AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After the line wrenched itself from the depths of his soul, Frost whispered his death sentence,“Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’”
He sighed mournfully, lowering the blade. Then he whispered, as if praying,
“And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door…
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming…
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor…”
----
We could see the door. Justin had gone ahead and had his gun raised.
One of the neighbors had a party going and they were screaming the countdown. “7! 6! 5…”
----
Grief. That was all that was left now. And a life consumed by grief alone was not a life at all. It was torture. Frost sighed mournfully again and lifted the knife once more, this time with the blade turned towards himself.
“And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor…”he paused. Without one more breath, he whispered softly, almost inaudibly.“Shall be lifted…”
The clock struck midnight.
People all over the hotel, all over the city, all over the country cheered.
“Nevermore.”
He brought the knife down to drive it into his chest.
The door flew open and I stumbled through it, throwing my hand out towards him, towards that knife. “Frost! No!”
I got a hold of his wrist as I fell into him. I looked into his eyes of molten ice, watched his jaw drop, felt his breath on my face as he breathed a name.
“Lenore.”
TWENTY-TWO
Frost collapsed onto the chair behind him and I fell with him, landing on his lap as he fell completely limp. The knife had punctured his shirt but stopped short, just nicking his skin and drawing only a thin line of scarlet blood. I took the knife from his hand and wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face in his shoulder as I sobbed in relief. I never wanted to let him go. “Oh God, Frost. I thought I was too late. I thought you were dead.”
“I thoughtyouwere dead,” he whispered almost silently as he clutched me to him.
“You littlefreak bitch!”
Both Frost and I looked up suddenly at Nina, who had stormed from her hiding place to stand ten feet away with a glare so murderous, it could kill someone by just being trained on them. Justin advanced into the apartment, his gun raised and aimed, already loaded. I quickly held up the knife, pointing the long blade at Nina as she continued to screech. “You just couldn’t fuckingdie, could you?!”
“Put your hands behind your head!” Justin shouted at her. “It’s over! I’ll put you on the ground, I swear to God.”
She shook her head slowly, dangerously. “Not yet.” Then, she shrieked and reached for what appeared to be the only unbroken lamp in the apartment. Justin fired the gun as she dove. If he hit her, she didn’t react. The lamp soared across the room.
Frost twisted and we tumbled onto the floor, chair and all, as the lamp smashed to pieces against the door. I managed to hold onto the knife and not stab either of us, but it was a small victory. Justin opened fire on her and I heard gunfire returned. She was armed.
Pain seared through my shoulder and I cried out. Frost clutched me to him and dragged us both behind the kitchen cupboard. Justin must have hesitated, because a moment after me, he too cried out and ducked into the hallway. Neighbors were already joining him in the hallway, screaming in panic.
Nina laughed sadistically and her footsteps neared our hiding place. “You brought a knife to a gunfight, Poe,” she laughed. Slowly, silently, Frost took the knife from me. A hardness and businesslike quality, the look of a cop, was in his eyes for the first time in nearly a month. Carefully, he weighed the long knife in his hand, then took it between his fingers and waited.
As I watched, Nina’s legs appeared from around the corner, just creeping out towards us. The moment they were visible, the knife shot from Frost’s hand and buried itself in her knee. The gun went off, the bullet disappearing into another cupboard, and she screamed like something out of Hell, flying back out of reach. As she turned, I could see several inches of metal protruding from the inside of her knee.
