“You’re no better than me,” she said from behind me. “I see the way you look at him when you think no one sees you. Connor sees it too. That’s why he hates you. That’s why he fights others. Because he can’t fight him.”
Colton.
I stopped, my brain screaming for me to ignore her, my feet wanting to move but unable too. I half turned back. I couldn’t look at her. Fear squeezed my heart.
“You know I’m right, I know you know. You can’t even look at me because we both know what a treacherous slut you are. You’re so hot for him any idiot can see it. But he doesn’t want you, so you settled for his brother. You’re a joke. Don’t you dare judge me you worthless little tramp. You’re no better than me.”
I could hardly see for the tears. It wasn’t true, it wasn’t like that. She was hateful, she was a liar. She would say anything to hurt me.
“I hope you go soon, so we can finally be free,” I whispered as I walked away. I walked up the stairs calmly and coldly.
I flopped down on my bed and rubbed my forehead. My skull was thumping where she had hit me with the bottle. The hateful things she had said – the accusations about Colton – had me questioning myself about my relationship with Connor. I felt a few tears run down the side of my face. I think maybe I cried myself to sleep. I woke up. I don’t know how long I had been asleep for, but I was furious. This was what she did. She messed with your mind.
I was going to go downstairs and scream at her and throw plates atherif I didn’t calm down. I started pacing. Then I noticed how late it was. It had gotten dark. Dad hadn’t come back. There was no sound from downstairs. Oh God, what if she had left the house? She had been bleeding; the neighbours would have called the police. She was hateful enough to say I had attacked her.
I started for the door before pulling myself up short. No, she wouldn’t have left. She would never let anyone see her like that who wasn’t my dad or me. God forbid someone talk about her negatively. I stilled to hear any movements. Panic flared in me. She had been so drunk – what if she had fallen asleep and choked on her own vomit? I flew down the stairs and stopped short at the kitchen.
A sense of dread came over me. The kitchen was dark, but even so I could make out the shape of her slumped at the table. She had fallen forward. Chances were that if she had been sick, she would be lying in it rather than choking on it. I made to take a step backward – dad would find her and I wouldn’t have to deal with it – when a horrible sense of foreboding overcame me. I couldn’t move. I almost stopped breathing.
I reached for the light. My hand slipped it and missed. Was I sweating? Why were my hands so slippery? I flipped the switch with my second attempt. Then I think I screamed, if not out loud then certainly in my head. There was blood everywhere – I slipped and fell in it as I raced across the room to her. I scrambled to my knees, panic and horror pushing me onwards. I was crying again.
I checked for a pulse – my hands were slippery with blood as well as sweat. I reached for the house phone; I needed to call for help. Then I saw her eyes, open and staring at me, dead. She was really dead.
Even in death I could feel the hate emanating from her.
I looked at the phone, at the state of the kitchen. My hands were shaking so badly. I didn’t know what to do. I called the only number I could think of.
“Hello.”
The voice was deeper than I expected. “Connor?” I whispered. My throat was so dry. I sounded weird.
“Ari? Arielle are you ok? It’s Cole. Ari, tell me what’s wrong.” He sounded slightly panicked which didn’t help. Cole never panicked.
“I killed my mother, Colton.” The finality was too much for me, I dropped the phone as I fell, darkness carried me away.
I came around to the sound of voices. There were a lot of people in my kitchen. Someone was holding me, someone strong. I remembered I was covered in blood; I couldn’t get blood on anyone else. I tried to pull away.
“Shhh Lil Bit, I’ve got you.” It was Colton. Of course it was. Everyone else in the room grew quiet. I looked up. There were police officers, my dad, Connor and Matt. My mother’s body had a sheet over it.
“Elle baby, it’s me, can you tell me what happened?” My dad was in front of me. He looked as if he had aged 20 years since I had least seen him only hours before. His eyes were red and I knew he had been crying.
“Daddy? She’s dead?” I whispered. His eyes had filled with tears and he nodded. It wasn’t a horrific nightmare – I’d wished her dead; my wish had come true.
I buried my head into Colton’s shoulder and a sob ripped out of me. He rubbed my back as another sob escaped me.
“Shhh – I’ve got you. You’re safe,” he whispered. I leaned into him more, relaxing a little bit as my arms tightened around his neck. I burrowed my face into the crook of his neck. Cole had me, I’d be ok, nothing bad could happen, Cole had me.Treacherous slut.
I heard her words whisper in my head and I jerked back.
I looked at Cole and tried to get off his lap. My dad called my name again and I turned to look at him.
“What happened here honey,” he asked me.
“It was me...” I started to say. I heard the gasps – saw my father recoil.
Cole stiffened before saying, “It was Elle thatfoundher like this. Can’t we let her get cleaned up and the body moved before we do this?” His strong voice and controlled manner were so welcome just now.
“Coroner has to get here and we need to examine the witness for evidence,” someone said.