Page 32 of Shadowface 1979

She dips her chin. “Please move out of the way. I don’t want to talk to you.”

I don’t budge. “You think I’m a killer? You believe the rumors about me, don’t you?”

Her body goes wholly still. “I don’t think you’re a killer.”

“Yet you’re still scared of me? You’ve been avoiding me since our last interaction.”

She pauses for a moment before she says, “I don’t want to talk to anyone here.”

I lightly run my hand down her arm and grab her wrist, and she freezes. “You talk to Tommy.”

Her skin is soft under my fingertips, and her chest falls and rises. She’s smaller than I thought she’d be. Delicate, petite. She reminds me of Talia in that way.

“Tommy’s nice. He’s the only one who’s been nice to me since I started here.”

I lick my lips and smile. “I can be nice, too.”

She glances at the floor then tilts her head up to me. “Everyone thinks you are a killer.”

I lift my chin to face her, and she’s trembling. A few seconds tick by before I ask, “Do you think I’m a killer, Diana?”

She forces down a swallow and hoods her eyes. “I don’t know yet,” she says honestly. “Something evil is in this place. I can sense it.”

I stare down at her. I’m at least a foot taller sitting at 6’2 and she’s barely 5’4. I could crush her with my bare hands. She’s right to be wary, her read on me is correct. I’ve never killed anyone, but I want to.

My hand finds her cheek and I run my knuckles down her face. She holds her breath and closes her eyes, and my hand finds her chin. Then I step into her, forcing her back to the bookshelf. I place one hand by her ear and the other on her hip. “Have you let Tommy touch you, little lamb?”

She shutters a breath.

“You can tell me.” I lift my hand up her shirt running my hand up her abdomen. “Every girl falls for his pretty smile first. But they are always drawn to me, eventually. When I want you, I will have you. Now or later; eventually, I’ll get a taste of you.”

Her soft white eyes blink a couple of times, and she releases a heavy breath. “Is that why you’ve been watching me?” she asks. “You’ve been in here every day watching me, haven’t you?”

I don’t deny it. “I’m not going to hurt you, Diana. I want to get to know you better.”

Her mouth parts and she jerks her arm away from me. “Please,” she says weakly, “I have to catch my bus.”

I let her pass, grinning at her discomfort as she rushes out the door. I take my time and follow her out to the front of the school just as ol’ Marty passes with that clunker he drives around town, leaving her behind.

Diana’s shoulders slump, and I smile as I approach her. It’s just me and her, the way I planned. The school yard has thinned out. Her eyes glaze over as her eyes adjust, and a few seconds later, she walks away from me, heading toward that slaughterhouse she lives in. It’s like she’s asking for it.

“I can give you a ride,” I call out after her.

Her eyes dart to my motorcycle parked near the front of the dusty lot. “No, thank you.”

“Why? You scared?”

“No. I’m not scared of anything.”

Little lamb is a little liar. I’ll have her so scared by the time I’m done with her; her toes will curl.

“It’s too far for you to walk. I’m your only option.” I walk up and she freezes as I tower over her, lean in and whisper in her ear, “Plus, the killer is on the loose. Wouldn’t want you to end up like the Jenkins kid, would we?”

She whirls around, squaring her body to mine “You mean your sister’s boyfriend?”

My lips curl to a smile as she catches my bait. “Yeah. He was Talia’s boyfriend. Whoever killed him was vicious, emotional. You don’t stab someone fifteen times if you didn’t feel something for that person.”

She sucks in breath. “Everyone thinks it was you.”