I ignored her question and looked away. She could hurt me all she wanted, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of me begging a second time. I already knew that she was planning to kill me. That was all I needed to know. The less I knew, the better. Maybe if I didn’t fight, she’d get bored and make it quick.

Jesse would lose it when he found out what she’d done. I had no idea how long I’d been out, but I knew it had to be a while from the pain shooting through my skull. He had to know by now that I was gone. Maybe he was searching for me. Hope swelled in my chest as I pictured him rushing in to save me.

My hope was crushed when I realized that even I didn’t know where I was. I might not even be in Morgantown anymore. Hell, I might not be in West Virginia.

“Where did you bring me to?” I asked.

“My house.”

“And where exactly is your house?”

She studied me for a minute. “I guess it won’t hurt to tell you. It’s not like you can call someone for help.” She laughed as if she’d said something funny. “You’re still in Morgantown. Actually, you’re only about twenty minutes away from Jesse’s house.”

If I was still in Morgantown, Jesse stood a chance at finding me. It was a slim chance, but I needed to hold on to something.

“You’ve been staying this close to us the entire time since you left, haven’t you?”

She nodded. “Yep, and you guys had no idea. It’s kind of funny when you think about it. I’ve spent a lot of time watching you at Jesse’s house since he kicked me out. I’d give you some advice about closing your curtains, but I don’t think you’ll need to worry about that anymore. There are no curtains where you’re going.”

I turned away from her. I couldn’t even stand to look at her right now. I felt sick. She’d been stalking us for weeks, and we had been clueless.

“Get away from me.”

“Why? Did I say something wrong?” she asked innocently.

“You’re a fucking psycho,” I told her.

I tried to break free of my restraints. The rope dug into my skin, but I ignored the pain as I struggled.

“You might want to stop before you hurt yourself,” she said happily.

I stopped struggling once I realized that the ropes weren’t going anywhere. “Just do what you’re going to do, and get it over with.”

“Oh no, I want to draw this out,” she said quietly. She placed her finger under my chin and lifted my face to look at her. “And I can’t wait to watch you cry out in pain.”

“You won’t get away with this, Ally. The police will catch you. Jesse will know that you had something to do with this. He hates you now. You know how I told you that he’d meant he loved you like a sister? You don’t even have that from him now. Even if I die, he will never be yours.”

“Shut up!” she shrieked as she slapped me again.

I clenched my teeth to keep from crying out. One thing was for sure—the bitch was strong. Even her slaps were enough to make my head spin.

“You know nothing about how Jesse feels about me. You have some kind of power over him. Once you’re gone, he’ll realize that he loves me. We’ll be happy together, and he’ll forget all about you.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Think whatever you want. You’ll see.”

“You know what the worst part is?” she asked suddenly.

“That I’m tied to a chair?” I asked sarcastically.

“When I watched you guys, I saw you…together. It made me sick to see him touch you.”

My stomach rolled at the thought of her watching while Jesse and I’d had sex. “You’re sick.”

“I didn’t want to watch, trust me.”

“Then, why did you?”

She shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

She stood and walked behind me. I could hear her moving things around, but I couldn’t turn around far enough to see what she was doing. I glanced around in front of me, hoping to see something that would help me. There was nothing. The room was as empty as before.

I tried to hold my tears in as they filled my eyes. I wouldn’t give Ally the satisfaction of seeing me cry. While I knew something was wrong with Ally after everything she’d done to Jesse, I never realized that she was capable of something like this.

She silently walked back over to me. I met her gaze head-on. Fuck her, I wouldn’t shy away.

“I overheard Jesse talking to Andy about you one day at our old house. Jesse told him how beautiful he thought you were.” Her eyes were so cold as she spoke. “You and I both know that I’m prettier than you, but Jesse doesn’t seem to realize that. I’m going to change that. When they find you, he’ll realize that you could never be as pretty as me.”

I had no idea what she planned to do, but I knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant for me. She had kept her hands behind her since she walked over. I watched silently as she finally moved them. My stomach dropped when I saw the knife in her hand.

“Ally, think about what you’re doing. We can still work something out. If you use that, then you’re done.”

“I think you’re confused as to who is tied to the chair and who has a knife. I’m in control, Emma, and I always have been.” She ran the dull side of the knife across my face. “You’re not pretty in the least, but you obviously have something that Jesse likes. We need to fix that.”

“Ally, let me go. You don’t want to do this,” I pleaded, forgetting my earlier promise to myself that I wouldn’t beg.

“Trust me when I say I do. I want nothing more than this. I want to hurt you as bad as you hurt me.”

She turned the knife, so the sharp edge was pressed against my cheekbone. I held my breath as I waited for her to kill me. I wouldn’t scream. I would never let her know how much pain she caused me.

Despite my determination not to cry out, a small whimper escaped me as she ran the knife down my cheek. The cut didn’t hurt as bad as my head, but it stung. I shuddered as I felt blood start to slide down my face. Apparently, she didn’t plan to stab me like I’d originally thought—at least, not yet. With the shallow cut, she only wanted to cause me pain and destroy my face. I was too worried about how to escape to even think about my face. I had to figure out a way to get her to untie me.

“Does it hurt?” Ally asked softly as her eyes followed the drop of blood that had dripped from my cheek to the floor.

“No,” I said stubbornly.

“Then, you won’t mind if I try the other side.”

She held the knife up to my face and made a cut on my other cheek. It was shallow like the first one, but it still hurt. Blood ran down my face and fell to the floor. It was like I was crying blood.

“There—now, you match.” She giggled.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

She circled me slowly. I turned my head as she went, afraid to let her out of my sight for even a second. There wasn’t much I could do if she decided to stab me in the back, but it still made me uneasy to have her right behind me.

“Are you sorry yet?” she asked.

“For what?”

“For ruining everything I had with Jesse. Duh.”

“I didn’t ruin anything. If he wanted you, he never would have come to me.”

“It’s not his fault that you tricked him. He’s only a guy, and we both know guys never think with their heads. Well, at least, they don’t think with the right heads.”

“You think he was only using me for sex?” I asked incredulously.

“Of course I do. What else could he want from you?”

I didn’t even know how to respond to that. Ally was living in her own little world, and nothing I said would change that. There was no point in fighting with someone who couldn’t view reality like a normal person.

“I’m hungry, and I need to pee.”

“I don’t have any food here.”

“Fine, but I still have to pee.”

“You just want me to untie you. I’m not stupid.”

“You’re going to look very stupid when I piss myself, and you have to clean it up.”

She studied me for a moment. If I could get her to leave me alone in the bathroom, maybe I could escape. If not, maybe I could find a way to subdue her. The thought of me hitting her over the head with my chair was very appealing.