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“What has this got to do with anything?” I ask and her eyes flash with anger before settling back down.
“I’m giving you the backstory, I would have thought you’d appreciate all the free time I’m awarding you right now. I could just kill you if you’d prefer?” She cocks her head to the side and I shake mine whilst jerking my rope back and forth against the hook that’s holding it to the chair.
I wouldn’t have even known it was there if I hadn’t caught my wrist on it. I can feel the blood trickling down my arm now but that’s the least of my worries and I may have finally found a way to get out of this mess. I mean I’m sure that I’ll die trying, but maybe I can at least make her think twice about betraying a friend in the future.
“I was five when I killed our pet bunny, it bit me and I was angry so I reacted. It made me sad afterwards but mum was unphased, dad on the other hand freaked the fuck out and tried to get me away from her. It didn’t work but he did leave, he wouldn’t have left me but my mum’s family didn’t give him a lot of choice in the matter. He left, and I was raised by killers, dealers and traffickers. The only issue, I wasn’t detached from my feelings. If I hurt something, then it hurt me, but some things just deserve to die,” she says through gritted teeth as her face grows as hard as granite and her eyes scream of a fire so fierce it would melt you in an instant.
“What deserves to die?” I ask quietly, I think keeping her talking is the best bet Ivy and I have.
“My neighbour had this dog and it would not shut up, I couldn’t get any sleep and I was so tired. I wouldn’t have had to kill it if the owner had listened to my mum but no, so I did what I needed to do to keep me sane. I was seven at that point. There have been other animals and people as I have grown up but I won’t just go and kill something. Alas my mother eventually got caught doing something frowned upon, and she was arrested so I was given to my father. He’d shacked up with a new woman by then, she had kids of her own and was pregnant with his child,” she sounds sad as she talks about it but I still don’t see how this explains who she is and why she is doing this.
“It was enlightening living in a fully functioning household, I mean I’d spent time there but never consistently. I was loved and disciplined when it was needed and I didn’t get the urge to kill for a long time. My messed up family still contacted me occasionally and told me that I would always have a place with them. I was wanted everywhere, and I eventually took them up on it when I hit thirteen. Someone thought it would be a great idea to steal from us and all dad did was call the police. Because they are so helpful,” she rolls her eyes before laughing humourlessly. “My baby sister was devastated, and I wasn’t going to just stand by and let someone steal from us so I used my family’s connections and soon found the thieving brat. They screamed for so long and their last moments haunted me for a year but the more lives I took, the easier it got. The thing is, it has to be personal in some way otherwise, what’s the point?” Does she want me to answer this, because I can’t help her with that one but I am nearly free from this rope, I only need a few more minutes.
“Why is it personal with me though? I haven’t done anything to you. I freaking loved you Roxie, I trusted you,” tears are streaming down my face as I pick up the pace and try to brace through the cramps in my arms.
“You’re the exception, you see you haven’t done anything. I was hoping that Dante would do his job so I wouldn’t have to, I did not want to kill you baby girl. Now, you know that you’re dying because of your brother, he and his friends made things difficult for the Shaw’s and they want their revenge. He died, and they lost your mum and dad which only caused more problems for them. I only accepted this job because I can’t get to your mum, so you’re the next best thing. Sometimes the child must suffer for the sins of the parent,” she’s nodding her head, then stands up and leaves the room.
“I’m going to try and get us out of here,” I whisper shout to Ivy but her reply is a wracking cough that makes blood bubble up onto her lips.
“Save… yourself,” she wheezes out, right as Roxie returns, clutching the knife and there’s a manic look in her eyes.
“No one is getting saved. Now then... shall we begin?” How can she smile as she asks that?
“What did my mother do to you? And why Ivy? Is kissing your boyfriend really the reason you want to kill her?” I can hear the judgement in my voice and I hope she can too.
