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Chapter 9
But to my surprise... just minutes after grabbing a pack of cigarettes from the convenience store across from the hospital, I ran into Elaina in the parking lot.
She was on the phone, laughing lightly.
"Oh, that bracelet? No, it wasn't from Phillip. Just some cheap little trinket. If you like it, I'll give it to you next time. I never even wanted it…"
I didn't think. I just moved.
Before I realized what I was doing, I had Elaina slammed against the concrete wall, her phone clattering to the ground.
"Who the hell, ?"
I drove the fruit knife into the wall right beside her ear. The blade stopped less than an inch from her skin.
She froze. "Charlee…" she whispered, voice trembling.
Smoke curled from the cigarette between my lips as I brought the burning tip closer to her eye. Her lashes started to singe, and I could almost smell the sharp scent of burning hair. Elaina shook violently, a sheen of sweat breaking across her forehead.
"Charlee, you… you're alive? What… what do you want?"
I didn't answer. I just stared at the bracelet on her wrist, the one that used to belong to my grandmother.
Slowly, I lowered the cigarette even closer to her face. She whimpered.
Maybe it was the silence. Maybe it was the look in my eyes. Either way, she cracked.
With shaking hands, Elaina unclasped the bracelet and held it out to me, eyes averted, terrified.
"C-can I… can I go now?"
I yanked the knife from the wall, tucked it back into my waistband, and put the cigarette back between my lips.
Then, grabbing a fistful of her hair, I pulled her face close to mine and hissed into her ear:
"This is just the beginning. You owe me, Elaina. And you're going to pay me back, with your life."
She dropped to the ground the moment I let go. For a second, she just sat there, stunned. Then she scrambled to her feet and bolted like hell, tripping over her own shoes as she fled.
I was just about to turn and walk away when I heard a voice behind me, a voice I hadn't expected to hear.
"Charlee?"