Page 95 of Light As A Feather
“Where are you taking me?” I say, half out of breath.
“I’m going to give you what you need to get rid of him.”
“And what’s that?”
“You’ll see,” she responds cryptically.
“Why should I trust you? How do I know you’re not just helping him?”
She sighs impatiently. “Because I’m the reason he’s here in the first place.”
“I’m sorry…are you saying you’re the one who killed him?”
“I was.” She stands up taller. “It was mostly luck and desperation. I fought for that knife. I’d never stabbed anyone, but I figured anything that sharp could do damage and had apretty high chance it would hit something critical.” Her eyes go distant. “Besides, I was already done for. All I could think about as I was tumbling in those leaves with him, breathless, bleeding out, was that if there was any justice in this world, any at all, that he wouldn’t walk away from that night. That no other women would go missing.”
“Other women?”
“Yes. Well, mostly girls, really. But yes, there were others.” She tilts her head, studying me in dissatisfaction. “How is it that you spent nearly every day with him by your side, and yet, you don’t seem to know anything about him?”
“He wasn’t exactly forthcoming about his past. When we first met, he told me he died here, but that’s it. I didn’t make it a habit of harassing dead people about how they ended up that way. They usually told me anyway. But once I saw the real him, well, that was all I needed to see.”
“You have no idea what kind of devil you’ve been in bed with.”
“It’s not as if I’ve had a choice. And trust me, this only further confirms that he’s exactly the type of man I think he is. He’s not the first cruel, manipulative man I’ve ever met.”
“I should have warned you when I realized—” She shakes her head, warning off tears that pool in her eyes. Her jaw is tense as she looks me over, her prying stare setting me on edge.
“Realized what?”
“That you looked just like them…me. Dark hair, brown eyes, not some petite, frail thing. He never liked that.” She sighs. “You know, when they built this house, and I saw that they only had a son, I was relieved. I thought maybe it would end with me. But then…”
“Then I showed up.”
“And you didn’t leave. You only became a more and more frequent fixture. Even from a distance, I saw his interest in youpique. I watched the hunt unfold. Because make no mistake, he was hunting you long before you were aware of his presence.” I lean on the tree for support, my head swimming with so much new information. She could be lying. She could, but she’s not. Despite how unbelievable it all sounds, it also fits just right. It makes so much sense.
“How many?” I gasp. “How many did he kill?”
“I don’t know for sure. At least five that I know of.”
“How do you know that?”
“For starters, he killed my best friend.”
“And you…what? Thought you could expose him? Catch him?” There’s no way I would have put myself in that man’s orbit if I had any choice, knowing what he is.
“Not originally, but you can’t ignore fate. It had been years since I’d seen him. He’d been one of my middle school teachers, and for him to be my professor all those years later. It’s like Kaylee dropped him in my lap, a sign from the universe and all that.” She laughs, but there’s nothing lighthearted about it. “Even though I was much older than she was, I thought, ‘how hard could it be to seduce a man like that?’ It wasn’t hard…and that should have been the waving red flag. But I was young and arrogant and so full of rage and hatred that I just didn’t see it coming.”
“What was the outcome you were hoping for?” I don’t mean to sound judgmental, but I’m astonished that someone would put themself in the position to be alone with someone they suspected to be a killer.
“I was going to get him to confess what he did to her. I’d never considered that maybe he was the one setting a trap and not the other way around. I thought having the attention of a woman older than his usual affections would be exciting for him, distracting. Something to fuel his arrogance, not tip him off.”She shakes her head at her younger self. “He did admit it, but of course, I never got to tell anyone.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you.” The words aren’t enough, but I don’t know what else to say.
“It was a long time ago. But thank you. I thought I’d made my peace with it, but when you came back, it stirred up all those old fears, the paranoia. I ran, hid, when I should have helped you. Now I just want to make it right.”
“And how can you do that?”
“I know where the knife is.”
