Page 280 of The Invite
A second later, I watch its effect take over on Augustus’s body and he passes out on the floor.
“No! August!”
“Oh, he’s a handsome hunk,” coos my mother, standing over him with her hands on her hips. Waving the empty syringe at me, she teases, “Too bad drugs are more powerful. Time for the real fun to begin. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to kill him like we did with Johnny.”
Bending, her hands curl under his armpits and she drags him across the floor with great effort due to his size.
“Don’t hurt him.”
Her head tilts my way and the corners of her eyes tug down in fake sadness. “Aww, begging already?”
In her bid to pull Augustus to another chair, she doesn’t notice that one of my arms is free. Since he’s heavy, the task steals her entire focus. While she’s distracted, I pull and twist at the rope on my other wrist. My right leg has gone numb from the blood loss. I pay it no mind. I don’t even care if I lose function in it.
Tonight won’t be a repeat of the night from ten years ago.
I will not be a victim.
She hasn’t made it far when I look up after my other wrist is freed. Pulling out the knife buried in my thigh, I lunge after her, taking us both down.
Her strength is weak as she grapples against me. Both of us are at a disadvantage as she scratches her nails down myface and presses on my open wound. However, my protective instincts over Augustus surge adrenaline through me, giving me an upper hand.
“Don’t you dare touch him!” I stab her in the stomach after I wrestle her underneath me.
She cries out, mouth opening wide.
Withdrawing the knife, I ram it in next to the first wound. Her back bows and I slam her down on the ground. With a roar, I slash her chest, her throat, her arm. Everywhere I can reach until blood and cuts paint every inch of her.
“I’m going to kill you!”
Years of suppressed rage powers through me.
I smile as she coughs and thrashes, crying like a little bitch.
“Who’s pleading for mercy now, you evil cunt?”
Grabbing her throat, I raise my arm and plunge the blade straight into her eyeball and twist. Her fingers go lax around my chest, where she was pushing me backward.
Ripping out the knife, I wipe the mess on her cheek.
Snaking my hand to rest between her breasts, I stare into her uninjured eye, slowly draining of life. Bringing the blade, I drag it horizontally across her throat and slash it open. The vein pops and the stream of blood, her essence, her spirit, splashes into my face and neck.
With every drop that drips out, I become exorcised of the scars she inflicted on my soul. The torment I carried around in my heart. The justice for every life she stole.
And I feel pure.
Throwing the knife, I crawl down from her corpse.
Frantic, I look for Augustus and I exhale in a rush, finding him lying unharmed. Dragging myself to him, I cup his serene face and push his hair back from his temple. His pulse is steady in his throat. But I’m scared of the drug she’s given him.
On the verge of passing out myself, I use the last of my strength and search his pockets for his phone. Feeling it, I pull it out. I find the contact info I’m looking for and dial, pressing the screen to my ear.
It picks up on the first ring.
“Help!” I whisper as the first aftershock jolts my body. The phone slides from my grip to the floor.
I curl my arm around Augustus’s torso and let the darkness pull me under.
Fear is nowhere in sight.
