Bryan Smith - The Killing Kind

Emily let go of Chuck’s hair and turned toward her. “She’s Chuck’s girlfriend. Remember the hot blonde with us at Starbuck’s?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s Zoe.”

Missy’s frown deepened. “We need to find her.”

The bald girl moved closer to Missy. “We’ve checked all the rooms. All empty.”

Emily looked at Chuck and smiled. “She must be down at the beach. I’ll go get her.”

Chuck bucked against his bonds. “You bitch! You backstabbing cunt!”

The bald girl offered Emily a big hunting knife crusted with flecks of what had to be dried blood. “Here, take this.”

Emily smiled again and waved off the offer. “Won’t need it.” She shot another leering smile Chuck’s way. “Zoe’s not happy with me right now, but deep down, she loves me. She really does. And there’s nothing I can’t talk her into when I put my mind to it. She’ll come back with me hand in hand, never guessing anything’s wrong.”

Missy nodded. “So go. But make it fast. I’m itching to get started.”

Emily winked at Chuck and departed without another word. Chuck’s eyes tracked her across the room and out the shattered door, his soul seething with hatred unlike anything he’d ever experienced. He wanted to scream out a warning, but knew Zoe would never hear it over the wind and the sounds of the ocean. And he didn’t want to exhaust his strength by exercising his lungs. He would need every ounce he could spare for the ordeal ahead.

He couldn’t wrap his mind around what Emily was doing. She was a mean bitch, sure, but there were a lot of those in the world, just as there were a lot of mean, cold-hearted bastards. But there was a huge chasm between this and just being mean.

This was betrayal on a level beyond his comprehension.

It wasn’t human.

It was…evil. Yes, evil. It was a strange thing to think, but it was true. There was a devil living in that girl’s heart. She’d surrendered her soul to darkness.

He thought about the things she’d said about Zoe and wanted to weep.

Because he knew they were all true.

A dark figure came striding down the beach toward her as Zoe emerged dripping wet from the ocean. She wiped salt water from her eyes and smoothed her hair back, which fell in a thick, wet sheet across her shoulders. It was too dark to discern the figure’s identity from this distance, but instinct told her it was Emily. A surge of anxiety swept through her as she slogged through the wet sand toward the row of canvas chairs where she’d left her things. She gathered up her beach towel and wrapped it around her waist like a sarong. She glanced up as she stuffed a hardback novel into her tote bag and was unsurprised to find her hunch verified.

Emily had closed to within ten yards.

She smiled as Zoe’s eyes locked with her. “Hi.”

Zoe didn’t return the smile. She didn’t want to talk to Emily. Not right now. She didn’t want to start bawling. But she couldn’t just ignore her and walk on by. Well, she could, but it didn’t feel right. “I was just about to go back inside.”

Emily’s smile faltered slightly. “You mind if I at least walk back with you?”

Zoe suppressed a groan. “I don’t know, Emily.”

Emily came closer, stopping just a few feet in front of her. “Look, I know this has been a rough week. Nobody’s happy with me. Not even Joe, believe it or not. But you’re the only one who matters, Zoe.” Her voice became thick with emotion. She sounded on the verge of tears. It made Zoe feel bad. “You…you’re my best friend. My only real friend. Please just let me walk with you and say a few things. We don’t have to have a real talk until you’re ready.” A single tear traced a slow trail down one of her cheeks. “Would that be okay? Please?”

Zoe felt her heart begin to melt. And though it went against her better judgment in light of all that had happened, she found herself unable to deny Emily’s request. She really was her best friend. Still. Even now. Accepting this frightened her because she had no idea how things would shake out in the end. There were her other friends to consider. They all hated Emily. It wasn’t fair. She was an adult. Shouldn’t she be able to choose her own friends? She sighed. “Okay. But-”

She gasped as Emily grabbed her and pulled her close. Emily kissed her. Her tongue slid between her lips and tangled with Zoe’s tongue. Zoe braced her hands on Emily’s shoulders and tried to push her away, but Emily tightened her embrace and kept kissing her. The towel came loose and slid to the ground. Zoe tried to wrench her head away, breaking the kiss for the slightest moment before Emily’s mouth found hers again. This time she kissed back.

Jesus fuck, what am I doing?

She braced her hands on Emily’s shoulders again and shoved with all her strength. This time the embrace was broken and Emily staggered back several steps. The strange thing was, she didn’t look pissed. She was still smiling. She licked her lips. “You always taste so sweet.”

Zoe scooped up her towel again, grabbed her tote bag, and gave Emily a wide berth as she started up the beach toward the house.

Emily hurried after her. She slowed a bit as she came up alongside Zoe, matching her stride for stride. “Remember that night in the hotel room?”

Zoe didn’t say anything.

Emily laughed. “You sure didn’t have any inhibitions that night. I guess the coke helped loosen you up. I’ve still got some, you know.”

“I don’t care.”

“Liar.”

The dune and the little bridge beyond were coming up fast. Anxious to be back inside and away from Emily’s discomforting insinuations, she picked up her pace to trudge up the grassy dune.

Emily gave her a little sideways shove as they reached the bridge and moved into the narrow space ahead of her.

Zoe glared at her as she followed her onto the bridge. “Hey! What the fuck was that?”

Emily laughed and kept moving. She didn’t respond.

Zoe’s anger surged. “Seriously, that was really fucking rude. What’s your problem?”

Even as she asked the question, Zoe figured she knew the answer. Emily wasn’t used to having her advances spurned. She was very self-centered and couldn’t abide rejection in any form. Some of Zoe’s anger subsided as she realized it was at least partly her fault. A lot of her recent behavior had laid the groundwork for situations like this. If she’d always rejected Emily’s amorous overtures, this wouldn’t be happening now.

“I’m sorry.”

Emily stopped at the far end of the bridge and turned to face her. She had moved fast and was some twenty yards ahead of where Zoe stood. Her figure was a dark outline in the dim moonlight. “Really?”

Zoe stopped five feet away from her. “Yeah.”

Emily smiled. “Wanna go back down to the beach?”

“No.”

Emily’s smile vanished. “Whatever.”

She turned away from her again and stepped off the bridge, but she moved slower as she continued down the dune to the gate at the back of the fence. Emily opened it and they stepped inside. Zoe paused inside the gate to wash the sand off her feet with the hose. Emily lingered, waiting for her. It struck her as passing strange. She sensed their conversation was over. There was no more to say on the subject of their endangered friendship until later. But Emily seemed to want to stick close anyway. Whatever. It didn’t matter. She’d head back to her own room once they were back inside. No way she’d want to hang around upstairs with Chuck, not after this afternoon’s debacle.

Zoe shut the hose off and started across the deck, angling toward the staircase leading up to the balcony.

Emily followed, hanging close, almost on her heels.

Zoe glanced over her shoulder at the other girl.