Page 49 of At The End Of The Day

Trying not to hyperventilate, I threw my arm up again, pointing out at the woods. Hearing something to the left, I spun in that direction and fired another shot. Dash was now laughing to the right, so I twirled and fired yet again.

“Give it up, man. You ain’t shit no more. You lost everything. You’re out, Jack. Finito.”

“Shut up!” I roared at the top of my lungs, pulling the trigger until the bullets ran out. Exhausted that easily, I slumped to my knees, wheezing and choking on sobs. “Shut up. Just shut up,” I whimpered, bending over to bury my face in the dirt. The gun pressed to the side of my head, my mangled fingers dug into the ground.

His laughter came in and out, getting loud, as if he were right beside me, then fading off. “You’re a loser, Jackyl. We all take orders from Tyler now. He’s gonna run the Serpents one day, not you. You’re weak and pathetic.”

Scrambling to my feet, I howled, my voice croaking, and ran down the slope for the river. I was going insane. I needed food, water, sleep, pain meds. Splashing into the stream, I waded until I was waist deep and slumped, dunking under to cool off. The chill shocked my body, making my heart race even faster. Breaking the surface, I raked my fingers over my short hair and then rubbed at the stubble on my jaw. Thirsty, I cupped my good hand and slurped some into my mouth. So dehydrated, it literally hurt, my throat swollen.

He was lying, Dash was full of shit. He was pissed because I was fucking around with his woman. I never dipped my dick, but she’d sucked me off plenty of times while I fingered her cunt. The cops finally tracked down her secret lover to me, not a rival gang member, and now he was trying to make me suffer for betraying him.

“Jackie,” an oddly familiar voice sang.

My brows furrowing, I bristled, every hair standing on end.

“Jackie, over here.”

My shoulders squaring, bit by bit, I turned to face the bank. My heart sank and my jaw fell. “What the fuck?” I croaked, nauseousness making me dizzy. Bile coating my throat, I retched and then puked the water I just drank. Swatting it away, I trudged for the bank, shaking my hands out.

“Jackyl!” she shouted, her tone now angry.

I choked on a gasp and spun around, frantically searching for her again. Standing on the edge of the trees, she was wearing the same outfit we buried her in, her face mangled, the flesh rotting to show her teeth through her cheek.

“Cathy?” I rasped, squinting and creeping toward her. There was no way. After all these years, she should be dust by now. Why did she look so…fresh? As if she’d only been dead a few days.

Her hands on her hips, she shook her head, her hair matted and full of twigs and dirt. “You ruined her.”

“Who?”

“Tiny. You know damn well you could have handled that situation with me without bringing that little girl into it. You knew she wanted to be a lawyer, and you didn’t want that.”

My breaths were shallowing again, my eyelids rounding.

“You wanted her, you always wanted her. Even before my magical little makeover, you wanted that little girl.”

“What? No, I didn’t. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Where were you hiding the dope before you started using her closet, huh?”

Shame burning my face, I pulled at my nape. “I, uh…what?”

“You used that as an excuse to get close to her. Then, when you suspected I was a cop, you used that to reel her in deeper. You could have handled everything without involving her, at all. Had you just left her alone, she would have forgiven Tyler, they would have gotten back together years ago, and she would still be good. She would be a lawyer right now, married to her true love, and those would be his babies.”

“Shut up!” I bellowed, my words echoing off the trees.

“You preyed on that little girl. She was just sixteen years old, and you set your sights on her. I don’t know if it was because you were jealous of how good she was, how pure and innocent and smart, or if you just wanted to fuck her all the way back then, but you made the decision to trap her in your life and make sure she needed you and no one else.”

I lifted my arm, just now realizing I’d lost my gun somewhere. Holding my hands out, I looked at them, then patted my jeans and sides. Where the hell was it? What happened to it?

“You’re a sick bastard, you know that? She was just a kid, and you purposely corrupted her—”

“Shut up!” I screamed, shaking my fists at my sides, the pain overwhelming when I curled my left fingers. Sobbing, I dropped to my knees, the heels of my palms pressing into my eyes, and rocked. “Shut up, just shut the fuck up.”

Birds tweeted and the wind blew. After a minute or two, I dared to peek, but found I was alone. Grunting, I rose to my knees and turned in every direction, but there was no one. No one, but distant laughter echoing through the woods. Not just Dash, either, it was several people. All laughing at me.

Crying, I bent over again, my face in my hands on the muddy beach. I was going crazy. I was losing my fucking mind!

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”