Bram
“Ree,” my voice rings out far louder than the silencer allowed on the Glock as I drop to my knees as Cordelia lies dying. Chest wound, right side. Probably hit a lung.
Her body twitches, her lids fluttering as she struggles to fight it. But blood pools rapidly around her. It’s the end for her, and she knows it.
I pluck my cell phone out of my back pocket, and Lena kicks it out of my hand.
“Shit.” I look up at a frail looking woman, eyes alive with fire. I hadn’t seen Lena up close in weeks. She looks like half the woman she was, her face unnaturally pale like a creature who has never seen the light. “Lena, call 911. We can fix this.” I look to my wife, her body shaking aggressively, the gun still waving in my direction. Her teeth are clenched as if she were biting down on an invisible bit and for the life of her she can’t seem to let go.
I would have gotten her help. I willgether help. If only I had known her trauma went soul deep. Hell, I knew it. I just pretended it was over, the same way I pretended my past was over.
“I did it, Mother.” Lena laughs the cackle of a madwoman. “I sent those texts to Ree because I knew she would blame you for it.”
“Lena?” Ree’s voice is as fragile as her state of mind.
The dying woman looks up at her older daughter, her tongue protruding as she shudders and bucks.
But her sister persists. “When you contacted me, and said you were going to be a part of our lives whether we liked it or not, I knew I only had one choice to make. I never wanted you here. Never in God’s name did I want you as a part of our lives. The hell I was going to let you become the quintessential grandmother to Lilly and Jack.” She looks to Ree. “I knew you would shut her out. I knew you would hold her at bay. I was willing to sacrifice what we have for a little while to get us where we needed to be.” She points hard at the pool of blood forming around her mother’s torso. “I was going to do it.” Lena shakes her head. “You didn’t have to kill her. I was going to take care of everything. I wanted her gone forever, Ree. I wanted it more than you did.”
“Le-na,” Cordelia croaks her daughter’s name out in a broken whisper.
Lena shakes her head at the old woman. “You sold my body to greasy old men. You let them into our home to have their way with me. I was too weak to defend myself, but it was only a matter of time. I knew I wasn’t going after them. They were nameless, faceless bastards who meant nothing to me. Junkies and perverts, the scum you dredged from the forbidden dangerous alleyways.”
“No.” Ree retches as if she might vomit.
“Yes.” Lena nods over at her. “I begged her not to use you, too. I volunteered to take on whatever load she brought home for you, Ree. I loved you more than I loved myself. And I never thought I’d share this with you. But I need her to know that I wanted to kill her first.”
“Oh God.” Ree bucks, her entire body convulsing as she begins to sob. The gun dances in her hands like it’s trying to fly away.
“You killed Lena!” Ree shouts as Cordelia's listless eyes shift slowly her way. “You killed those women. You never deserved a breath on this earth.”
Lena looks to me. “And now we are going to excise the second demon from our life.”
A second gunshot flits through the air and Lena falls to the floor. Head shot. Dead on contact.
Shit.
I turn back, but it’s not Ree who has my attention.
Holy hell.
This is it.
