Fighting For Us

14. Knife

"What is it you want Marley?"

"You know exactly what I want. You stole him from me in the first place. You've got him so fucking brainwashed! You need to cut him off. Break up with him. Make him think you've moved on. So he will get over you and come back to me."

Of course that's what she wants. I knew it would be. Knew she wouldn't rest until he was hers. I don't want to do this. I can't break up with him. It'll break his heart. I can't see him in pain like that.

"You want me to break up with him here?"

"Yes. Doing it in public makes it easier for you to do without him trying to pressure you into staying with him."

"So I break up with him, then what?"

She gets closer to me, digging the knife into me again, and whispering into my ear with a sickening enjoyment in her voice.

"Then you go make out with Theo. He wants you back. He'll happily take you back. And then I can swoop in and be Dylan's shoulder to cry on when he need me."

She's insane if she thinks this will work! And if I kiss Theo, it will prove Dylan's nightmare right. This whole fucking thing will wreck him! I have to keep myself from getting stabbed by this psychopath. Have to make it until Stanley gets here. Have to keep everyone out there safe. Gah! How the fuck did I get in this situation?!

"You're going to go out there now and do this. No funny business. I'll be watching you closely. You stay on the lounger by the corner of the house here. You better make him believe it, or your throat will be slit before you can blink. Got it?"

"Yes, Marley."

"Good. He can do so much better than your fat ugly ass any day. And soon enough he will be!"

She laughs and then does one final dig into my shoulder, before backing up so I can go. I take a deep breath and walk back outside. I go and sit on the lounger she mentioned. She doesn't come out behind me, so I quickly whisper in my phone that we are in the far corner on the lounger. As I go to scoot a little further back on the lounger, I see her coming down the side of the house. She stays just out of sight, but close enough that she could lunge out and get to me within a split second.

I look over at Theo. He's looking at me already and it looks like he's able to see something isn't right. A lightbulb goes off in my head. He and I both know sign language. His cousin was born deaf, and I have an aunt who is deaf. That was always something we bonded over when we were dating. I'm going to have to finger spell everything I need him to know, but it should work. Now to just do it discreetly so Marley doesn't see it. I keep my left hand next to my thigh. I wave my hand at him so he knows to look at it. It catches his attention, and he watches it. I spell out Marley's name. He discreetly looks around the back yard and doesn't see her. I run my hand through my hair on my left and point with my finger as I move my hand up to my hair. He tries not to look too long.

I see Dylan swimming towards me, and my heart sinks. I've got to fill Theo in on more but I'm running out of time. I smile at Dylan, while finger spelling knife to Theo. I can't look at him without drawing Dylan's attention. I sign that the police are coming. I have them on my phone. I sign breaking up with Dylan or she slits my throat. I scratch my head and glimpse quickly at Theo. I know he's seen it all. Know that he understands how serious this is. I look back at Dylan, and he's getting out of the pool. He comes over and sits at the table in front of me. Lounging in the sun to warm up. I take a deep breath and look at Dylan. He can tell something is wrong. I can see his face turning from smiling to concerned. I just hope he remembers how much I love him. I hope this doesn't shatter him.