Show Me Dead: A Darker Minds Crime and Suspense Book by Claire Ladds

Author:Claire Ladds [Ladds, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Claire Ladds Books
Published: 2022-01-13T16:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

The blood rushed to my ears and hurt. My head pounded, as if my heart had been dislodged into my skull. I shivered even though my insides scalded me. And yet my eyes glowed. I could feel them. He saw, and he grinned, breathing that strange, foul cigarette stench that emanated from his mouth, straight into my face. I answered with wide eyes and a quick twitch of my eyebrows. I daren’t nod, in case the knife caught my neck. I knew exactly how sharp that blade was.

‘Respond to everything. I want to see the tragic heroine.’

So there, in the murky obscurity of this side street, where someone ran at the sight of the glinting blade and disappeared inside a door, and others I didn’t know and couldn’t see were watching, I gave him every exaggerated motion of the terrified woman I could have been, if it had been something I’d never experienced before. But he had no idea of what I’d been through with that knife.

He held the blade and made a motion of pulling it across my flesh. And still I stood there, defiant, glaring into those bulbous eyes. He could have killed me, right then. I was determined to stand there. If he was doing this to force me into submission, to scare me, then he’d picked the wrong woman. My heart was racing; my adrenaline was flowing. This was a performance I understood.

He indicated the pavement with an incline of his head. I took my cue as he removed the knife and shoved it back in his clothes. With more exaggerated movements, I began to wane, wither, and collapse to the floor, until my dress mimicked an enchantingly grotesque pool of blood.

I lay there, half expecting to hear a police siren. But I didn’t. The cool of the pavement began driving my palms and left cheek back to something close to normality. My heart still banged. Another minute went by, maybe two, then his gnarled hand reached down. Instead of grabbing me with it, he offered it to me. I took it, and pulled myself back to my feet.

‘Hold your head up, Angel. And now we continue our walk.’

His words breathed into my hair as I fought away the urge to cringe. He was holding my hand as if we were a couple, out for some window shopping.

‘Blunt side of the blade, darling. Always ensure it stays that way. And you will, if you play the game like that. Always keep them guessing. Then they’ll always return for more. With you they won’t be able to help themselves.’ He smiled, offering me an apple from his pocket. I tried hard not to snatch. I wolfed it, flesh, core, pips – all of it. ‘We’ve hooked him. The shadows were moving, watching, waiting to see how good you are. And now he won’t be able to resist.’

‘Who won’t?’

He didn’t answer.

We continued walking as if none of the last few moments had happened. I continued to listen out

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