blazing inferno. She shivered.
“I-I’m so sorry. I never—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I yelled, shocking myself.
I stalked closer, and she shied away from me. Shit. I meant to come here to help her, not scare her. I couldn’t help it though. I was just so fucking mad.
“Why did you do this?” I asked. “Is it because nobody loves little Violet Jones? I love you. Or at least I did. You were like a daughter to me, Violet.”
She started sobbing harder. The salty tears traveling down her cheeks weren’t enough. I wanted her to suffer. I wanted her to feel pain. “I’m so sorry,” she cried out while clutching her stomach. That swift maternal move made me even madder. Oh yes, she was pregnant. She also reeked of booze. I fought to have life growing in my belly, and she had the audacity to drown it in alcohol? How could she?
“You’re pregnant,” I said.
Violet crumbled. She sobbed harder than ever before, curling in on herself as she moaned and choked on emotion. “I’m so sorry. I won’t keep it, I promise. I’m going to terminate the baby soon. I-I just had to wait until I was eighteen—”
“Terminate? You want to get rid of it?” I asked. Anger. Fury. So much pain.
“Breeze doesn’t have to know. No one has to know. I won’t see him again. It’ll be like the baby never happened. Like the affair never happened.”
My mind snapped. “I’ll know it happened!” I yelled before tackling her to the ground. She barely fought me off. I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or her lack of fight. I grabbed a nearby fallen branch and pressed it against her neck while holding her down with my body. The wood dug into my palms. It was an out of body experience that happened in a flash, but also seemed to go on forever. I knew how long it would take. I smiled when her eyes rolled back. I laughed maniacally when her lips turned blue. Feeling her body go slack was like nirvana. My muscles burned from the exertion. I breathed through the pain and got high off watching her die. She fought, but it wasn’t enough.
One second passed.
Two.
Too still. Violet Jones was too still.
My vision focused.
Reality crashed into me. I sat in the leaves, breathing heavily and staring at her body. Oh my God. “What have I done?” I whispered before grabbing the branch and throwing it as hard as I could into a pile of sticks. “Oh my God. I killed her.” My trembling fingers ached to feel her pulse, like the nurse I was, but I snapped them back before making contact.
Fingerprints. They would find me. They would know. Everything would come out. Brian would be arrested for fucking an underaged girl, and I would spend a lifetime behind bars because I killed her. Breeze would be all alone.
I stood up and backed away. I couldn’t do this. I killed her. I fucking killed her!
I stared at her for a long moment before stealing her cell phone and covering her body with dirt and leaves. This was bad. This was so bad. I couldn’t carry her back with me.
I gave her one last look before turning and sprinting home. I had to fix this.
After driving in a numb haze for a couple of hours, I decided that I couldn’t hide any longer. It was almost sunrise when I arrived at the surf shop. My husband had started sleeping here a while ago. It was one of the first signs that he was cheating. Using my key, I opened the door and stumbled inside. Everything within me shook with the adrenaline, grief, and terror I felt. I couldn’t believe I’d done this. How would I cover my tracks? I spent the drive here thinking of an alibi. Being the charge nurse had its perks. My daughter would assume I was working late again. It would be easy to put my name on the schedule. Working in the ER was finally paying off. I could assign myself to an isolated patient. No one would be the wiser.
Brian looked so peaceful on his bed. His shirt had risen up some, revealing his chiseled abs. I briefly wondered if Violet ran her tongue over the hard grooves of his muscles. Violet. Poor Violet. Her cold body flashed across my mind. I did this. I killed her. I clenched my fist, then sighed.
“Brian!” I cried out before shaking him. “Brian, please wake up.” More