Chapter 24. Reva tried to scream, but all that came out was a hacking croak

“ KILL HER, RORY! ”

R eva tried to scream, but all that came out was a hacking croak. She couldn’t get enough air in to try again.

She’s killing me!

Reva grabbed hold of Grace’s wrists and tugged. She dug her nails into the flesh. Scratched at the skin, trying to loosen the grip of those hands.

She couldn’t do it!

The scarf tightened. Tightened. A burning wire, cutting Reva. Cutting her.

Reva began to choke.

She felt her eyes bulge. Black spots danced in front of them. A rushing sound filled her ears.

I can’t breathe! Can’t get any air at all!

She’s killing me! I’m going to die, just like Traci and Liza!

Desperate to get free, Reva kicked backward, slamming her heel into Grace’s shin.

Grace hissed in pain, but she didn’t let go of the scarf.

Reva kicked again and missed. She twisted her whole body from side to side. Twisted and turned, staggering back and forth.

Grace held on, staggering with her.

Pulling the scarf.

Killing Reva.

As they lunged across the room together, Reva suddenly heard the door burst open, and then a wild, high-pitched cry.

“Hiaee-yahh!”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blurry figure standing in the doorway.

Michael!

Her brother raised his arm over his head and yelled again. “The Evil Avenger is here!” he bellowed. Then he laughed, his blue eyes gleaming with excitement.

Oh, no! He thinks it’s a game, Reva realized.

Couldn’t he see? Couldn’t he tell she was being strangled?

This is no game, Michael! she wanted to cry. Get out of here! Go get help!

But she couldn’t yell. She felt so weak... so far away.

Michael gave another fierce cry and rushed into the room. He raised his arm higher, and Reva saw a flash of metal.

The fake knife.

It won’t work! Reva thought desperately. Grace won’t even feel it!

Michael plunged the knife into Grace’s side. “The Evil Avenger strikes again!” He giggled, then stuck the collapsible knife into Grace’s shoulder.

Without letting go of the scarf, Grace tried to shove Michael away with her elbow.

The movement gave Reva the chance she needed. She grabbed Grace’s arm with both hands and jerked it down.

The hand loosened its grip.

Reva lunged sideways, throwing Grace off-balance. Coughing and gasping, Reva broke free, then spun around and shoved Grace away from her as hard as she could.

Grace stumbled backward, her arms pin-wheeling as she tried to keep from going down. But she couldn’t stop herself.

Reva heard a sickening crack as Grace’s head slammed into a corner of the desk.

Grace fell to the floor with a thud. She didn’t move.

A trickle of blood ran down the side of her head.

Michael stopped laughing. His mouth dropped open in a startled squeak.

Reva’s neck throbbed and her throat felt crushed. The scarf still clung to her neck. She fumbled with it, coughing painfully.

“Reva?” Michael’s voice was tiny and frightened.

From the floor, Grace gave a low moan.

“Michael!” Reva rasped, finally getting the scarf all the way off. “Go get the security guard!”

“Okay,” Michael answered. Grace moaned again. Michael eyed her warily. “Is she going to be okay?”

Reva tried to clear her throat. “Don’t worry. Just go find the security guard and tell him to come up here. Hurry, Michael!”

Michael jammed the knife into his pocket and raced from the room.

Reva rubbed her throat and swallowed several times. She tried to kill me! she thought, staring at Grace. She almost did!

Moaning again, Grace’s eyes fluttered open. She turned onto her side, then slowly eased herself into a sitting position.

Reva tensed up. Would Grace come after her again?

But Grace didn’t try to climb to her feet. She sat on the rug, exhausted and dazed. As she glanced groggily around the room, her gaze fell on Reva.

Reva stared back, horrified. “Why?” she whispered hoarsely. “Why did you kill Traci and Liza?”

“To show you.” Grace rubbed her head, then stared at the blood on her fingers. “To show you that you can’t have everything you want. You think you can take everything. That everything is yours.”

Reva shook her head.

“Oh, yes, you do!” Grace declared bitterly. “You think everything is yours. So I wanted to kill you!” She wiped her bloody fingers on the carpet. “But first I wanted to frighten you. To make you suffer. To show you what real horror is like!”

“But, Grace—”

“Shut up, Reva!” Grace snapped. “You treat everyone like dirt. Everyone! Me. The maid. Your cousin. But especially the guys. You save the worst for the guys.”

Reva couldn’t believe this! What was Grace talking about?

“I had a wonderful guy once,” Grace continued in a soft, dreamy voice. Her lips twisted in a weird smile. “I had Rory.”

Yeah, and you killed him, Reva thought.

“He was so great, Reva. I was wild about him.” Grace stared at the bloody carpet for a moment. Then she squeezed her eyes shut. “But we had a fight while we were driving. We were both so angry, shouting at each other. I grabbed the wheel and—and—” Her voice broke and she began to sob.

It was an accident, as her mother said, Reva realized. A horrible accident.

And the guilt drove Grace crazy.

Grace flung her head back and stared at Reva, tears streaming down her face. “I wanted you to see what that kind of loss feels like!” she cried.

“But—but why Traci and Liza?” Reva asked. “I hardly knew Liza. And I didn’t even like Traci. Why did you think killing them would hurt me?”

“Because of the fashion show!” Grace wiped at her tears and smiled that weird smile again. “It was the first thing I ever saw you really want. You wanted it so much, you stole all the credit from your own cousin. Because it was so important. It was the first thing that ever meant something to you. So I decided to take it away from you. Bit by bit, person by person!”

Reva felt a sharp stab of disappointment. Grace is right, she realized. The show meant more to me than anything.

“You were scared, weren’t you, Reva?” Grace asked, almost pleadingly. “You did suffer!”

Reva thought of all the work she’d done to get the show ready. Designing the set. Choosing the models and the music. She remembered the feeling of excitement as it all started to come together.

And then she pictured the two strangled models. The customers racing from the showroom, screaming in panic. The fashion show— her fashion show—ruined.

And she had been scared, especially after Liza was killed. She thought somebody might kill her.

Well, somebody almost did, she thought, staring at her roommate.

“I saved you for last,” Grace told her. “I was going to let you watch everything fall apart. And then I was going to kill you.” Grace’s eyes filled with tears again and she hung her head. “But I failed. I failed. But Rory will finish the job for me.”

Oh, no, she’s back to Rory again. Watching Grace cry, Reva actually felt sorry for the girl. She’d gone totally off the deep end.

“Rory will kill you for me.” Still sobbing, Grace raised her head and gazed at the door. “There he is now!” she cried, scrambling to her feet. “Rory—I knew you’d come! Kill her! Kill Reva!”

It’s her imagination! Reva thought. Rory’s dead!

Isn’t he?

A movement caught her eye. Someone stood in the doorway.

“Kill her, Rory!” Grace shouted.

Reva spun around in horror.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20