Chapter 31

I‘d never been so scared in my life. I knew now that terrifying his victims was part of what got Levi off. He liked the hunt. He fed off the fear. I bet he’d even been the one to think up the idea of taping the women screaming so that he could listen to them after they were dead.

I’d been wrong all along. I’d thought Kyle was the most evil person I’d ever met, but it was really Levi.

“I’m gonna get you, Emmy,” Levi continued to whisper as he walked the length of the closet. I couldn’t quite tell where he was, because everything seemed to echo inside the storage space. But I knew he was getting closer.

I don’t want to die.

The phrase popped into my head out of nowhere and quickly became my mantra.

I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die…

I had nothing on me that I could use as a weapon. Just my legs and fists, and that would be no match to a seasoned killer who was likely armed by now. Still, I’d fight back the best I could, for as long as I could.

But would it be enough? No one else knew I was here, so I couldn’t even cling to the hope that someone was on their way to rescue us. And Zhara was down for the count, which meant I only had myself to depend on. A ballerina with no fighting skills.

I was completely unprepared and Levi knew it. The realization was heartbreaking.

“I’m gonna—” he began again, but suddenly his sentence cut off and there was a loud grunt. Then, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps heading in the opposite direction, as well as something else I couldn’t quite decipher, before the closet door slammed hard.

Had he really just left? After all that?

I prayed that it wasn’t just an elaborate plan to draw me out, but lifted the top of the box slowly so I could peek out. There was no one within eyesight, and I couldn’t hear anything nearby either.

I knew I couldn’t stay where I was, but I was terrified to come out. Still, I forced myself to step out of my hiding place and down to the floor below. Taking a few hesitant steps forward, I peeked out from behind a silver and red sequined costume, hoping I was right.

When I saw that the closet appeared empty, I began to tip-toe toward the door, half expecting Levi to jump out at me at any moment. I was beginning to hear talking now, coming from inside the studio. It wasn’t loud enough for me to understand, but it was there. As I crept up to the partly opened door, however, it stopped completely.

I could barely breathe as I peeked out.

There, over near the door sat Levi, slumped forward, his arms tied tightly to the barre above his head. His shirt was stained red with blood and he didn’t appear conscious.

Relief spread through me, as I realized someone had saved us.

I quickly emerged from my hiding spot and took a few steps into the room, looking around for our savior.

“Emmy,” someone said as I appeared. “I’m so happy you’re okay.”

I turned to see who was talking, and could barely believe what I was seeing.

“I came as fast as I could,” Kyle continued, taking a few steps toward me. He was near the entrance to the closet, so I couldn’t dart back inside to get away from him. I took a step back to put some distance between us instead.

“What are you doing, Kyle?” I asked, so confused at this point that I felt like sitting down and crying.

“I’m here to save you,” he said, like this was the only logical answer. “From him.”

Kyle nodded his head in Levi’s direction, but kept his eyes trained on me. When I didn’t respond, he kept going.

“Levi saw you when you came to visit me,” he explained. “And he got mad. Said he was going to get rid of you. But I couldn’t let him hurt you. You’re mine. She’s mine, Levi!”

I glanced over at Levi as Kyle yelled this, and was surprised to see that he wasn’t unconscious like I’d thought.

“Kyle, get a grip, man. This bitch isn’t worth all of this. You know she’s just like the rest of them. Let me go and we can get rid of her together. It’s not too late,” Levi said, his breathing labored.

I looked back at Kyle and noticed now that he held something shiny and metal in his hand. A knife or maybe an ice pick? I couldn’t be sure from here, but I could see it was dripping with blood. Levi’s blood, given his wounds. I averted my eyes from the weapon so I wouldn’t start freaking out, but when they landed on his face instead, it became clear that Kyle was considering his accomplice’s offer. I began to panic. If the two of them teamed up, I’d have no chance. Two against one were impossible odds. I had to do something to make sure it didn’t happen.

“No, Kyle. You’re right,” I blurted out. “I’m yours. Not his. Don’t let him hurt me. I’m only yours.”

Kyle’s face seemed to soften and he looked at me longingly.

“Do you mean that?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes. Absolutely. You’re the only one special enough to have me.”

“You’re right,” Kyle said, turning to look at his partner. “I’m sorry, Levi. I can’t let you have her.”

I felt a glimmer of hope as he said this and started to think it might all be okay, after all. The music from Sleeping Beauty was still playing over the speakers, creating an odd soundtrack to what was happening around us, but I tried to ignore it and focus on the matter at hand.

“Thank you, Kyle,” I said, taking a step toward the front door. If I could lure Kyle out of the studio, maybe it would give Zhara a chance to escape, or at least remain safely hidden, until I could get the cops there.

“Where are you going?” Kyle asked, watching me carefully.

“You said you wouldn’t let Levi hurt me,” I answered, looking back at him hopefully.

