I'm Sorry

13. The Blonde?

Mike woke up alone. He was surprised. He hadn't expected to wake up. The surprise was quickly replaced by nervous tension. If Beth kept him alive, she probably had a good reason. She had an even worse death planned out for Mike. She wouldn't just kill him, she would enjoy it. For once, he was scared.

As for his seating arrangements, Mike was tied rather tightly to a chair. He wondered where Beth had learned to tie knots like that. He also wondered where she had gotten such sturdy rope in the middle of the mountains. Not reaching any solid conclusions, Mike stopped thinking about it. The chair was pushed up against a wall, far enough from everything else in the room so that he couldn't reach.

He attempted to pull away from his restraints like he had seen others do ("others" being magicians or people from YouTube videos). The rope didn't move a centimeter. Mike was suddenly grateful that he didn't have claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces). The gratitude didn't last long, as he heard the door click open from his left.

Beth marched into the room. Her beanie was still atop her head, her sweater was still nice and clean. She didn't look like a murderer. If Mike didn't know that she was, he would never have suspected her. But, what surprised Mike the most about Beth's appearance, was the fact that she had no weapon in her hand. No knife, no gun, no anything. Mike didn't know if this was a good thing.

"Hey, sleepyhead," said Beth.
Mike didn't understand why she was acting so friendly towards him. He didn't say anything back, just glared at her.
"Oh, so you're still mad at me for the blonde, aren't you?"
Mike kept glaring, believing that she meant Jess. How could she know about Sam? She couldn't. No one did. Mike wouldn't have told her..... Would he?
"Ohhhhh," Beth started. "You thought I meant Jess!"
She laughed for about thirty seconds. The weirdest thing was, she was doubled over because for some reason Mike's torment was so amusing.
"No. The other blonde." Beth said.
Mike decided to go the sarcastic route. Bad choice.
"Ashley? I mean, you killed all of them except Em and yourself, so...."
Beth glared at Mike. If looks could kill, he would be dead. He was nervous and heartbroken.
"I mean Sam."
Her voice had such a deadly tone that Mike's eyes widened and he looked immediately to the ground. He was scared. But he couldn't let Beth see that.
"What about her?"
Mike could her his voice crack during the sentence. He guessed that that's what happens when you try to refrain from sobbing for so long. He had to stay strong for Emily. Now he had to stay strong for himself.
"You miss her, don't you?"
"Of course I miss her, she was my friend."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"Mike, stop playing these games. I know you know what I mean."
Mike knew he had lost when he felt the first tear fall. Sam. Oh, how he already missed her energetic personality and soft laugh. Oh, how he missed her beautiful blonde hair and shining smile. Oh, how Mike missed her.
Beth smiled victoriously.
"What happened between you two while I was gone?"
Mike didn't say anything.
"You can't pretend nothing happened. You two look at each other the way Ashley and Chris do. Did, I should say."
Mike looked up to face Beth. He smiled sadly.
"I think I loved her." He whispered. "I think I was in love. That's why I couldn't get over her. That's why I couldn't love Jess. I loved Sam. I guess it's a little late to realize that now, though, isn't it? She's dead. I'm basically dead right now, aren't I? I mean, there's no way you'll ever let anyone live to tell the tale of your crimes. But how will you explain to everyone that you're the only one coming back? Are you looking forward to telling the police or whoever, Sam won't be coming back anytime soon, she's dead.'"
Beth laughed.
"Simple. I won't be going back."
This surprised Mike.
"Why?"
"I'm going to stay here. With Hannah."
Mike was extremely confused, but extremely excited.
"Hannah's alive?!"
"She won't be if I let you get off this mountain."

Then Beth revealed her weapon. She pulled it right out from her back pocket, and Mike wondered why he hadn't seen it. A shining silver knife, surprisingly clean. It was the knife he planned to kill her with. She ran the blade against her finger, softly enough that it didn't leave a mark.

Mike knew this should be intimidating, but he had already accepted his fate and all this was doing was postponing it. He sighed.
"Beth, just get on with it already."
Beth shriveled her nose.
"You're no fun."
Mike only glared at her in return, wanting her to get it over with so he didn't have to worry anymore. He didn't understand why he wasn't scared, but knew showing courage was a good thing.

Beth still stood there, as if expecting something from him. Mike looked around the room to see what it could possibly be.

That's when he noticed something in the corner. Something he hadn't seen before. It was mostly covered by a dark green coat, which made Mike think of Chris. The only thing that wasn't covered was a mop of black hair on top.

Emily?

Mike had to get out of his restraints. His own thoughts were loud enough to block out the sound from around him. I had one job. He thought. One job. To keep her safe. Mike struggled hopelessly, knowing he wasn't going to escape. He gazed at Emily, guilt rushing through him. If only he hadn't been so stupid as to think he could actually kill Beth. He should've known it would be harder than that.

Mike would love to say his last thoughts were something romantic or heroic or courageous, like "my last thought was of Sam's gentle laugh," or "my last thought was for Emily's safety." But it wasn't.

It was,
"Ow, knife to the chest. That hurt more than I expected it to. "