Cypress Alley

Chapter 36

"Oh, dear, weren't you expecting me?" Ms Davis sneered.

I was bereft of all words. Eliza's eyes pierced my skin, wide and frightened. Look what you've done. Look where we are now, she seemed to be silently screaming. This is all your fault.

And it had been my fault. I shouldn't have come - I shouldn't have dragged her down with me. Who was I to think I could face a murderer on my own? A murderer.

Ms Davis' gun taunted me from her hip pocket. Beckoning me. Take your last breath. It's time for your death.

Ms Davis chuckled. "That's only in case of emergency, dear. If you cooperate it won't come to that."

"W-what will it come to instead, then?" I asked tentatively.

"A quieter death. One that won't get us caught. Like your friend North. Remember her?"

From behind me, I heard the tear of Velcro and the clink of metal. Eliza's eyes grew wide and she struggled out of Ms Davis' grip. It only entangled her further.

Cautiously, I turned to face Jane. In her hands, she held a bouquet of knives, not unlike the ones she held that Saturday. "Recognise these?" she giggled.

"W-what about your no-blood rule?" I whimpered. "You said you didn't want more blood on your hands. Why are you going to kill us both now?"

"I told you - that was as long as you stayed off my track. But you couldn't keep away, could you?"

I gulped.

"You should have dropped it when we gave you the chance," Jane sighed. "Too bad for us you didn't."

I was trembling violently, my feet hardly capable of movement. So I did the only thing I could.

I screamed.

It was a short, sharp scream. Too short. In fact, it had hardly left my throat before I found myself being gagged. A scarf was soon tied across my mouth and my scream turned into a mumbled, then a throaty cough.

"Shut up," Jane screeched in my ear. "Shut up or I'll kill you first."

I glanced at Eliza. Her eyes were still as wide as ever, wet and red, dreading what awaited us.

I was thrust to the floor, Eliza landing beside me. If we ran, we'd be shot. If we stayed, we'd be stabbed; a double bind. We were completely and utterly doomed.

"Who shall we kill first?" Ms Davis asked Jane. "And how are you going to do it?"

"Right in the small of her neck," Jane replied. "That's how I got her last time."

"Oh, a professional!" Ms Davis laughed.

I gawked in revolt. Ms Hartley scoffed at my near-perfect GPA, yet Jane's mother took pride in her daughter's murder technique. What kind of family was this?

I glanced at Eliza. Taking a quick look at me, she took the opportunity to ask: "Wait, so who killed North?"

"Why would we tell you?" Jane asked.

"Because we're going to die anyway. So you might as well get it off your chest and tell us." Eliza seemed to be getting calmer. Glancing at her watch, her frown softened. It was almost 6 pm. 

I guess she'd accepted it.

"I did," Jane said proudly. "Because mum wanted me to."

"Why?"

"Because her mother killed my son," Ms Davis wailed. "And her family gets nothing for that! No jail time, nothing!"

"But she's dead."

"And she deserves worse. Which is why I wanted North dead."

"But you wanted North's father dead first."

"I did... then I realised that killing North was as good as killing both of them."

"So... you." Eliza pointed at Jane. "You were the one who attacked North's father."

"No. That was mum. But she wasn't able to do it so I thought I'd do a better job with North."

"And you did, sweetie," Ms Davis said, pulling Jane into a hug. "And now you'll do an even better job."

"That's right!" She pulled a knife from her bunch. "Let's see... should I go straight for the neck or try something new this time?"

Ms Davis looked a bit flustered. "Maybe we should do it quickly." She glanced outside the Alley, where people were still jogging or dog-walking. "I don't want us to get caught."

"Pull your hood up and zip your jacket," Jane demanded. "So even if we are, they won't know who we are."

"Good thinking, sweetie," she said, complying. 

As cars rolled by, Eliza sat up hopefully. "I think..." she whispered. "We'll be fine."

"What was that?" Jane asked brandishing her knife. "You wanna say that a little louder, huh?"

"No thanks."

"I said, say that a little louder."

"I told him that I'd see him in the afterlife."

"Aw," gushed Jane. "How sweet. Now, which of you volunteers to be first."

Neither of us moved. 

"I guess that's where loyalty ends. You," Ms Davis smirked at me, "have been the hugest offender in all of this. Not only did you follow your sister to our house, but you had the audacity to come inside and bother me. And ask me to look for Jane's jumper - which I suspected all along. Especially after Jane told me about your little meeting the day before."

I took a shuffle back.

"Which mean, that you will be first."

Ms Davis hoisted me up. I relented. There wasn't any point in putting up a fight anymore.

Jane held the knife to my chin and ran it along my jawline. She pulled the scarf off my face. "Have any last words?"

I screamed again.

Ms Davis grabbed me and shoved me to the floor, my head hitting a tree trunk with such force that for a moment, I thought I was already dead. My vision was blurred, my ears ringing violently. I watched Eliza's lips move rapidly, but soon she, too, was gagged and pulled up. She kicked Ms Davis in the shin, which only seemed to infuriate her more. Jane whispered something in my ear that I couldn't hear, and pulled a second knife from her bouquet.

Jane's eyes went wide. She snapped her head to the side. I watched as Ms Davis did the same. They whispered furtively to each other.

Jane stuck the knife through Eliza. I didn't see where it went before my vision went black.

I heard Eliza fall to the floor beside me.

Footsteps approaching. Footsteps retreating.

And my senses slowly fell to a halt.