Page 51 of The Neighbor
“How does it feel to not be able to fight back and know you can’t stop what’s about to happen?”
He opens his mouth to say something, but the words never come out. Fine. I’ll tip my hand a little before the big reveal.
“Let me introduce myself. My name is Caroline Michaels. You killed my sister Amanda. Understand what I meant by retribution now?”
I see my news register in his eyes before fear fills them. I imagine that’s what my sister’s looked like when he first slid his hands around her neck and began squeezing the life out of her.
“Welcome to the last few minutes of your life, Adam.”
20
He’s not so far gone yetthat he can’t speak, but when he tries to stand up, he collapses back onto the sofa because his legs can’t support him now. He’ll stay right where he is while I say what’s been on my mind since that day when I was an eleven-year-old girl who realized she knew the truth.
“You put something in my drink?” he asks in horror, slurring a few of the words.
I nod, happy to admit my crime. “Yes.”
“What are you going to do?”
The fear in his voice thrills me more than I thought it would. I knew I’d feel a sense of satisfaction, but I didn’t expect to enjoy this so much. I feel sort of guilty about that. My mother and father never had a happy day once Amanda was found strangled in those woods at the end of our street. My sister didn’t get to enjoy any of the things she should have in life.
But maybe it’s not wrong to relish this since the rest of my family didn’t get the chance to.
“I’m going to tell you how I trapped you and then I’m going to watch you die. You know how that feels, right? You watched Amanda die, and I know you killed that Tess woman too. Werethere others? Doesn’t matter. Your time on this earth is nearly over, so nothing matters concerning you anymore.”
He stares at me through increasingly blurry eyes, and I know he finally recognizes what something deep inside him saw the moment he first laid eyes on me. Suddenly, I’m familiar to him.
“You won’t get away with this. Someone saw you come here.”
I throw my head back in peals of laughter. The irony in this man is too much.
“Tell me. Did you ever once think you wouldn’t get away with it? Don’t be ridiculous. I made sure no one saw me walk up here. I took the path behind the houses. You know the one. You didn’t think it started behind your house and only went over to poor Sara’s street, did you?”
As I talk, I see he understands. He wants to stand up, to get away or hurt me like I’m hurting him, but it’s no use. The drugs won’t allow that.
“Kimmy knows we’re together. It’s the fucking highlight of her week,” he bites out in desperation.
I sit down in a chair across the room from him and shake my head. “Actually, she doesn’t. She knows you left, and I’m guessing right about now she’s feeling bad for me because as a married woman, she’s sure I overplayed my hand by having her interrupt our dinner together.”
He shakes his head, not understanding, so I continue. “You see, I asked her to do that. I told her I didn’t want you to think it was going to be a sure thing with me. Men need obstacles, I said. Of course, a few minutes later, she watched you walk right up here alone, and if I know her and that kind heart of hers, she’s sure I’m home alone. She may even want to come see if I’m okay. If she does, I’ll make sure to tell her when I see her tomorrow how sorry I was that I didn’t hear the door, but I was in the bathtub drowning my sorrows about tonight in a good book anda big glass of wine. So you see, nobody knows I’m here just like nobody knew you snuck over to Sara’s. Well, nobody but me.”
Defiant to the end, he tries to sit up but can’t. “These drugs will wear off soon enough. You won’t be able to get away from me then.”
I shake my head at how ridiculous he sounds. “Do you honestly believe I’d drug you with something that wears off? Think, Adam. I’ve been planning this for years. I know every trick in the book when it comes to committing crimes. Literally. I’ve read them all. I’ve had to research them all too. Trust me. These drugs won’t wear off. But not to worry. Before they kill you, I’m going to do to you what you did to my sister. Then you’ll know how it feels to be the victim instead of the killer. I’m thinking you know a little about how that feels right now.”
“This won’t bring her back. I still killed her. None of this matters.”
Rage that I’ve successful kept at bay for so many years since that terrible summer comes rushing back, filling every inch of me. My hands curl into tight fists that I want to beat against his face. I don’t, though. He can be as cocky as he wants.
The last thing he’ll see is the sister of one of his victims staring into his eyes as he takes his final breath.
“What matters is I tracked you down. I found you and I moved into this neighborhood to be as close as possible to you. Then I plotted your death down to the second. You see, Adam, vengeance can keep a person going for as long as it takes, but I knew the other night that the time had come. Once I gave you that alibi, I knew I could get you to do whatever I wanted.”
As I speak, he narrows his eyes in anger. Once I finish, he quickly says, “Then you’re no better than me. In fact, you’re worse than I am. Mine were crimes of passion. Spur of the moment things. Yours is planned out and…and….yours is premeditated.”
I hear the confusion in his words as the drugs begin to take their final toll on him. I’m enjoying this. Who knows? Maybe I won’t even bother strangling him. It would be poetic justice to see him die at my hands like my sister did at his, but I’m rather liking just watching how the drugs I slipped in his wine are slowly taking over and killing him.
His condemnation of me and my motives mean nothing to me. He’s a killer. I’m someone seeking revenge for the life he stole. Completely different animal.