“Oh my God, that is so freaky. I think I would’ve died,” said Girl #1.
“Yeah. It was pretty insane,” Hannah agreed.
“I bet he chopped girls into pieces in that room,” said Girl #2. “Probably even raped them.”
Allie’s throat constricted.
“I honestly didn’t think you’d do it,” said Girl #2. “You’ve got some serious balls.”
Girl #1: “Yeah, major cajones. I know I wouldn’t have been able to take that dare.”
Blood pounded so loudly in Allie’s ears, she could barely see straight. Hannah hadn’t wanted to be her friend after all. She was merely trying to score points with girls from school. And she was using her and her brother to do it.
She just wanted to show off by getting the murderer’s loser sister to trust her—and take her to where all the murders happened. And she had succeeded.
Allie ground her teeth and pushed the door open. The room instantly went silent.
Hannah’s jaw dropped, then she quickly looked away.
Allie balled her fists, wanting to punch something. Something like Hannah’s ridiculously gorgeous face. She stared coldly at the other two teenage girls: a blonde and a brunette. Their mouths were both agape.
The blonde took a step back and Allie recognized her as one of the girls from Sherwood Foods. She’d been wearing a soccer uniform.
Allie’s eyes flicked back to Hannah. “And to think I believed that you actually liked me.”
Hannah stared at the bed.
“Stay the hell away from me,” Allie hissed. She spun on her heels and left the room. In the hallway, she passed a smiling Claire.
“It would be pretty rude of me to tell you I told you so, wouldn’t it?” the woman said, her eyes both playful and full of ice.
At the front door, Allie ran into Ted. His forehead creased with concern. “Allie? Is something wrong?”
“Just get out of my way!” she shouted, her voice laced with tears. “All of you just leave me the hell alone!”
CHAPTER 45
ALLIE THREW OPEN the mudroom door, angry tears burning her cheeks. As she crossed the kitchen, she heard Miss Bitty.
“Allie?”
Allie froze in her tracks and looked in the direction the voice had come from. Miss Bitty, Big Joe, Louis, and Ted were all sitting at the kitchen table with cards and poker chips in front of them.
“Did you walk all the way here?” Ted asked, incredulous. “You should’ve told me. I would’ve given you a ride.”
Allie glared at the man.
“Oh no. She turned on you, didn’t she?” Bitty said.
Allie shifted her eyes to the old woman’s. “You . . . you knew?”
“Oh girlie. I’m so sorry.”
“You knew she was using me and you didn’t warn me?”
Bitty’s brows knitted together. “It was just a feeling, Allie.”
“Well, if you had that kind of feeling, then why didn’t you warn me?”
“You need to live your own life and make your own mistakes. Just because I had a hunch didn’t give me the right to butt in.”
“But I was nothing but a sideshow act to her!” Allie yelled, staring directly at Ted. “She was using me to get some other girls to like her. They dared her to become friends with me . . . the weird girl. To get me to show her where my brother killed those people!”
Ted’s eyes widened. “Allie, that’s awful. I had no idea. I just thought you guys had an argument.”
The old woman went to the counter and grabbed some tissue. “Oh Allie, I’m so sorry.” She tried to hand it to Allie, but she wouldn’t accept it. “There will be other friends,” Miss Bitty said. “Sometimes certain people just aren’t meant to—”
“Other friends? Really? Did you really just say that?” Allie spat. “Well, that’s easy for you to say. Everyone likes you. No one has ever liked me! Do you even realize that Hannah was the first real friend I’ve ever even had?”
Allie’s eyes darted to Ted again. He, Louis, and Big Joe were heading out the mudroom door.
Allie turned her attention back to Bitty. “No one even wants to be around me once they get to know me! You were wrong. I am ugly! When people are around me long enough, they start seeing an ugly . . . pathetic . . . misfit. The daughter of a crazy whore and the sister of a sick brother who hated woman and liked to—” Warm tears streamed down her cheeks. “But, of course, you have absolutely no idea how that even feels. You’re so irritatingly perfect and people love the hell out of you!”
