Page 113 of Riot House
So, I do what I should have done a long time ago.
I turn and wait to face down a monster.
50
ELODIE
Carina lets out a strangled cry.That’s how I know something bad waits for us up ahead. The walls of the passageway close in, swearing they’ll crush me to death, as Doctor Fiztpatrick pushes me from behind, shoving me through an opening in the cave. And my heart stops dead in my chest.
Wren.
His eyes widen when he sees me, full of terror, and then they go utterly blank. At my back, Doctor Fitzpatrick lets out a hollow, surprised bark of laughter. “Well, well, well. Look who it is! We were just talking about you, weren’t we, girls? Mercy, too. Wow, we’ve got the whole gang.”
Wren stares at me, his jade eyes working their way up from my feet, travelling over my body; I can tell that he’s assessing me for injuries. I give him a quick shake of the head to let him know I’m okay. He steps forward, sliding his hands into his pockets. Such a normal, everydayWrengesture. “What’s going on, Wes? What are you doing?”
“I’d have thought that was obvious,” the doctor replies. “We seem to have ourselves a reoccurring problem. These girls keep on crawling out of the woodwork, trying to come between us. I take care of one and another just pops up.” He chuckles. “It’s like whack-a-mole. Lucky for us, I was always good at whack-a-mole. Why don’t you grab hold of Carina? Keep her quiet while I take care of Elodie.”
A glimmer of disgust works its way onto Wren’s face. “What fucking planet do you live on, old man? I’m not keeping anyone quiet. For fuck’s sake,untie their hands. What’swrongwith you?”
Doctor Fitzpatrick’s head jerks back. There’s a streak of dirt on his cheek. Down his left-hand side, too, where I gave him hell when he yanked me back up onto my feet. His bottom lip wobbles, the way a child’s mouth works when they’ve just skinned their knee and they don’t know if they should cry or not. “You don’t need to talk to me like that. I’m trying, okay? I’m just trying to do what’s best for us. How are we supposed to be together when you keep getting distracted by thesewhores?”
“You’re not in your right mind,” Wren whispers. “You need help.”
“You’re the only one who can help me now. Help me take care of these two and we’ll let your sister go. She’s family, right? You won’t say anything, will you, Mercy? You understand why this needs to happen. You were the one who told me about Mara in the first place, right?”
He sounds so desperate. His demeanor now is so different from the show he puts on in his classroom; it barely makes sense that this is even the same person. I spin around, putting my back to the wall of the cavern while Doctor Fitzpatrick’s distracted. Quickly contorting my hand, making it as narrow as possible, I twist my wrist from left to right, working the twine down over my hand a millimeter at a time.
Mercy’s as white as a sheet. She looks from Wren to Doctor Fitzpatrick, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. “I—I didn’t—know this would—happen.”
I almost have my hand free.
“Why bother pretending, Mercy?” I spit. “You’ve hated me from the moment you came back to Wolf Hall. You’ve been a raging bitch since day one. Just go, for fuck’s sake. Get out of here.”
Mercy jumps. It’s as though she’s forgotten I’m even here. Wren frowns, but he quickly understands what I’m doing. “Yeah, Merce. You’re family. Blood’s thicker than water, no matter what. So just…go. Don’t breathe a word of what you saw here tonight.”
Fitz watches the exchange, eyes quick, shifting from one person to another. His presence was always so domineering and powerful in class. He was master of his space, and he oozed confidence. He’s twitchy and weird here. I’m nervous just looking at him.
“Fine.” Mercy swallows. “Whatever. Like I care anyway. I’ll see you back at the house, Wren.”
I pray to god Mercy’s figured out that she needs to call the cops the moment she gets reception on her cellphone. She needs to be able to find her way back to the road first, though, and I honestly don’t think she’ll be capable. She shuffles around the perimeter of the cave, eyeing Fitz warily.
I ought to keep my mouth shut, but of course I don’t. “Wait. Why not just let Carina go with her? Carina’s got nothing to do with this. She doesn’t care about Wren. I’m the only one you have a problem with.”
Fitz flips over the bowie knife in his hand, grinning manically. He shakes his head, disappointment on his face. He cuts Mercy off, moving to block the exit of the cave. “You guys are terrible actors. Mercy, I expected better of you. You’ve had actualtrainingin this. You embarrass yourself. Get back with your brother. Go on, go.” Mercy flinches when he raises the knife, showing her the blade. She’s back beside Wren in a flash, and I don’t blame her either—the evil glint in Fitz’s eyes is fucking demonic.
“It seems we’ve arrived at a bit of an impasse, wouldn’t it, class? Wren, you’re unwilling to admit your true feelings. Mercy, you can’t be trusted, even though you should have your brother’s best interests at heart. Carina, you’re a victim of circumstance, and Elodie, well, Elodie just plain needs to die. So, where do we go from here?”
“There are four of us.” Wren glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “And only one of you. The chances of you managing to hold us all off before we putyoudown are pretty slim.” He shifts forward, holding out his hands in a calming gesture. Horror tugs at Fitz’s features. “What are you talking about? I’d never killyou, Wren. Iloveyou. It’s just the girls that have to go.”
Both of my hands are free. I drop the twine, readying myself.
A cruel and terrible smile plays over Fitz’s face. “I’m not worried about three skinny little girls. And I don’t think you’re going to hurt me,” he says. His attention’s all for Wren. He’s dazed, fanatical, fixated on him. It’s sad, really, that he’s this sick over him. And heissick. The things he’s done to try and win Wren… The things he’s willing to do…
Fitz jolts sideways, rushing toward me. The ugly, brutal knife he drove into my bed is raised in his hands, prepared to strike. Fear electrifies me. Time slows. I’m ready for him. I wait until the last second—
“No!” Three different voices shout at the same time, the word ricocheting around the cave. Wren hurls himself forward, reaching to grab the man…but Carina’s closer. I watch, feet frozen to the floor, as she throws herself at him, but her hands are still tied behind her back. She has no means of stopping him, other than to angle her shoulder and piledrive into his body.
I already know what’s going to happen before it plays out.
