Haunted by the Past (Original)

Chapter 75

"Too easy," Meredith clicked her tongue at the sight of Eli unable to move. From her back she drew a long hunting knife and her eyes met mine. My blood ran colder than hell itself.

"I-I don't understand," I uttered without thinking.

"What's there to understand?" she laughed manically as she stepped forwards. "All this time you played the victim and now you get to be the actual victim, Dani!"

"You're the apprentice!?" I shook my head in disbelief.

"Oh, yeah and doing a much better job than that twit Brodie," she boasted. "See there's number 4," she gestured to Cameron. "And number 5," she pointed to Eli with her knife. "All to make you number 6. I'm far more efficient at this, wouldn't you say? Brodie couldn't even kill one on his own. It was laughable!"

While Meredith was distracted by her own pride, Eli fought off his own body's convulsions enough to reach out and grab Meredith's ankles, throwing her off balance until she tumbled backwards. As she went down, I drew my handgun from the holster tucked in the front of my pants.

"Don't shoot!" Eli screamed as he struggled to climb up and pin Meredith down.

"I'd worry about yourself, dear brother!" she yelled.

Meredith swung her knife at him, but he headbutted her arm. She managed to free her leg and kneed him in the stomach, then pushed him aside. As soon as she got distance she moved to stab, but he grabbed the knife with his hand.

"Careful, you'll cut your precious typing fingers off, dear brother," Meredith warned sadistically.

"What did he do to you?" Eli cried out as he fought for control over the knife.

"Do to me? He didn't do anything! He helped me embrace who I always was just as the yakuza helped you embrace who you are! Did they have to do anything to you for you to delete all those people? Ahh, I finally can ask you! How good does it feel to erase all those lives? Like they were never there?" Meredith pushed. "It feels so good, doesn't it? The power. The control. Mmm, I've got a long way to go to catch up to even you, dear brother."

"No. No!" Torment washed over Eli's face. "I was forced to!"

Meredith's expression soured with disappointed, "Don't lie to yourself, Eli. You and I are family after all. It runs in our blood. Daddy raised us to be cutthroat in business and in life."

In a moment of disgust, Eli's grip weakened and Meredith withdrew the knife, painted red with his blood.

"But he also said you are weak, and he was right."

Meredith raised her off hand to knock Eli's arm out of way, exposing his torso to her and she stabbed his stomach. Eli cried out in pain and tried to grab the knife again, but Meredith withdrew it before he could. While he reeled from the pain, she moved up onto her knees and gleefully raised the knife above her head.

"Meredith!" I screamed.

She looked up at me and saw my handgun trained on her. A fire like none other burned in her crazed eyes.

"Oh weak, pathetic, Heather-less Dani! As if you could hit me. Just wait your turn," she winked at me.

"Six years ago we tracked your phone and found Heather instead," I thought out loud as the realization hit me. "That was your idea, wasn't it? You knew Eli would track it as soon as it was turned on again."

Meredith's cheshire grin widened from ear to ear. "They're right, you know? You never forget your first."

First!? The muscle of my heart clenched so tightly that it felt as if it would never beat again. My throat squeezed so forcefully I thought I may never breathe again. The reason for Meredith's mysterious release suddenly became clear. As soon as she proved her ability to become Triple-6's apprentice in place of Brodie, she was allowed to live. Brodie was then killed to take the fall so that the apprentice could continue on. Henry may have been the mastermind behind it all, but Meredith took Heather's life in exchange for hers - and she enjoyed it. Heather's killer was before me and showed not an ounce of remorse or guilt. My hands shook with anger.