Demon (33 page)

“Livy…” Rebecca reached out to the other girl. “Please … why are you doing this?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Becca?” She pulled back the sleeve of her shirt, revealing the jagged scars that covered her arms. “I’m paying you back for humiliating me at the party
and
getting Justyn to myself, all in one delightful end game.”

“But you can’t be helping this…this
monster
,” Rebecca argued. “No matter how you feel about me, you have to think of all the other women he’s hurt…how could you possibly let him get away with it?”

“We all do what we have to do, Becca. Let’s just say, he and I have a…mutual understanding.”

“You’re crazy,” Rebecca sobbed.

Livy’s eyes flashed, and for the first time she seemed to lose her ever-present cool. “I am
not
crazy! My mother was crazy, but I know
exactly
what I’m doing. I’ve been planning this whole thing for weeks. Believe me, Becca, my plan is brilliant, and
no one
is going to screw it up this time.”

Livy gave the man in the corner a dirty look, but it was impossible to read his expression through the mask. He had yet to speak, which led Rebecca to believe Livy was the one in charge. Could the rapist be Chad? He had always been wrapped around her little finger. Or had Livy found some proof against Quinn and convinced him to help her get rid of Rebecca in exchange for her silence? There wasn’t anyone else Rebecca could think of who would be a party to Livy’s lunacy.

“So, Becca, what do you think of my wardrobe choice?” Livy asked. “I really took the clothes for my own personal collection, but you know me. I can’t resist a dramatic entrance. Of course, I do
love
wearing Justyn’s clothes. They still smell like him, you know.” She lifted the sleeve of the shirt to her nose and inhaled deeply, her face taking on a look that was almost euphoric. “It makes me feel closer to him.”

“Can we just get on with this, Livinia? We don’t have all day, you know.”

Finally he spoke, and despite the fact he merely sounded bored, Rebecca wished he hadn’t. The gruff voice made her shudder. As strong as she had thought she was, just those few words left her paralyzed with fear. She couldn’t even bring herself to look up at him again, though she could feel his eyes boring into her.

“Oh, we have plenty of time.” Livy waved her hand in dismissal. “I’m sure Becca is
dying
to know how I pulled this off, aren’t you, Becca?”

Keep her talking
, Rebecca told herself. That was how she managed to get one over on Debbie. Maybe eventually she would come up with some brilliant escape plan. Of course, she was completely on her own and outnumbered two-to-one. But she couldn’t let herself think about that now. She had to focus on survival.

“How did you get Justyn’s clothes?” Rebecca asked, sure to make her voice tremble so Livy would think she was already defeated. It really wasn’t that hard since she was completely terrified.

“When you grow up like I did, you learn a thing or two. Most days, my mother didn’t even get out of bed. If I hadn’t learned how to pick a pocket, I would have starved to death. With all my experience, it was easy to lift Justyn’s keys when I came over to congratulate him on getting the role of Sweeney Todd. I made a copy for myself and then left the originals where someone else would find them.” She laughed insanely, and the refrain of the Sweeney Todd ballad seemed like fitting background music. “I’ve been slipping in and out of here for weeks,” Livy admitted. “Lying in his bed. Using his shower. Getting familiar with
all
that he is. And he
is
perfect, isn’t he, Becca? Charming, talented, romantic. And let’s not forget drop-dead gorgeous. Really, Justyn is the perfect man. That is the one thing I know we agree on. I can see why you don’t want to let him go.”

Even as she spoke, Livy seemed lost in her obsessive thoughts. She picked up and admired one of Justyn’s gargoyle statues. Then she lifted the vial of his essential oil cologne. She closed her eyes as she dabbed a few drops onto her scarred wrists. She was so caught up in her fantasies that Rebecca was forgotten for a moment. She thought perhaps she could take advantage of the reprieve and sneak a little closer to the door. She made it a few inches, but again, the man stood in her path. He didn’t try to touch her, but he made sure the only exit was blocked.

