**The Chapter contains scenes and concepts of violence that may not sit well with others. Please read with caution!***
A little earlier, when James had returned, Shelby was a bit wary but not so much as to avoid him. He was peculiar and sometimes said things that did not make sense, and Shelby had thought then that he was in one of those moods.
However, he pounced on her before she could fully turn and talk to him.
’What has come over him today?!’ She thought as she mustered all her reserved strength and pushed against him as he tried to hug and kiss her tight.
’He’s kidding, right?’
She did not allow her mind to wander, and soon, she had rid herself off of him. But before she could celebrate her victory, he landed a powerful slap on her and then another.
Shelby did not remember the sequence of activities too much, except that all she felt was a needle-sharp cold bolt on the left of her lower abdomen. She gasped, and her eyes bulged in disbelief.
’Did he just stab me? His daughter?’
As if he could hear the question she had asked, he thrust the knife again ruthlessly and deeply and then again and again.
At first, there was no pain. She only felt her body tremble as her hands instinctively went to cover the wound that was gushing with blood.
He spat on her as she dropped to her knees. "You should be grateful that you caught my interest and you dare resist me! Do you think your looks make you superior to everyone?" A look of disgust masked with lust flashed across his face.
He still wanted her, but if he could not, no one else should have her either!
Sweat dripped down her forehead as a flash of pain rushed through her. The wound started to throb like none she had ever felt. The hand holding the wound started to feel weak as the strength left it, making more blood seep out.
To her, the attack had been swift and sudden.
She opened her mouth to say anything or even call out for help, but only gurgling and sputtering sounds were heard.
James looked at her coldly. His eyes dilated, and he smiled cynically.
"I thought as much. You have nothing to say. Dead men don’t talk. Enjoy your journey to the afterlife!"
James stared down at her and kicked her hard. Satisfied then, he turned and walked away from her just as Shelby slammed down hard, her whole body weak, blood gushing out of her wound and trickling down her mouth as well.
Shelby turned her head weakly and lightly glimpsed the retreating back of James. He never once turned. Neither did he look panicked. He walked purposefully, wiping the knife and inserting it into his pants. The fact that he did this in broad daylight but still ...
James never looked back once. He walked purposefully to his car. He took out a bottle of water and then walked far away from his car. He washed the knife and his hand thoroughly. He examined the blood on the grass indifferently. Then he went back; this time he came back with a bottle of vodka and repeated the process of washing the knife and his hands with it.
Afterwards, he took a large swing out of the bottle.
"Ah! The feeling of drinking straight from the bottle hits you differently!" He smiled and went back to his car. James sat on the bonnet and pulled out another cigarette, and then called his wife.
"Hello Clara dear, how are you? Did you enjoy your shopping?"
He let out what seemed like a warm laugh to her response but Clara would have fainted if she had seen the accompanying expression.
"You did say that Shelby was waiting for me at the mall?"
He listened for a bit and then said,
"Sorry to disappoint you, dear. I think she is getting too willful nowadays. She was not there when I arrived. I know it was only for five or so minutes, but I don’t know. I have been waiting all of this while. Maybe she visited some of her friends. I’ll head back right now. I love you!"
He hung up the phone and stretched. James got back into the car, placed the knife in the glove compartment and drove off. Never once did he look back.
After Clara hung up the phone, she thought for a bit and agreed with her husband.
"Shelby needs to mingle with more people. She’ll be home when she wants. For now, I need to try on my new collection!"
She said happily, dropping her phone and stepping out of her clothes to try new ones. She totally forgot about her daughter until very late that evening. Neither did Clara call up Shelby to check where she was.
In the park, as Shelby lay in a pool of her blood, she didn’t know what she had done wrong or what she could have done better. At that moment, Ava’s words filtered to her.
"I hate to say this, but your stepfather looks at you like he wants to undress and have his way with you!"
Then, she had thought that Ava was being absurd, but then, Ava was right! And she had found out the day of her death!
"Ahhh!" She cried out from the pain. Her abdomen felt like it was being cut into two. She writhed on the cold ground.
It was torturous! The pain was so much that Shelby could not think straight. She felt her limbs start to grow cold, and just darkness covered the corner of her vision. She tried to drag herself up, but that only escalated the pain.
Her vision blurred out, and then everything went dark. She welcomed the cold darkness over the boiling pain she was feeling.
’Finally, some relief!’
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