Allie was so angry she didn’t care what she did or said. All she cared about was releasing the anger. “Why am I even trying, huh? It’s no use. I was stupid to even think that a girl like Hannah would actually like me. I mean, no one likes me. No one ever has. I’m just a used-up piece of trash. My own mother didn’t even love me. If she had, she would’ve told me so, at least once.” She was outright sobbing now. “But . . . but she knew I didn’t deserve it.” She swiped at her nose with the back of her hand. “People hate me and you know what? They should, because I’m the reason my brother killed himself. It’s because I was selfish. I was so mean to him and just kept pushing him because it made me feel better! I pushed him until he just lost his shit and killed himself! If it hadn’t been for me—”
Allie had no choice but to stop so she could catch her breath. Hiccupping violently, she stared out the window. “I’m exactly what those people in the supermarket said I was,” she said. “I’m a piece of shit, and I just have to accept it.”
Miss Bitty’s voice was calm. “Do you really believe that, Allie?”
“Yes,” she sniffed. “And you know what’s so crazy? I knew it was wrong to trust Hannah. She acted too happy to hang out with me. I mean, who in their right mind would even want to be around me?”
Miss Bitty’s voice was tender. “I do.”
“Well, then you must be seriously fucked up, lady, because you’re the only one.”
CHAPTER 46
THE BEDROOM WAS cool and dark when Miss Bitty walked in a few hours later. Allie was wide awake under the covers, holding a snoring Piglet.
“Allie, phone call.”
Allie didn’t bother opening her swollen eyes. “I’m not here.”
“It’s Hannah.”
“Well, duh. It’s not like anyone else has ever called me.”
“I think you should take it.”
When she didn’t make a move to pick up the phone, she heard the old woman lay it on the bedside table. A moment later, the door clicked closed.
Allie sat up and reached for the phone. “What do you want?”
The voice on the other end was small and thin. “I want to tell you what happened. Why I did it.”
Allie waited.
“Allie? Are you there?”
“Go on.”
Hannah’s voice was quiet, almost a whisper. “I met Kayla and Stefanie a couple of weeks before I introduced myself to you. I was lonely and I really wanted friends, but you know how girls can be,” she said and paused. “Plus, people find me a little quirky and odd, and I know that . . . so it’s usually tough for me to fit in.”
Hannah has a hard time fitting in? She WAS quirky and odd, but still.
“Well, Kayla didn’t like me at first,” Hannah continued, “so I thought for sure I was destined to have no friends here. But then you came back to town and everyone started talking. Seriously—it didn’t seem like they talked about anything else for, like, a month. It’s all they ever even seemed to tweet about.”
Tweet?
“So when my mom said she was going to your house to see Miss Bitty I said I wanted to go, too, to see if I’d have the chance to meet you. I was curious about you, but I also wanted to tell the girls I’d met you, you know, so that they’d pay more attention to me. I knew it was such a loser thing to do, but I did it anyway.”
The line went quiet.
“Go on.”
“Then when I told them you actually came to my house
they got more interested in me . . . and seemed to like me more. I joined the soccer team and thought I was getting closer to them. That they were really accepting me. I didn’t think I was hurting anyone. I mean, I liked them and I liked you. But then they dared me to go to the Murder House . . .” She paused. “Your house. That’s what they all call it. They dared me to go there with you and I knew they’d give me a hard time if I didn’t.” Hannah paused again. “Even though I didn’t feel right about asking you to take me there, I did it anyway because I didn’t want to lose them. I thought they were my friends. That’s why I begged you to go even though I knew you didn’t want to. And now I’m really sorry.”
“Why?”
“Why am I sorry?”
“Yeah.”