“Oh no, my dear. Unfortunately, there’s no escaping for you. Not this time.”

Rebecca flinched away from him, terrified. Her mind was whirling, but it was hard to think when her head was pounding and that damn music kept playing. She desperately wracked her brain for some way to escape. She even considered trying to make it to the window, but she wasn’t sure she could survive the three-story drop to the cement below. The one thing she wouldn’t even let herself think about was what the two lunatics planned to do with her.

“Speaking of Justyn,” Livy said casually, completely ignoring her efforts to get to the door. “I’ll need your phone, Becca, dear. Justyn’s class will be ending soon, and we wouldn’t want him getting home too early. It would ruin all my fun.”

Rebecca shook her head. “No way. You can do what you want to me, but there’s no way you’re going to hurt Justyn!”

Livy rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t be so stupid, Becca. I don’t want to hurt Justyn. I just don’t want him interrupting our little game.”

Rebecca shook her head again, more empathetically, and backed into the corner by the dresser. She had no idea what game Livy was planning, but she’d be damned if she was going to be a docile, willing participant. Livy only took her maneuvering as more proof of her weakness and grunted in annoyance and disgust.

“Ugh, you are so pathetic!” She turned to the man in the mask. “Get the phone. I can see it in her pocket.”

The man nodded and crept closer to Rebecca’s corner. As she watched his slow, agile approach, she was instantly brought back to that day in the woods. The same mindless panic started to surface and that same almost animal-like instinct to survive. The dark mask loomed over her, leering. His cold eyes watched her, and he must have recognized the determined look on her face. He didn’t wait for her to fight back. He knew better. He pulled out his knife and placed it against her throat before she had time to think of any type of defense.

“Why not do what Miss Clairoux suggests and give her the phone?” he whispered. “Why make things any more difficult…or painful than they need to be?”

He yanked her hair so hard that she cried out. Sobbing, feeling the blade pricking her skin, Rebecca gave in. Maybe it was for the best. As awful as it would be for Justyn to come home and find her lifeless body, it would be even worse if they killed him too. For Rebecca, that would be a fate far worse than her own death. So with trembling fingers, she pulled her phone from her back pocket and held it out to them. Livy immediately ripped it from her hand and flipped it open.

“Now, let’s see,” Livy pondered aloud. “I can’t have you call him, all whiny and babbling. He’d pick up something was wrong right away. Thank goodness for technology. Anyone can send a text message. It worked well enough when I stole Frankie’s phone and sent
you
that little note today. I bet you never even doubted for a minute that it was really Justyn. It should work just as well with him, don’t you think? Especially when it’s coming from your own phone. What do you think about this?”

She pressed a few buttons, then, smiling at her handiwork, held the phone up for Rebecca to see what she had written.

Starving! Grab us some burgers from White Castle? Please?

“What do you think, Becca? White Castle is all the way on the other side of town. It’ll take him at least another hour to get there and back on his bike.” She sneered. “But we all know Justyn can’t deny his little sweetheart
anything
. That extra hour will give us more than enough time to finish what I started.”

“Justyn won’t be tricked by your lies, Livy! He would never…”

Rebecca stopped herself before she said more. Livy might have just sent Justyn a warning, but Rebecca couldn’t give that away. She had to let her think she held all the cards. Livy wore a confident, cocky sneer as she shut down the phone, making it impossible for Justyn to get through if he tried to call back. She wasn’t worried at all that her plan might backfire, and it was better if it stayed that way. Rebecca forced herself to silence and clutched the ammonite pendant Justyn had given her against her heart. If it truly bound them as he said, maybe he would sense she was in trouble.

“Get her out of that corner,” Livy ordered. “We have work to do.”

Again, the man followed her demands wordlessly, and Rebecca had to wonder what power Livy held over him. He yanked Rebecca up from the ground and tried to pull her from the relative safety of her corner, but he had to move the knife away from her throat to do it. That gave Rebecca a little more freedom to fight his grip on her. He grunted with disgust at her lame struggles and finally jabbed her in the side with his blade. The more she squirmed, the more the point of the knife pressed into her skin. She had no choice but to allow him to pull her to her feet.

