The Christmas Killings ♕ dancemoms

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Brynn gasped, but she didn't swallow any air. Pain fluttered through her stomach and back, rocking up through her spine and hitting her head as a migraine headache. If she hadn't known better, she would've thought she'd been shot though the head, her skull breaking apart and splattering to the floor.

Nausea raced through her as she felt got blood splash up her throat, and her stomach practically erupted.

Her good leg rolled out from underneath her, and as she hit the floor, the only thing she knew was pain.

✯

Chloe's eyelids didn't flutter as often was told of happening when someone recovered from unconsciousness. Rather, her eyes shot wide open. Her lips stayed in a solid line as her brown eyes traced over each person in the room.

Brynn wasn't sure what to say or do. So she watched the blonde run her tongue over her own cracked lips and clear her throat.

"I should've expected to get caught, shouldn't I have?" Chloe asked. She wasn't struggling, not at all. If it weren't for the slight gleam in her eyes, Brynn would've thought the older girl had completely given up. But her mind was obviously still ticking.

When no one gave her an answer, Chloe continued. "You know why I didn't?"

She seemed disappointed that no one was reacting to her questions, but went on nonetheless. The wound that Kenzie had caused hardly seemed to be bothering her, she hadn't even so much as winced in pain. Sometimes, when people were badly injured though, their mind shut off the pain. If they couldn't see the damage, they couldn't feel it. That was why Brynn still hadn't looked to her painful, and now stinging, ankle. She'd suspected a bullet had at least grazed her, but until she saw it, she wouldn't feel all the pain.

"My plan was so perfect." Chloe told them, tossing her head back to flick her hair out of her face. "Do you know how long I'd been planning this for? Years. Years." Yup. Definitely a psychopath. "I didn't think there was anyway I could be caught.

"You must have known someone would have found you out." Brynn told her. "Someone would have realised that you weren't actually dead."

Chloe shrugged a shoulder, which seemed to cause her a little pain. Brynn wasn't surprised; Ezra and Kenzie had pushed her to the ground pretty hard. "By the time they did, I would've been long gone."

Brynn couldn't stand the pain in her ankle anymore, nor could she actually stand. She used Kenzie's arm to slide to the floor without falling over. "And you would've been found. Technology has improved enough to do that now, you know."

Chloe didn't grace her with an answer, just staring at her instead. "You know, it all would've worked out if it hadn't been for you and your sticky-beak friends, looking into business that wasn't yours."

"You tried to kill us!" Ezra butted in, "I'm pretty sure that's our business!"

"Speaking of that," Thomas spoke, "why did you want to kill us anyway?"

"And how did you think this plan up?" Though Brynn didn't want to admit it, credit was due where credit was due. Chloe's plot, while horrific, was genius. The Twelve Days of Christmas? Making it look like she was dead? There were a few things that needed a little tweaking, but it was brilliant.

Chloe stared off into the hall. "Be patient, will you?" She huffed, taking it all naturally and in her stride. "I'll explain it all."