“Because that night I realized that you would make a better friend than they ever would. You and I are the same in a lot of ways. Kinda screwed up . . . kinda weird . . . and we don’t really fit in. Plus, in the back of my mind, I always knew they were using me. And even though I was kinda okay with that at first, I was getting tired of it. I also started to feel like a really mean person because Miss Bitty and Louis and Joe were all so kind to me. It’s like they trusted me to be good to you. And I wasn’t.”
The line went silent.
“I guess I’m a little insecure. I’ve always been different than the others and sometimes it’s hard. I guess I had something to prove to myself, so I tried to prove something to them. But that’s not who I want to be. It’s not.” She paused again. “Look, I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I wanted you to know that I’m sorry. Truly, I am.”
Long pause.
“Allie?”
“Yeah.”
“Well . . . I mean, do you have anything to say?”
“Okay.”
“Okay . . . what?”
“Just okay. I’m hanging up now.”
“Allie, seriously. I’m really sorry.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
Allie hung up, then pressed “Play” on her brother’s CD player. She rubbed Piglet’s belly and listened to “Lay, Lady, Lay” on loop as she sat in the dark and thought about the conversation.
As angry as she was, she realized Hannah had sounded genuine. Plus, it really took balls for her to admit what she did—and she hadn’t needed to. After all, she already had friends. It wasn’t like she was desperate or anything.
But do I even care now?
Yeah . . . yeah, I think I do.
Allie decided she would call her back. If anyone knew how important second chances were, it was Allie.
But she would wait. She would make Hannah suffer a little first.
At seven o’clock, Allie wandered out of her bedroom to find Miss Bitty. It was the time of night they usually spent watching junk television together.
Her eyes swollen and her throat thick with tears, she longed to be around the old woman. She needed to be with her and try to make everything okay between them.
As she reached the end of the hall, she saw light from the family room spilling into the hallway. Someone was in the room. When Allie turned the corner, she was relieved to see that it was Miss Bitty—and that she was alone. The old woman looked up at her and patted the couch. “Come, sit.”
The woman muted the television.
Allie decided to not give herself time to think. “Look, I’m sorry I yelled,” she blurted out. “Also for saying what I did about, you know . . . you being effed up.”
Miss Bitty smiled, but her eyes were red and swollen, too. “If I knew she was going to hurt you, I would’ve said something. I didn’t know, Allie. I could tell she was troubled, but that was all I knew. Honestly.”
Miss Bitty knew Hannah was troubled? As far as Allie was concerned, Hannah had put on a good show for the old woman.
Too good of a show.
Miss Bitty placed a hand on Allie’s shoulder. “And I’m glad you yelled and said the things you said. The way I see it, it was a great therapy session. What you said was honest and healthy, Allie. You let go of a lot of pain.”
Yes. A lot. “But how did you know Hannah was troubled?”
Bitty paused. “Well, let’s just say that I know things.”
“Like what kind of things?”
Miss Bitty gazed at her and Allie noticed that her red-rimmed eyes were also glazed over. She was either drunk or close to it.
“Well, what if I told you that there was something inside of me . . . a sixth sense, if you will . . . that told me you were supposed to come into my life? That I moved here from California just for you? Now, I didn’t know exactly when, but I knew that if I came here, our paths would cross and you would need me. That I’d have an important role in your life. Would you believe me?”
Allie nodded. At this point she would believe pretty much anything Miss Bitty told her, glassy-eyed or not.
A shadow crossed the old woman’s face. “I don’t know everything, though,” she muttered and sighed. “That’s the problem.”
CHAPTER 47
ALLIE BLINKED SLEEP from her swollen eyes. Piglet was growling at the end of bed, her body erect.
She heard a bump in the doorway, then heavy footsteps disappearing down the hall.
What the—?
Piglet shot out of the room, barking.
No! “Piglet!” Allie screamed, swinging her legs out of the bed.
There was a loud clatter in the living room. Piglet’s barks became frantic. But once Allie reached the living room, there was no one in sight.