“There now,” he said, almost gently. “That’s a good girl.”

For the first time, the man’s voice lost the gruff edge, as though he knew it was no longer necessary for pretenses. Rebecca froze in her spot. She wasn’t sure where, but she had heard those exact same words, in that exact same condescending inflection before. There was no doubt left in her mind that she knew this man from somewhere outside the night in the woods when he had attacked her so viciously. The thought infuriated her, but also filled her with an unexpected burst of courage. She allowed him to guide her effortlessly to Livy, but her compliance lulled him into a false sense of security. When he least expected it, she reached out her hand, and with all the experience of a modern-day Christine, pulled the ski mask away from the monster’s face.

Despite her previous bravery, when she saw him for the first time, her knees started to buckle. The angry frown that greeted her wasn’t the face she had ever expected to find behind the mask. Not the cocky Chad or the falsely accused Quinn. Not any of the cast members. Not a student at all. This was the one man she had never once suspected. The horror washed over her in waves when the full extent of his betrayal truly hit her. It made Rebecca feel physically ill. This was a man meant to guide and instruct, not maim and destroy.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Professor Carter.”

“Damn it all, Livinia! She’s seen my face!”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Livy told him casually. “She won’t live long enough to tell anyone.”

Rebecca, still clinging to the mask, glanced from one deranged face to the next. She couldn’t wrap her head around what was happening. It was appalling enough discovering the identity of her attacker. But rapist or not, why would Professor Carter get involved in Livy’s crazy obsession with Justyn? It was obvious from the frazzled look on his face that he didn’t want to be there. Yet, Livy was pulling his strings as if he were her own sadistic marionette.

“What do you want me to do with her?” he asked with a disgruntled huff.

Despite his lack of enthusiasm, his hold on Rebecca’s arm never weakened. Even if she wasn’t still in a state of shock, she would never have been able to break free.

“Bring her over here to the bed,” Livy commanded.

Professor Carter yanked her arm roughly as he dragged her across the room. Finally, Rebecca recovered enough of her sensibilities to fight back. The idea of him violating her on the bed she shared with Justyn was just too awful. Yet, the more she tried to struggle, the tighter his viselike grip became. Every time she moved, he jabbed her ribs with the point of the knife, but she still thrashed out with all her strength, ignoring the stinging pain. She dropped the mask and tried to hit him, to kick his legs out from under him, anything to get away. However, all her struggles were in vain. He was just too strong.

Processer Carter grunted with aggravation when she stomped on his toe, but it didn’t slow him down. Rebecca tried again to scream, but he covered her mouth and nudged her even harder with the knife. Finally, frustrated, he twisted her arm so hard behind her back she was sure it was going to snap. The pain brought her to her knees and tears to her eyes. That was all the advantage he needed to overwhelm her. He lifted her up with just one arm and threw her onto the bed, pinning her down. Rebecca shuddered beneath him, expecting a replay of the woods. However, once he had her incapacitated, he didn’t seem interested in her at all. He was more intent on watching Livy. She had discarded her Sweeney Todd wig, but she looked no less disturbing. She was still dressed in Justyn’s clothes and had her real hair pulled back tight in a hair net. The glint of insanity in her eyes was clear even in the candlelight.

“What are you going to do with me?” Rebecca managed to choke out once the professor removed his hand from her mouth.

Livy rolled her dark eyes. “Didn’t I tell you this already? We’re going to have our own private showing of
Demon Barber
. Well, at least my favorite part of it.”

“Livinia, really.” Professor Carter sounded exasperated. “Must you be so cruel? Let’s just finish this and stop playing these silly games. This is inhumane!”

Rebecca flinched. If
he
was feeling squeamish about whatever Livy had planned, it had to be terrible. After all, he had done some horrendous things himself. Livy seemed apt to agree with that sentiment. She raised an eyebrow in his direction.