I could laugh because, clearly, she doesn’t… but who’s gonna tell her. Definitely not me.
And, by the looks of it, definitely not Sam.
“Tri—Trish,” I call out to her, enticing her to move closer, and making sure to make my voice sound lower and full of emotion. That does the trick.
“I’m right here, Jess. Right here.” It’s risky what I’m doing, but I move slowly towards her, making sure to keep my knife out of view, deceiving her with the illusion of safety.
“He forced me to do it,” I blubber, making up some shit as I go. Maybe I should have done theater.
“Oh, Jess,” she breathes, opening her arms and welcoming me into her embrace. Only to be hugged by death as the tip of my knife slides between her ribs when our bodies connect.
“Jess?” She looks at me with a puzzled look, wondering what she possibly could have done to deserve this… Of course, I don’t answer. Instead, I pull out my knife and bring the tip to my lip.
My tongue darts on the dull edge and drags up the trail of crimson. Collecting it in my mouth, the metallic tang of it explodes on my taste buds, making my eyes close and a moan to escape my lips. “Fuck, baby, you taste delicious.”
Trish’s eyes go round and fill with tears. “Wh–why– me?”
I shrug. “Why not you?”
Even as injured as she is, Trish tries to take backward steps to escape me, almost tripping down the steps as I stalk her like the prey that she is. This time I don’t hide my menacing grin or the knife that I will end her with. Instead, I drag it down the railing before lunging myself towards her and catching her shoulder. She shrieks out in pain. “JESSICA, IT'S ME!” she pleads, falling to the ground. “It’s me, TRISH! YOUR FRIEND.”
I crank my neck to the side. “I have no such thing as friends,” Ireply, before lunging again, and this time, striking her in the head. The tip of the knife connects with her skull, sticking out like Excalibur waiting for its honor to pull it out. And I do. After all, there’s more people I want to kill.
“Hey, psycho!” Stacey's voice calls to me, and I turn, baring my teeth at her. I zone in and stalk toward my next victim, alarm bells ringing when I notice her pearly white smile as she waves at me, and then, before I can do anything to stop it, pain explodes at the back of my head, making me fall sideways from the impact.
Stars explode around my vision, and my ears ring from the pain. I try to move but it’s like I’m lagging. My mind and body can’t sync, rendering me helpless on the ground. Something trickles down the length of my neck and then slowly streams down my spine. The warm liquid now pours down the bridge of my nose, detouring due to my position on the ground and pooling beneath my cheek. I’m fucking bleeding.
Suddenly, a darkness sheds itself from inside me, and I realize I have no idea why I did any of this. I ruined everything, everything for my family and my future and for the students I killed.
Why? Why? Why?
Shiny dress shoes come into view as Sam moves towards his twin. Their hands slide into one another’s, and amongst the carnage and fire, they waltz around like they own the place. My vision blurs in and out of focus, but I swear that the twins are kissing. I blink again. Yeah, they are definitely kissing...
All alone on the edge of seventeen…
Darkness threatens to pull me under, but I fight it until the cold works its way up my body, and before I close my eyes for the final time, I watch as Sam grabs a discarded crown and places it on his twin’s head, crowning her Prom Queen. Tears slowly trickle down my cheek as I realize what I’ve done and the chaos I’ve created.
I hear her footsteps echoing across the floor, her heels tapping against the wood as she approaches me. Suddenly, I’m face to face with a demon in a tiara. I blink several times, my vision going in and out.
“Stupid fucking bitch,” she spits in my face as flames flicker across her pitch black eyes. “He and I are two halves of the same cursed soul. Nothing and no one will ever keep us apart. Rulers of our realm, and your stupid fucking prom.”
“Who are you?” I manage to croak out, my throat dry and dusty.
“I think the better question is what are we?” she says with a cruel laugh. “But it doesn’t fucking matter. Our job here is done. Chaos reigns supreme and you, my little pawn, won’t live to tell the tale.”
A hand suddenly appears in my periphery.
“One final dance before we head out, my demon queen?” Sam asks as Stacey accepts his outstretched hand.
Blood pools around me. Sam drags Stacey through the flames, the crown gleaming as they waltz above me. I can barely stay focused, but I can hear them laughing. And—I’m already fading.
Sounds like she’s singing…
Epilogue
DANICA
Later
