Page 190 of Shattered Silence Duet

Atlas’s words flash through my mind.

Whatever happens, you will not give up. You will fight as hard as you can to stay alive, safe, and come back to us. You will NOT give up.

Simon takes another step towards me, playing with the knife between his fingers. I hold my ground and look him in the eyes as he tells me, “get on your knees, pet.”

I take a deep breath, narrow my eyes and shake my head.

The look of surprise on both their faces at me defiance is priceless. I’ve never stood up to them like this before.

He recovers quicker than Helen, and a smile slowly spreads across his face. “Oh, pet, you grew a backbone while you’ve been away. How interesting. It’ll just make this much more fun.” He runs the point of the knife up my chest, neck, and face, not pressing hard enough to cut, but enough to imply the threat if I move.

Now I remember why I stopped struggling against him all those years ago. He loves the fight. My defiance just makes him more eager.

He leans in to lick my throat, and I try to push him away while stepping back. He chuckles. “There’s that little fighter. Oh, how I’ve missed you. You might have been daddy’s little girl, but now you’remylittle pet.”

“You know why I took all those girls? They were supposed to be substitutes for you. I tried to find someone to satisfy my need. But none of them were as pure and perfect as you.”

“You’re sick!” I whisper, horrified.

His eyes widen in shock. “You can talk? Since when?” he asks in confusion. I shrug my shoulders, not sure he’s really looking for an answer.

“You told him, didn’t you?” His confusion starts to turn to anger as he points his knife at me. “I killed Brad for you and that’s how you repay me? It wasn’t supposed to be like this! All of this is your own fucking fault! You should have just stayed silent!”

I have no idea what he’s talking about, but fear outweighs confusion as he turns to look at the sobbing girl on the ground. I don’t recognize her, but she looks to be around sixteen with long brown hair. I can’t let another innocent girl die, but how can I save her when I can’t even save myself?

Just distract them, your guys are coming.

With that thought in mind, I watch as Simon holds an empty palm out to Helen. “Gun.”

“What? You can’t shoot the girl, we agreed to use the knife, so we can keep the gun,” she argues.

“Mother. Give me the gun. Now,” he says, turning his angry gaze to her. Whatever she sees there must scare her, because she swallows nervously and places the gun in his hand.

He turns to me with what looks like remorse in his eyes as he raises the gun and points it at my chest, making me step back, fear flowing through my veins.

“I’m sorry it has to end this way, but you’ve run out of your usefulness,” he says regretfully. Then, in one swift motion, he turns the gun to Helen and shoots her in the chest. She looks athim with shock before dropping to the forest floor, her body unmoving.

The gunshot rings out through the forest and I freeze, unable to believe what he just did. Realizing he’s distracted, staring at our mother’s dead body, I look at the young girl, who looks up at me with fear in her eyes. I mouth the wordrun, and as soon as she starts to stand, I run towards Simon, throwing myself at him, to knock him down and distract him.

Of course, he’s six foot and muscular and I weigh nothing, so all I seem to do is surprise him as he turns to me with a frown and pushes me away. But when my eyes move back to where the girl was, relief fills me to see there’s no sight of her.

Simon sees where I’m looking and sighs in agitation. “Well, that’s a loose end I’ll have to take care of, so thanks for that.”

I quickly step back from him, wondering if I can out run him or his gun. I’m pretty sure shooting me in the back isn’t part of his plan. But now I’m not sure what his plan is. How does killing Helen help him blame the murders all on me?

“Ah, I can see you’re confused. You went and blabbed, it won’t work to pin the murders on you anymore. Mother, however, is a perfect scapegoat. She’s been moving around, just as you have, but she’s actually old enough to have committed all of them. Besides, she doesn’t have control of you anymore, so she’s worthless to me.

“So… you’re not going to kill me?” I ask hopefully.

He laughs. “Maybe, a week ago, I would have kept you. But now… now I need you out of the way so he can see that I’m the only one he needs after all.”

I have no idea what he’s talking about, and I’m not planning on sticking around to find out. “You’re insane,” I whisper, trying to figure out which way to run.

“Maybe,” he says with a shrug. “I know it’s wrong to want my sister, even if we’re only half siblings, but I can’t help it. You’re so perfect, and you were made for me.”

Not wanting to find out where this is going, I turn and try torun, but he tackles me to the ground, knocking the wind out of me.

He rolls me over, then straddles me, holding my hands to the ground beside my head as I struggle beneath him, my body hurting where I hit the ground.