Chapters (70)
Still … I should know if she was alive or dead. I looked over my shoulder. Clenching my hands into fists, I brought them down on the rusted metal, a smile creeping to my face. There was movement. A weak cry of despair. ‘Help! Please!’ Jahmelia croaked from within. But her movement was feeble. I imagined popping the boot. Her relief as she was enveloped by a whoosh of cold air. The gratitude the town would bestow upon me when she was found – not to mention the hefty reward. A small part of me could be satisfied with that. I had taught these girls a lesson. They would never be the same. But would I? I couldn’t go back to the way things were. It was never about their deaths. It was the relentless compulsion to right a wrong. The more time I spent in Blackhall Manor, the more I understood the truth. I had never held so firm in my beliefs as when I lay beneath its roof. I couldn’t give up on what I’d planned to do with Slayton’s biggest loser cop.
A small, miserable groan echoed from the boot of the car. Jahmelia hadn’t eaten and she was scrappy already, but she should survive the night. Not that I cared either way. I walked down the foggy path, kicking stones ahead of me. After what happened with Libby, I’d wanted to finish Jahmelia that night. The trick was to hold the blade firmly but gently against the skin, with slow, even pressure. I thought about Sarah’s cat. A little bit of practice couldn’t do any harm.
My plan had always been to kill off each player, leaving Sarah until last. But now the twins weren’t at home, I didn’t have anyone left to take. Police and press were hunting me, and time was a luxury I no longer had. My knowledge of Slayton’s back roads had saved me from the roadblocks and police questionnaires. Part of me enjoyed being under their nose, but I could not contemplate getting caught. To the villagers of Slayton, I was an accepted member of the community and I had earned their respect.
I slipped out a strip of tablets from my jacket pocket. Popping two from the foil, I slid them in my mouth. This was bigger than all of us. Whatever the cost, I would see it through.