Chapter 42
Bianca did not sleep very well that night. She lay awake for hours, tossing and turning
in a bed that was not hers, worrying.
But finally, her exhaustion took over, and she fell into a dreamless
sleep.
When she awoke late the next morning, the Gold Light had
returned. It hovered over the side of
the bed she was not occupying, startling at first.
“Shit, AJ, don’t do that!” she exclaimed, immediately wide awake,
but she couldn’t help but giggle, glad that he was back.
“Oh, come on, you’re glad to see me, and you know it,” AJ teased.
“I know,” Bianca
admitted. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Has
anything changed since I’ve been gone?”
“No. Same old, same old.”
“Seen Nick lately?”
“Not since Saturday.”
“Good. I think I’m going to
head over there later, check things out, supervise him, you know.”
“You’re going to leave me alone?”
“Only to watch Nick, to make sure he’s not… you know… planning to
come over here or anything. You’re safe
as long as he’s not around.”
“I know,” said Bianca. “I just don’t want you to go away again.”
“I’ll be around.”
“What time are you going?”
“I dunno. Later. Nick isn’t even awake yet, knowing him. Too early in the morning for him to murder
anyone.”
The joke was morbid and not exactly tasteful, but Bianca couldn’t
help but chuckle a little. AJ always
made her feel so much better. Smiling,
she lay back down in bed. “Good
point.”
***
“Later” turned out not to be till that evening, when it was just
growing dark. Bianca and AJ had spent
the whole day down in Howie’s basement together, trying to think of other
things besides Nick and murder. But
finally, AJ had decided he better head to Nick’s to keep watch.
“Night seems to be the most popular time to kill someone,” he had told her, half-joking, half-serious.
“Okay. I’ll see you later,”
she had said sadly, as he disappeared before
her eyes.
Now she was alone, watching The King and I on the big screen in Howie’s basement rec
room. She tried to get herself absorbed
in the movie and forget all about being afraid.
Nothing can happen, she told herself. AJ’s watching Nick, and if he sets out to
get me, AJ will come and warn me.
She put a smile on her face and focused her attention back onto
the TV, humming along as the characters on the screen sang “Getting to Know
You”. Faintly, over the music coming
from the surround sound system, she heard a thud overhead.
“What was that?” she asked out loud, pausing the movie. She strained her ears, listening
intently. But she heard nothing
more. Figuring something had just fallen
off a shelf, she went upstairs to investigate, expecting to find a broken vase
on the floor or something similar. The
mess that greeted her in Howie’s living room was not what she expected.
Instead of the shattered glass shards, water, dirt, and leaves
that would go along with the broken vase, she was greeted with the sight of a
bloody corpse spread out on the plush carpeting.
Swallowing back vomit, Bianca let out a choked scream. “Krystle!”
Bianca hurried over to Krystle’s body, knowing she was already
dead, knowing there was nothing she could do to help. Still, she knelt down beside her, as she had
done with Howie. Krystle’s skin was very
pale and white. Her eyes were
closed. Her silky black hair was spread
out under her, and she actually looked quite beautiful, like Snow White in her
glass casket. From the shoulders up,
that was. Her torso was saturated in
dried blood from an apparent stab wound in her chest, though there was so much
blood on her shirt it was impossible to see the wound itself.
“Oh God,” Bianca sobbed, frightened tears filling her eyes. For one moment, she was very sad. The next moment, she was terrified.
Someone had dragged Krystle’s body in here.
Someone was in the house.
Bianca leaped to her feet, looking wildly around, wondering
frantically what to do. Should she make
a run for the door? Try to escape? Or was Nick out there, lurking, waiting for
her? She imagined him leaping out at her
as she crossed the threshold of the living room door, a gleaming knife in his
hand, ready to thrust into her chest.
She let out a desperate sob, then went with her instinct, and started to
dart for the basement door, prepared to lock herself down there and pray Nick
wouldn’t be able to break in.
She started to run. But she
didn’t get far, for as soon as she willed her rubbery legs to move, something
hooked onto her ankle, sending her sprawling flat on her face. Scrambling to her knees, Bianca spun around…
and screamed.
Krystle, who she had thought to be dead, was now sitting up, a
malicious grin spreading over her face.
“Hello, Bianca,” she said, an insanely evil note in her voice.
“No!” Bianca cried in horror.
“You’re dead! Nick stabbed you;
he killed you!”
“Nick?” Krystle’s eyes
widened in amazement, then she threw her head back and laughed. “Nick!
Like that dumbass could pull off something as elaborate at this! Too funny!”
Bianca didn’t think it was funny at all. “You mean… Nick wasn’t… you were…”
“Good job, Bianca! Looks
like you’re finally getting the idea!”
“But… how…?”
Krystle smiled. “Well, I
guess I should give myself credit here and tell you the whole story, eh? It’s not like you’re going anywhere, and
there sure as hell isn’t anyone around to save you. Howie and your precious boyfriend AJ are out
of the picture, and Nick’s probably sitting on his fat drunken ass, playing
Nintendo.”
AJ… why had she let him to go Nick’s? He was watching the wrong person, protecting
her from someone who had nothing to do with any of us. Now she was alone to fight Krystle… or die.
