Page 125 of My Turn

Maybe Alana would be angry about it. Like I said, though, it didn’t really matter. The plan was always to join her in death after I killed Burkley. I still hated my existence without her, but I also knew that Alicia wasn’t ready for me to be gone. She loved her grandparents and fit right in but that dark, wretched piece of her soul was her dirty little secret. And mine. I’d woken it up, so I needed to make sure it didn’t fuck her up completely.

“What are you gonna do with that?” Burkley asked.

Alicia didn’t respond as she unscrewed the lid and scooped some out with a spoon. When she squeezed his cheeks to force his mouth open, he turned and tried to bite her. She shoved the heaping spoonful into his mouth and he grunted. She did one more so that it was completely full, then slapped a piece of duct tape over his lips.

I crossed my arms over my chest as I watched him struggle. “What’s the point?”

“Maybe he’ll suffocate,” she replied. “He can’t open his mouth to help him get all that shit down. It might get stuck in his throat.”

“And where’d you get this idea?”

She smiled. “I was eating a PB&J in the cafeteria and choked on it. I had to guzzle some water and it did that thing where food is stuck and it’s super painful to get it down. I saw my life flash before my eyes.”

I snorted a laugh. “Right. Glad you didn’t die right there in the cafeteria.”

“It’d be horrible. Imagine haunting a high school forever. Being known as the peanut butter gobbler would not be cool.”

A fearful hum came from Burkley’s throat. He looked at us with desperation in his eyes. He gagged, then struggled to catch his breath. Maybe she was onto something. Death by peanut butter.

To make it more interesting, I positioned my knife behind his knee and made a deep slice. He tried to scream, but it only made things worse for him. I watched his throat bob multiple times as he tried to swallow.

I pointed with my knife toward the opposite wall. There were three jars on a shelf, each one filled with fertilizer. Three bottles of wine were stationed behind them.

“Those are your buddies. In a few months, you’ll join them up there. How nurturing do you think your body will be? None will be as good as her, that’s for sure.”

He stared at another shelf with a picture of Alana and a similar jar, but hers was nicer. There were a few bottles left because I couldn’t bring myself to drink them. I had one every couple of years. Jake’s last bottle was beside hers and one day,mine would be there too. It would be Jake, Jayce, and Alana. Just like it’d been since we were fourteen. She would like that.

Epilogue

Ferris

I have a stalker.

I don’t think my stalker knows that I know. But I do. I’ve seen them. I don’t know if it’s a man or a woman. They’re always in the shadows. Just a glimpse and they’re gone again.

Then, there are the kisses. Like, Hershey fucking kisses. I find the wrappers in my bushes and shit. Why? No goddamn clue. I don’t eat them and I don’t know anyone who just carries them around in their pockets. That’s freaking weird.

Maybe I should get cameras. It’d be a good idea. But… Nobody ever said I make good decisions. My life is boring and I’ve found myself looking out the window at night, looking for them.

Why would someone stalk me? I was probably the most unremarkable guy in existence. Mostly, I sat in my favorite coffee shop with my laptop. I wrote mystery and thriller novels, which might explain my morbid interest in this person who could very well be dangerous.

So, yeah. I have a stalker. And right now, they were standing under the tree at the edge of my property while I sipped my coffee and acted like I didn’t know they were there.

I sucked in a breath when they took a step forward. They looked smaller than I thought they would, but in their dark clothes it was difficult to make out any specifics. Suddenly, their face lit up. Two green Xs for eyes and a stitched mouth.

Was this an official introduction?

It was very likely this was going to get me killed.

Might make a good book, though.

Chapter 44B

Note: This is the beginning of the HEA ending. It starts the same as the no HEA, so if you read that one, there will be repetition in this chapter. The Epilogues are exactly the same.

Jayce

As I stared at her for long minutes, I felt more afraid than I ever had. Alicia wasn’t supposed to be up yet and she certainly wasn’t supposed to come down here. She must’ve been looking for us. Maybe she’d heard Alana scream or us arguing. I could only be grateful that she hadn’t been hurt, but I shouldn’t have given Alana the gun. Even though she couldn’t do any damage with it, convincing Alicia that nothing was wrong would be a feat. If she told anyone about what she’d seen, it could cause problems, especially when it came to the adoption. Her aunt aiming a gun at her uncle was not what the courts wanted to hear.

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