One That Got Away

23

"I can't believe that actually worked," said Jonny. His voice was darker. His cold laugh was the same cold laugh Charlie had heard through the speakers. "Wait. Actually, I can. It's so easy. So naive. So you, Charlie."

"Eh-eh-" Charlie found that she couldn't speak. Her mouth just wouldn't connect with her brain and let her thoughts out.

Her heart had sank somewhere into her guts and they twisted like a grim, violent storm. She had made a terrible mistake. Now Jake, the person who'd actually come to her aid, was helpless at her feet. Shay lay unconscious and helpless nearby. Charlie may as well be totally alone with Jonny/Jack for the second tragic time in her life. More importantly, she didn't like how close he was to Shay, nor how he leaned ever so slightly in her direction.

"Drop it," he said.

Her sense of touch had numbed out of fear, and she almost forgot she still had the crowbar clasped tightly in her hands. He was crazier than she thought. He was out of his flipping mind if he thought she was going to let her only weapon go-

He lifted the shiny blade of the pocketknife she'd retrieved earlier. She gasped. How did he get that back? Her eyes grew with her intensifying terror. He shoved the knife against the tender flesh of Shay's exposed neck. She could see the blade press, threatening to break the skin.

"No!" Charlie screamed, a sound that boomeranged around the room and vibrated her ear drums. "Please."

"I said, drop it," he repeated menacingly. "Come. Take her place."

She was still next to the door. She could plunge through and run until her muscles gave. She could scream; she was a loud screamer. She could bring the whole town down on him in moments. She would be safe.

But it would only take one moment, one slice to kill her forever inside. She couldn't run, because it would mean leaving Shay.

Drop it and give up her own life, or keep hold and end Shay's? Those were her choices. It wasn't really a choice at all, because Shay was more important to her than she was herself. How would she be able to go on knowing her actions, her choice had caused her best friend's death? Being the person she has proved to be again and again...Charlie let the crowbar crash to the floor. It tumbled like a precious glass and slammed with the force of an anvil. The. Charlie was totally defenseless.

"Let her go," she said.

He pulled the knife away, leaving a red mark in its wake. But Shay's blood wouldn't spill, and Charlie's heart beat a little lighter for that.

"She's not going anywhere," he said. "We are."

Just when she thought she could breathe again, the weight came crashing down once more. He's taking her away. What kind of disgusting thing does he have in mind. She recoiled out of instinct. He lifted the knife again.

"I can still make a bloodbath out of this," he nodded toward Shay as the 'this', "if you'd like to change your mind."

"No," Charlie said, mustering up all her bravery. "I'll go with you, just leave her alone."

She was going to scream as soon as they were clear of the place anyhow. She just had to be brave for that long. She would just have to follow him, have to suffer his presence for a short time.

"Good girl," he said.

In powerful, long strides, he came to her. She trembled, but held onto the whimper that clawed up her throat. When he was next to her, she felt the temperature drop. It was like something had stepped in front of sunbeams, casting a frigid shadow. She didn't feel this when he was near her as Jonny, now that she knows he's Jack, his whole demeanor has changed.

How could he be so normal one moment, and so terrible the next? she wondered. But she knew the answer even as she thought the question. He had been putting on an act. He had gotten so good at pretending to be normal, he actually was for a while. Now she was seeing the real him--the disgusting, slimy, twisted creature beneath the normal mask he showed the world.

He took her slim arm in his hand, squeezing like a blood pressure cuff. "Such a display of bravery," he teased. "Always the sacrificial lamb, is Charlie, to give herself to save her friend. Makes no difference to me." He leaned down so that she could feel his hot breath as he whispered in her ear. "She's dead already anyway." and then something sharp sank into her arm.

The room went dark.

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A/N: hello, everyone! Please remember to vote to help keep the story more visible. Thank you all so much for reading! XO ❤️, Sam