Sammy had the sensation of being pushed underwater, but instead of panicking, she felt invigorated. This was her new self. She gazed deep into Tatiana’s eyes, irises like ancient sea shells, but they were also the eyes of a murderer. She had to be a murderer too, another attribution to her new self.
Tatiana took a hand off Sammy’s throat. “You think you can stare me down? I’ll beat your eyes closed.” She pulled her hand back, but the blow never landed.
Sammy’s hands were around Tatiana’s throat. With each gasp of breath, her fingers tightened, relentlessly tightening. Sammy looked into the deep and saw who she was.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
______________________________
The sky was indigo, the horizon a lighter shade. The birds’ songs welcomed the first sign of morning. Sammy wanted to hold onto the night so she could pretend everything was the same. What would Uncle Danny have to say about her now? Nothing came to her.
She might stay until the twins went off to school, wanting to see them one last time. Was it a school day?
Should she say goodbye to Cindy? What would she say to her? I’ve been a freak for a while. Now there was no denying it. Maybe it’d be better for Cindy to think Tatiana got the best of her.
Voices bounded up from the roof’s steps. Sammy shoved her hands into her pockets, they didn’t quite fit now. Tatiana lay a few feet away, eyes still open, face twisted.
The door handle jiggled, and the hinges creaked. The door opened just a sliver at first, then wider. It was Leo. “Sam? Are you all right?”
“Somebody with you?”
“Rhino from the club.” His gaze found Tatiana. “I’ll tell him to wait downstairs.” The door closed. Hushed voices murmured on the other side.
It looked to be a clear day. She’d send Leo on his way, then leave shortly after.
Leo popped back out and rushed over. “Cindy told me of your ordeal. It appears you have matters well in hand.”
Funny choice of words. Sammy pushed her hands deeper into her pockets.
He studied her as if expecting to find something different. He wouldn’t be disappointed this time. Leo pulled out a phone and tapped on the screen. It looked like a blue light glowing off the screen, but she couldn’t be sure. Colors tended to wash out into grays.
“I found you with this. It’s an app police use that casts the iron in the blood luminescent.” He bathed her in its glow.
“Trying to make sure it’s me?”
“I’m just checking for any obvious injuries. I don’t even detect a blemish. Quite remarkable considering Cindy’s account.”
It might be kinder to call Cindy and say goodbye. “I’m a quick healer.”
He leaned in close as if checking for a pimple.
She would’ve pushed him back, but she didn’t want to take her hands out.
“Is that how you persevered?” He glanced back at Tatiana.
She’d waited for her chance and had struck like any ambush predator. The only thing she remembered was dropping Tatiana after hearing bones cracking.
“We should go,” he said with a nod. “It’d be hard to explain if someone comes.”
“You go, Leo.”
“It’d be best not to linger.”
“I’ll go soon.” Where would she go? She hadn’t thought that far ahead. Somewhere where there was water might be an option for her now.
“You should be examined, Sam.”
She shook her head, staring at the corpse. Did Tatiana fight or plead? It was as if she’d been in another room when it happened. There was just the sensation of squeezing. It could’ve been an orange for all she remembered. The bone-cracking was different. That stirred something else in her, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, or whatever she had now.
“I’ll take you home.”
“I’m not going home.” Sammy turned back to look at Gladys’s house. “Tell Cindy I’m okay.”
“Where are you going to go?”
Sammy shrugged. “Maybe a freak show. I’ll be the star attraction.”
“Did you experience another change?”
Nobody else would’ve asked that. In a way, she was glad Leo was here.
“Whatever happened, I can help.”
“You got a glass of ice water?”
“What is it, Sam? Let me see.” There was more jubilance than concern in his voice.
Should she wait for the twins? She could never hug them. There was a chance of crushing them. The sound of the cracking bones haunted her.
“Sam.” Leo tugged at her arm, pulling her hand out of her pocket. “Oh…” There was a breathy wonder to the word. “This is truly remarkable.”
He probed her fingers. The touch felt intrusive, violating. She pulled free and grabbed his throat, then lifted him to his toes. “Don’t touch me!”
“Sam, you’re hurting me.” His voice was garbled.
Sammy let go and stuffed her hands into her pockets. He stumbled back, gasping. She turned away, away from the look of terror. He’d gotten his glimpse of the monster. She wished he’d go now, slip away without saying a word.
“Sam, I was just trying to help.”
“I didn’t ask for your help.”
“The…the appendages must be very sensitive to the touch.”
“They’re tentacles, Leo. Call them what they are.”
“I didn’t get a good look. My eyes can’t see as well as yours in this light.”
Maybe he could make a list of all the freaky things she could do now.
He stepped away from her. Sammy waited for the door to open. It never did. He had the blue light out, examining Tatiana’s face and neck.
She felt empty when looking at Tatiana as if she’d taken something from Sammy. There was the horror too of taking a life. Maybe that’s what happened to Tatiana? She took so many lives that there was nothing but an empty hull.
He stood. “Crushed.” He turned off the light and let out a breath of triumph. “She never had a chance.”
Could she have changed Tatiana if she went to that beach? She wanted to think it was possible. She wanted to think of possibilities.
“Sam, you need more help than ever now. Let me help you.”
“I’ve seen your help, Leo.” She walked past him to the door, realizing she hadn’t grabbed anything other than someone’s throat since the change. She looped her index finger—tentacle—around the door handle and with a flick swung the door open.
Leo scurried up behind her, watching in wonder as the door swung open and closed with her finger. “This could be reversible similar to your skin coloration changes.”
She wanted to grab the handle with all her fingers and rip the door off its hinges. “Somehow I don’t think it is.”
“Will it hurt to try?”
“With you, it’ll hurt plenty.”
“We’ll start with visualizations. Weren’t those exercises pleasurable?”
She’d forgotten about that. The skin scraping and ice water were more memorable.
“You can stay with me.”
“Is that supposed to persuade me?”
“Where else would you go? At least I can provide food and shelter.”
“You have food?”
Leo pulled out a phone. “I can get it. I have Rhino’s phone.”
“Is he going to come?”
“I’ll tell him his services are no longer needed.”
“Don’t know if I can trust you.”
“You have to trust someone, Sam. Who better than me? I mean in reference to your current condition.”
“Get the food, then we’ll see. Feel like I could eat a rhino.”
“I hope you’re not talking literally. He seems like a very nice chap.”
She stared at him, deadpanned and blank-eyed then nodded for him to go through the opened door. She turned back and gazed at Tatiana, who finally lost a game. Sammy crossed the doorway and let go of the door. It banged shut. She watched Leo totter down the steps, r
emembering the climb up. She knew a killer was going to leave here. It just happened to be her.
Join my reader’s group to hear what I’m up to: Reader's Group
The Girl Thief Page 29