Normal People - Strange Encounters Book Two

Chapter 18

If it hadn't of been for the gun leveled at her head, and the fact that her and Spencer's lives hung in the balance, Amelia might've laughed. Had you asked her a year ago if she ever thought she'd experience being shot, she would've told you that was crazy. But here she was, having been shot and stabbed a matter of months ago, and once again she'd fallen into the hands of yet another psychopath.

"Outside. Move." Alycia moved behind her, shoving the gun into the small of her back. Amelia bit her lip, the vivid memory of Christopher doing the same thing in a coffee shop in October flashing in her mind. She felt the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, not realizing how hard she'd bitten down. Slowly she found her footing in the dark, the moon light providing just enough visibility on the path in front of her that she didn't fall on her face.

"Wh-where are we going?" She tried to sound confident, but knew she was failing. 

"Boat house."

Honestly, Amelia would've felt better if Alycia was a little chattier. The short words frightened her, making her feel expendable. Well, she guessed she was. Making her way to the boat shed along the water, she desperately tried to think of a plan to escape. But unless the blonde somehow relinquished the weapon, she had no idea how that would happen. 

"No funny stuff." Alycia moved in front of her, keeping the weapon trained in her direction at all times. She quickly opened the boat shed and pulled Amelia inside, quietly shutting the door behind her. Amelia sense her kneel next to her, and suddenly felt blinded as the woman ignited a lantern. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she felt Alycia move behind her and cover her mouth once again. She tried to mumble against the hand, letting her know she would cooperate, until her eyes landed on the figure slumped in the boat bobbing in the water. She screamed against the hand over her face, her hands flying to the arm they were attached to in an attempt to rip them off of her. 

Tommy's pale body lay in the boat, his eyes open and staring into the middle distance. She saw a pool of blood under him, and a blossom of it on his chest. No longer able to support herself, Amelia fell back against her captor. Alycia moved with her slowly, lowering her to the floor. She removed her hand momentarily to readjust, and as she moved to cover Amelia's mouth again she blurted 'sick' before throwing up over the edge of the dock into the water below. 

Alycia didn't touch her, she must've known she was in no position to fight back.

"Why?" She croaked, her throat feeling raw. She'd never seen a dead body before a few weeks ago, and now she's seen two. She knew she never properly processed seeing Glen Morris's body, but that didn't prepare her for seeing the dead body of her friend.

"I'd like to say simply as part of pay back for your old hag murdering my brother, b-"

"Oh, you mean the brother who was going to murder her?"

Amelia barely registered the sting of the gun connecting with her jaw. As her head whipped to the side, it was as if she abandoned any reserves she'd been holding back. She was sick of living in fear.

"You better watch your-"

"What, the fact that you've been trying to kill me and my family is okay but when it comes to yours it-"

The water rushed up her nostrils as Alycia grabbed a fistful of her hair and drug her over to the edge of the floor, shoving her head under the ocean's surface. She tried holding her breath but struggled since she'd already breathed some of the water in. When the woman finally yanked her head above water she coughed, struggling to regain her breath, her nose and throat burning. 

"You are not in the position to be a fucking idiot, Amelia."

"Why Tommy?" She coughed as she tried speaking.