Through the large glass panel window, I saw Amy standing by Alec’s bedside. Swiftly, I neared the door, opened it, and stepped into the subdued space.
Amy turned around, her eyes wide open. “Elodie. Why are you back so soon?”
I covered three paces, then stopped. Alec lay on the bed, hooked up to intravenous tubes. The device monitoring his vital signs beeped continuously, and I didn’t see flat lines on the screen. He’s still alive. Thank God.
I whipped my eyes to Amy, feeling the rage that boiled inside of me. I said with gritted teeth, “You lied to me.”
Her face scrunched and she shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I found your diary. You wanted Alec dead. He fell in love with your sister and broke her heart. She killed herself and you think Alec is to be blamed. Then you embarked on a twisted journey of revenge by marrying him... just to kill him.”
Her lips curled into a devilish smile. For the first time, I didn’t see her to be vulnerable. She knew exactly what she was doing. “You shouldn’t have read the diary. You shouldn’t have gotten close to us in the first place.”
She sighed. “It’s your fault, Elodie, and now I’d have to kill you too.” She went into her dress and pulled out a handgun, flicking it at me.
“Poor thing, I was beginning to like you, but I hated your nosiness.”
A chill ran down my spine as I stared into the muzzle of the gun. I hadn’t laid eyes on a real gun before and seeing this one, I didn’t know what to do. Would Amy shoot me? Was she that cruel? Then I remembered she was filled with hatred. She was angry and capable of anything. If she could go to great lengths just to avenge her sister’s death, then she could kill me in a heartbeat. I had to be careful, or else I wouldn’t make it out of here alive. I gulped.
“What you’re doing isn’t going to bring your sister back. I’m sorry for her death, but you need to accept that she’s gone and it was nobody’s fault.”
She snapped, “Alec is to be blamed. He killed my sister. And killing him is going to give me the closure I’ve been yearning for. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this moment.” She frowned at me. “And you ruined everything.”
Tears filled her eyes. She blinked them back. “I begged Marie to leave Alec. I warned her of the dire consequences of falling in love with a city man, but she wouldn’t listen.” She scoffed. “She was so stubborn like me. Sometimes, I wished I had been a better sister to her. I failed her...” Her eyes popped open as she waved the gun at me. “But not this time.”
“Do you think this is what Marie would have wanted?”
“You don’t get to mention her name,” she retorted, “and you have no idea what she’d have wanted. You didn’t know her like I did.”
She glanced at Alec, rolling her eyes. “This coward... took her from me, and I’m going to kill him...” She faced me. “After I kill you.”
My fingers trembled. I had to get through her, only if she’d listen to reason. “You still have the chance to escape, Amy. If you shoot us, you won’t get away with it. The cops will hunt you down till they arrest you and lock you up for good.”
I had no idea what I was saying. But if she succumbed and listened, I’d let her go scot-free in exchange for our lives.
She started laughing, snapping me out of my thoughts. “You think I care? I’ve got nothing to lose. I’ve already lost my only family. There’s nothing to live for now. If I die trying to avenge Marie’s death, so be it.”
“I know you don’t believe that. Deep within you, I know you still care about your life, and you want all this to be over.”
“You think because you’ve read my diary, you know a thing about me?” She shook her head. “You don’t know me, or what I want.”
“You’re right. I don’t know you. I thought I did, but I didn’t because you lied to me. All I did was try and help you. You used me.”
“You also lied to me.”
“But at least, I didn’t lie with malicious intent. I didn’t plan to kill anybody.” My peripheral vision saw Alec’s eyes flickering open, and then his fingers moved.
“You think you’re so better than me.” She sneered. “But the truth is, you’re not. It’s easy for you to judge and say nasty things because you have no idea how it feels to lose someone close to your heart.”
At this point, tears filled my eyes. “I lost my mother. She was the only relative I bonded to growing up. Every single day, I struggle to accept her death. I wished I could’ve done something to...” My voice trailed away.
“We all find ourselves grieving at some point in our lives. Marie, she killed herself. I don’t know what she was feeling that led her to do it, but clearly, Alec isn’t to be blamed. He’s a coward for listening to his Mom and breaking up with her, but her death...was her own choice. And you have to accept it.”
She cocked the gun and glanced up. “Nice try, but I’m not buying your bullshit. Goodbye, Elodie. I wished I didn’t have to kill you.”
I braced myself for death, my eyelids fluttering rapidly. We heard footsteps outside the corridor, then a maddening gunshot ripped across the silence of the ward. When I opened my eyes minutes later, I was shocked to find myself standing.
Sheriff Hunt stood in the ward, cuffing Amy behind her back. Alec sat on the bedside, staring at my face. Nobody got hit, but why was I smelling the acrid scent of gunpowder? I moved my eyes toward the shattered glass window. Amy had pulled the trigger and targeted me. Alec must have hit her hand, directing the projection to the window.
Amy stared daggers at me as Sherrif Hunt led her away. A nurse looking like she’d seen a ghost stood, fixing the intravenous tubes.
Alec tried to stand, but the nurse prevented it and told him to lie down.
“Are you all right?” he asked as I neared his bed.
I bobbed my head. But I wasn’t all right. I still couldn’t believe what just happened. “When did you find out about her?” I asked.
“Last night. She tried to smother me with a pillow in my sleep. When I grabbed her hand, she started screaming like I was hurting her. Then I knew she wasn’t my wife.”
“She planned everything. She wanted you dead. She was going to use me to commit the perfect crime.”
“I heard your conversation,” he murmured. “I’m glad you came when you did. If you didn’t come, she’d have killed me in my sleep.”
“You also saved my life, and I’m grateful.”
He smiled at me, and I smiled back. I stood, processing everything that had happened a while ago.
YOU ARE READING
UNINVITED
Mystère / Thriller𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐌𝐞 When Elodie sees the words scrawled on her neighbor, Amy's window, her weekend at the secluded farmhouse takes a dark turn. Is Amy in danger around her enigmatic husband Alec? Elodie knows she must get closer to the Bergers to uncove...
