“Stay there!”
He stopped at the foot of the bed, right in the center. “Who’s dog?”
“Why?”
“I’m worried no one will be here to take care of him. Should we bring him with us? I don’t know how Noah will react to another dog—”
“I’m not going any fucking where—”
“You are.” He narrowed his gaze at me. “Will there be someone to watch the dog?”
“Have you lost your fucking mind—”
“You know I have.”
“Get out!”
“When I first entered your bedroom, I planned to duct tape your mouth and handcuff you.”
Terror vibrated through me.
I edged away. My back hit the wall. My heart raced.
“But I thought we should talk first.” Cain crossed his arms over his chest. “Perhaps, a discussion was necessary.”
“Well. . .” I swallowed. “You missed your chance.”
Go ahead. Pull it. Kill him.
Panic hit me. My stomach boiled in terror. My breaths came in shallow gasps. It felt like a solid weight being pushed against my lungs.
I raised the gun and aimed at his head.
“Should I come closer to give you a better target?” He inched to the side, getting to the corner of the bed and closing the distance more. “Does this help?”
“Stop!”
Cain remained at the edge of the bed, but in front of me. He was now barely eight feet away.
He’s too close. Now you have to shoot him.
My bottom lip quivered.
Do it. Do it.
I trembled. “C-Cain. . .”
He moved his arms and put his hands in his pocket. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to hear that? To listen to you whisper my name?”
I plead with him. “Cain. . .don’t make me do it.”
“Go ahead, Phoenix.” He pulled handcuffs out of his pocket. “Let’s get this part over with.”
“Y-you could just go back to your chapel and. . .do what you do in your. . .soul coffin. It’s none of my business—”
“I could, but you stirred something within me.”
“I didn’t.”
“I can’t describe it.”
“Because it’s not there. It’s not real.”
“Phoenix, it’s definitely real. Needing you is like tripping at the top of a rocky, jagged hill and falling. Tumbling down. Grabbing for rocks and flowers. Trying to stop the descent, yet still happily spinning out of control.”
I trembled.
He went around the corner of the bed, but didn’t move closer. “That’s what these weeks without you have been. Falling. Spinning. Tumbling. Descending into fear and emptiness.”
I pressed my back hard against the wall, wishing I could push it away and escape.
“Have you felt the same way?”
My hand that was gripping the gun shivered so much that I was scared I would drop it.
“This feeling of falling is quite dangerous for a person like me. In fact, what I feel for you has shifted into a sickness. An unending obsession.”
I plead with him. “Leave. . .t-think about your siblings.”
“I wish my family was enough to keep me distracted. . .to make me forget about you.”
“There are so many women out there—”
“But none are Phoenix.” He gave me a sad smile. “None are Trinity Monica Thompson.”
My fear shifted to anger.
“How odd that your name is Trinity.”
“It’s not.”
“Christian doctrine conceptualizes one god existing in three coequal and coeternal divine persons—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.”
“I-it’s just. . .my name.”
“Yet, now you’re my new religion.”
I stilled my finger on the trigger. “Okay. I tried to save you.”
“You did.” He raised his hands in the air. The handcuffs dangled in one hand. “Now it’s time to kill me. Right?”
“Fuck you.”
“Can you do it? Can you pull the trigger.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“Because. . .I’m not a killer.”
“Yes. You are.”
Yes. . .I am. . .
I gently placed the tip of my finger on the trigger. “B-bye, Cain.”
“Bye, Phoenix.”
I breathed in, exhaled, and then pulled the trigger.
It clicked, but no bullet left.
No!
Cain grinned.
My throat seized.
It was full.
I pulled it again.
Nothing, but a cold, mechanical click echoed.
He. . .he fucking emptied the gun.
My veins iced in terror. No matter how hard I tried to swallow, I couldn’t. My tongue felt thick.
He lowered his hands. “Put the gun down, Phoenix.”
I didn’t. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak.
Cain walked toward me.
No.
I threw the gun at his head.
Continuing my way, he dodged it, sending the gun spinning into the corner of the room.
Hell no.
I dove onto the bed. His huge body slammed onto the bed too, landing next to me. My body bounced against the headboard. I rolled fast across the mattress.
He grabbed my ankle.
Screaming, I kicked his face with my other leg.
He groaned and let go.
I jumped off. I didn’t waste time looking back. I raced for the door, setting my lungs on fire and spiking my adrenaline.
Get out of here!
I darted through the door and sped down the dark, narrow hallway.
Get away!
Cain might’ve been big, but I could outrun him. My muscles rippled with speed. I rounded the corner. My feet flew over the carpet. The voice of reason in my mind said to slow down, to try and figure out a plan, but the adrenaline wouldn’t let me.