Page 131 of Brassy Bigwig

“Come on, old man. Don’t die on us yet. I promised Chloe she would get to watch you die.”

D got him pretty good. Reed has a black eye and a bloody nose, but it wasn’t enough.

Come on, D. Wake up.

But even if he does, there is a trail of blood across the floor, and he’s losing more as each second passes.

Reed continues smacking him, harder each time, and finally I see one of his eyes crack open.

“Chloe…” I can hardly make out what he’s saying, his voice is so weak.

“There you are, that’s it.” Reed turns D’s head so we’re looking at each other.

“I’m sorry… S’—S’ agapo, théa,” he mumbles, barely audible, but I can hear it as if he whispered it in my ear.

I love you, too…

His eyes close again after that, and I scream in agony behind the tape once more.

Reed lets go of D’s body, and he falls to the floor with a loud thud. The moment I hear the sound, my body goes numb. Then everything moves in slow motion. I see Reed’s mouth moving, but I can’t hear what he’s saying. I watch him walk to the window and look out of it. His face is angry, but I don’t know why.

He got exactly what he wanted.

Then he climbs back onto the bed and straddles me again. Just like I can’t hear him speak, I can’t feel the weight of his body on mine, either. I wait for him to remove the rest of my clothing, but he doesn’t. Instead, he raises his knife high into the air.

Do it. Send me home to be with D.

The anger in Reed’s face no longer scares me. The fear I felt vanishes. I watch as Reed swings the knife down, aimed directly at my heart. I watch my blood splatter everywhere as the knife slices through me.

The moment it makes contact, my eyes close, and I take one final breath.

I’m ready to be with D. He’s my entire world.

In this life and the next.

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