Part 18 (1/2)

Emma smiled, teeth showing, ”I like bathtubs. After I saw Ted Kelly hanging in the bathtub I really got an affinity for them.”

”Did you kill Ted too?” Chloe felt like she couldn't take any more horrific news.

Emma shook her head, almost sad, ”I didn't, but I was the one that found him first. I left before anyone knew, but it was the most prolific moment in my life. It was the moment I knew Lora Kelly had to die.”

”You found him?” Chloe was dumbfounded.

Emma nodded, ”He texted me right before he did it. Even though Lora had made me a pariah, Ted and I were still secretly best friends. Lora wouldn't let him come out. He wanted to date Mike Donahue, not Kate. Lora was afraid he would ruin her reputation. Lora killed him.”

Chloe was shocked. No wonder Kate had major trust issues with guys. Her first major boyfriend was gay and not out of the closet. Lora had ruined a lot of lives.

Chloe didn't have time to think about the past. She needed to figure out how to get away from Emma and her chilling confessions. Chloe struggled with the ropes around her feet and wrists, but her limbs were so numb now that her attempts had no effect on loosening her bonds.

”I think it's time,” Emma said, looking down at Chloe.

Chloe tried to move away from her, but there was nothing to do. Emma reached onto the bathroom counter and Chloe saw that she was holding one of the large knives that had been in the knife block in the kitchen. Her blood suddenly ran as cold as the water she was sitting in.

Emma reached down to cut her with the knife and Chloe bit her as hard as she could, just above the elbow.

Emma screamed, ”You b.i.t.c.h!”

Emma threw down the knife in a rage and leapt at Chloe, shoving her body and head completely under the water. Chloe panicked. She couldn't breathe. She didn't dare breathe. There wasn't enough air. Her mind flashed back to a week before when she had almost drowned in the ocean. Her lungs were burning. She was struggling against Emma with all her might and losing. Emma's weight was easily holding her underneath the water, with the bonds around her wrists and feet a.s.sisting. Chloe could see Emma's rage filled face through the water above her. Was this really the last sight she was going to see? How could Emma get away with this insanity?

Suddenly Chloe felt herself floating to the surface. Emma wasn't on top of her anymore. She gulped in the cold air gratefully. Where was Emma? Why had she released her before killing her? Chloe was still slumped in the tub, head just above water. She frantically struggled with her bonds, but they stayed just as tight. She had to get out of the bathtub. She wouldn't get another chance to get free. There had to be something that she could do to save herself.

A face suddenly appeared above her. It was Grey. He looked as frantic as she felt. He lifted her out of the water, soaking himself in the process.

”Chloe? Are you okay? Are you okay?” Grey was holding her to his chest, clutching her as if he never wanted to let her go.

”Emma!” Chloe managed to croak. ”She's crazy. You have to get out of here. She's trying to kill me. She...”

”I know. I know,” Grey said, stroking Chloe's hair. ”I just locked her in the hallway closet. You're okay.”

Chloe could now hear the banging and screaming coming from the hallway. Chills shot up her spine.

”Are you sure? We have to get out of here,” Chloe felt unsafe. She struggled with the ropes on her wrists.

”She's not going to get out,” Grey said, confidently, moving to help Chloe untie the ropes binding her hands.

Chloe felt herself tremble anyway as she heard Emma slam herself into the closet door, ”But how did you get here? How did you know?”

”I didn't. I was just coming over to talk to you,” Grey said, struggling with the knots.

And then, her hands were free and Grey was reaching for the ropes binding her feet. Chloe tried to move her hands and found them completely week and useless. Her feet were the same. She was freezing. Chloe sat on the bathroom floor s.h.i.+vering. Grey finished untying the ropes, as her teeth started chattering.

”You're so cold,” Grey said, reaching for some towels hanging on a rack nearby.

”You need to call the police. Emma is totally nuts. She could still kill us both,” Chloe felt herself saying. The world felt so surreal.

Grey came back, wrapping Chloe in a towel, ”You're in shock, Chloe. I just want to make sure you're okay.”

”I'm fine,” Chloe said, although she was barely able to move her almost frozen body.

She wanted nothing more than to lie on the bathroom floor and sleep, preferably with a heated blanket, for a long, long time. Grey was rubbing her shoulders rapidly, trying to restore the heat in her limbs.

”You need to call the police and an ambulance,” Chloe said again, thinking of Jake and Kate in the other room, hoping that they would be all right too. Her mind was slowly starting to grasp the situation as she started to warm up, and it was almost too horrible to comprehend.

”I called as soon as I saw Jake. They should be here any second. I didn't know what to think when I saw Jake and Kate lying on the floor like that. I didn't know if I was wrong and you were the one that had gone insane and then I heard Emma talking to you and I followed the sound. I couldn't believe it. It's like something you'd see in a movie or on television, but never in real life. And, I dated her,” Grey said.

Chloe could finally feel her fingers and her toes again. They hurt. Her head was still throbbing and she was having slight trouble focusing on Grey's face, but she was just happy to be alive. ”I'm so glad you didn't just try calling me.”

”I did and I sent you a text. I wanted to see you. Without a third wheel. We never got to be alone tonight. So, I decided to stop by your house. I got you flowers and I thought I'd try a grand gesture to show you that I was serious about dating you. When I came to the door, it was open, and that's when I saw Jake and knew something was definitely wrong,” Grey said, looking into Chloe's eyes.

”Thank you for finding me,” Chloe said, looking back at him and leaning toward him.

Their lips touched and his kiss warmed her mouth. It was another moment she wished would last forever.

”Nooooooo!” a primal scream echoed across the bathroom.

Grey spun away from Chloe just in time for both of them to see Emma lunging at them with the knife in her hands, outstretched, aiming to kill. There was a gunshot and Emma fell off to the side in front of them, a hole through her back.

Chloe and Grey looked blankly at the police officer, who was standing on the other side of the bathroom door, holding a gun. They stared back at him in complete shock. Another officer joined him in the hallway and bent over Emma. She was dead. Grey moved back to Chloe and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. She buried her face in his chest and let herself feel safe in his arms.

Chapter 21: The California Girl.