Battle of the Killers

55 | Lily

A PART OF ME KNEW THAT I MIGHT regret this, but the other part of me did it anyway. "Stop, Layla. This isn't you."

Layla spun away from Sebastian who gave me unreadable blue eyes. "What would you know about me, huh? You're just as bad as him."

Be calm and collected. Keep her talking. That would be the best strategy until I could figure a way out of these confinements. "What did I do?"

"You turned your back on me." Intense hatred boiled in her dark brown eyes. "You were my last shred of hope, but you're just like the rest of them. There's no humanity left in this house. Zimmie told me everyone must be cleansed and exterminated. Even myself. "

So, she planned on killing us and then herself? A multiple murder-suicide.

Gmie shuddered and coughed, sliding her eyes over to me. "So, all of this is Betinia's fault? You bitch." That last word came out breathy and soft, but the tone was colored with hatred and agony.

I ignored her. "I'm sorry for what I did to you." Tini wouldn't be sorry though, but she was gone now. I needed to clean up her mistakes. "I was just really angry. I tried so hard to win us that challenge, and all you had to do was eat a tiny bite."

Layla scrunched her face up, a fire burning in her eyes. "It was human meat. Human meat! It goes against God to eat another human, no matter the cost. I thought you would know that more than anyone, Lily."

She called me Lily again. Who was Lily? "Lily?"

A glassiness swarmed over her eyeballs, as bewilderment filled her expression. Then she shuddered before sighing. "Nothing. Never mind."

A throbbing formed in my feet, sending cramps up my thighs. Having my legs in one position was starting to hurt, so I went to move them and that's when my heels clicked on the wood flooring.

Wait, my heels. The knife heels. I could use them to cut my confinements. Why didn't I think of that before? Thank you, Jookie.

My eyes peered up at Layla who still looked lost. I couldn't do it now. I needed to wait until she turned her back. If I bent forward enough, it would be a tight stretch, but I might be able to reach my heels with my wrists, but not when she was watching. I needed to wait and keep talking to her before she started flinging shit again.

At the moment, she appeared to be confused still. Mentioning Lily really threw her off, but she said it first? But then forget? She must be losing touch with reality or hallucinating.

"I know we're in this situation, but you must want to live," I said, shuffling my feet to stretch the rope there a bit. "I know you don't want to die. Not like this. Not here."

"Death is just the start of the human journey." Layla smiled at the sky. "This is painful — being alive hurts every day. Every breath makes it harder." She nodded. "This is how it must be for everyone. Even me. Zimmie is right. She's always right."