Shadow Killer

Chapter 26 = The Tie That Broke

After swimming, all of us went back into the room and changed. Hanna and Miranda changed quickly but Claire and I took time.

"It's okay Hanna," I said, "Miranda and you go for dinner and Claire and I'll join you later. Anyways, what could happen? I'm going to be with Claire."

"Yeah," Claire said, "what could possibly happen to her when she's with me?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the term would be kidnapped." Hanna said and all of us laughed.

"Anyways," I said, "you two go."

"Okay, take good care of Alex, Claire." Hanna said as she grabbed Miranda's arm and both of them went out through the door. After that, I quickly changed my clothes.

"Claire, are you ready?" I asked.

"Yeah, just a minute." She replied.

"Good, 'cause I don't know where the dining hall is." The moment I said the last word, Claire came out. Claire's hair had been tied up messily and she was wearing casual.

"Why are you wearing that?" I asked, "Wear something... prettier."

"No, it's alright. I'm not in a mood to wear something fancy. That's why I wore simple, see?"

"Alright, let's go."

We locked the door and left.

"Do you know where the dining hall is?"

"Oh please," Claire said, "I know it like it was my closet. I can even go there with my eyes closed."

"Okay." I said and we walked for a minutes.

"Um... Claire, are you sure this is the right way?" We were in a dark alley. I didn't even know how a resort like this could have such a dark alley.

"Yeah, yeah, Alex, I'm sure this is the right way. The right way for your doom!" Claire shouted the last part and turned to face me as she said it.

"What do you mean?" Claire was acting like a maniac. Whatever she was saying wasn't making any sense. I started to feel a bit worried for myself. Claire never snapped at anyone for any reason unless it was about her family.

"I was the one who set the fire. I was the one who dropped the brick. I was the one who threw the knife. I was the one who threw the umbrella and now, I have you here, all alone, with me."

"But you were following Victoria, weren't you?"

"I knew that Victoria wasn't the killer since I was. I investigated a little bit and you won't believe what I found. Victoria has always wanted to be your best friend but since that was never going to happen, she decided to become your enemy rather than be a girl at school who you didn't even know existed. While I was trying to kill you all this time, she somehow managed to figure out that I was the one trying to kill you. I told her that I would tell the entire school about the best friend thing if she told you about me being the killer. I also told her that if she did, I would get to know. She was too afraid to do anything but she was protecting you in her own silent way. Anyways, I didn't follow Victoria. I followed you and threw the umbrella."

"Didn't the security cameras catch you?"

"If they did, do you think I would be standing here? I removed the footage and replaced it with something else. It's a sad thing, you know. Victoria wanted friendship, but now she'll never get it because I'm going to kill you!" She took out a knife that shone in the dark.

"Wait a minute!" I yelled. Panic arose in me at a terrible rate. Maybe if I stalled, then Hanna and Miranda would know something's up and come to find me, "Why do you want to kill me?"

"Would it make a difference even if I did tell you? You're going to be dead in a few minutes anyway."

"Please?" I knew I was pushing my luck but I was curious.

"Because you have everything! Parents who are happily married, no siblings that fight, a happy life, you have everything whereas look at me. My parents fight with each other for custody and stuff even after the case is over and they are divorced, my twin sisters never got along from the moment they were born and will never get along either. Plus they're both eighteen and me, I'm nowhere. No one in the family notices me and no one cares about me either. I just get enough food to live on. There's no love in my family. Only hatred. There's no hope either."

"How is it related to me?"

"You have the perfect life, Alex. I have always been jealous of you. Your parents have always treated me with more love than my parents do. If I kill you, your life won't be perfect anymore because you won't have a life. Your parents will be in misery. They'll think you committed suicide. I'll make it look like that. How disappointed everyone will be." She made a tsk sound.

"Claire, if you really think that my parents are better and have always been the sweetest, then don't kill me. We'll... I don't know... adopt you or something. Don't cause them so much pain."

"I'm sorry, but it will cause me much more pain to see you alive than it would be for your parents to see you dead." She said and without warning, dived in to plunge the knife into my chest as I screamed.