My Undercover Life

Episode 46

It took us nearly an hour to get to our designated place. Besides the fact that the house was located in the middle of nowhere—nothing seemed odd about it. It wasn’t some broken down abandoned building you would see in those typical cliché movies—instead it was well lavished with stained glass windows and artificial green grass. The building stood at two-stories high, with intricate carvings marked neatly into the sides of the walls.

If I didn’t know a bloodthirsty killer was inside the house, I would’ve appreciated the grandeur more closely.

“Are you ready?” Demitri asked, while he twisted his body around to look at me.

I s—-d in a big gulp of air, trying to calm down my nerves. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Just breath, Lily. You’re going to be fine,” he assured me for the billionth time in the last hour. “Just remember our goal.”

“I know. Retrieve Bradlee and Ashleigh, and get out of there safely.”

“Correct.” Both Skylar and Demitri smiled at me. “We’re going to be right behind you, so don’t worry.”

I pulled at my bottom lip. “Are you sure this plan of yours is going to work?” I asked Demitri. “I mean what if Asher catches on and you can’t get a clear shot of him—”

“—Listen, Lily. Would you rather have us near you, or go in there while we stay in the van?” I opened my mouth to say something when he held up a finger, silencing me. “You’re smart enough to know that following the criminal’s orders never ends up well. He wants you to come alone, so he won’t be outnumbered, Lily. He’s using your fears to manipulate you.”

“I know that, but what if he actually goes through with—”

“—that’s why we have backups. We told you before, no one will harm you, or our family, got it?”

I couldn’t help but grin when he said our family. “Okay.”
“Okay?” they asked.

“Okay,” I repeated with a smile.
“Now that we have that established,” Al said, facing towards me. “Here.”

“What’s that?” I asked, looking at the paper bag.

“A bulletproof vest.” He took out a dark vest from the plastic bag, and dropped the article of clothing in my lap. “You know, just in case if something happens and we can’t get there in time.”

“Thanks.” I tried smiling, but I knew the possibility of that happening was very high. After an hour of debating, we finally came to a conclusion. Al, Skylar, and Demitri was to follow me, and stay hidden around the perimeters of the house. Once, I get Asher and Annemarie to open the door, they were going to use a tranquilizer gun on them. “Do you guys all have this?” I asked them.

“Of course,” Skylar answered. “You never know where danger might lurk.”

I lowered my head, agreeing with him. Moving the vest aside, I took off my winter coat.

Throwing the vest over my sweater, I pulled the zipper up, securing it. Throwing my jacket back on, I made sure the camera pinned to my jacket was still there. Tapping the wireless piece in my ear, I cleared my throat, mumbling a soft, ‘hello’.

Skylar gave me a thumbs up, pointing at his own earpiece. “You’re good. Just be in position where we can see you.”
“Will do.”

“Okay everyone, get ready,” Demitri announced, holding the gun in his hand. “It’s time we take down these guys once and for all.”
We looked at each other a final time before we headed off to our designated spots. Just wait a little bit longer. I’m coming for you Bradlee.
As soon as I brought my hands up to knock on the front door, the door opened to reveal Asher and Annemarie. They both stood there with smiles on their faces, acting like I was an old friend they haven’t seen in a long time. And the freaky thing about it? They didn’t look like mass murderers at all. They looked like the same Asher and Annemarie I’ve known for the past month—and not the serial killers I’d recently found out they are.

“Lily, it’s so nice to have you here,” Asher said. The smile on his face widened. “Why don’t you come in?”

My eyes cut. “Where’s Bradlee and Ashleigh?”

He chuckled in response, while Annemarie giggled. “Don’t worry about them. They’re not dead yet. I’m a man of promises. Plus,”—He paused, and glanced down at his watch—”They still have 28 hours left before their time is up.”

“But you said if I come here—”
“—Did you have lunch yet? You must be starving after going through our houses like that.” I backed away slowly upon seeing the glint in his eyes. His once brilliant eyes hardened, as his jaw locked. “Come on, I made you something delicious to eat.”

“Listen, I only came here to get Bradlee and—”

I shut my mouth rapidly when I saw the gun Asher pulled out. He eyed the weapon with bleak green eyes. The eyes of a killer framed his passionless face, as his hands steady lifted the gun at me.

My brain froze as I stood there. I couldn’t do anything. I was barely able to open my mouth and articulate a single sound. A bead of cold sweat dripped down the side of my face, as I watched his ever-changing expression. He grinned, showing his teeth, his eyes wider than any sane person. Then he ran a hand against his silver locks, and let out a chilling laugh.

“Lunch first, got it?”
I took a sudden intake of breath, and slowly nodded. It was the only thing I could do as I stared at the gun he still had aimed at my face.
“—Lily, do you hear me?” I heard Demitri’s voice in my earpiece. “Change of plans. We can’t get a clear shot at him without it hitting you. Just calm down, and breath. There’s no way he’s going to hurt you after all the trouble he did to get you here, so just listen to what he has to say for now, okay? We’d already alerted the rest of the squad, so they’ll be here shortly. Until then, just keep him talking.”
“I-I—okay.”