“It all started on that night back in November, with that phone
call I made to you at the hotel? Do you
remember it, Bianca?” She put on a whiny
little girl’s voice. “ ‘Howie and I had
a fight, Bean. Will you meet me in the
café so we can talk?’ Remember?”
Bianca remembered. She
recalled being woken up by the phone, talking to Krystle, telling her she would
meet her in the café… and letting AJ go instead.
“But you didn’t meet me, did you?” Krystle said accusingly,
glaring at Bianca. “You sent your
boyfriend instead. And so he was
killed. But I really wanted you
to die, Bianca, not AJ. It’s all your
fault it was the wrong person! It’s your
fault AJ died!”
“No!” Bianca cried, her eyes filling with tears.
“Oh yes,” Krystle said firmly, her eyes gleaming evilly. “It was so sad, finding out that AJ was dead,
and you were still alive. But how was a
person supposed to know it was AJ and not you?
He was wearing your sweatshirt, that gray one you always wore around
places. He even had the hood up! In the dark, it was impossible to tell him
apart from you.”
This confirmed what Bianca had realized before. She should have died, not AJ. And now she would. It seemed the time had come. No… please, God, no, Bianca
begged. She didn’t want to die. It was too soon, she was too young. Please don’t let her kill me.
But even if she turned and ran now, what would she do? Where would she go? There was no one to help her. Krystle would chase her, would ultimately
catch up to her, and would slaughter her one way or another.
Desperate, Bianca squeezed her eyes shut, willed up all the hope
and faith she had within her, and cried out in her mind, “AJ! AJ, HELP!
HELP ME, AJ! HELP ME!”
She had no idea if AJ would sense her mental cry. But it was worth a try. After all, it seemed he was her last
hope. Without his help, she was sure she
would die.
***
AJ was watching Nick sit on a large cushion on the floor, playing
his Nintendo Gamecube, an open beer can sitting on the floor beside him, when
Bianca’s tortured scream rang out in his head.
“AJ! AJ, HELP! HELP ME, AJ!
HELP ME!”
“Bianca!” AJ cried. He
glanced at Nick and then realized the truth – he had it all wrong! Nick was not the killer after all! It was someone else… and that someone was
with Bianca at this very moment.
AJ thought quickly. His
first instinct was to transport himself to Howie’s house immediately. But what good would that do? What would he do once he got there? Watch this person kill his love? How could he possibly stop the murderer with
his measly angel powers? All he could do
was materialize his hands, and how would that help? No, he needed someone else’s help. He knew he could get Brian to help, but Brian
was in Georgia. There was obviously no
way he could get there in time.
AJ looked at Nick again, and he realized Nick was the one, the
only one who could help him save Bianca now.
***
As soon as she had called to AJ, Bianca felt a surge of hope rush
through her. She opened her eyes and
decided she would stall Krystle, keep her talking and hope that AJ would come
to help her, hope that his angelic powers were a match for her human rage.
“Krystle,” she said, her voice shaking with fear, “Why? Why did you try to kill me?”
“Well, here’s why I wanted
to kill you – it’s sort of petty, I guess – I wanted AJ for myself. It wasn’t fair – why should you get the hot
one when all I had was Howie? Howie was
rich, and that was nice, but I wanted more.
AJ… now AJ was a true find. Sexy,
provocative, and exciting… he was the one I wanted. You didn’t deserve him. You’re so plain… so… uninteresting. AJ belonged with someone like me. He just didn’t realize it. But I knew that once you were dead, and he
had gotten over it, he would begin to see the light… begin to see me in
a new light, actually… I already began to set it up when I got him to sleep
with me.”
“What?!”
Krystle cackled. “Oh, he
didn’t tell you, did he? Of course
not. Well, I guess I’m obligated to fill
you in now. Your loyal, faithful, loving
boyfriend betrayed you, Bianca. He
cheated on you. He slept with me, just
two nights before he died.” She grinned
broadly at the shocked expression on Bianca’s face.
“No!” Bianca cried. “No,
you’re lying! AJ would never sleep with
you, you jealous bitch!”
Krystle’s grin grew wider.
“Oh yes, he would! Especially
once I slipped a little gin in his Coke and got him nice and plastered!”
“You bitch!” Bianca spat.
“That’s right, and I’m proud of it,” said Krystle. “Anyway, that was step one. Step two was to tell Howie. That was the night AJ died, the night I
called you from the bar. Howie was
pissed. I was sure he would dump me, and
then AJ and I would be free to hook up later.
Unfortunately, none of that happened.
AJ died not long after that, and after that, Howie forgave me. The plan failed. But it won’t fail again.” She grinned psychotically at Bianca. “There is something else I should tell you
though,” she said, taking a step forward.
“What?” asked Bianca, taking a step backward.
“You asked me why I tried to kill you. Well, to be honest, I didn’t try to kill
you.”
“What? What’s that supposed
to mean? Of course you-“
“No,” said Krystle, “I didn’t.”
“Then who did?”
Krystle cleared her throat, put on a sweet smile, and called in a
high, sing-song voice, “You can come in now!”
The living room door swung open, and someone else walked slowly
into the living room. As soon as Bianca
saw who it was, her voice left her. She
could not even scream. She could only
gasp in total shock.
***