“I did,” he agreed, nodding. “But that doesn’t mean I’m letting you go. It just means he can’t have you. Me, on the other hand…”

I started to shake my head violently. “No. No, no, no, no, NO!” I shouted angrily. “But you said you loved me!”

Kyle’s face was blank now. “I did love you, Emmy. You were independent and self-reliant and strong. You didn’t expect anything from me,” he said. “But then you…changed. You started to be like all the others, demanding things, trying to make me into your slave. Well, I won’t be manipulated or controlled by any woman. Not even you.”

I started to argue with him, but he silenced me with a look.

“Let me be clear, Emmy. It’s because of my feelings for you that I’m going to do this myself, and not let Levi join in. If it were up to him, this would be a much more unpleasant experience for you,” he said, looking over at Levi, who appeared even weaker than before, but nodded in agreement. “I’ll try and make this quick and relatively painless.”

He started to come at me then, and I panicked, stepping back and tripping over something. Landing hard on my butt, I felt a piercing pain shoot up my back and suddenly I couldn’t move. He’d have no problem overtaking me here on the ground. I was trapped. Searching around desperately, I saw the bin of rosin that had gotten in my way and grabbed a handful of the rock-like powder. As Kyle closed in on me, I threw it into his face and watched as he yelped out in pain.

“You bitch! I’m gonna kill you!” he yelled, bringing his hands up to his face and rubbing at his eyes frantically in an attempt to clear them.

I scrambled to my feet, and struggled toward the front door, knowing it was my only chance. But as I passed him, he reached for me blindly, managing to catch ahold of the corner of my skirt. He pulled back on it hard as I fought to tear myself away, but I only succeeded in pulling him along with me.

Just as Kyle was about to clamp a hand down on my arm, we were thrown apart, and I was tossed through the air before landing on my back again. I looked up just in time to see Zhara tackle Kyle like a football player, picking him up and slamming him into the ballet barre with a deafening crash. The wood splintered from the force of the blow, cracking it in half, and then the mirror behind it shattered. Glass rained down like sharp confetti as the two men struggled.

My head was pounding now, and there was pain coming from my back and my wrist where I’d tried to catch myself in the fall. But I ignored it, climbing to my feet again and watching helplessly as Zhara fought with Kyle.

If I didn’t do something, he’d hurt Zhara. Maybe even kill him. Zhara was strong, but no match for someone as crazy and calculated as Kyle. I surveyed the room, looking for something, anything, that could help. Finally, my eyes fell on a section of the barre that had been ripped out of the wall during the chaos. Rushing over, I picked up the rod and, gripping it like a baseball bat, swung it at Kyle’s head. I prayed that I didn’t miss.

The sound was sickening as wood made contact with flesh and bone, and I watched with satisfaction and horror as Kyle’s body crumpled to the ground.

“Holy shit!” Zhara exclaimed, slowly getting up from the glass-covered floor. “Where did you learn to swing like that?”

“Where did you learn to tackle people?” I retorted.

I helped Zhara up from the ground and we stood over Kyle’s body, shaking.

“Do you think he’s dead?” I asked, feeling sick to my stomach. I wanted him locked up, not in the ground. “Should we check for a pulse?”

“Are you crazy? I’m not getting near him again. Let the police do that shit,” Zhara said, his eyes wide.

I couldn’t argue with him on that, so we began to back away, leaning on each other for support. We’d only made it a few feet when suddenly there was another crash, this time at our backs.

Levi, I thought terrified.

“Hands up! Everybody stay where you are!” a voice yelled out.

Zhara and I both threw our arms up in the air, but I slowly turned my head anyway.

“It’s okay. Put your guns down. They’re okay!” Agent Walker called out, dropping his gun to his side and gesturing for the other officers to do the same. We locked eyes and he looked at me relieved. “You’re okay,” he said.

As the cops moved toward Levi and Kyle, Zhara and I hobbled over to Agent Walker and let him know there were two killers to arrest.

“Thanks for coming,” I said to him, wincing. Now that I wasn’t worrying about dying, the pain had begun to radiate all over. “How did you know where we were?”

“Zhara texted me once he realized you’d skipped detail,” he said.

I raised my eyebrows at this. I didn’t think Zhara had Agent Walker’s number.

“I told him you were acting stupid again and that they should come save your sorry ass,” Zhara explained, not answering my real question.

“And I told him not to go after you,” Agent Walker said, sounding exasperated. “So I guess nobody was listening to reason tonight, were they?”

“I had a reason,” Zhara argued, motioning to Kyle and Levi as they were cuffed and dragged out to the waiting squad cars. “Now where are our medals?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Agent Walker let a little smile escape at this. But before I could be sure, it was gone.

I’d have to ask Zhara about it later.

“Do me a favor?” I said next, looking up at Agent Walker. “Make sure they stay in jail this time?”

“For real,” Zhara agreed.

I breathed in the night air as we left the studio and headed home.