Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

from behind her, and she whirled around. She was standing in a long hallway. The carpet was taupe, worn-

cheap looking. A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth as she saw a closed bedroom door at the end of it.

Light spilled from underneath the door, as if to guide her down the hall.

She held her breath as she headed toward the room. In the gray light that drenched the hall, she hurried past

family photographs that hung on either side of her. Baby pictures, wedding pictures. A stiff, posed photograph

of Mel-probably a school portrait. Ariana kept her head down. When she reached the doorway, she gripped

the knob so tightly it made her gloved hand hurt.

Pulling the door open slowly, she stepped into a room that looked

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strangely similar to her side of the room in Billings. It was perfectly neat. Next to the door, a worn dresser

was covered with a few framed photographs and a black plastic top hat with the glittering words happy new

year printed on it. A desk with only a desktop computer on it was wedged next to the closet.

Across the room, Mel lay on a double bed covered with a violet blanket and a few throw pillows. Her eyes

were closed, and a long leg tumbled over the side of the bed, her foot tapping the carpeted floor to the beat of

the guitar music that leaked from her earbuds. A single lamp glowed on the bedside table next to the bed.

Ariana closed the door behind her. The lock echoed with a satisfactory click, and she crossed the room and

stood at the edge of Mel's bed. She noticed a picture on the bedside table, a picture she hadn't been able to

see from the doorway. Rage churned inside her as she looked closer. It was a picture of Thomas. His soccer

picture. He was kneeling on the field in his uniform, his soccer ball wedged under one arm. Ariana chewed

the flesh on the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming. She leaned over the bed, her body casting a

shadow over Mel's form.

Mel's eyelids flickered and opened, widening in horror as Ariana clamped her hand over Mel's mouth.

Dulling the scream that shook Mel's body. She ripped the tiny white earbuds out of Mel's ears and tossed the

iPod on the floor. The music continued to blare from across the room. Mel thrashed under Ariana's grip.

"Shut up," Ariana snapped. "Shut up and I'll let go. I just want to talk to you."

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Mel nodded silently, her body deflating into the blanket beneath her.

Ariana removed her hand slowly, taking a step back from the bed. "Don't move," she warned.

"What do you want?" Mel snapped. She scrambled to the corner of her bed closest to the wall, squinting at

Ariana with her dark gray eyes. Ariana could tell she was trying to look angry. But instead of anger, Ariana