“Ally said she’d be here in a few hours. She could have taken Emma hundreds of miles away last night.”

“I don’t think so. Ally needs time to do whatever it is she plans to do. I think she’s still close, Jesse. She has to be.”

“We searched everywhere, Andy. I don’t know where else to look. The fucking cops don’t give a flying fuck about what’s happening. By the time they get off their asses to help us, it’ll be too late.”

Andy started pacing. I kept talking, but he obviously wasn’t paying attention. I needed to find Emma. I couldn’t just sit here and wait for Ally to show up. By then, Emma would be dead.

Andy stopped pacing and looked over at me. “She said she was going to wash it away. Then, she changed and said she was going to throw it away, right?”

“She said she was going to let her problem wash away. Then, she changed and said that she was going to throw it away and let it disappear—” I froze.

“Jesse, talk to me here. What is it?”

“Let it disappear with the current. Throw it away. I know where she’s at—or at least where she’ll go.”

“And?” Andy asked impatiently.

“You can’t really throw a person into water. I mean, you can, but it’s not very dramatic, and Ally is all about the dramatics in life. She always has been. The bridge!”

“What bridge?” he asked.

He hadn’t lived here very long, so he didn’t know the area.

“There is only one body of water around here big enough for her to use—Cheat Lake. They opened up a new bridge last year, but the old one is still up. She wouldn’t use the new one because people would be everywhere. She’s going to the old one.”

“She’s going to throw Emma off the bridge?” he asked.

I watched as pure hatred clouded his eyes.

“And let the current wash her away,” I said.

“Are you sure?”

“No, but it’s the best option we have right now. Let’s go.” I grabbed my keys and ran from the house.

Andy followed right behind me, and we were tearing down the road in seconds.

“Call the police and tell them what’s happening,” I instructed as I cut off a car. I ignored the honking horn as I continued to floor it.

I would save Emma. I had to.

At least I knew where I was when I woke up this time. I held completely still and kept my eyes shut as I listened. If she were in the room with me, I would wait until she left. Maybe that would give me some time to break free. I listened closely for a few minutes. When I was sure she wasn’t around, I opened my eyes slowly. I kept my body completely still as I scanned what I could see of the room. I could see that my arms and legs were once again tied tightly to the chair. After my little escape attempt, she had tied me tighter than the last time.

“I see you’re finally awake.”

I jumped as her voice came from behind me.

Damn it. She’d been behind me all along.

“I am,” I said.

She walked around me and crouched down directly in front of me. “Thanks to you, I have one hell of a headache. You’re going to pay for that one. I can promise you that.”

“Just let me go, Ally.”

“Nope.”

She held up the knife from before, so I could see it.

“I’m going to play with you for a while before I kill you. I planned to make it a little less painful, but I think you deserve some pain after you threw me down a flight of stairs.”

She stood up and grabbed my shirtsleeve. After cutting it off, she ran the knife along the skin of my upper arm. The blade broke the skin but just barely. I almost sighed in relief. I had expected her to hurt me like before. My relief was short-lived as she pressed the blade against my arm again. I couldn’t keep myself from crying out as she sliced deep into my skin.

“Was it worth it?” she asked.

When I didn’t answer, she grabbed my hair and yanked my head back.

“Was it?”

“Yes. I wish you had died,” I whispered as tears ran down my cheeks. My arm felt like it was on fire.

“You’re not very nice.” She yanked my hair harder.

I bit my lip to keep from crying out.

She walked around and rolled up my other sleeve. She didn’t toy with me this time. She dug the blade into my skin and sliced my arm open.

“Please! Stop!” I cried.

She ignored me as she walked back in front of me. I started struggling harder as she pried my knees apart. I was terrified of what she might do.

“Stop moving so much!” she shouted once she had my legs wedged apart. “You’ll make me cut something major. I don’t want you to bleed out before I’m finished with you.”

She dug the knife into my inner thigh. I didn’t even try to hold back as I screamed. The pain was unbearable in such a sensitive spot. She finished her cut and then started another one, crisscrossing the first. I screamed again, begging her to stop. I screamed for someone to help me. I screamed Jesse’s name as loud as I could. I just wanted the pain to stop.

My throat was raw by the time she finished. I couldn’t stand this pain anymore. My leg felt as if she were holding a blowtorch up to it.

“There—now, for your other leg.”

“Please, Ally. Please stop. I’ll do anything.”

“You should have stayed away, Emma. You had your chance before, and you came back around. It’s your own fault that you’re in this situation.”

“Ally, I’ll stay away from Jesse. I swear to God, I will. Just let me go. I won’t tell him that you did this to me. I’ll fly back to California, and you’ll never see me again.”

“I can’t take that chance. If you’re still alive, then he’ll always hope that you’ll come back to him. He’ll have to accept that you’ll never be his once you’re dead. He’ll have to move on.”

“Ally, I’ll tell him whatever you want.”

“Nope. You should have just kept fucking my brother. We all could have been happy then.”

She sliced into my other leg, and I cried out again. I couldn’t scream anymore, only whimper in pain. I wanted to die at this point. Almost every part of my body was screaming out from the cuts or the beatings she’d given me.

“X marks the spot,” she said as she finished the cut. “Now, where should we cut next?”

She looked over my body like she was debating on what outfit to put on me, not where she would slice and dice me next.

“Let’s do your stomach.”

She pulled up my shirt and tucked it into my bra, so it wouldn’t fall down. I closed my eyes as I waited for the knife to touch my skin again. She didn’t disappoint. A few seconds later, I felt the knife slice across my stomach. She didn’t go as deep with this cut as she had with my arms and legs. Or maybe I was hurting so much that my brain just couldn’t process the pain. Either way, I was glad. I couldn’t handle any more.

“Do you think we should cut anywhere else?” She waved the knife in front of me.

My stomach turned when I saw my blood covering the blade.

“Just kill me, and get it over with,” I whispered.

I closed my eyes as I willed my body to shut down. I wanted to pass out again, so I didn’t have to feel the pain any longer. She slapped me hard across the face, and my head fell back. I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes or even make a sound at this point. She slapped me again, and I still refused to look at her.

“You’re starting to bore me, Emma. I thought you’d be more fun than this.”

I stayed quiet as I listened to her footsteps. She walked behind me, and I heard her drop the knife. The room was completely silent for a few seconds. All of a sudden, a cloth was over my mouth.

She’s going to smother me.

I struggled against it. It took me a minute to realize what she was actually doing. She’d chloroformed me. I started to feel drowsy, and I stopped fighting her. She’d given me what I’d hoped for. I passed out.

I awoke to the sound of someone calling my name. I refused to open my eyes. All I wanted to do was stay here and sleep.