Betrayed

Chapter 13

I froze. "Andrew," I whispered. "Why?"

He pointed the knife at me, and I backed away. "Are you really that surprised?" he asked, taking a step towards me.

"Yes," I replied. "I thought I could trust you."

Andrew raised his knife, and my blood became ice. But the knife didn't hit me, it sliced the top of Crystal's leg. She fell to the ground, her face twisted in pain. He took a step towards me and I backed away.

"Andrew," I said, "I told you that I would not abandon you, remember?"

He stopped advancing. "I remember."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ashley dart away, but Andrew didn't care. "And I have no intention of abandoning you," I told him.

Crystal groaned and Andrew knelt down beside her. "Stay still," he told her, and he began scraping at the earth.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

Andrew pointed the knife at me and raised my hands. "Good." He continued to dig until he had unearthed a small tin box. It opened without creaking to reveal a white flower partly submerged in a purple-clear liquid.

"The paralyzing poison," I breathed.

Andrew snapped his gaze over to me. "Sorry," I said. He took his knife and dipped it in the poison. It coated his knife neatly and he motioned for me to come over.

"Hold her mouth open," he ordered.

Crystal squirmed but reluctantly did as he said. He held his knife over Crystal's open mouth and watched as the liquid dripped into her mouth. She moaned but quickly the moaning stopped. "Good job, Crystal," he said. Andrew wiped the blade on the grass and said to me, "Close her mouth."

I did, and I asked, "What are you going to do now?"

Andrew glared at me, and I said quickly, "Sorry."

Instead of stabbing me, Andrew handed me his knife. "Finish her off," he said.

I leaned over Crystal with the knife in my hand. Crystal's eyes flew open, and she whispered, "Just do it." Her voice was dry, and I peered over my shoulder at Andrew.

"Do it," he said.

I closed my eyes and lifted the knife when the sliding glass door opened. "The police are on their way," Ashley called. She took a step towards us and gasped. "Natalia, put the knife down."

Andrew ripped the knife out of my grasp. "Stay where you are, Ashley," he ordered.

Ashley crossed her arms. "And what happens if I don't?" she asked.

Andrew grabbed me from behind, and I screamed. He pressed the knife against my throat and replied, "This happens." His other arm held me against him, hindering any chance for escape.

"Andrew," I said, "please let me go."

He whispered in my ear, "Plead with Ashley. Her decisions will affect your life."

I glanced at Ashley. "Ashley, please just stay where you are."

"Okay," she replied. "The police are already on their way." Sirens cut through the night sky as she spoke.

Andrew growled, and said to me, "Come with me or kill Crystal."

I glanced down at Crystal. "It's okay," she said, "just kill me."

I bit my lip and closed my eyes. "Natalia, Crystal said to just kill her," Ashley called to me. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"Give me the knife, please," I said.

Andrew pressed the knife in my hand, and I raised it over Crystal. But as I lowered the blade, I dropped it. "I can't," I said. Tears fell from my face as Andrew picked up the knife and pulled me away from Crystal. He let the cold blade touch my neck and said, "Climb over the wall."

He let me go, and I raced towards the wall. Andrew followed me, keeping the knife pressed against my throat. The sirens sounded right on top of us as I jumped and pulled myself to the top of the wall. Andrew, despite his shortness, jumped over the wall, and we disappeared into the darkness beyond.

Ashley's POV

I watched as Andrew disappeared over the wall with one of my best friends. Tears began to stream down my own face as the police came racing through the backdoor. Paramedics rushed over to Crystal and Hayley, who was still on the slide, and I fell to the ground. An officer walked up to me and asked, "Are you okay?"

I nodded, even though I knew I wasn't. She seemed to understand that and gently picked me up. She carried me out of the backyard and another officer came up to us. "Do you know who did this?" he asked.

I glanced at him through my tears. "Yes," I told him, "my brother, Andrew." More tears streamed down, and I began to slip into sleep.

When I woke up again, I was in my own bed. "It was all just a horrible dream," I said with a sigh of relief. Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway and I glanced at the door. "Dad, yo-" I began, but the man at the door was not my father. "So, it wasn't a dream."

He was a police officer, and he came into my room. "May I sit down?" he asked. I nodded and he took a seat in my zebra-print chair. "Ashley, right?" I nodded again. "I have some good news," he said.

I sat up. "Did you find Natalia?"

He shook his head. "No, but both Crystal and Hayley will survive."

"Hayley is alive?" I could hardly believe my ears. "We thought she was dead."

The officer smiled. "So, did we, but the poison didn't affect her the way Andrew intended. She will make a full recovery and has told us what happened." He paused. "Crystal has lost some of her memory, and we need you to fill in what happened after Hayley was attacked."

I closed my eyes and told the officer everything, including the choice Andrew gave Natalia. "She couldn't kill Crystal, so he took her."

The officer gave me a smile. "You can rest now," he said, "I have all of the information I need to start with. Thank you, Ashley." He started to rise, but at the last moment, he glanced back. "We will rescue Natalia, and we will catch your brother," he told me, "I promise." With that, he turned and left my room.

I fell back on my bed and thought of Natalia when my phone buzzed. I rolled over and picked up my phone. "I don't want to talk right now, Katlyn," I said, turning on my phone. But what I saw made me nearly drop my phone. A text message popped up, but it was not from Kate or any of my other friends. It was from my brother.

I clicked on the text and read it out loud. "'Hello, dear sister. I hope you enjoyed last night. Natalia and I have a lot planned for our next visit. See you soon. Sincerely, Andrew and Natalia, aka the Rose Murderers'."

Will the police ever rescue Natalia? Was she in on it the entire time or was she taken in a moment of panic? Find out in the next book Daylight Murder.

~Aria