Asher lowered his gun, and plastered a normal smile on his face.

“That’s more like it.” They both took a step aside, as Annamarie opened the door a bit more widely. I grounded my teeth at how careful they were being. They were shielding their bodies away from the front door—like they knew someone was watching them from the outside. In this case, three someones. It was like they were always one step ahead of us.

Feeling the adrenaline flooding through my system, I had to swallow my fears, and stepped forward. I needed to do this for Bradlee. For Ashleigh. And for my family. They were counting on me, and I wasn’t going to let them down.
“I made Tempura rolls for you.”

My body jolted at the sound of the door slamming behind me. Seeing Annemarie running back over to us, I tried to smile. All she did was stare at Asher with a gleam in her eyes, ignoring me completely. I was hoping this was a joke, but it wasn’t. Annemarie really was a part of this.
“They’re your favorite, right?” Asher asked. I turned my attention back to him upon hearing the edge in his tone.

“Um, yeah.” It was strange that he knew that. I didn’t remember telling him—or anyone at school for that matter, my favorite food. “H-how did you know?”

He painted a smile on his face; his mouth smug and unpleasant. “I know everything about you.”

“H-how?”
He sneers maliciously. “How do I know? You’re really asking me that?”

I slowly backed away like a deer caught in headlights as he moved towards me. “I-I—”
“Shut up.” His eyes narrowed. “Do you happen to know the names Andrew Young and Gabe Young?”

My heart pounded in my chest as my back hit a flat surface. The smile on his face widened at my suspense. It couldn’t be . . . he couldn’t have known them. There’s no way he’ll know my sister’s kidnappers—

“—they’re my cousins.” My eyes popped open so hard, I couldn’t blink. W-what? “And their dad? He was my favorite uncle growing up, but you took him away from me! You f—–g put him in jail to riot for life!”

I shook my head, my teeth chattering despite the fact that my jaw was locked shut. “I-I didn’t—”

“Of course you didn’t know.” He laughed a cruel, cold cackle that froze me in my spot. “How could you?”
“I—”

“—that’s right, you didn’t. Just like you didn’t know I started forming my revenge against you, and your f—–g family eight years ago.”

“But then why did you involve those girls? They had nothing to do with us—”

He barked a laugh. “Of course they weren’t. I stopped my plan for that stupid b—h.” Swallowing hard, I gazed at him, watching his expression. I could practically see the malice in his eyes as he said that. “Her name was Angela. Just like her name suggested, she was the form of an angel. She had these gorgeous blue eyes, and long wavy blonde hair. And as you know her birthday was on the eighteenth of June.”
“—I don’t understand . . .”

“Of course you wouldn’t. You’re too stupid to understand.” At this Annamarie laughed. She stood behind him, acting like she was his d–n slave, or something. Every word he said, she was smiling and giggling. “But to break it down to simpler terms, she dumped me. So you know what I did? I raped her. Then I shot her in the f—–g head.”

My stomach twisted seeing his wide, eerie smile. It was like he didn’t have any remorse for what he’d done. Almost like he was proud to have killed her.

“And then did you know what I did? I killed her sister too, and God,”—He closed his eyes—”Did it felt good. The amount of power I had when I saw their lifeless faces was so enthralling that I had to have that feeling again. And that’s where Annemarie came in. She helped me find the remaining victims that were exactly like Angela.”

Annamarie’s lips ghosted up into snide smile. “Anything for you, Ash.” She stifled a laugh at me, while leaning her body towards his back.

He stood still, not even giving her a side glance. “And now it’s your turn.”
My limbs gave out, as Asher leaned in and captured my lips against his. My heartbeat rang in my chest, pounding, banging, as it tried to get out. My breathing turned from regular to panting gasps. Crawling at him, I drew my knees up and tried to aim for his crotch, but he caught it in time effortlessly. Feeling the smile on his lips, he pushed my arms behind my back, twisting it.
Breaking the kiss, he whispered in my ear. “Did you know, you look exactly like Angela just now?” The air around me suddenly became thick—almost like it was too difficult to draw in. He smiled, licking my neck. “I’m going to enjoy my time with you, and then I’m going to enjoy killing your family afterwards.” I stood still, masking my reactions. I couldn’t give him the satisfaction he wanted, no matter how much I wanted to cry out loud.
“F–k you.”

He grinned. “With pleasure Lily, my love.”
I closed my eyes, knowing my cousins and Al would be bursting through the front door any minute now. There’s no way they’ll let this happen, I chanted over and over again.

Smelling his sickening breath near the apple of my cheeks, I clamped my mouth shut. Where the hell are they—

I jolted from the ground as gunshots came thick like winter hail, rumbling as loud as thunder. It was then that I felt the blood and saw the front door opening.

There’s only one more chapter, besides the epilogue. (I know, I’m sad too)

So . . . who do you think actually got shot in the end?