Piglet’s barks grew faint, now coming from outside the house. Allie ran through the kitchen to find the door to the mudroom standing wide open.
Her heart hammering in her chest, she stepped out into the chilly air to see the puppy at the mouth of the woods, stubby little tail stiff and ears at attention.
“Piglet, come!” she commanded. “Here, girl! Come, Piglet!”
The dog glanced back at her for a moment as if she wasn’t sure what to do, then she let out a high-pitched bark and bounded into the woods.
“Piglet, no!”
The little dog’s barks grew faint as the distance between them grew.
“Piglet!”
Allie ran across the yard, the hard ground cold against her bare feet, but when she reached the mouth of the woods, she froze. Something told her it would be a bad idea to follow the dog.
“Piglet! Piglet!” she cried, hoping the pup would turn around and come jumping into her arms.
Somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard the dog yelp.
Then, she couldn’t hear the dog at all.
Allie banged on Miss Bitty’s bedroom door. “Miss Bitty? Miss Bitty!” But the old woman didn’t answer.
She threw the door open. The room smelled stale, and the old woman was lying on her side in the middle of the bed. She looked so small and fragile, it was hard to believe she had such a commanding personality. On the table next to her was a wineglass and two empty bottles of wine.
“Miss Bitty?” she said, trying to keep her voice somewhat calm, although adrenaline was surging through her.
The woman didn’t move.
“Miss Bitty!” she said more urgently, tears clouding her vision. “Miss Bitty!” she yelled.
The woman turned over and stared at her with bleary eyes. “What . . . what is it?”
“Someone was in the house! I got up to check it out and the mudroom door was wide open and, oh my God, Piglet’s in the woods and I think she’s hurt. We have to find her!”
Wide awake, Miss Bitty peeled back the covers and jumped out of bed. She grabbed a robe from the back of her closet door. “Stay in here and lock the door.”
An image of her childhood dog, Petey, flashed in Allie’s head. Of her mother leading the dog into the woods. “I can’t. Piglet’s in the woods and she’s hurt. I have to find her!”
“I’ll look for her. Now, stay in here and lock the door,” she ordered again, her voice strained. “Do it now.”
The old wom
an quickly left the room. And although it was difficult, Allie did as she was told. She paced around the room and obediently waited.
CHAPTER 48
MISS BITTY SEARCHED the house but saw no obvious signs of an intruder. She hurried outside and carefully searched the back of the property.
Nothing.
“Piglet?” she called. “Piglet! Come here, girl! Piglet!”
All she heard was the chirping of crickets.
She walked to the guesthouse and knocked on the door. A moment later Joe answered. “Is everything okay?”
“Were you in the house just now?” she asked.
“No. Why? Is something wrong?”
“Have you seen or heard anything unusual tonight? Someone in the yard maybe?”
Joe shook his head. “No, but I was sleeping pretty deep.”
“How about Allie’s dog? Have you seen her?”
“No, I haven’t. What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
Miss Bitty sighed. “I don’t know. Allie said she thought she heard someone in the house. When she checked, the door to the mudroom was wide open and the dog ran into the woods. She hasn’t come back.”
“I’ll grab a flashlight and search the house.”
“I already did,” the old woman said. “But please, see if you can find the dog. Allie’s grown really attached to her.”
“Will do.”
“And Joe? Even if you don’t find the dog, call the house if you see anything unusual.”
“I will.”
Bitty started for the house again when she had another thought. She turned and saw Joe powering on a flashlight. “And one more thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Do me a favor and, even after tonight, keep an eye out around here on a regular basis, will you? There’s a killer on the loose and I have a young girl inside who I need to protect.”
“Yeah, Miss Bitty. Sure thing. I’ll keep an eye out.”
CHAPTER 49
HE COULDN’T WAIT any longer.
Hope was working two double shifts and wouldn’t be home until at least after midnight . . . but midnight was too far away.
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