over again—I don't know how many times—even though she stopped moving and stopped fighting a long time ago. Blood splatters over the front of me and soaks the floor around me, and I don't stop. I can't…not until I feel Luca's hand on my shoulder.

I forgot about him. How could I forget about him?

I look down at my body and the one beneath me. I'm covered in blood, head-to-toe. And so is she.

She's dead. I killed her.

"Teagan, I need help," Luca says.

I finally whip around to face him; he has his hand covering a spot on his shoulder, his dark shirt wet with blood.

"Oh my god!"

"It's not that bad," he grunts. "But I need help. Can you get my phone out of my front pocket?"

"Um…yeah."

Before I can move, the door opens; my heart drops into my stomach.

"Holy shit," Declan says, quickly slamming it shut. "What the fuck is this? What did you do, Teagan?"

"She was Heidi's sister," Luca groans. "She fucking shot me."

Declan finally looks from me and the bloodied body beneath me to Luca. But I'm stuck on the wordwas.They're talking—going back and forth. I'm aware of their voices, but whatever they're saying just sloshes around in my head; I can't make any of it out over the sound of my own blood pumping in my ears, the wordwasat full volume echoing through my brain.

ShewasHeidi's sister.

Shewasa person.

Now, she's a bag of meat and bones on a dirty bathroom floor.

I killed someone.

The grey hoodie is nothing but a tattered, shredded mess, saturated in blood. I must have stabbed her—I don't know—thirty times.

I didn't have to. I could have gone for help after I got the gun away from her, but I didn't. I liked the way it felt when the knife cut through her flesh, I liked the sound it made.

I liked the way it made me feel. So, I didn't stop.

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