Iwant to speak, but I don’t dare, the small knife firmly, yet comfortable, in my hand. I don’t have any practice with hand-to-hand combat, not even the slightest, but all I have to try and manage to do is to stick the sharp side into whoever seems to be in our home. Preferably into their throat.
The wood groans quietly as whoever’s weight settles. Jasper’s face is one of anger, his rage exudes off of him. He shields me from whoever has entered the house. He glances over his shoulder, his eyes meeting mine. ‘The women,’ he mouths.
My eyes widen as my brain registers what Jasper is telling me. He believes the women we rescued earlier from Marvin are the ones who entered the house. I want to move past him, but he stops me. Again, he signals for me to stay quiet. I want to speakto him, but the soft creaks interrupt me before I even open my mouth.
Soft murmurs ensue. I realize they are searching for us; perhaps they need aid. Jasper pushes me back behind him with one arm, while raising the other, the crowbar ready to attack. We slowly advance to the door when three women appear at the entrance.
“What the…,” I whisper, barely audible.
I only recognize the blonde one, the one that I followed straight into Marvin’s cabin, the one who rescued me, and the one I selfishly rescued back. She looks a bit better, not in the sense that she looks prettier, but her hair is washed, almost detangled. The clothes she wears are less ragged.Clean.
All three women look deformed, mutilated. One misses an arm. My mind trails off to the one that’s not here. And where did Marvin hide them? Were all of them buried alive? Like the blonde one?
“There you are, you monster. We’ve been looking for you.”
One of the women speaks, her hair brunette, shoulder-length. Her face is as ugly as the others. Maimed, scarred. Her voice is laced with hatred, aimed at Jasper. Her words stir something inside me, something deep that lay dormant, forced to awaken.
I meet her gaze full-on, not an ounce of fear for these pathetic women, who dare to step intomy home, threatenmy man,and want to disruptmy way of living, just as I found myself. A rage bubbles up that I am unable to ignore.
I shove away Jasper’s arm and step in front of him, and surprisingly, he lets me as if he can sense the fury that whirls inside me.
“Who the hell are you?” I seethe.
“I think deep down you already know, sweetie,” she says condescendingly.
I suck in my lower lip, reigning in my frustration before I answer. “You’re right. I do. You are the cunts who refused to die, even though your time was there. You escaped with your life, spared… until now.”
Her face twists into a grimace at my words. Yet I continue to speak, not done with these miserable bitches.
“You made a mistake coming here,sweetie. You cheated death once, and then you decide to confront the Grim Reaper himself once more. To taunt him. I promise you, though. He’s not the one you should worry about; I’m worse than him.”
Her brown eyes widen, then narrow as she takes me in, as if trying to calculate how much of a threat I truly am. The blonde woman pulls the brunette’s sleeve and shakes her head slightly. She steals a glance at me, her one eye darting between us, before returning to the brunette, as if trying to tell her to leave me alone. The other one, a light brown-haired woman, stands there, as if the sight of Jasper has frozen her on the spot.
“Listen, Tawny, I don’t care whether she saved you or not; she’s clearly not thinking straight. He has a hold over her.”
Tawny, the blonde, shakes her head again, the only way possible for her to disagree with the assessment. I consider whether to attack them while they’re distracted. The brunette sighs theatrically and turns to the other woman, whose eyes are glued to Jasper. It irritates me, the way she ogles him. I don’t care if it’s out of fear.
“Annabeth? Thoughts?”
When the woman doesn’t respond, the brunette roughly grabs her chin and forces her to face her.
“I’m talking to you, you nitwit.”
Annabeth’s eyes dart from the woman to Jasper, her anxiety palpable. I don’t know what their idea was coming here, but they seem awfully unprepared.
Annabeth finally finds her voice and begins to talk, squeaky, rushed. “Marvin, Lanny, Marvin. That’s why we're here. Why ishehere? Why isHEhere, Lanny? He’s not supposed to be here.”
“Calm down, Ann. Jesus. We will find, Marvin.”
“We’re going to die without Marvin. Lanny. We need him. But why ishehere? I don’t want to be here.”
Seeing my window of opportunity, I chime in.
“Marvin is dead, Annabeth. You three came here for nothing.”
On cue, Marvin begins to wail like a damn siren, but it only kicks the three women into gear. Annabeth loses her mind and crouches, rocking herself back and forth, rendering herself useless. Tawny looks lost as Lanny charges Jasper.
I yell at him that they’re mine, and he stays rooted in place, not lifting a finger.
