“Jesus Christ,” the second voice muttered. “I told you—they didn’t give her enough! She’s never going to do it.”
“Like I said, it doesn’t matter. As long as she thinks she did it, it’ll be fine.”
“Oh, yeah? And how’s that working out so far?” The second voice sounded shrill now. “She’s never going to believe she did it with the way things are going. You need to make her think she’s cuttingsomethingout here so she develops that core memory.”
“Kinsey,” the first voice said sharply. “Do what I say now. Take that knife and use it anywhere you want. It might sound hard, but it’s not. It’s a piece of cake.”
A piece of cake…
My stomach growled as the sweet scent of cream cheese icing and red velvet cake wafted into my nostrils. I knew where I was now. I was at the Sweetheart dance, getting ready to cut the triple-tiered cake.
“You… you want a slice of cake?” I asked.
“Yes! That’s it! Cut the cake for us, Kinsey.”
“Okay,” I said woodenly. “I’ll get you a piece.”
I lifted the cake knife and pressed it into the top tier of the cake. It sliced through cleanly. All the people around me wanted a piece too, so I sliced into it over and over, cutting through the thick white icing and tearing through the dark red layers inside until everyone had their share.
The strange spinning suddenly started again, and I dropped the cake knife. Why was it suddenly so cold in the dance hall? So dark and empty? Where did everyone go?
“More,” a series of faceless voices chanted. “Cut some more!”
“The cake is half gone already,” I muttered, blinking rapidly as I picked up the knife.
“Yes, but we deserve it, don’t we?” came the chorused response.
“Yes.” I nodded vehemently. “You deserve it.”
I kept cutting and cutting, serving up slice after slice to the endless line of takers.
“That’s enough.” There was a sudden pressure in my right hand, and the strange voice from earlier filtered into my head again, along with a clicking sound. “It’s done.”
I blinked. “No more cake?”
“No more.”
I felt more pressure in my hand. A strange sensation struck me; the same one from earlier that made me feel as if I were being sucked into a vortex. Then I was back in the gazebo.
My fuzzy vision cleared to reveal something pink, white, and red in front of me. Part of me expected it to be the red velvet cake from the ballroom, sitting there waiting for me to cut another slice. Nothing could’ve prepared me for what was really there.
My body knew it first, limbs going stiff and stomach dropping like a stone. Slowly, the knowing seeped into my brain.
It wasn’t a cake in front of me. It was Cerina.
She lay supine on the floor of the gazebo, wide blue eyes staring up at the white latticed roof. Crimson was splattered over her pale skin and light pink dress like ink on a Rorschach test. Upon closer inspection, several violent slash marks were visible.
I looked down at my hands, both of which were violently shaking and covered in blood. The knife was different now. Not a delicate cake knife with a floral motif on the handle. A butcher’s knife with a thick black handle and a slightly-curved blade at least seven inches long. I let out a strangled gasp and dropped it, flinching as it clattered loudly on the floor.
“What… what’s happening?” I said, words slurring. “Cerina… is this a joke?”
I took a step closer and knelt beside her, half-expecting her to turn her head and scream ‘psych, bitch!’ right in my face before erupting into hysterical laughter. A fake murder prank wasn’t really her style, but this was Cerina we were talking about. I wouldn’t put anything past her.
“Cerina?” I prodded her shoulder. She remained limp, vacant eyes staring into oblivion. An awful smell was wafting around her as well. Something pungent mixed with something metallic. Blood and… death.
“Oh, shit.Shit.” My eyes bulged and I sprang to my feet, wiping my bloody hands on the side of my dress. This was no prank. Cerina was dead.
The biggest wounds on her chest and neck were still bleeding, suggesting that the attack had occurred very recently.While you were standing right here,a sinister voice in my head whispered.It was you.