“Don’t. Tempt. Me.” Before I can even finish putting on her wrap dress, I swipe at her with the pottery knife. I slash her cheek, and she cries out and holds a palm to her skin to stop the bleeding. “Hand over the Louis.”
“Fuck. You.”Kelly’s face is twisted with anger.
I laugh at the poor, pathetic woman in front of me. Hobbled on her knees, bloody and begging for my compassion. Just like Jesika. I blink away the flood of overwhelming emotion that threatens me.
“What did you think would happen?” I laugh. “You really thought we were just going to be friends? Best friends forever, like schoolgirls, huh?” I move closer, enjoying the way fear darkens her eyes. “We just needed matching necklaces. Speaking of—gimme that silver locket you’re wearing too.”
She blinks once, another burst of tears covering her cheeks. “From my sister? You monster.”
An amused grin curves my lips. “I know you turned on me. I know about Tahoe.”
“What do you mean?” She coughs out.
“Do you think I’m stupid? Do you really think I just went crazy? I know they had you wiretapped, I know they heard everything we talked about.” My blood bubbles with anger the more I think about all this woman has put me through. “Just when I needed your help, you signed my death sentence.” I hook the knife in her cheek again, dragging her to me. She howls with pain, and a fresh burst of blood covers her chin. “You tried to fuck me over, but I amunfuckwithable, bitch.”
I cradle my round belly, rubbing it with my palm like a pregnant woman would. “I managed to trick them all. Do you really believe that I thought I was pregnant? I just needed you to think I believed it. It was fun, really, eating more cookies and acting like I was pregnant, trying to gain weight to look more like the woman who aided in my downfall.”
Kelly slumps to the ground, her palm covering her mouth that’s gushing crimson.
“Doesn’t take much to put on fifty pounds, does it?” I trace the roundness of my belly with a fingertip. “Doesn’t take much to make people think you’re crazy either,” I chuckle. “I just hadto talk about choosing baby names now and again, and that was enough to convince the nurses I was insane. That was all it took to get them to ignore me. You know they never checked my room once to make sure I wasn’t hiding my medication? Not once. What an oversight, don’t you think?”
Moans interrupt my thoughts. It seems like she’s trying to talk but can’t. Only jumbled and garbled sounds are coming out. I blink, realizing what I’ve done. I’ve cut Kelly’s tongue.
She can’t talk.
My eyes cross the path and land on the small brick hut with a chimney billowing puffs of marshmallow-white smoke.
The kiln.
I swallow, realizing what I have to do. The path forward has been laid out before me for a reason. I have to do this. My survival depends on it.
“Come over here,” I hiss, clasping her at the wrist and dragging her across the path. She doesn’t fight me. I’m lucky. When I woke up today, I didn’t realize it would be the day I’ve been waiting for, but opportunity has knocked, and I will answer it. Carpefuckingdiem.
Once she’s at the foot of the opening of the kiln, I pause and unlock the rudimentary sliding lock and swing the door wide. A wave of scorching heat washes over us and sends a thrill of anticipation through me.
“How lucky we are. It looks like someone is firing something pretty today.” I heave her up against the flat stone step at the opening. “Up you go.”
More garbled noises slice through the peace.
I regret the damage I’ve caused to her tongue, but it’s another stroke of luck because it will be the catalyst that secures my freedom. I just have to ensure there’s no chance she can heal enough to tell her story.
“Open up, babe.” I speak like a doting mother trying to get a stubborn child to eat their peas.
Kelly doesn’t respond. I spot a pair of rusted iron tongs used to move items in and out of the fire. I swipe them and gather a fiery orange coal in their grip. “Come on,” I coo. “Be a good girl.”
I grasp her face and force her mouth open. She doesn’t have much fight left, but I persist. I have to make sure that when I leave here today, there are no witnesses who can speak to what happened.
My security requires her silence.
I think fast, wondering how I’ll cover my tracks if I do this next part. I know I have mere minutes at most before someone realizes what’s happened. I have to make the most of my next few steps. I bite down on my bottom lip; the taste of freedom is so sharp and sweet on my tongue I’m powerless to resist it. After being locked up in here for months, I’ll do anything to escape.
“Don’t make me mad.” I push her mouth open wider and hover the coal at her lips. “Take it. Put it in your mouth and hold it there, bitch.”
Tears blink from her eyes and mix with the blood that’s drying on her cheeks.
“Do it. Don’t make me mad.” My threat finally lands because Kelly opens her mouth wider and leans in. She takes the coal in her mouth, and I turn away as the skin of her lips bubbles and peels. She howls like a wild animal, but before she can spit out the hot coal, I clamp a palm over her mouth and force her to hold it in.
“That’s a good girl,” I soothe. “The pain will be over soon.”
