Chapter 10 - The Empty Bed
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Audrey held the pillow down for ten agonizing seconds. Her breathing was heavy, ragged with the exertion of attempted murder.
But as the seconds ticked by, she realized something was terribly wrong. There was no thrashing beneath the blankets. There were no muffled sounds of a dying woman fighting for air. The form beneath the duvet was entirely, perfectly solid and motionless.
Frowning in the dark, Audrey slowly lifted the pillow.
She reached out with her free hand and violently yanked the heavy duvet back.
The pale moonlight illuminated the crumpled blankets and the neatly arranged spare pillows. The bed was completely empty.
Audrey froze. The pillow slipped from her hands, landing softly on the mattress. She stared at the empty sheets, her mind completely short-circuiting as she tried to process the impossible sight in front of her.
“Looking for someone, Audrey?”
My voice cut through the dark, silent room like the crack of a whip.
Audrey shrieked, spinning around so fast she nearly lost her footing. Her eyes wide with sheer, unadulterated terror, she stared into the dark corner of the room.
I took one slow, deliberate step forward, moving out of the shadows and into the sliver of moonlight. I kept my pistol lowered, but the lethal, terrifying intent in my posture was unmistakable.
“Victor,” she gasped, all the blood draining from her face, leaving her looking like a ghost. She stumbled backward until the backs of her knees hit the mattress. “What... what are you doing in here? Where is your mother?”
“My mother is miles away, resting comfortably under heavy guard,” I said, my voice dropping into a register of cold, absolute fury. “But the real question, Audrey, is what were you planning to do with that pillow?”
She looked down at the pillow on the bed, then at the vial of poison on the nightstand. The trap had slammed entirely shut, and she was caught perfectly in its jaws.
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“I was... I was just fluffing her pillows!” Audrey stammered, a hysterical, frantic edge bleeding into her voice. “I came in to check on her, and she was gone! Victor, someone must have taken her!”
“You are a terrible liar,” I whispered, taking another step forward.