“I may not have been entirely honest with you when you asked about my history with Ivy, now I did try to be nice to her when she first arrived but she avoided me like the plague. Within one week of being there, she had Amias and the others welcoming her with open arms. One week, yet they couldn’t be arsed to even speak to me if we got partnered up in class. What was so special about that little bitch? And then there was Declan, oh yeah before he got with the Shepherd he had a thing with Ivy. He was supposed to be mine and yet she stole him from me too. Of course it didn’t last, especially when I got involved. The Shepherds have always been easy to manipulate, and it was beyo
nd easy to get them to set their sights on her. She gave him up way too easily, just proving my point that she wasn’t worthy of him. And then he got with someone else and I had to bide my time. I wouldn’t have her sloppy seconds and I needed to remind him that I was the only girl for him,” she’s balancing the blade on her finger, piercing her own skin and watching as her blood pools on the tip.
“When she got with Finley, I could tell that Declan wasn’t happy about it and I needed him to be done with her for good. The fact that she wouldn’t open her legs for Fin wasn’t working, so I had to go harder. Got footage of Ivy following me into a bathroom, after working a little magic I got it to look as though she beat the ever living shit out of me. I was beyond out of it and Declan was the one to find me, he couldn’t look at her again after that,” she’s laughing and it’s only increasing as Ivy cries harder, no longer able to stay silent.
“You did it all for Declan, yet you made it hard for him to be with you. If you wanted him, why go to all the effort of turning him away?”
“People always want what they can’t have, I also needed to make sure he wouldn’t get interested in that little bitch again. Well, Ivy changed into her angry punk self so that took care of that and I had to make sure that Declan was mine. Getting him to abandon his new girlfriend and friends was a great way to get him alienated, and you made it so easy. You helped him to see how awful they really were. He’s got a huge heart and seeing me protect you, only made him fall harder,” she pulls her phone out and taps away at her screen before pocketing it once more.
“Nearly time for the sale, it’s time to say goodbye baby girl,” she crouches down before me and places her hands on my knees.
“What about Bella? This whole time I thought she was the one pretending?” I can’t go out without knowing this, was Bella in on it too.
“That just worked out perfectly, didn’t it. You seeing the text on a phone, the same make and model as hers. I swapped it out with hers when you went upstairs and the rest as they say, is history. As for the constant texts of her trying to get you on stage, yeah guilty,” she bats her lashes and I can tell we’ve reached the end of this fucked up conversation.
“My mum?” I ask feebly, grasping at straws and she’s shaking her head at me as she stands back up and places the knife against my throat.
“Declan w-w-will n-n-ever love you,” Ivy splutters out and Roxie whirls around, scoring my neck as she does it.
“Shut your filthy mouth,” she screams as she charges towards her, I pull my wrists down hard and the rope snaps.
I run as fast as I can, but I’m not fast enough as she pulls her arm back; knife in hand and then thrusts it forward, straight into Ivy’s stomach.
“No!” It's a scream, a plea from my lips. This can’t be happening, she can’t die.
The back of my hand shoots out, slamming into Roxie and sending her stumbling away from the chair and down onto one knee. The knife is still protruding from Ivy’s stomach, but I can’t remove it. Duh, it’ll make the bleeding worse Henleigh.
“You are a smart one baby girl, but you can’t save her and you can’t save yourself,” Roxie says on a laugh as she gets back to her feet and reaches behind her.
That saying about taking a knife into a gun fight comes to mind, because I can’t see her pulling anything else free. I just can’t give her a chance to do it, I go after her once more, slamming my shoulder into her stomach as the gun comes out and flies across the room. We crash to the floor but I can’t waste time worrying about what she’ll do, I need to get the gun. No, you can’t. But then again, what choice do I have?
I crawl forward but she grabs my ankle and pulls hard, sending my chin slamming into the floor. Looking over my shoulder, I can see the anger in her every atom and I kick my leg out, colliding my foot with her face. It makes her let go but I don’t think I can make it, I look up at Ivy and our eyes meet for a moment and I can see that the ember of her life is slowly growing smaller, it will soon be extinguished and she’s the reason I have to at least try and do something.
