CHAPTER THIRTEEN

He lay there not moving. She couldn’t tell from where she stood if he was still breathing. She wasn’t about to get that close to him. Instead, she retreated into the little kitchen and stood next to the glass door and waited, and waited and waited. It was probably close to a twenty minutes later when he started making grunting noises. He tried to sit up.

“Fuck!”

“Does it hurt?”

“Fuck you!” He said through gritted teeth.

There was blood around the edges of his mouth. Chloe wasn’t sure if it was from his nose, or if she had knocked out a few teeth. She hoped it was the latter.

“Was it worth all of this, Jesse? You wasted your life…and for what?”

“My life is not over, bitch! Yours is. You’re pathetic. You hang around with rich people and all of a sudden you think you’re worth something. You’re still trash! Daddy’s little scarred whore!”

His words tore a path of rage straight through her chest. That’s what they were designed to do. He was taunting her, wanting her to come close so he could grab her again. That wasn’t going to happen.

“I’m not your victim anymore, Jesse. I’m nobody’s victim.”

“Stupid cunt! You think you can take a few self-defense classes and beat me? If you wanted me dead, you would have bought a gun. You think you’re so tough that you can beat me? You’ll wear yourself down and then I won’t have to fight you while I carve you up. You’re doing me a favor.”

“You’re not going to kill me tonight, Jesse.”

“You’ll have to kill me to stop me.”

“Okay.”

He choked out a strangled laugh. “You’re too pathetic. You won’t kill me. You would feel too bad about taking a human life…”

“I would…if I thought you were a human, Jesse. Killing you would be like stepping on a cockroach. I will happily watch your guts spread out across the floor once your shell is broken.”

He snorted. “You’re not only pathetic and stupid, but you’re also delusional.”

“Come here, let’s see.”

“You think I’m afraid of you?”

“I don’t see you moving off that floor. Feel safe there do you?”

Jesse reached down and pulled up the leg of his jeans. He reached into his sock and pulled out a knife with a blade that had to be six inches long. It was serrated on one side. He held it up and said, “When I beat you into submission, I’m going to string you up by your feet and gut you…truss you up like a prize kill. Then I’m going to carve you up one little piece at a time.”

“Bring it,” she said.

The sight of the knife brought a new wave of fear and nausea inside of her but she would die before she let him see it. She watched him push up off the floor with one hand while holding the knife in the other. He grunted, loudly and when he got to his feet, it was easy to see that he was way off balance. He just stood there for several seconds and Chloe wondered if he was going to pass out.

Suddenly, he lunged at her with the knife blade pointed out. She stepped out of the way and he hit the glass door with his face. If Jesse even had a modicum of self-control before that, it was gone now. He screamed like a wild animal and came at her again. Chloe threw a punch that landed on his sore nose, but the tip of the blade he was holding caught her forearm. She felt it slice through skin and muscle, all the way down to the bone.

She didn’t hesitate though…she couldn’t afford to. Attack! She kicked him in the chest and he stumbled back, landing on the glass doors. Attack! She kicked him again, harder this time and the entire door pushed up off its hinges and popped out. Jesse was propelled back with it. As the glass door hit the little wrought iron bistro table on the patio, it shattered.

Jesse’s skull sounded like it did the same thing like the back of his head hit it, bounced up, and hit it again before his body went limp and he crumpled to the ground…on top of the glass. Chloe reached for a dishtowel and wrapped it tightly around her arm. She was starting to get light-headed because she was losing so much blood.

One more scar but it wouldn’t matter if he was dead. It was one scar that she would wear proudly like a badge of honor.

She slayed the dragon.

Chloe stood about three feet back and watched him. She didn’t see his chest or his back moving. She couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not. She thought about calling 911, let them decide but if he wasn’t dead, then she would have to continue to live in fear.

She took a deep breath and told herself once more, “I’m nobody’s victim anymore.”

She slowly walked over to where he lay on his side. She went around behind him so he would have to turn over to reach out and grab her. When she was about a foot away, she leaned down and put her hand on his back. His skin was bloody and cold and his chest wasn’t moving at all. Just to be sure she moved her hand up to his neck. She could see the blade of the knife still glinting in the moonlight as he clutched it in his hand. She shivered, sucked in another breath and pressed her two fingers to the artery in his neck. He had no pulse.

Jesse the monster was dead.

Chloe could finally breathe.

Even though she was convinced that he was dead, she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. She backed away from him quickly and when she reached the front door, she opened it and ran to the truck. She fished the key out of her boot and opened it. She climbed inside and locked the doors again. The adrenaline was starting to leave her body and in its wake, it left anxiety so severe that her teeth were beginning to chatter.

She picked up her phone and saw that she had three missed calls. Roxi, Jake, and Derek. She ignored them for now and called 911.

“911 what is your emergency?”

“I just killed my ex-boyfriend.”

“I’m sorry ma’am; did you say you “killed” someone?” Chloe was shaking so hard that she could barely speak. She said it again, “I killed my ex-boyfriend. He was trying to kill me. I need the police and an ambulance.”

“What’s your name?”

“Chloe Green.”

“Address?” Chloe gave her the address.

“Ma’am, do you have a weapon on you?”

“No.”

“They’re on the way, stay on the…”

Chloe hung up. She pushed Jake’s number.

“Chloe! Where are you?”

“I’m at the condo, Jake. Jesse’s dead.”

“Oh my God! Dad and I flew back this afternoon when Derek told us you went to Rhode Island. I was already on my way. I’ll be there any second. Hang on, Chloe…Shit!”

She could hear the sirens coming. They were getting closer. She called Derek next. Trevor answered the phone.

“Chloe? Are you okay? Everyone has been trying to reach you!”

“I’m fine…Jesse’s dead. Is Derek okay?”

“Jesse’s what?”

“He’s dead. I killed him. Is Derek okay?”

Trevor’s voice had a slight tremor as he said, “He’s fine honey. Are you okay?”

“I will be,” she whispered. “I’m free now.”

She let the phone slide out of her hand and reached up with her good arm and rubbed her eyes hard with her hand. She had to stay awake so that she could tell them what happened. She pushed the unlock button as the police cars came screeching up to her vehicle.

She opened the door as they were opening theirs. She stepped out of the truck with her hands in the air. The bright lights shone on her face; she knew they had their guns drawn on her. Once she was out of the truck, she dropped to her knees, her arms becoming heavy. That was when she saw Jake run across the sand. The police yelled at him to stop and everything went black. Chloe gave in to the strong pull of sleep as the darkness consumed her.