“Climb up to me, Lily,” I said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
36
MAYA
Before Ash stood at the top of the ladder and made that promise to Lily, I already knew all of the trust between us, everything I’d worked so hard to rebuild, was gone. This was ground zero, and I pivoted, transforming my plan into a better, more sophisticated and permanent one. The foundation for it already existed, quite literally, in this garage, something I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to use, but now knew I had no other choice.
“Lily,” Ash said, reaching for her. “Are you hurt? Let me help you.”
He grabbed her hand as she emerged looking like a terrified, wounded animal, ready to step into the arms of her Prince Charming. I saw her fingers wrapped around a belt, realized it must have been what she’d used to make all that noise, throwing the buckle repeatedly at the trapdoor.
How very clever.
She climbed the last few rungs. Blood trickled from a wound on the side of her head where I’d hit her, and her clothes were brown and gray from the dirt and dust. If I’m being completely honest, she looked pathetic, and they were too busy with each other to notice me moving the few feet to my workbench, where my hand deftly closed over one of my power tools.
“She hit me,” Lily said, letting out a sob. “She locked me in. I thought I was going to die.” Ash put his arms around her, and I almost rolled my eyes at their cute little reunion. When she finally worked up the guts to look at me, she flinched. “You wanted me to die,” she whispered.
“Let’s get you to the house,” Ash said, ignoring me. “Everything’s going to be okay now, I promise.” When she took a step back and he bent over to close the trapdoor, exactly how I knew he would because he wouldn’t want anyone to fall down there by accident, I took three swift strides, pushed my nail gun to Lily’s chest and pulled the trigger.
Her eyes widened as the sharp metal pierced her flesh, burrowing straight into her heart. I watched as her mouth dropped open in surprise, and she let out a tiny gasp before sinking to the floor without making another sound. Now I knew what killing someone directly—immediate, precise and efficient—felt like. It wasn’t so hard after all.
“Lily!” Ash screamed, too focused on her to notice me lowering the nail gun onto the floor behind me. He dropped to his knees, shouted her name again, pressed his hand over her chest where a patch of crimson had already spread across her shirt.
I didn’t have long until he realized what I’d done, so I picked up the heavy piece of driftwood I’d used on Lily, and swung hard, aiming for the back of his head. No, I didn’t want to hurt him, but sometimes things had to get worse before they got better.
As he slumped, unconscious, over his dead girlfriend’s body, I knelt down and stroked his hair. “It’s for the best,” I whispered. “You’ll thank me. I promise you’ll thank me for protecting us. For keeping our pact.”
EPILOGUE
MAYA
You expected a story with a fairy-tale happy ending? We’ll get there, because it’s not over yet. Besides, happiness means different things to different people. There isn’t one single definition of what it means to be content. In my case, at this moment in time, it’s knowing Ash is home, and that he’ll always be where he belongs. Here, in our house in Newdale. With me.
It’s been three months now, but I’d be lying if I said I was delighted with his progress. He tried to fight me at first when he woke up in the new storage room in the garage, found his hands and feet bound, and realized I wasn’t going to set him free. At one point he refused to eat or drink because he’d figured out I’d been giving him more clonazepam to keep him calm, but after almost three days without anything, he begged for water and I was happy to comply. Like I said, I don’t want to hurt him.
It took him a while to accept Lily was gone, but I assured him I was gentle when I laid her to rest close to Celine in a quiet corner of our grounds, where nobody will ever find them. Not as long as we live here, and I’ve already told him he’ll never leave.
In time, maybe I’ll let him move back into the house, but for now he’s comfortable in the double-insulated storage room, the little nest he helped build for himself. He still has to have his hands and feet tied, I can’t trust him enough yet, but the benzos make him relaxed and manageable. I had to increase the dose while I finished the work on the rooms in the garage, and I didn’t want to try to put him in the room below. Believe me, I’m not the devil.
The first thing I did was add a steel-reinforced door to the storage room and switch the hinges around to make sure Ash couldn’t get to them from the inside. Next I worked on the bathroom, sealing up the original door and thickening the walls with bricks, but not before I’d cut a different opening, giving Ash direct access from his room. After all, he has to be comfortable and able to use the facilities whenever he needs. The work was easy to do once he was passed out, although all this medication still makes him confused, but we’ll get there. Soon enough he’ll understand this is what’s best for him. I promised I’d be patient. We have all the
