Page 61 of Iris' Lying Eyes
“Do you want to be in there next to her?” He demanded.
Licking my lips, I tasted the salt of my tears as I said, “No.”
“Then do it.”
“No. Please. No,” the girl sobbed.
I understood. I got the warning, but I could not accept the punishment.
Wiping my nose on my shoulder, I bowed over John’s feet as much as he would let me and begged, “Please.”
John patted my hair, and I eased, hope a fleeting feeling in my chest.
“Please? The time for begging is gone. If you don’t shoot her, I’m going to put a bullet in your brain. Or better yet, I’ll put a bullet in his. Is that what you want, Iris?”
Shaking my head, I met his eyes. Always with the fucking threats. Who but myself did I have to blame, though? I gave him the power over me, so I lived in purgatory.
“Take the gun.”
The sound in the hole died down, and grasping the cold metal between my sweaty fingers, I looked at her chin, avoiding her eyes. Her or Sam?
Sam, of course, but…No, I couldn’t choose. What gave me the right?
I guess I waited too long because, with a long-suffering sigh, John let go of my hair. Dropping my head, I grasped at the dirt beneath me, but I forgot I was holding the gun.
“Useless,” John muttered, shoving me to the ground.
With my face over the hole, he grabbed the hand holding the gun. The warm, wet trickle of my blood stained the dirt and I cringed away staring into the void.
John knelt beside me and wrapped his fingers around mine. The world began to tilt, and those wretched hazel eyes dimmed.
I barely flinched when he pulled the trigger, but the roar of the gun echoed in my ears.
After… I blinked out, losing sight of anything but the stalks of corn blowing in the breeze before me.
But John wasn’t done yet. He pushed me into the hole.
Thankfully, I landed in the dirt, rebounding off the side, but I couldn’t avoid her sightless gaze, and I stared into her eyes until darkness covered the light and I sunk into the abyss.
Chapter Thirteen
“Thanks,” I say, paying the driver.
With a nod, he pulls away, and I stare at the facade, nothing more than broken-down windows and sagging lines.
It’s hard to imagine John growing up here. Is this where he became the monster he is today? Or was he born with the devil already inside him?
Shaking off my thoughts, I stalk up the steps. I’ve never spent much time here. I guess John preferred the space and privacy the cabin afforded.
The last time I was here, I left with John to save my family, which was another lie that I hoped wouldn’t come to fruition.
The trouble with John is that he always keeps his promises—pertaining to me. Nothing else matters, including honor or having an ounce of fucking humanity.
Dust covers the surface of a few pieces of furniture covered in sheets, and my footsteps echo on the hardwood floors as I pass the barren rooms and trail my fingers along the walls.
I’m delaying, but a few minutes can’t hurt while I search for the girl in me who never backs down. I’m going to need her to get through this, but currently, she’s on hiatus, and I’m fighting off the version who gives in like a little bitch.
In the kitchen, I pause before a book resting on the table and flip through the pages until I reach the beginning and stop on Joey’s name. Where is he? With Rain? Does he sleep with a nightlight to chase away the monsters?