Page 5 of Make Me Scream

“Anne!” I scream. She collapses, clutching her stomach. “Anne!”

“Go, Chloe!” she grunts. “Run!”

I try.

My leg wants to crumble into dust. All I can do is hobble. Maybe that’s what saves me, because Master doesn’t shoot. His footsteps just get closer and closer until he’s right behind me. Then my body explodes in pain, and I disappear.

—

I wake with the sun warming my face. A muffled crunching sound stirs from somewhere nearby. The light stings my eyes. It’s too bright. Too much time in the dungeon accustomed me to darkness.

But I’m not there now — where am I?

We were escaping. Then Master-

Forcing myself to look, I recognize the lawn behind Master’s Haven. A few feet in front of me, Master stands knee-deep in a hole, shoveling out dirt. Behind him rests a wooden coffin.

A gunshot echoes from my memory.

Oh no.

“Anne!” I gasp.

“You know you’re not supposed to use that name,” Master says, his tone soft but humorless.

“You killed her! You fucking asshole!”

“She didn’t give me a choice. You might have gotten away.”

I thrash against the bars of my cage, wanting to rip them apart, take that shovel and bash his head open like a melon. We tried so hard to escape and didn’t even get close. If I hadn’t wasted so much time at the fence… She should have gone without me. I slowed her down.

I should be the one in that coffin.

“Are you blaming yourself, Toy?” he asks when I don’t say anything.

Creepy as fuck, how he does that.

“Don’t. I chose to shoot her, instead of you. This escape attempt was her plan, wasn’t it?”

“Fuck you.”

“I could see it in her art,” he continues, ignoring me. “For months, her drawings had a newfound essence of hope and anticipation. It made everything she’d created before feel lifeless. Rote. I couldn’t believe the difference. So I knew she was planning something.”

Unbelievable.

We’d been so careful. We worked so hard to keep our secret.

“Still, I’d be lying if I pretended that was the only reason,” Master says. “She’d been here for so many years. She didn’t activate my muse anymore. Not like she used to. It was time for her to go.”

I kick at my cage as he shoves the coffin forward, tipping it into the hole. No words, no ceremony. Not even a proper burial.

He’s an absolute psychopath.

“You’re going to pay, you fucking piece of shit.”

Master pulls off his work gloves and wipes his brow.

“I understand you’re in an emotional state right now, Toy, so I’ll forgive your outbursts. But mind yourself, or you’ll be disciplined. You’re my pet now. I expect you to comport yourself properly, and when I bring home my new toy, you will teach her how to behave.”

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