Quinn
All she can think about is her darling Harry and that she’ll never see her boy again. Pain sears through her side as she gasps for breath. Diggerty licks her. Now he’s decided that he’s her dog. She falls to the ground. There is so much commotion going on around her she can’t make out what’s being said. Things sound strange, like she’s bobbing under the surface of a lake. Zoe yelps, and the light from Gemma’s phone is pointing everywhere but on what’s happening in front of them.
Diggerty stops licking her then he barks frantically. She sees the back end of Morgan as she runs towards the exit of the den. Gemma stares at Quinn, her mouth agape. Just like back then with Jasmine, she wonders if Gemma will do nothing and run off, leaving her bleeding to death in the den. Silence falls upon all of them. Quinn doesn’t blame Gemma because she ran too. They were scared kids back then, but they’re not scared kids now. Ouch, her side hurts more than anything and she’s lightheaded. The quietness is deafening now. Gemma has upped and left the building. What a surprise.
Quinn flinches. There’s shouting and arguing but she can’t make out a single word. She spends her last few moments reflecting on how much of it was her fault. She wrote letters to herself, really mean letters that mentioned her son. She wanted them to look real. She lied to Gemma so that Gemma wouldn’t suspect her. They knew each other. Quinn would have been on the top of her list. Instead of helping Gemma at the beginning, she’d covered her own ass because she knew that the neighbours were an unforgiving type. She’s spent her life trying to fit in, never quite being good enough. Her mother had spoken to her like she was trash and, despite all her amazing achievements, no one truly respected her. Pain sears through her again. Quinn does not respect herself anymore. She sank low when she stole from Dorette and then blackmailed her. It has all come out now and it doesn’t even matter because she isn’t going to see tomorrow – hell – she isn’t going to see midnight at this rate. It’s cold, so shivery cold. This is what dying must feel like.
The shouting stops again. She feels nauseous. Gemma must have been stabbed too, and Morgan. Maybe there is no one left apart from Zoe.
She can’t hear them or Diggerty. Her vision prickles and the cold is almost burning her fingers. She can’t move them. Only now she wishes she revealed what Dorette told her on the night she fell from the balcony. Quinn knows she will die, taking the whole truth with her. Love is a powerful thing and Quinn can’t say that she hasn’t truly loved. Her love for Harry is as pure as the snow on the ground. She was working her way up to telling Gemma everything, that’s why she’d drank so much, but Gemma had been upset with her, then she’d come charging in with Ethan accusing Quinn of sleeping with him. She should have made the time to tell her everything. Now, she’d take her secrets to the grave.
Her eyes get heavier so she closes them. Dangerous because she might never wake up again. ‘Tell Harry I love him,’ is all she can murmur, but there is no one there.
Sixty
Gemma
‘Morgan, run back to the house. See if the police and ambulance have arrived.’ She starts to jog away from Zoe and me. Diggerty follows close behind, barking with excitement.
She stops and turns around. ‘I can’t leave you with her.’
‘It’s okay.’ I wave my hand, not letting on that I’m twinging because I need my daughter to be away from all this and safe. Please hang on, Beanie.
She nods as she takes in what Zoe is doing. Zoe has collapsed in front of the den where she silently rocks back and forth. Morgan snatched the knife off her and flung it into a bush, so at least I’m safe from that. The truth has now hit Zoe. She knows about Jasmine’s bones, which is what she came for. The police can take it from here.
Quinn, she’s been stabbed and I can’t help her by myself. ‘Zoe.’ She ignores me. ‘Zoe.’ I yell that loud, she recoils.
I drag her up onto her feet and pull her back into the den. My phone lights up the structure again, and I let out a gasp as I see Quinn slumped on the ground. She’s breathing in short, sharp breaths. Her eyes are closed. I kneel down and whisper. ‘Quinn, we have to get you out of here. Help is on its way. Hold on, okay.’
Zoe shakes and screams.
‘Pass me your scarf.’
Zoe is in no fit state to help, so I snatch the scarf that falls over her shoulders and I nudge it under Quinn’s light frame, looping it around her wound. I tear the bottom of my sweater and push the material against Quinn’s wound to stem the bleeding, then I tighten the scarf over it. I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing but I’ve seen this done in films. I try to lift Quinn but I can’t. Zoe stares. ‘You’re going to have to help me.’
Quinn isn’t heavy but it will take both of us. Quinn groans.
‘Zoe, grab her under the other arm.’
‘I wasn’t going to hurt anyone. I didn’t mean to.’ Her teeth chatter.
I remember what the police officer told me when he saw that I’d taken a knife to the balcony. ‘Never bring knives into a situation. It’s not worth it.’ Now I know why. This whole situation got out of hand. Jasmine deserves justice and only now is she going to get it. For reasons unknown, Aunt Dorette decided to bury Jasmine in her house. We might never know the truth. Zoe claims that she only dodged Aunt Dorette on the balcony. Quinn didn’t kill her mother – again all I have is their words for what they say. Both of them could be murderers. We only have our own truths and the pieces we’re willing to share.
‘Zoe, grab her and help me get her out.’
Zoe snaps out of her daze because I shouted as loud as I could this time. She hooks her arm under Quinn’s and we drag Quinn out onto the snowy ground and lay her down. What seems like forever passes and I keep whispering to Quinn to hold on, then I hear shouting coming from the other side of the woods. Help is on its way.
Quinn’s fingers get caught in my hair. She pulls me close and coughs as she tries to speak. I place my ear closer.
‘Dorette made me promise.’
Zoe is sitting away from us crying in her lap, so I whisper back in the hope that Quinn can hear me. ‘Promise what?’
‘She found Jasmine and she ended her life to protect you. She buried Jasmine. That’s all she told me. She…’ Quinn coughs hard and continues in a spluttery whisper. I can just about make out her words. ‘Jasmine’s head was bleeding. Dorette was foraging. She saw and heard everything. She got her car, parked on the road, dragged her…’
I would tell her to stop speaking because I can see it’s hurting her, but I don’t stop her from talking. I need to know what she has to say next.
‘Your aunt said you hurting Jasmine would ruin your life.’ Quinn starts coughing violently and gasping for breath. As she finishes her sentence, I start trembling.
